Sustainability

Introduction

This section provides resources for relating career guidance work to outcomes beyond individuals. This page covers discussions that relate career guidance to sustainability, covering different aspects of the implications-for and role-of of CEIAG.

Studies and discussions are included that support in "making the case" for careers for this agenda, ranging from paradigms to practice. Some specific case study examples of studies are included that demonstrate interventions and their contributions. 

This page provides references for the landscape and contextual issues, case studies into practice, relevant research-active institutions, relevant publications, and data sources.

The case for careers

A wide range of national and international reports have described, quantified and analysed the requirements for green jobs and changes to current roles, which are creating opportunities and threats for members of the current and future workforce.

• Analysis from Linkedin in 2024 found green jobs are growing nearly twice as fast as the number of skilled people able to fill them. (WEF, 2024) 

• In 2023, the recruitment website Totaljobs had previously found that the hiring demand for green roles has increased 87% between 2019 and 2023. In a poll of HR decision makers, 23% reported increasing the number of green roles. 

• Globally, the energy industry may need 400k new recruits by 2050 (Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit),

• According to the World Economic Forum’s Davos Labs Youth Recovery Plan 2021, almost half of young people feel they don’t have the right skills to guarantee them a dignified job in the next five to 10 years (WEF, 2021)

• In 2023, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) predicted that between 135,000 and 725,000 new jobs could be created in low carbon industries to 2030. (Climate Change Committee, 2023)

• Most employers in the UK currently require green skills or expect to in the future. For these employers, skills are needed in a wide range of business areas and at all career levels (Workskills UK, 2022).

• Forecasts suggest that the capacity and capability of current career guidance provision means that the UK are set to miss the 2050 climate goals, due to a lack of sufficient skills (Worldskills UK, 2022)

• Public research shows a number of very positive indicators towards the ends of further building the green workforce e.g. In a British Gas commissioned-poll for National Apprenticeship Week in 2023, it was found that 72% of young adults polled said they like the thought of getting to the end of the working day knowing they’ve helped people live a greener life. Research by the Children’s Commissioner also found very strong positive sentiments.

• Young adults’ (16-25 year olds’) attitudes to green careers are, however, also sometimes nuanced. For instance, “Young people feel strongly about environmental issues, but environmental purpose does not make jobs more attractive” and pay and prospects remain key factors. (Public First, 2023).

• Workers will need to be redeployed in the green transition. The OECD (Causa et al, 2024) suggested policies to support a smoother and fairer transition, where it would seem most likely that career support will be integral. 

Research into the impact of CEIG on this programme is still relatively scarce and formative. The literature includes, however, discussions on the roles that CEIAG can and will play, and case studies that have demonstrated ways that more people can be engaged in green careers. For instance:

• An 2024 OECD study of international programmes in schools found varied interpretations of “green CEIAG”. (Chang, 2024) 

• Although difficult to disaggregate from other influences, career guidance activities are evidently already engaging and influencing students in the UK education system based on the attitudinal surveys described above. 

• Green career fairs are proving popular and attracting a host of high profile organisations e.g. Green Careers Week,

• In the relatively few studies carried out, careers education can increase student motivation towards green careers (e.g. Santilli et al, 2020)

However, there is scope for the CEIAG profession to lobby to do more: 

• Young people, particularly young women, lack awareness on green jobs and careers available, the skills employers require, and the relevant education and training pathways (Workskills UK, 2022). 

• Separately, in a 2023 survey, 73% of young people (16-23 years old) felt uninformed of the green career opportunities they could potentially pursue when entering the world of work (Engineering UK, 2023).