Green Careers and Sustainability Insights

Understanding ‘green’ jobs

It is a great time to be interested in the green sector, as green jobs are growing at around four times the rate of the overall UK labour market (PwC Green Jobs Barometer, 2022), but there is currently no universal definition of what a ‘green’ job is. For example, the Office for National Statistics defines a green job as ‘employment in an activity that contributes to protecting or restoring the environment, including those that mitigate or adapt to climate change’. A 2022 discussion paper for the European Commission suggests defining jobs as green, white or brown according to their pollution intensity or the potential of a product or service to harm the environment.

Regardless of definitions, a growth in green jobs and a highly-skilled workforce to fill them are needed to help solve some of the world’s most urgent challenges, including decarbonisation and progress towards climate targets. This makes environmental awareness and carbon literacy key employability skills for your future career in any sector. Over two in five employers already say that their staff will require new or different green skills in the future (Learning and Work Institute, 2022), so we have compiled a range of resources to help you understand the green sector and work on upskilling yourself to meet the demands of a changing labour market.

We also offer 30-minute careers meetings if you want to discuss this area further with a Careers and Employability Advisor. Find out more information and book a careers meeting.