The role of Talent Acquisition in closing the green skills gap

Tackling the skills crisis for a sustainable future

The role of Talent Acquisition in closing the green skills gap

Foreword

As business sustainability management becomes increasingly important, the recruitment industry has a unique opportunity to help organizations adapt by fostering innovative hiring practices that prioritize sustainability and build long-term resilience. Challenges should be seen as opportunities, and resistance to change seen as a problem to be solved.

As a global leader in talent acquisition services, AMS is well positioned to help organizations investigate the challenges ahead and forge a path for success.

To learn more, AMS reached out to talent leaders across a range of industries to examine trends and challenges related to the topic of green skills. We sought to understand the technical skills, knowledge, behaviours, and capabilities required to support a sustainable society, and to measure the extent of the green skills gap. The global survey reveals just how challenging it is to attract talent with green skills today and explores the reasons why. Potential barriers to bridging the green skills gap are investigated in our study. We also uncover the optimism that exists amongst talent leaders regarding bridging the green skills gap and propose critical actions organizations can take to respond to the challenges identified.

David Ingleson

Sector Managing Director, Energy Engineering and Industrials, AMS

Part 1

The rise of green skills

Sustainability is arguably the world’s most pressing concern. Around 1 million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction, many within decades, due to human activities¹. Global energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 1.1% in 2023, increasing 410 million tonnes (Mt) to reach a new record high of 37.4 billion tonnes (Gt)². Forty percent of the world’s population lacks access to clean and safe drinking water³. And in the past 150 years, half of our planet’s agricultural topsoil has been lost⁴.

It’s not hard to see why, according to recent research conducted by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training⁵, working towards a more sustainable future is not only an opportunity for economic advancement, but in our best interests for the future of the planet.

To combat climate change, protect our limited resources, and build social inclusivity and equality, the world is turning its attention to the green economy. The green economy refers to a circular system that aims to bring about sustainable development by reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. The green economy encompasses various sectors and activities that promote low-carbon, resource-efficient, and inclusive practices.

If we want to address the green skills gap, we need to understand that all future job roles will require green skills.”

– Allen Blue

As the world focuses its efforts, important terms such as green talent, green jobs and green skills have emerged. These terms are often used interchangeably; however, they refer to distinct yet interconnected aspects of the transition to a sustainable economy.

Green jobs are jobs in various sectors that specifically contribute to preserving or restoring the environment⁶. These jobs aim to reduce the environmental impact of economic activities, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and promote sustainable practices. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), green jobs are those that:

Reduce consumption of energy and raw materials – these are jobs that focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy production, and sustainable resource management
Limit greenhouse gas emissions – these are positions that involve activities aimed at reducing carbon footprints, such as those in the renewable energy sector
Minimize waste and pollution – these are jobs in waste management, recycling, and pollution control
Protect and restore ecosystems – these are roles in conservation, reforestation, and sustainable agriculture

Examples of green jobs could include renewable energy technicians who install and maintain solar panels or wind turbines, energy auditors who assess energy use in buildings, or environmental engineers, who develop systems and technologies to reduce pollution and manage waste.

While green jobs remain critically important, the term green skills has risen to prominence over the past few years. Green skills are the building blocks of the transition to a green economy, and refer to the broader set of technical skills, knowledge, behaviors, and capabilities required to tackle the environmental challenges we face⁷, whether in traditionally green jobs or not. Green skills include capabilities like environmental awareness, sustainability reporting, creativity and innovation, or environmental impact assessment.

Industry perspectives: the increasing importance of green skills

Green skills, unlike traditional green jobs, are now being found – and sought after – in nearly every industry. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as according to Climate Impact Partners, two-thirds of the Fortune 500 companies now have at least one significant climate commitment to adhere to⁸.

In our research, we asked business and talent leaders to share their views on the prevalence of and need for green skills in their own industry, and across other sectors. What we found suggests a real shift in the long-held view that green skills are only vital in “green sectors”. The results indicate that leaders now agree that green skills are important or even crucial in the vast majority of industries, see Figure 1.

The original “green sectors” continue to top the list

Not surprisingly, the Energy sector is still deemed to be the sector in which it is most crucial to have green skills (even though the definition specifically stated ‘not renewables’), with nearly 90% of respondents marking it a crucial skillset. The Utilities sector held the second spot with 78% of respondents noting that green skills are crucial. And finally, around three quarters of talent leaders said both Industrials and Materials must have green skills to operate today.

New sector demands for green skills are emerging

While talent and business leaders were clear that green sectors will continue to need green talent, there was a clear indication that new industries are turning their attention to this requirement. More than half noted that the Education sector must have green skills. Likewise in Healthcare, with 47% of respondents marking this industry as having a crucial need. Our research showed that Consumer products, including discretionary products and staples, should be prioritizing this skillset as well, while 41% of respondents deemed that Real Estate must look for green skills to thrive in the future. The sectors deemed least likely to need green skills at this time included Tech, Communications and Financial Services.

These results showcase the rapidly increasing awareness that green skills are important or crucial for every sector of the economy. This is an important recognition of the need for all sectors to think about sustainability seriously, and to consider this through the lens of attracting green talent to build a workforce for the future. It’s a critical shift in the talent landscape with far-reaching implications for TA and HR leaders who are already having to rethink hiring strategies due to a global skills shortage amplified by declining birth rates.

The green skills gap: urgent need, short supply, unclear path

Unfortunately, while the appetite for green talent is in high demand, we found through our research that it remains in extremely limited supply. It is projected there will be a shortage of 7 million green energy workers by 2030⁹. Likewise, LinkedIn recently found that growth in demand for green skills is outpacing the increase in supply¹⁰. Our research shows that organizations are keenly aware that current approaches will not close the urgent gap (see Figure 2).

