Even as hiring slowed worldwide last year, the number of job postings requiring at least one “green skill” continued to skyrocket, according to a new report from LinkedIn.
The share of job listings requiring green skills, which LinkedIn says are skills that directly combat the effects of climate change, is higher than ever – growing by some 23% in the past year, the company’s Global Green Skills report 2023 revealed. While the report found that the share of green talent is growing, only one in eight workers currently have green skills, which reflects that demand is growing more quickly than supply.
The growing demand for green skills makes those who have them very employable, LinkedIn Vice President of Global Public Policy Sue Duke said. Examples of green skills include those related to water preservation, sustainability management, or energy efficiency, all of which help decrease pollution, preserve national resources, and mitigate the impact of global warming.
“This is a very significant shift for the economy,” Duke said. “We are talking about transforming the entire economy and putting it on a more sustainable footing if we’re going to reach those 2030 and on to those 2050 targets. And that’s not going to happen overnight.”
Behind the accelerating demand for green skills are a number of jobs that workers may not typically define as “green,” Duke said. These include fleet managers, compliance managers, health workers, and data scientists. She said that the number of jobs turning “green” means that employers should start investing in teaching workers climate-friendly skills.
“Any skill that can leverage a technology that allows us to take pollution out and preserve natural resources is a green skill,” she said.
For example, she said, the auto industry is experiencing an increasing demand for green workers. While the US lags behind other countries in the percentage of auto workers with green skills, the share of auto workers with EV-related proficiency rose more than 60% between 2017 and 2023, according to the report.
Next steps for workers: start acquiring green skills and identifying jobs where those skills are most in need, Duke said. To acquire green skills, LinkedIn recommended that workers search for STEM and climate-adjacent jobs at companies that are investing in sustainability initiatives. The report also emphasized the need for employers to develop job training programs that teach green skills.
“We know that that demand is going to keep growing,” she said. “The best thing that workers can do is put themselves in a spot where they can avail of these opportunities.”
Culled from Yahoo Finance Live
