Spain faces the environmental transition process with a deficit of a million young people in green occupations, as reflected in the report Vocational Training facing the challenges of environmental sustainability in Spainprepared and presented this Tuesday by CaixaBank Dualiza and Orkestra- Basque Institute of Competitiveness. The study, which analyzes the country’s challenges in terms of sustainability, carries out an analysis of the composition of the labor market in order to respond to these challenges.
The analysis has confirmed the existence of 502 occupations, of which a total of 117 would be classified as green. To do this, it is taken into account that they are related to or have a high potential in improving resource and energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preserving biodiversity or restoring ecosystems. With this division, you can also see which are the sectors with the largest population employed in green occupations.
Of all the occupations analyzed, there are only four where more than half of the professionals are green (Agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing; Water supply and sanitation activities; Information and communications; and Supply of electrical energy, gas, steam and air-conditioning). According to the study, this shows “the need to gradually increase green occupations.” Furthermore, the number of people employed in these sectors amounts to 1,751,695.
Globally, in all sectors, more than 1,830,000 people are over 50 years old, while only 830,000 are between 15 and 29 years old: “This shows that gap of more than a million young people needed to face the relief with guarantees.” The research ensures that this generational gap “affects practically all productive sectors.”
By taking the set of sectors as a reference and focusing on the 117 green professions, the researchers have analyzed which studies are essential to develop them and conclude that 71 of them are linked to the FP (41 Intermediate Degree and 30 Higher Degree), while 38 would correspond to the university level. The rest would be elementary, low-skilled occupations.
The weight of Vocational Training
This analysis has made it possible to determine what weight certain educational modalities have when it comes to contributing to the environmental transition. Thus, the study reflects that FP “will be fundamental” in this process because people with these studies who carry out green occupations represent a high percentage in some sectors such as construction (35.2%); information and communication (34.7%) or manufacturing industry (34.5%).
It also points out that FP is one of the main providers of talent in the labor market, since 24.6% of the employed population has this level of education. “LVET is crucial to update knowledge, skills and abilitiesboth of young people and of employed people,” the report states.
Within these studies, the weight of environmental sustainability has also been investigated and the experts have seen how of the 181 training cycles in Spain, with enrollment in both LOE and LOGSE, at least 60 would be “fundamental to be able to face this green transitionby training professionals who carry out priority green occupations”.
Despite representing only a third of the total number of existing cycles, the number of students enrolled in them represents more than 41% of the total number of students enrolled in FP. In figures, Students enrolled in green cycles last year would amount to 413,253, almost two thirds of all Higher Grade students and a third of Intermediate Grade students. This figure represents an increase of almost 74% compared to those enrolled a decade ago, when there were 237,079.
The greater interest in vocational training studies and, specifically, in green cycles has had a direct reflection in the certification of technicians, which, in the last available academic year, 2021-22, reached 111,557. This is 94% more than in 2013-14when there were 57,497 and, therefore, a direct reflection also on the labor market.
In that market, the latest data indicate that, in 2023, Spain had 1,548,031 VET professionals in green occupations41.8% more than in 2014, having grown at an average of 4% annually. If the trend continues in the same way, that number could exceed two million by 2035 and rise to 2,059,163.
Furthermore, the study has also updated the employment opportunities that will be generated in the next decade2025-35, concluding that there will be 12,036,637, of which 3,322,770 will be for FP technicians. “Green employment will have an important weight in this generation of employment since, both globally and in vocational training opportunities, it is estimated that almost one in three opportunities would be potentially green,” the report concludes.