When respondents were asked how quickly they felt the green skills gap needed to be bridged so that we can deliver on our stated targets (e.g., keeping global temperatures in line with the Paris Agreement), 84% felt this needed to be done in the next 5 years, whilst only 7% felt that this would be achieved in 5 years with the current policies and commitments by government and business.

84% of respondents said something needs to be done urgently to address the green skills gap, but only 7% think something will

Barriers to closing the green skills gap

Given this disconnect, it’s vital to understand the barriers to bridging the gap. We asked our respondents which of several factors they believe most hinders the widespread adoption of green skills in the global workforce. Talent leaders were widely split in their responses (see Figure 3).

Insufficient partnerships, limited training opportunities, high investment costs, resistance to change, and a general lack of effective collaboration are all cited as potential barriers, with a nearly even split across each. With such a spread of issues at play, there clearly needs to be a multi-faceted approach to addressing the green skills gap. In the next section, we examine approaches that encapsulate holistic collaboration, a willingness to invest with a longer timeframe in mind for returns, more training and educational programmes linked to the development of green skills, more willingness to accept change, and policies and initiatives in government that directly address the problem at hand.

¹ UN Report: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’ – United Nations Sustainable Development
² CO2 Emissions in 2023 (iea.blob.core.windows.net)
³UN Report: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’ – United Nations Sustainable Development
⁴Impact of Sustainable Agriculture and Farming Practices (worldwildlife.org)
⁵Cedefop; OECD (2015). Green skills and innovation for inclusive growth. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
⁶What is a green job ? | International Labour Organization (ilo.org)
⁷IEMA – IEMA – Defining Green Skills
⁸Fortune Global 500 Climate Commitments | Climate Impact Partners
⁹Will a Green Skills Gap Put Climate Goals at Risk? | BCG
¹⁰Global Green Skills Report 2023 | LinkedIn

Part 2

Building green skills momentum

With the scale, complexity and scope of the challenge abundantly clear, our research turns to the opportunities and strategies that can help address the gap. Our findings are clear: there will not be a one-size-fits all solution for a global workforce to solve a global issue. Instead, there are multiple paths that leading companies are forging to build a foundation of green skills.

This section explores three key themes that emerged from our respondents – these are the activities that are gaining momentum among organizations and across industries. Our research uncovers the effectiveness of each today and presents several prospective opportunities to take the work further.

I. Promoting collaboration

Collaboration is essential to bridge the green skills gap. Moreover, effective collaboration needs to happen not only between government, business and the education sector but also with society at large (including the public and the media). Simply put, without holistic collaboration across all parties we will not solve the problem of the green skills gap and therefore climate change.

Effectiveness of partnerships today

Our research reveals that only 8% of organizations rate the collaboration between government, business and education as extremely effective today. On the flipside, nearly half of all respondents marked the current state of partnerships as only slightly effective, and a worrying 21% tell us it is not effective at all. See Figure 4.

What’s needed: Educational partnerships

Digging further, we asked organizations about the role that educational institutions play in today’s efforts to close the green skills gap. We specifically wanted to understand if tailored curricula could help strengthen the partnership model. A staggering 88% of talent leaders say this would be effective (see Figure 5). This is a significant call to action to all talent leaders to build strong connections with education providers and start influencing the content of curricula, so they align more closely to evolving industry needs.

What’s needed: Influence on policy

Similarly, we found that collaborating with government to influence the policy agenda is a key piece of the solution. 83% of talent leaders felt it would be effective to engage much more with government departments in an attempt to proactively shape the policies pertaining to the green skills agenda, rather than work in retrospect (see Figure 6). While it is not unusual to see large organizations influencing the policy agenda of government, talent leaders should think very carefully in terms of how they may be able to shape the green skills agenda, or at least encourage their executive committees to become involved.

II. Nurturing a green skills pipeline

Building green talent requires the training and development of green skills – the skills, knowledge, and competencies that enable individuals to contribute to sustainable development and environmental conservation. The concepts of green education and eco-schools have begun to take root around the world, with dedicated programming aimed at cultivating citizens and leaders who are equipped to make meaningful and sustainable shifts in their communities and countries.

Most of these initiatives incorporate a three-pillar approach, which focuses on a reduced environmental impact of the campus itself, increased health and wellbeing among the school and parent community and increased environmental literacy for students . Schools that are recognized for their innovative approaches include The Green School in Bali and the University of California in USA .
However, beyond these localized efforts, our research shows that a significant disparity still exists between the current state of broad green skills education and what is required for the future. Most existing educational programs fall short of equipping the population with the necessary knowledge and abilities.

Effectiveness of green education today

When it comes to the topic of how effective current educational programs are in equipping individuals with the green skills required for the labour market today, there seems to be a significant mismatch between what industry needs, and what educators are actually providing. We found that only 5% of talent leaders believe that mainstream educational programs are highly effective in preparing candidates for the green labour market. A staggering 62% of respondents gave a failing mark to current educational programs in their ability to prepare learners with adequate green skills. See Figure 7.

What’s needed: Green skills for everyone

Part of the challenge with green education today is its limited reach. As we noted above, there are several schools that embrace the principles of green education and provide high quality green skill building for their students. Our research clearly shows, however, that a much more global, democratized approach is vital. We asked respondents to tell us which demographic groups should be prioritized for green skills education, and the results are very clear: all groups need this training (see Figure 8).

While about 10% of our respondents argued that specific groups of learners would benefit most, nearly 60% agreed that green skills education is critical across all learner groups – from primary students in their earliest educational experiences through secondary students, college and university students, and through to current professionals.

With the short-term need increasing rapidly but with a long-term vision required, I don’t see any other choice than to tackle all demographics. All require attention.”