What does the Clean Energy Jobs Plan mean for green job pathways?

This weekend saw the Government launch its Clean Energy Jobs Plan. The Plan sets out what jobs are needed to achieve the Government’s ambitions for clean energy, and how they intend to work with industry and training providers to meet this demand. The Plan identifies 31 priority occupations, and includes setting up five “technical excellence colleges” to train people to fill those roles. Fewer than half of these priority occupations generally need you to go to Higher Education.  

It also explicitly says that Government wants to create “benefits for every nation and region”. It is positive to see Government sending such a clear signal of the strength of the ambition to create green jobs in the places that need them most.  

These jobs are the jobs of the future, and we will need people to do them well into the future. What this means is that we also need to create the pathways that will provide people now with the skills to do these jobs in the future. It’s positive to see Government acknowledge this, with £1.2bn of investment per year to support an additional 65,000 young people per year to access education and training. 

On top of all the positive stats in the Clean Energy Jobs Plan about new jobs, we should remember that the transition to net zero goes beyond clean energy. Changes to jobs will span sectors. As well as new jobs, we expect to see existing jobs evolve as the country moves towards a greener economy. From procurement to finance, creating a greener economy will need people to change how they work and what they do. 

Green jobs can be a lever for social mobility 

New green jobs are all over the UK. The Government’s announcement of new carbon capture facilities in Teesside and Merseyside highlighted the 4,000 direct jobs, and 50,000 indirect jobs they would create. PWC’s Green Jobs Barometer shows the most green jobs being created in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the South West. The Clean Energy Jobs Plan says there will be around 860,000 jobs across clean energy sectors and their supply chains by 2030. These are well paid jobs, with jobs in wind, nuclear, and electricity networks all advertising average salaries of over £50,000, compared to the UK average of £37,000. 

At the same time, the Green Jobs Taskforce’s 2021 report highlights the lack of diversity in green jobs. Only 17% of people who work in green finance identify as female. The report also looks at four industries that are key to the green economy (manufacturing, electricity & gas, construction, and science & technical) and found that around 90% of people working in these industries identify as white. 

The new green jobs that are being created are a massive opportunity. They are well-paid, secure, good jobs, and they should be open to everyone. But if we want to make these opportunities accessible, we need to do two things. Firstly, we need to tell young people about them, and do it in time to let them make the choices in their education that will enable them to access jobs in the green economy. Secondly, we need to create a clear pathway for young people, from education into jobs in the green economy. 

How can we tell young people about these jobs? 

We’ve been lucky enough to hear from groups of young people over the last two months about what they think green jobs are, and how we should be telling young people about opportunities in the green economy. 

When you ask them, young people know what green jobs are. They mostly list the kinds of jobs you’d expect: construction, energy, waste, manufacturing, and transport. But they also mention some that might seem less obvious: finance, IT, and legal. There’s an understanding that a wide range of jobs will need to play a role in the transition to a greener economy. 

At the same time, we heard about the need to make young people more aware of opportunities in the green economy, especially in sectors that are “less obviously green”. We heard that this work should start early, and that there’s a long way to go in how schools talk about careers, and in particular about non-degree pathways into employment. 

Ultimately, we heard that there’s not much that’s unique about green jobs. Young people are motivated by the idea of well-paid, secure, long-term employment. They want to be able to support a family and buy a house. The positive impact of a job is seen as a bonus. If we want to attract a wider range of young people into the green economy, maybe we shouldn’t be talking about green jobs. Maybe employers should be painting a picture of the green economy as where you look for that secure, well-paid job that will let you support your family and buy a house, whether or not you have a degree. 

What next? 

We want to turn what we’ve heard into action, from both Government and employers. Over the next few months, we’ll be speaking to employers to understand why they do or don’t do some of the things that young people told us would help. Once we understand the barriers, we’ll be developing an action plan for employers. This isn’t about a vision of some far-off future. This is about what employers can do now to support young people into jobs that are good for them and for the planet. 

Thanks to yesterday’s announcement, we have a clearer picture of the kinds of jobs that are needed, and where. This makes it far easier for employers and training providers to act now, to make sure that we can deliver a fairer, cleaner future.