Green jobs in Scotland

As we transition to becoming a Net Zero Nation, green jobs in Scotland are on the rise. Not only will these jobs help us to tackle the global climate emergency, they represent an exciting opportunity for our young people, offering higher wages than non-green jobs.

To give you a window into green career pathways, we’ve pulled together some of the key websites, facts and reports into one place.

Did you know? Our national Learning for Sustainability Action Plan has a target for all settings and schools to become sustainable by 2030. Promoting green pathways and jobs are a key part of this.

Question: How are our curriculum and qualification pathways preparing children and young people to access these opportunities?

  • Around £90 billion of green investments are underway or planned in Scotland between 2023 and 2026, mainly in energy transition, transport and construction.
  • The UK target is to support creation of 2 million green jobs between 2020 and 2030.
  • The number of green jobs advertised in the UK has almost trebled in the last year.
  • 26.6% of college enrolments were aligned to green sectors, 44.7% of these were in engineering.
  • Almost 30% of Modern Apprenticeship & 38% of Graduate Apprenticeship (GA) starts are in sectors important to net zero transition.
  • 336,000 green jobs were advertised across the UK in 2022.
  • Green jobs are growing at around four times the rate of the overall UK employment market.
  • Of the 2.5 million jobs in Scotland it is estimated that 109,000 are new and emerging green jobs.
  • Analysis of the vacancy data reveals that median advertised wages are higher in green jobs than in non-green jobs in Scotland (£29,673 vs £23,837).
  • Professional occupations are more prevalent amongst green jobs in Scotland (32.1%), followed by skilled trades (19.6%).
  • Green jobs in Scotland are mostly concentrated in the 25-49 age group (58%).
  • The frequency of green job titles among engineering job postings increased by 55% in the past five years, and the number of engineering job postings mentioning a green skill has also grown by 48%. As of 2022 there were approximately 23,000 engineering job postings for green roles and a further 212,000 requiring green skills.