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Green jobs in Europe and the increasing demand for technical skills

January 2014

NEUJOBS Working Paper n° 4.2.

This study makes a first attempt at quantifying hiring demand on the part of employers seeking to fill ‘green jobs’ across different countries in Europe, using a comprehensive database of job advertisements. The results indicate that Denmark, Switzerland and Norway are the countries with the highest hiring demand to fill green jobs, but with large differences in the character of the jobs themselves. Also noteworthy is the fact that Central and Eastern European economies are lagging behind in terms of creating green jobs.

As green jobs account for only 3.25% of the total number of jobs in the European Union, it can be concluded that the transition towards a greener economy, and the socio-ecological transition more broadly, is only just beginning. This is also borne out by the occupational breakdown, which reveals that there are only a few occupations that are at the forefront of greening, while most are neither green in focus nor green through their activities. The more specific skills required for the green occupations identified are largely technical, supporting medium and highly- skilled jobs, confirming previous research about the particular skills that qualify workers for green jobs.

 

NEUJOBS Working Documents are intended to give an indication of work being conducted within the NEUJOBS research project and to stimulate reactions from other experts in the field. Texts published in this series are ultimately destined for academic publishing. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily represent any institution with which he is affiliated. See the back page for more information about the NEUJOBS project.

Green jobs in Europe and the increasing demand for technical skills

Country: 

European Union