Forget proficiency in generative AI, green skills are increasingly being touted as some of the most important skills of the future.
According to a recent UN report, the next 10 years are crucial in the fight against devastating global heating, and integral to this fight is ‘green talent’ – workers who are equipped with environmentally-minded skillsets that can be put to good use to fight climate change.
Unfortunately, knowing what type of plastics to put in your green bin doesn’t count, and in order to qualify as green talent, workers need to display skills that relate to environmental values and attitudes.
3 tech jobs to apply for
- Software engineer in test, Jisc, London (£42,000)
- Software developer/back end engineer, Pharmacy2U Ltd, Leeds
- PLM solution architect, Maya HTT, remote
They also need to be able to showcase their ability to proactively promote a more sustainability-focused mindset when devising business strategies or implementing new technology tools and products.
Green talent sectors
Three sectors that are integral in the fight against climate change are energy production, transportation, and finance.
Energy production is an obvious area, particularly in light of energy consumption increases due to AI data centres. But EVs (electric vehicles) have been a hotly debated topic ever since the Sunak government published its zero-emissions vehicle mandate in January 2024, while finance is also undergoing a green transformation and many fintechs are already paving the way.
Examples include Stripe Climate, a carbon removal purchase tool service that helps finance tech initiatives that are committed to reducing carbon emissions, and TreeCard, a UK-based fintech that plants trees and gives customer rewards for every purchase made on its wooden debit card.
As a result, skills in carbon accounting, carbon credits, emissions trading and sustainability reporting are the fastest-growing green skills for finance workers in the UK.
Job titles to look out for include chief sustainability officers, sustainable supply chain managers, and eco-designers.
Looking to the future
According to data released by the World Economic Forum, workers with green skills are nearly 30% more likely to be hired than those without.
While it’s clear that opportunity abounds, the reality is that the statistics surrounding green talent are concerning. Recent data highlights that only one in eight workers are equipped to work in green tech jobs.
Additionally, the growth in demand for green skills is outpacing supply, with only 12.3% of the workforce having green skills, and 22.4% of job postings requiring at least one green skill. As a consequence, those with green skills are bucking the current tech downturn trend, with green tech jobs growing by 15.2% between February 2022 and February 2023.
If green tech is on your radar, but you’re concerned you don’t have the eco credentials to apply for green jobs, the good news is that there are several ways you can sufficiently upskill.
The University of Cambridge offers an eight-week online course that covers topics including developing a more sustainable mindset, how to develop sustainability leadership, and how to stay competitive by integrating sustainability strategies.
The Institute of Sustainability Studies based in Dublin, close to the capital’s docklands tech hub, also offers self-paced online courses in business sustainability, corporate sustainability reporting and sustainability plan development.
For those looking for a short course, London Business Training & Consulting has a six-hour Green Strategy and Sustainability course that is classroom-based and takes place over one day.
And in the meantime, if you want to get your move to a greener career underway immediately, head to the UKTN Job Board, where you can browse thousands of tech jobs in innovative companies committed to a greener future.
Looking for more from your career? Discover your perfect role on the UKTN Job Board today
This article is part of a paid partnership with careers marketplace Jobbio to share the most exciting UK tech jobs with UKTN readers.