LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report 2023 shows green jobs make up 33% of its job postings in the UK; however, around the world, only one in eight workers have one or more green skills.
According to the report, the growth in demand for green skills is higher than the number of professionals with these skills. Between 2022 and 2023 the share of green talent in the workforce increased by 12.3% while the share of job postings requiring at least one green skill rose by 22.4%.
Globally, green job postings grew nearly twice as fast as the share of green talent between 2022 and 2023, the report states. LinkedIn data also shows that typically 81% of workers who transition into green jobs have prior green experience or some green skills, which could include climate action planning, corporate sustainability and sustainable procurement
The demand for green skills is also shown by the median LinkedIn hiring rate for workers with at least one green skill being 29% higher than the workforce average. This is further demonstrated by the fact that, while hiring has slowed globally, green job postings have grown by 15.2%.
Three of the top ten fastest-growing roles on LinkedIn between 2018 and 2022 were green jobs: Sustainability Analyst, Sustainability Specialist and Sustainability Manager.
Without the right skills, these new jobs can be hard for people to break into.
Some of the top industries for green talent across Europe include construction, utilities and oil, gas and mining. However, LinkedIn also highlighted it is seeing a sharp increase in tech and finance professionals gaining green skills across Europe.
LinkedIn’s report also highlighted that one in seven workers in France and one in six in Germany have green skills despite green jobs only making up 20% and 17% of their job postings.
Commenting on the report, Sue Duke, VP, Head of Global Public Policy & Economic Graph at LinkedIn, said: “Tackling climate change requires a transformation of the global labour market, both in terms of the jobs people do and the skills that professionals need. However, it is not enough to simply create more green roles and wait for people to fill them.
“Without the right skills, these new jobs can be hard for people to break into. We need to make it as easy as possible for people to move into green jobs, and that will require combined action from policymakers, businesses and educational organisations.
“Targeted and tailored reskilling programmes and on-the-job training are critical to building a global workforce with the skills to tackle the climate threat.”
