Green jobs are usually associated with roles like working on solar panels or wind turbines. While those are major green jobs, that’s not the extent of it. With more countries adopting clean energy, new data shows that other types of green skills are on the rise. There are now jobs that require an intersection of skills, such as in environmental science and other expertise.
So, if you’re looking to land your dream green job or enter the sector, here are some of the fastest-growing skills that are quickly becoming in demand.
The Top 7 Fastest-Growing Green Skills
According to data from LinkedIn, the fastest-growing green skills in the United States are:
- Carbon accounting
- Drinking water quality
- Energy engineering
- Carbon credits
- Carbon emissions
- Energy audits
- Hazard communications
LinkedIn examined growth in skills added to determine the top rankings and found that listings of skills in these areas increased more than 100% over the last year.
“In the US over the last five years, for example, we have seen a 157% increase in the share of members adding carbon credits as a skill and a 75% increase in the share of members adding the skill of emissions trading,” LinkedIn said.
Carbon accounting was the highest increase by far, with a growth rate of more than 240% — well over the high percentages of all other skill sets.
Green Job Growth in Unexpected Areas
Most of the fastest-growing green skills are related to auditing and finance — two fields most people don’t automatically think of when it comes to green jobs.
“The finance industry is greening relatively quickly, with the concentration of green skills growing by a median of 14.8% over the past year,” LinkedIn found.
Additionally, it noted, “Finance is also among the industries showing the fastest growth in hiring for green jobs — those that have sustainability at their core and generally require extensive green skills. The share of hires into green jobs in finance rose by 17% from 2021 to 2022. This suggests a transition, while nascent, is underway in the finance sector where it is actively recruiting for green job titles.”
According to LinkedIn data also, the percentage of green skills also grew by:
- 12.3% across the entire American economy
- 11.7% in the manufacturing industry
- 6.6% in the utilities industry