The green transition is reshaping regional job markets but a shortage of skilled workers could hinder progress
Addressing climate change requires innovative solutions and substantial emissions reductions. As OECD countries aim for net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, this transition will affect industries’ consumption patterns while reshaping job markets. Jobs in GHG-intensive industries are expected to decline, while low-emission activities will create new roles (OECD, 2023). Existing jobs will also change as tasks become greener. However, a shortage of skilled workers could hinder progress towards a greener economy and this will happen unevenly within countries because the green transition affects job markets differently across regions.
Cities and capital-city regions are leading the green transition with more green-task jobs and fewer polluting ones. Green-task jobs accounted for around 20% of jobs in OECD member countries in 2022, following a broad definition of green-task jobs (including new green jobs, existing jobs transformed by the green transition and those that have seen increased demand due to green activities) (OECD, 2024a). A more conservative definition, which excludes workers not directly involved in green tasks, reduces this share to 18% (OECD, 2023), varying between 8% and 36% across OECD regions, reflecting local industrial structures (Figure 2.3). In capital-city regions, 1 in 4 (25%) workers are employed in occupations including green tasks, compared to less than 1 in 5 (17%) in the rest of the country. In contrast, while 10% of workers in capital-city regions are employed in polluting jobs, 14% are in other regions (Figure 2.4).
Many OECD regions lack workers with the skills needed for green-task jobs. On average, across regions, the number of vacancies per employed person for a given occupation is 44% higher in green-task jobs than in other jobs, indicating higher shortages. However, the extent of these gaps depends on the country. For example, Greece shows the widest gap among the countries with regional data available, with green-task jobs 105% tighter than the regional average across the tightness of other jobs. In contrast, Australia and Finland have the smallest gap (Figure 2.5). In contrast, green-task jobs are less tight in Croatia, Finland, Norway and Sweden compared to the regional average. This difference reflects varying demand for workers with green skills as economies shift towards sustainability.
