Half of young Londoners want a “green” career

New research is highlighting how a lack of knowledge and understanding of the green and digital job sector is seriously preventing people from taking up a wealth of opportunities in the sector. 

• 50% of Londoners aged 16-25 want to pursue a green career
• 59% believe there is a current shortage of green and digital skills 
• 32% self-rate their level of green skills as ‘low’ to ‘no’
• Three quarters (76%) believe digital skills will be needed to get a good job in the future

The figures from the London Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) reveal despite half (50%) of Londoners aged between 16-25-years-old admitting they want to pursue a career in the green sector, almost 3 in 10 (29%) have little to no knowledge of what green skills mean.

Furthermore, they felt there were large barriers to entry including not knowing where to begin (42%) and feeling that they wouldn’t be able to earn enough in the field (37%), while a third (33%) mistakenly believed there were no job opportunities where they lived.

The statistics are highlighting a serious need for investment in education in London to prepare young adults for green and digital jobs and equip them with the knowledge to pursue those roles.

The industry is in dire need of recruitment with a more than a quarter (27%) of employers in the capital reporting a green skills shortage*. 

With many companies struggling to fill vacancies, there remains a lucrative opportunity for young Londoners training to enter this workforce.

To combat the issue a new investment of £6.5m from the Government’s Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) has been secured by a group of 23 further education, higher education and skills providers in North East and South East London, led by London South East Colleges. 

The investment will see current and future learners across the region benefit from new state-of-the-art facilities, along with development of new courses and qualifications, new approaches for collaborative teaching, and digital and green skills training for teaching and non-teaching staff.

It is being delivered to respond to the needs of employers in the Local London region, made up of nine London boroughs, and put local learners in the best possible position to secure jobs in the green and digital sectors.

Of the total fund, £3.6m has been carved out for delivering new green skills training facilities, including London’s first fully funded windfarm operations training centre – which is now operational – retrofit centres and low carbon training labs.

An investment of approximately £1.5m has also been made to install a new digital network, which will connect up to 30 training sites across the London boroughs. This will enable specialist teaching at one site to be broadcast across the whole network, meaning thousands more students will be able to access specialist teaching and learning from a location that is most convenient for them.

ABOUT THE RESEARCH

The research was conducted on behalf of the Local London Local Skills Improvement Fund by Opinion Matters, among a sample of 1,003 Londoners aged 16-25 years old. The data was collected between 15.03.2024 – 20.03.2024. Opinion Matters abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct and ESOMAR principles. Opinion Matters is also a member of the British Polling Council.