The 2023 Green Skills Report takes a deep dive into the skills-first transition into a green economy
This article was produced in partnership with LinkedIn.
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The global economy is faced with a gargantuan task – to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, or to permanently impact the livability of our planet for generations to come. This task demands a whole-of-economy shift across every industry, role and geographical region.
According to LinkedIn, taking a skills-based approach to “greening the workforce” is the most promising path forward. This means developing talent strategies that encourage green skills, and thinking about how every role – from product designer to fleet manager to head chef – can be performed in a more sustainable way.
Across APAC, the skills required for the same job have already evolved significantly since 2015 – 27% in Australia, 30% in India, 36% in Singapore. This rapid pace of change is set to continue, and workers are increasingly responding to growing environmental concerns, and a rising need to transition into a green economy.
LinkedIn’s 2023 Global Green Skills Report found that the concentration of “green talent” – that is, the share of workers who list at least one green skill on their LinkedIn profile – is growing in all 48 countries that were studied. In Singapore, the share of green talent has increased to 14% (up from 11% one year ago), but paid job postings that require green skills saw just a 1% increase compared to one year ago.
This suggests that the growth in green skill supply is currently outpacing demand in Singapore, and presents a real opportunity for employers to review their talent strategy to ensure they’re keeping up with the opportunities in this space.
“In countries like India and Singapore, there’s a growing number of workers who are proactively acquiring green skills to stay relevant, but job opportunities need to grow faster in order to match this rising supply,” APAC head economist Pei Ying Chua says.
“The relationship between supply and demand is dynamic – demand needs to keep growing in order to continue fueling supply, and move the green transformation forward. Achieving a truly green economy requires focused initiatives and collaborative efforts to nurture and expand the pool of green talent, and reimagine jobs to incorporate more green skills.”
The 2023 Green Skills Report looked at a number of industries including energy production, transportation and finance, and where they sit in terms of fostering green skills development.
Energy production is currently the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, producing approximately 60% of all emissions worldwide. While renewable energy from wind and solar sources continues to rise, fossil fuels are still producing the majority of the world’s electricity.
The report found that in Singapore, more workers are leaving the fossil fuel industry than entering. However, this decline is decelerating, and the report notes that countries now need to “double down on strategies for reducing fossil fuel-derived emissions.”
On a positive note, approximately 25% of oil and gas industry workers in Singapore had at least one green skill – higher than the country’s overall average of around 12.6%, and also higher than the average of 21% for the O&G sector globally. This suggests that the most resource-intensive industries are placing a higher focus on transitioning into a more sustainable future, and are using their talent strategy to help achieve this.
The finance sector was identified as a “critical enabler that’s starting to green” – however, it’s still lagging far behind other industries. That said, Singapore’s finance industry is firmly in the lead with a green skills intensity score of 5 - which means that the penetration of green skills into Singapore’s finance sector is 5 times higher than the global finance industry average.
The share of green talent in Singapore’s finance sector is also growing, having risen by over 20% over the last year. This echoes the wider trend of workers proactively acquiring green skills, and suggests that employers need to meet this head-on, becoming more proactive in hiring and developing green skills as part of their talent strategy.
The good news is that there are already some signs of this happening, as finance is showing one of the fastest growth in hiring for green skills. This shows that while the transition is moving slowly, it is very much underway with active recruitment for green job titles.
APAC Head Economist at LinkedIn, Pei Ying Chua notes that employers looking to start their transition into the green economy have plenty of resources to access. These include LinkedIn’s Sustainability Resource Hub, which offers knowledge and tips to guide companies and job seekers on their sustainability journey.
LinkedIn’s 2023 Green Skills Report is also available to download, and offers a comprehensive look at the progression of green skills across a vast range of countries and industries.
For those looking to upskills themselves, LinkedIn Learning helps bridge the skills gap that will drive collective action to stop climate change and empower the global workforce to make a green transformation at an individual and leadership level. To help you get started in your green skills journey, access one of LinkedIn Learning’s unlocked courses, Closing the Green Skills Gap to Power a Greener Economy and Drive Sustainability (unlocked until January 2, 2024).
