As the climate crisis becomes increasingly urgent, more industries are investing in their sustainability efforts to innovate solutions that are both sustainable and profitable. And with this shift towards greener and cleaner business lies opportunity for work – that is, if you can build the green skills to succeed in sustainability.
LinkedIn's 2023 Global Green Skills Report found that green jobs (roles relating to sustainability across sectors like energy, finance and transportation) make up a third of job postings in the UK. And what’s more, the demand for skills in sustainability is growing.
The amount of green jobs is increasing at a much higher rate than the talent available, especially in times of economic uncertainty, which means there’s an opportunity for women to make themselves employable and successful in the sustainability sector. Although there's a catch: roles like energy auditing, waste management and solar consulting are difficult to land if you don’t have any green skills or experience in the sector.
Here’s everything you need to know about the green skills gap and how to get hired in sustainability.
What are ‘green skills’?
The United Nations defines green skills as ‘the knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society.’ Green skills refers to both technical knowledge like clean energy engineering or physics and interpersonal skills like effective communication or project management.
The green talent gap
Rhian Sherrington, founder of the Women in Sustainability Network and named a UK Top Green Voice by LinkedIn in 2023, said: “The green talent gap is the gap in knowledge, technical and transferable skills the world needs in our workforce in order to meet the demands of a net zero carbon economy.”
“This often means highly skilled technical jobs in the energy and construction sectors, including engineers, electricians and plumbers – sectors and jobs where women are often in the minority,” she said.
According to LinkedIn’s report, only one in eight workers has one or more green skills, meaning nearly 88% of workers don’t have even a single green skill – and the demand in a growing sector means there’s an opportunity for women interested in working in sustainability.
The report found that: “The increase in demand for green skills is outpacing the increase in supply, raising the prospect of an imminent green skills shortage. Between 2022 and 2023 alone, the share of green talent in the workforce rose by a median of 12.3% across the 48 countries we examined, while the share of job postings requiring at least one green skill grew nearly twice as quickly — by a median of 22.4%.”
“If the definition of a green job is widened out to include the sectors and roles that could (and should), become low carbon or are involved in social sustainability as much as economic or environmental sustainability, such as the care industry, ensuring a gender equal and just green transition is far more achievable,” said Rhian.
How to build ‘green skills’
Lianne Pemberton works as the Group Head of Sustainability at boohoo Group – but she didn’t always work in the sector. Having started out supporting accounts for a garment packaging company, Lianne then became a packaging manager for brands and flexed her sales skills to eventually direct sustainable business development at a plastics packaging firm. “I have always been passionate about sustainability,” she said.
“A previous company I worked for manufactured packaging using pre- and post- consumer waste. It was then I realised the importance and the shift that was happening. I wanted to make sustainability my focus and work for a company where I could have an impact. I joined boohoo in 2021 when we had just launched UPFRONT, our sustainability strategy,” she said.
Lianne leveraged her strategic thinking skills to earn her role as a leader in sustainability at one of the UK’s largest online fashion brands. “The ESG [Environmental, Social and Governance] landscape is constantly evolving but the changes you need to make in large business can take time, as they are transformational. To really embed an ESG strategy, you need the business’s support, from the top and across to all of your colleagues. The business needs to be on that journey with you,” she said.
To find out how women can build new skills in sustainability, transfer their existing skill sets towards sustainability jobs or pivot their careers towards a green job, Rhian shared her tips:
1. Start from where you are. Equip yourself with a solid understanding of the science, such as through Carbon Literacy Training, and then assess how you can bring sustainability into your current role.
2. Do a skills audit. Not all sustainability jobs need hard technical skills that come from having qualifications (although that can help). Make a list of what you're good at, what you love and then what you love and are good at, to help you understand what to look for in your next job.
3. Targeted your outreach. Sustainability covers a huge of opportunities so it's important to understand specifically where you want to move to. Look at the Sustainable Development Goals and the Doughnut Economics Model to help you figure out what problems you want to be involved in solving.
4. Don't self-reject. Many job descriptions are asking for unicorns but there is a green talent shortage. Make sure you translate your experience to demonstrate how you are right for the role - don't make the recruiter or hiring manager do that for you. Review the job description so you really understand what they are asking for and even if you can't do it all, just go for it!
To women who are reluctant to make a sector change or feel otherwise unable to grow in the sustainability field, Lianne said: “Do it! ESG is the future and needs to be the backbone of every business. It is such an exciting space to work in because it is constantly evolving. It gives you the opportunity to innovate and find solutions, which is an exciting place to be.”
Although it’s not easy being green, now you’ve got what you need to get started on your journey.