At the heart of the net zero and upgrade challenges is the development of people’s education and skills. Jobs and skills are two sides of the same coin – you can’t solve one without solving the other. However, there is a huge gap in green skills in the UK, although this is poorly understood. Industries critical to the transition to a net-zero emissions economy, such as construction and manufacturing, are struggling to address skilled labor shortages, and knowledge gaps remain across the economy, including the skills and jobs needed to transform and sustain our food, Transport and care systems.
The potential to protect and create jobs across the economy has yet to be realized. The integration between skills initiatives and green transition needs remains sparse and poor. Recent examples of policy failures, such as the Green Home Grant, have exposed a shortage of skilled labor and have had significant impacts on workers and businesses. Likewise, the neglect of the nursing sector and the offshoring of wind energy and bus manufacturing contracts have outsourced jobs and skills that could have remained in the UK. To date, UK government policy interventions (including apprenticeship taxes and the lifetime skills guarantee) have not been sufficient to address general skills shortages, let alone support the workforce to adapt to the needs of a low-carbon economy. For example, the Welsh Government’s unique policy and investment choices reflect a better performance by Welsh authorities in upskilling their population.
Across the UK, average workers are currently below the skill level needed to secure emerging green jobs. Average skill levels are below the green job average in all regions of the country except London, with the North and Midlands having the lowest average skill levels. Analysis by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) estimates that the average worker needs 6 to 18 months of additional job-related training to secure existing green jobs, whether at work or in educational institutions. This is happening against a backdrop of declining levels of adult participation in education and skills training over the past decade. We need to address the major barriers to learning, especially time and cost barriers. But there are also less obvious and more character-oriented but important barriers, such as one’s educational history and lack of confidence as a learner.
provide a of‘A “just transition” requires collective effort and social dialogue. However, the UK government’s current approach to skills transformation excludes workers’ voices. Compared to other advanced economies, and indeed compared to the rest of the UK, England has relatively limited formal arrangements for social partnerships in the skills system. Currently, only 13% of organizations in the UK have collective training agreements. In instances where the social partners are widely involved in the training system, employers tend to invest more and provide more equal access to training.
The challenge of making skill transitions fair is looming. The need to decarbonise the economy quickly is exacerbated by cost of living scandals, the ongoing recovery from the pandemic, Brexit uncertainty and changes to the world of work due to automation. Given these disparate factors, it can be predicted that the groups most likely to be left behind by an unmanaged transition are workers in low-skilled, low-wage jobs; those in precarious work, including zero-hour contracts; and carbon emissions. High or very high jobs.
Without a bold skill plan, upgrades and net zero will be in direct tension with each other. We outline three principles of reform that put us on a path to achieve an equitable skills transition—that is, address barriers to reskilling and upskilling so that no worker is left behind—and help close the green skills gap.
- Skills transformation through social partnerships. Set up social partnership arrangements in skills systems to raise worker voices. This could start with a reformed model of official local skills improvement programmes.
- Targeted policies and investments to address key barriers to learning. We need well-funded and supportive skills and employment programs to successfully address the twin challenges of upskilling and income security. This needs to be complemented by a more holistic approach to addressing less obvious learning disabilities. The UK government could start by reversing cuts to the UK United Learning Fund.
- National skills and labor market strategies. The UK government should bring together the social partners to undertake an overall assessment of the varying levels of demand for green skills and opportunities for green jobs across the economy. The National Skills and Labor Market Strategy will support local and regional efforts to more effectively link green skills to green jobs, as local regions maximize job creation and use of their assets across their geographic boundaries. In addition, most workers are attracted to jobs that generate a tangible sense of social value, a distinct but often invisible component of job quality. Building green skills in the workforce is inextricably linked to ensuring that green jobs are good jobs.
