As more businesses seek to accelerate their ‘green’ transition and meet sustainability goals, the need for skilled employees has become an increasing challenge, according to a new study released by workforce solutions provider ManpowerGroup.
According to the “Green Transformation with a Human Focus” study, demand for ‘green’ skills far exceeds the supply, with a growing number of employers finding it hard to find specialized talent to achieve sustainability goals.
Key findings of the study include:
– 70% of employers currently hire or plan to hire ‘green’ talent and individuals with sustainability skills with the highest demand for green skills found in the energy and utilities, industry & construction, operations & logistics, and information technology sectors
– other sectors seeking green skills include energy & utilities (81%), IT (77%), finance & real estate (75%), industry & construction (74%), and transportation and supply chain (73%). These sectors hold the highest employer intention to hire ‘green’ talent to achieve sustainability goals
– the top barriers to implementing ‘green’ transition programs according to entrepreneurs are lack of suitable candidates (44%), the availability of effective reskilling programs (39%), and identifying transferrable skills (36%)
– while 70% of all office workers polled said they were ready to embrace the ‘green’ transition, only 57% of their counterparts in skilled trades said the same
– 75% of Gen Z candidates research a company’s ‘green’ reputation and 46% said it will influence their likelihood of choosing a particular employer
– 66% of Gen Z and 64% of Millennials believe sustainability efforts will enhance their work, compared to just 44% of Baby Boomers.
