Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

EnvironmentLatest NewsSkills shortages

Skills shortages blight sustainability revolution

by Jo Faragher 16 Apr 2025
by Jo Faragher 16 Apr 2025 A lack of available position is a hurdle for many trying to enter the sustainability jobs market
Shutterstock
A lack of available position is a hurdle for many trying to enter the sustainability jobs market
Shutterstock

More than a quarter of UK employers face skills shortages when hiring for sustainability roles, according to hiring platform Indeed.

Last week, energy secretary Ed Miliband said the government would help build a “clean power army” to hit targets for green energy generation by 2030, yet 49% of respondents to Indeed’s poll said they lacked the necessary qualifications or experience.

Two in five workers (41%) feel employers are not open enough to transferable skills, according to Indeed, even though 27% said they would take a pay cut to secure a sustainability role.

Sustainability roles

Young people need more guidance over ‘green jobs’ 

One in eight workers need reskilling for net-zero 

More than a quarter of respondents (27%) said that a lack of available positions was the main barrier to entering the green jobs market. Location is also a concern, with almost a quarter saying there are not enough roles near them. This is an improvement on last year, when 42% felt limited by location.

Workers aged between 25 and 34 are the generation most invested in the green sector, with a third willing to take a pay cut and 42% open to retraining. Almost half (49%) of this group said they would consider a sustainability role if they started their career today.

By contrast, less than a third (29%) of 18 to 24-year-olds said they would take a pay cut in 2025, down from 42% in 2024.

Despite the perception that employers are not open to reskilling, 42% said they believed better training could bridge the skills gap in the green sector, up from 31% in 2024.

More than half (53%) of employers believe more should be done to encourage young people into green careers, although this is down from last year (63%).

In 2025, a higher proportion of jobseekers were unsuccessful in trying to enter a sustainability role (28%) than were successful (22%). Last year this was the other way around (32% successful compared to 27% unsuccessful).

Overall, both employers and workers believe that sustainability is good for business and for attracting talent. Nearly half of workers (44%) say they now place more importance on working in roles that positively impact the environment, although this figure has declined since last year (55%).

That said, almost a quarter (23%) are attracted to the sustainability sector due to its “positive image”, suggesting their motivations might not be entirely about impact.

“Bridging the gap between motivated jobseekers and employers’ perceived barriers to hiring will require investment in skills and greater awareness of transferable experience,” said Matt Burney, senior strategic advisor at Indeed.

“With the right support, the green workforce can be a powerful force in driving the UK’s net-zero ambitions forward.”

 

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

 

Workforce planning opportunities on Personnel Today


Browse more workforce planning jobs

Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. Jo is also the author of 'Good Work, Great Technology', published in 2022 by Clink Street Publishing, charting the relationship between effective workplace technology and productive and happy employees. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

previous post
Exploring the best London office locations for ‘Zillennials’
next post
Teachers could strike if pay award not improved

You may also like

Fewer workers would comply with a return-to-office mandate

21 May 2025

Pay awards in real terms could fall for...

21 May 2025

Ryanair demands flight attendants pay back salary increase

21 May 2025

Consultation launched after Supreme Court ‘sex’ ruling

20 May 2025

Uncertainty over law hampering legal use of medical...

20 May 2025

Black security manager awarded £360k after decade of...

20 May 2025

Employers ‘worryingly’ ignorant about stress risk assessments

20 May 2025

UK and EU agree to collaborate on ‘youth...

19 May 2025

Immigration white paper: which jobs will be affected?

19 May 2025

Awareness weeks fuel spike in demand for mental...

19 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+