Green Jobs Barometer

Our Green Jobs Barometer measures the relative performance of UK's regions, nations and industry sectors on their progress developing green jobs* over time. Now in its third year, the Barometer aims to support a fair transition to net zero emissions by building an evidence base of the impact on jobs and communities across the country.

The data is based upon five key pillars which can be explored below by sector and region.

Explore the data Highlights Methodology Full report

“It’s encouraging to see green job creation showing resilience, reflecting their continued growth as a proportion of the UK employment landscape. It’s more important than ever to ensure that the transition towards a low-carbon economy brings workers and communities with it.”

_{Carl Sizer

Head of Regions, PwC UK}

249,359 Green jobs advertised, 2.3% of the total jobs market

The demand for green skills is comparatively resilient

Higher borrowing costs and continued economic uncertainty have had a cooling effect on the UK job market. The total number of UK jobs being advertised declined by 29% compared to last year’s findings, equating to 4.4 million fewer roles. In comparison, the total number of green jobs reduced by only 26%, dropping from 336,821 to 249,359 roles advertised across the UK. This resilience in demand has increased the proportion of the labour market made up of green jobs to 2.3%, up from 2.2% in 2022 and 1.9% in 2021.

While green roles have proved relatively resilient, the reduction in the total number of green jobs being advertised compared to last year, across nearly every region and sector, is concerning. While it’s encouraging that green roles have proved relatively resilient, the reduction in the total number of green jobs being advertised, across nearly every region and sector, is concerning, and poses a potential challenge to the UK’s 2050 net zero target.

In addition, the continued concentration of green job creation in white collar and skilled professions, and mainly in a handful of regions, risks undermining the equity of the transition.

32.7% of UK green jobs located in London and the South East

Strong performance in Scotland

The Barometer identifies Scotland as the best performing UK region, ranking 1st overall in the index for the third year running. Scotland continued to lead in green job creation, with 4.04% of all jobs advertised in the region considered as green, a proportion 74% higher than the UK average.

The demand for green jobs in Scotland, to a large extent, mirrors much of the UK by being driven in part from the utilities and energy sectors (where green jobs represent 28.51% of all job vacancies). The north east of Scotland is a thriving energy hub, hosting the largest pool of energy-related skills in the UK. Scotland has one of the highest concentrations of new renewable projects of any individual region, which is expected to impact on the demand for associated green roles created in the construction, scientific and technical and other support activities, demonstrating the green jobs multiplier effect in action.

London and the South East show the largest absolute number of vacancies, accounting for 32.7% of all new green job postings in the UK. Despite London advertising for over 10,000 fewer green jobs than last year, the capital maintained its considerable lead over the other regions, seeking to fill a total of 45,219 roles and enjoying the second highest regional increase in the proportion of green jobs. The South East was second with 33,917 new roles, followed by Scotland with 26,479 and the North West with 25,944.

60% of entry-level green roles with a pay premium

Green jobs are proving to be higher quality

This year’s Barometer has detected that green jobs in the UK tend to be higher quality, both in terms of financial reward and how fulfilling workers find their roles. Though, working hours do tend to be longer, and when compared to jobs that are not green, are less likely to have permanent employment contracts. When compared to the average salary for comparable roles, the higher levels of pay for green jobs were not only observed in a number of higher-skilled professions. This year’s Barometer has recorded that entry-level green roles in 60% of occupations command an average pay premium of 23%. This includes higher than average pay in entry-level green jobs within agriculture, construction, sales, storage, and in factories.

However, the continued concentration of green jobs within white collar and skilled professions means that green jobs tend to require higher educational attainment than other jobs, with a higher proportion of employees holding a university degree when compared to the general workforce. These qualification requirements present a barrier to accessing green roles, which risks compounding the growing regional inequality the Barometer has observed, with certain regions facing a disparity in the requisite qualifications within their workforces. When combined with the underrepresentation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities within the fastest greening sectors, there is a risk that the limited accessibility of green jobs increases the risk that the benefits of the net zero transition are not being evenly distributed across different communities and regions.

Rationale: what does the pillar capture?
This pillar captures performance on creating new green jobs. We focus on green job creation as this is where we expect to first see changes in the labour market (as opposed to the stock of green jobs).

How is performance estimated?
It’s the number of green job advertisements, expressed as a proportion of total job advertisements. This captures the relative density across sectors and regions to enable comparisons.

How can this indicator change over time?
We expect the number to increase over time as the transition to a sustainable economy gathers pace. However, there will be waves of different green job creation across sectors (and regions) over time.

Full report and methodology

Rationale: what does the pillar capture?
It seeks to identify where direct green jobs are creating additional employment, helping to show the full benefits of green jobs. It means policy decisions can be based upon wider economic impacts rather than narrow green employment decisions.

How is performance estimated?
It’s based on employment multipliers. This measures how many additional jobs in the UK economy as a whole are created from one green job in a certain sector or region.

How can this indicator change over time?
Multipliers are typically higher in well-paid jobs with extensive local supply chains (typically in highly technical roles). As green activities move from highly technical and design roles into broader roles, multipliers might decrease, but this impact is likely to be minimal over the short term.

Full report and methodology

Rationale: what does the pillar capture?
It provides insight on job destruction. This is vital for designing the right set of active labour market policies - including reskilling and upskilling, and focus on social mobility - in order to ensure a green transition is also a just transition.

How is performance estimated?
By looking at the distribution of defining “sunset jobs” - ie. those jobs that will become redundant following the transition to a green economy. It doesn’t capture job reallocation where, with the right training, people may find employment in growing areas of the same sector.

How can this indicator change over time?
As these career pathways are realised, we expect the number of sunset jobs to decrease over time.

Full report and methodology

Rationale: what does the pillar capture?
It compares CO₂ emissions in different UK regions and sectors to employment in the same UK regions and sectors.

How is performance estimated?
Performance is estimated using CO₂ emissions per employee. This gives us an indication of how environmentally-friendly jobs are, as well as an indirect indication of jobs that could lose out as the green transition accelerates.

How can this indicator change over time?
We expect there will be accelerated change in carbon-intensive sectors, with diminishing returns for low-carbon sectors and regions.

Full report and methodology

Rationale: what does the pillar capture?
It tells us more about how existing jobs are changing - gathering employee sentiment to give an extra layer of insight.

How is performance estimated?
It measures how environmentally friendly employees perceive the activities conducted as part of their job to be currently, and over the next 1-2 years. It spans 8 environmental outcomes - reducing waste, reducing carbon, reducing pollution, protecting biodiversity, improving resource efficiency, reducing water use, increasing reuse and recycling, and reducing energy consumption.

How can this indicator change over time?
We expect the environmentally friendliness of jobs to increase over time.

Full report and methodology

*What do we mean by a green job?
We define green jobs as roles that seek to either produce or provide environmentally friendly products and services, or adapt work processes to become more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources. This definition acknowledges roles that support the green economy indirectly, such as environmental advisers or experts in environmental education.

Green Jobs Barometer

The data is based upon five key pillars which can be explored below by sector and region.