Lord Mark Price, below, Founder of WorkL, on the importance of improving skills in the workplace
Development and skilling up a workforce are always priorities for HR and Managers, but it seems that here in the UK, employers are falling behind when it comes to providing Green Skills for employees. A study by LinkedIn Data (Global Green Skills Report) highlights that the UK’s workforce lacks Green Skills for emerging industries that adopt sustainable strategies. Once an industry wouldn’t have thought about sustainability, now a business strategy in any sector will include sustainability, and rightly so. Therefore, employees who are up to date with sustainable issues and strategies will be an asset to any business and will more importantly, find themselves in demand. Around 60% of the world’s emissions are produced by organisations and their supply chains. If we are ever going to reach Net Zero, now is the time for employers to skill their teams in all things green, to ensure that every industry is working together towards Net Zero. This will not only be good for our planet, but help employees widen their skillset for the future.
The United Nations has recognised ‘green skills’ as one of the key elements for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. LinkedIn’s report highlights that one out of every eight worker has one or more ‘green skills’. The UN has also pulled out three industries that are likely to put a premium on ‘green skills’- energy production, transportation, and finance. The first two sectors are among the top carbon emitters, while the finance industry can finance the transition to circular economies/Net Positive.
The number of people with ‘green skills’ in the global workforce has risen by an average of 12.3% since 2022. However, jobs requiring just one green skill doubled by over 22% since 2022. This disparity is only going to widen if employers don’t invest in sustainability training and development for all employees.
Not only will the next generation of employees be looking for green skill training in jobs, but they’ll be expecting it. Be in no doubt, green skill training will be mainstream within the decade, so I urge employers to invest in their employees and the planet, sooner rather than later.
