Demand for green skills in the job market

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The demand for green skills is on a remarkable upward trajectory as societies worldwide grapple with the pressing challenges of environmental sustainability. The rise in demand of green skills is contributed to a larger extent by government regulations, environment concerns, development in green technology and rise in green finance and green investment to name a few. With the increasing awareness of climate change, resource scarcity, and the need for eco-friendly practices, businesses, governments, and organizations are recognizing the critical importance of integrating sustainability into their operations. This in turn created demand for employees with green skills. Employees with new green skillsets are playing a critical role in achieving organizations’ objective towards net Zero. As a result of this, people with green skills are in high demand and the demand is expected to see more upward trend in future in job market.

According to skill council for green jobs India possesses the capacity to generate 30-35 million environmentally-friendly employment opportunities by 2047. According to LinkedIn job posting, approximately 12% of the jobs posted as of Feb 2023 required green skills.   There is a palpable demand supply mismatch where demand is increasing at faster rate than supply of such talent in the industry. India’s emergence as a key player in the world of sustainable development is paving the way for unlocking $1 trillion in value by 2030 and an astonishing $15 trillion by 2070- when we meet the target of net-zero. Imagine India’s target to achieve its short term and long term targets under the Panchamrit action plan which includes:

  1. Non-fossil fuel energy capacity: 500 GW by 2030
  2. Using renewable energy for half of its energy requirements: By 2030
  3. Reduction in CO2 emissions: 1 billion tons by 2030
  4. Carbon intensity reduction: Below 45% by 2030
  5. All leading to a Net-Zero emission target: By 2070.

Industry needs green skill-sets to achieve the objective- this is a requirement- a must have! The green skills are not only required just to fulfill regulatory requirements but also to fuel the economic growth. So, the job market will reward people with green skills.

What green skills do I need or develop? What are they? Where are the job demand?

Let us see this from three perspectives which will give you an idea of where the jobs are and what green skills are needed. According to LinkedIn green skill report, three sectors are important for targeting sustainability goals:

  1. Energy: India’s energy sector contributes approximately 40% of emissions. Major portion of Electricity is achieved through coal a thermal power. An infusion of green skill is required in the traditional energy sector to reduce emission. Skillsets in renewable energy and its adjacent industry is in demand- not only at the leadership positions but also at the entry level.
  2. Transportation: Rise in Eelectric vehicles to counter emissions creates an opportunity in EV and adjacent industry.
  3. Finance: This is a great enabler to all the effort towards net zero. Can you help the organization in identifying opportunities in financing for green transition? Do you know different green finance products and its application to help your firm in sustainability path? Can you enable green reporting process and identify and quantify impact? Can you help organization with transition risk? These are some of the questions that people with green skills can solve for the firm.

Let us look at it from the perspective of specific industry where demand for green skills is high (consider adjacent industry and entire value chain):(Below are statistics from Sattva Consulting, Skill Council for Green Jobs, supported by J.P. Morgan, Gearing up the Indian workforce for a Green Economy, May 2023)

  1. Renewables:
    1. Solar energy: 3.2 million jobs by 2050
    2. Wind energy: 0.18 million jobs by 2030
    3. Biofuels: 0.27 million jobs by 2030
    4. Green hydrogen: 0.6 million jobs by 2030
  2. Waste management:
    1. E-waste management: 0.5 million jobs by 2025
    2. Waste water management: Jobs to grow at 13% CAGR between 2020-2027
  3. EV sector: 10 million direct jobs and 50 million indirect jobs by 2030

Let us look at some of the specific individual job roles that are in demand and requires more such skills:

  • Technical experts in solar energy systems
  • Plantation Techniques and Utilization of Renewable Energy in Arid Zone
  • Experts in ecosystem valuation
  • Water budgeting and auditors
  • Skilled in Effluent treatment plants, Sewage treatment plants, Common and combined effluent treatment plants operations.
  • Pollution monitors
  • Waste management experts (all types of waste)
  • Sustainability reporting etc

Some of the profiles that are in higher demand (Varani Sahu):

  • Wind energy engineers
  • Solar project managers
  • Solar O&M tech
  • Biofuel process engineers
  • Carbon analyst
  • E-waste managers
  • Hydrogen project managers
  • Sustainability consultants

For those looking forward to upsill / reskill themselves; think which green industry / green profile is in close adjacency to what you are doing right now. Take steps and let us contribute to Bharat’s transition to net Zero!

About the Author

Sachin Mohan, CMA, ARM, PMP

Sachin is an experienced professional in risk and strategy management. He has been in the advisory role for multinational corporations as well as for SMEs in the area of risk, finance and strategy. Sachin is also a mentor / coach for startups. He is associated with global professional accounting body IMA, project management professional body PMI, and is also associated with leading business school Ramaiah Institute of Management (Entrepreneurship Division).

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