Companies and educational groups throughout the UK are ramping up training programs to close the widening green skills gap, as demand surges for workers in renewable energy. Across Europe, over 1 million solar workers will be needed in the next seven years, and in the UK alone PwC forecasts the need for 66,000 new heating engineers and insulation specialists every year to reach 2030’s renewable energy targets. Yet, new research suggests that sustainability training is not exclusively needed in the renewable energy sector, but for all UK business’s bottom line across the board. In light of this, a proprietary report from the nation’s leading corporate sustainability platform, SaveMoneyCutCarbon, highlights the central importance of sustainability to staff satisfaction and retention with nearly one in five (19%) UK employees now actively refusing to apply to join companies that are not truly sustainable.

A new study from Trade Union, Prospects, found that more than a third of workers reported that specialist tasks are now assigned to untrained staff due to the reduction in expertise, as SaveMoneyCutCarbon’s study demonstrates insufficient funding with only 18% of UK employees saying that sustainability is central to training processes at their place of work. Additionally, the trade union found that 37% of respondents identified government policy as the main obstacle to achieving net-zero emissions with economic factors, reluctance to change, and limited resources also cited as barriers. The stats correspond with that of the sustainability consultants data which show that over 7.3m business owners say the survival of their business is now under threat due to a lack of government support.

The new national studies reflect the growing importance of climate change to our modern-day workforce and outline actionable ways for companies, business leaders, and decision-makers to redirect focus to ensure collective commitment to climate action.