How do we excite young people about ‘green career’ opportunities? - Stephanie Burras

By 2030, there will be an estimated 24 million jobs within the ‘green economy’ - which covers roles within sectors as diverse as energy, the built environment, technology and professional services. However, beyond this, every job function within every industry will feel the influence of changing organisational behaviour when it comes to meeting our collective decarbonisation goals.

We are already seeing a huge increase in demand for specific skills but there are challenges around getting key information through to the next generation.

Young people are undoubtedly engaged with the green agenda but insight from WorkSkillsUK and the Learning and Work Institute shows that whilst 62 per cent say they’re passionate about sustainability, a shocking 63 per cent have never heard of any green jobs.

Ahead Partnership’s own experience with young people bears this out, with young people making assumptions that green jobs are low paid or not “proper jobs”. Many young people cite parental attitude or influence as instrumental in shaping the views they hold.

Early and continuous engagement with young people, their parents and teachers will be vital if we are to address this misperception and lack of knowledge. We saw this first hand through work we undertook with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to canvas the level of awareness of young people across West Yorkshire of the green economy.

Our insight revealed that the biggest barrier for young people is a lack of awareness: almost 50 per cent of the young people we surveyed before undertaking our project rated their understanding of green jobs as ‘poor’ or merely ‘satisfactory’.

However, after taking part in activities where they heard first-hand from those working in the green economy, this figure dropped to 6 per cent. This shows the value of engaging with young people and employers and translating this into terms that young people can understand.

By bringing employers together with young people to explain and contextualise the opportunities in a way that excites and inspires, we can improve perceptions not only amongst young people, but of their parents, carers, and teachers as well.

It is therefore heartening to see so much activity being planned and delivered with young people up and down the country during Green Careers Week.

By way of example, we hosted careers panels at Co-Op Academy Grange in Bradford, engaging 600 young people aged 11 to 13. They spoke to colleagues from companies such as Northern Gas Networks and KPMG who are currently working in roles linked to sustainability and decarbonisation.

Green Careers Week is a fantastic start but if young people are truly going to be part of the solution to the skills shortfalls that are predicted across the economy then we will need far more of this type of activity.

Stephanie Burras CBE is chief executive of Ahead Partnership.