The Green Jobs Delivery Group created in the UK recently had its first meeting ever, led by Energy Minister Greg Hands. The Green Jobs Delivery Group had inaugural talks on how to develop the green industrial revolution. The goal of the group is to facilitate the creation of new green jobs in the coming years. The goal is to not only provide new job opportunities to British Workers but also support the transition to green energy in the UK.
The main points discussed were the following.
- Reaching 480,000 skilled well paid green jobs before 2030
- Continuous support for green jobs to reduce UK´s contribution to climate change to 0 by 2050
- Enable employers to increase the number of green apprenticeships opportunities
- Free skills training for those unemployed or earning below the national minimum wage (£18,525) annually
- Free training courses for green skills including fast track interview opportunities for local jobs
Increase in skilled green jobs to boost employment opportunities
The main objective of the job delivery group for the coming years will be to create extra green job opportunities. Green skilled jobs to reach a total of 480,000 by 2030. Currently, there are around 430,000 jobs in low carbon industries that have been developed over the last 3 decades. The government’s announcement in the spring statement with a focus on the transition from fossil fuels such as coal to renewables will accelerate the creation of extra jobs. Ambitious goals for renewable energy include the following:
- A fivefold increase in wind energy up to 50GW in 2030
- A fivefold increase in solar energy from the current production of 14GW in 2035
- 8 more nuclear reactors to increase the energy production of nuclear plants
- These developments all require manpower, from workers in the plants to skilled engineers and technicians. The government hopes that these ambitions can fuel new job opportunities
Free skills training and training courses to help people with finding a new job in the green energy sector
The job delivery group also discussed the ambition of realising free skills and training courses aimed at unemployed people and people earning below the minimum wage threshold. They can use these skills to increase their chances of being hired for skilled green jobs with higher salaries. Also for other workers, there are free training courses and options to get a fast track job application process for green jobs in their area. These measures are to smoothen the hiring process for both companies and also for the employees.
These measures should help in the creation of extra green jobs to reach the 2030 goal of 480,000 green jobs in the UK. The Green Jobs Delivering Group designs the exact content of the training and skill courses.
Paid apprenticeship opportunities for people looking to transition into a new career in the green energy industry
The UK government will also support companies to enable the companies to give more paid apprenticeship opportunities to allow people to transition into the green energy sector. These apprenticeships are especially interesting for those who want to leave their current job and transition into a new career in the green energy industry but would have difficulties paying their bills and sustaining their living costs when quitting their current job. The Group did not decide for now how much the government will set aside for these apprenticeship opportunities.
What will this entail for the British workforce?
First of all, the transition to green energy will always produce new job opportunities. Especially the targeting plan of the UK government to increase the production of clean energy will open up job opportunities in these sectors. Unemployed or looking for a career switch people could be especially interested in the transition. The governmental opportunities for training courses and fast track interviews could really simplify the job search process.
