Survey puts Scotland in prime position to benefit from green jobs revolution
A NEW report reveals that demand for “green jobs” is higher in Scotland than in any other part of the UK with the country also best positioned to maximise the benefits of green investment.
Pwc’s first-ever Green Jobs Barometer tracks movement in green job creation, job loss, carbon intensity of employment, and worker sentiment across regions and sectors in the UK. The accountancy firm’s analysis found that the transformation to a net-zero economy is “beginning to feed through” to the Scottish employment market, accounting for 1.65 per cent of total advertised jobs – higher than any other part of the UK.
When data from all five pillars used to create the barometer are collated, Scotland comes out as the part of the UK best placed to benefit economically from the shift towards a green workforce.
The barometer found that overall, 1.2% of advertised positions in the UK for the year to July 2021 were “green”, equating to 124,600 new jobs.
But it highlighted the need for a significant scale-up in such roles if the UK is to reach its target of creating two million green jobs by 2030.
It revealed that one reason for Scotland’s higher proportion is the strong presence of energy and utilities roles, in particular renewable energy.
Scotland also has the greatest relative composition of green jobs within agriculture, at 17.5%.
In professional services, the density of green jobs in Scotland is almost double the UK average at 7.2%. Matthew Hall, net zero leader for PWC Scotland, said the findings highlight the significant opportunity for Scotland’s labour market.
But he noted that “this opportunity will not happen by itself”, adding: “Having seen the passion around COP26 the will to deliver is absolutely there but we need targeted investment, training and policies, and collaboration between Government, business and education providers.”