Green talent and the skills needed for a sustainable workforce
“The foreseeable future of the workforce remains centred around green skills.
The higher education sector must strengthen the alignment between developing green workforce capabilities and the wider aims of the SDGs to create a more environmentally and socially sustainable world.”
Deborah McAllister
Global Vice-President, Climate Action Network for International Educators (CANIE)
Threefold growth needed in green skills for today’s job market
Between 2017 and 2023, the demand for green skills has grown by 3.2x (QS 1Mentor). The World Economic Forum predicts that 24 million new green jobs will be expected by 2030, driving a global shift to sustainability. However, by the same year, one in five jobs will lack the green talent needed (LinkedIn).
Green skills are most in-demand across the ‘big four’ destinations, and India, where the country’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aims to integrate green skills into educational programmes to promote sustainability.
(QS 1Mentor, QS World Future Skills Index)
Top 5 green skills growing/declining in relevancy in the last 5 years
(QS 1Mentor, JobDig)
There is a pressing need for universities to adapt curricula to better align with industry priorities
Across sectors, there are disparities in how employers see the importance of graduates with a sustainability mindset and satisfaction with graduates’ proficiency in sustainability-related skills – the skills needed to work towards a more sustainable future. There are significant gaps between expectations and reality, reflecting employers’ evolving priorities in sustainability.
(QS Global Employer Survey 2021-2025)
The critical gaps zone
Industries where sustainability is highly important, but employer satisfaction with graduates is low. These sectors, including agriculture and forestry, face pressing challenges in aligning workforce skills with sustainability demands.
Sustainability champions
Sectors where sustainability is both a top priority and graduates excel in meeting employer expectations. These industries, including education, health and medical, demonstrate successful alignment between education and the needs of businesses trying to be sustainable.
Emerging opportunities
Fields where sustainability is currently seen as less important, and graduate skills in this area remain underdeveloped. These sectors, including manufacturing and media, represent opportunities for growth and innovation.
Untapped strengths
Areas where graduates are well-prepared with sustainability mindsets, but employers place limited emphasis on sustainability. These industries, including law and finance/banking, could benefit from re-evaluating the strategic value of sustainability.
These key findings reveal disparities across various sectors
Technology, for instance, shows moderate satisfaction with graduates but low importance placed on sustainability, likely due to its historical focus on innovation over environmental concerns. Agriculture, however, highlights the opposite – strong emphasis on sustainability but dissatisfaction with graduate readiness, reflecting the sector’s urgent need for sustainable farming solutions. Engineering sits closer to alignment, with sustainability seen as vital and satisfaction with graduate skills slightly higher.
These results indicate a pressing need for universities to adapt curricula to better align with industry priorities, especially in sectors where sustainability plays a critical role in future growth. Improved collaboration between academia and industries could bridge these gaps, ensuring graduates meet the demands of an increasingly sustainability-focused world. Micro credentials and adaptive learning modules will become increasingly important as today’s generation are progressively opting for shorter courses to gain the skills they require.
The top 10 academic disciplines where employers place the greatest importance on graduates with a sustainability mindset
Based on feedback from the QS Global Employer Survey, disciplines were ranked by the proportion of employers prioritising sustainability when recruiting graduates.
Architecture & built environment leads the list, reflecting its critical role in sustainable urban planning, green infrastructure, and energy-efficient design. Agriculture & forestry follows, as the sector faces urgent challenges in addressing food security, resource management, and climate change adaptation.
Education, medicine, and art & design round out the top five, demonstrating that sustainability is seen as integral to shaping future generations, advancing public health, and fostering creative solutions to global challenges. Business disciplines like marketing, accounting & finance, and business & management studies also feature prominently, signalling a growing expectation for future leaders to balance profitability with environmental and social responsibility.
The top 10 academic disciplines with the highest levels of employer satisfaction with graduates’ sustainability mindset
Law leads the list, indicating that graduates in this discipline are meeting employers’ expectations in understanding and addressing sustainability issues within the legal and regulatory frameworks. Medicine follows, reflecting satisfaction with how healthcare graduates incorporate sustainability into public health and resource management. However, Agriculture & forestry ranks ninth, which contrasts with its high importance ranking in the previous analysis, suggesting a gap between expectations and satisfaction for graduates in this field or perhaps they have bigger expectations.
Students lack confidence in recognising and articulating their skills
In a survey conducted of 122 students registered in QS 1Mentor and 106 QS Future17 applicants, 68% of respondents said they struggle to recognise their own skills and 76% are not fully confident in articulating their skills.
To what extent do you currently feel confident in your ability to:
(QS 1Mentor, Future17)
Students need more direction in understanding what skills they will learn on their programme, when they are developing certain skills and what skills they will need for their future careers. With one in five jobs lacking the green skills needed by 2030 (LinkedIn), universities must support students in gaining the skills that are needed in today’s workforce and for a sustainable future.
Universities, industries, and governments must step forward together to tackle this challenge and unlock the potential of a sustainable future. Equip today’s learners for tomorrow’s jobs with 1Mentor, powered by QS.
A unified approach: Universities, governments, and industries for green innovation
By Daniel Kahn, QS Senior Insights Specialist
The green economy holds tremendous promise, with organisations like the World Economic Forum estimating that 24 million jobs could be created globally by 2030 and 4 million new green jobs across Europe by 2050. Yet, this potential is under threat. Current trends suggest that by 2050, half of these roles may remain unfilled. The demand for green skills is outpacing supply at an alarming rate, creating an urgent need for action.
Addressing the green skills gap is a challenge that no single institution or sector can solve alone. Universities must innovate, industries must engage, and governments must lead. Together, they can create a workforce ready to tackle climate change, transform economies, and secure a sustainable future. This is not just an opportunity—it is an obligation. The time to act is now.
With the right support, the synergy between universities, industries, and policymakers—often referred to as the Triple Helix model—can be a game-changer.
A unified approach: Universities, governments, and industries for green innovation
Collaboration with governments and industries can enable universities to act as catalysts for economic growth and environmental progress, making a workforce ready to meet the demands of an evolving global job market. Take the UK’s offshore wind sector. Collaboration between universities and companies such as Ørsted and Siemens has aligned academic training with industry requirements. These initiatives have already created 75,000 jobs, with the workforce expected to double by 2030. Such examples demonstrate how tailored education, informed by industry, can deliver both environmental and economic benefits.
Governments as catalysts for collaboration
Governments should be primed to foster green skills by aligning their higher education systems with a national green skills plan, green certification and work transition programmes, and through funding vocational training programmes and establishing public-private partnerships.
Germany’s Energiewende initiative offers a shining example. By championing renewable energy and funding collaborative efforts between universities and industries, the country has driven innovation in solar and wind technology, creating over 300,000 jobs in the process. But policies alone aren’t enough. Governments must also invest directly in education and skills development.
Download the World Future Skills Index to understand how equipped countries are to meet the evolving demands of the international job market.