European Network of Public Employment Services : PES support to green skills and jobs : from commitment to practical steps and strategies : toolkit.
Date: 2025-08-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Subjects: EU Member State, EU employment policy, circular economy, economic recovery, environmental protection, goods and services, green economy, job creation, labour market, sustainable development, updating of skills

European Network Of Public 
Employment Services
PES support to green skills and jobs: 
From commitment to practical steps 
and strategies

Toolkit 

July 2025

Written by Nicola Duell, in collaboration with ICF

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Directorate E — Labour Mobility and International Affairs
Unit E.1 — Labour Mobility, Public Employment Services, ELA
Contact: Isabelle Reste
E-mail: EMPL-PES-SECRETARIAT@ec.europa.eu

European Commission  

B-1049 Brussels

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The European Network of Public Employment Services was created following a Decision of the 
European Parliament and Council in June 2014, amended in 2020. Its objective is to reinforce PES 
capacity, effectiveness and efficiency. This activity has been developed within the work programme of 
the European PES Network. For further information: http://ec.europa.eu/social/PESNetwork.
This activity has received financial support from the Employment and Social Innovation (“EaSI”) strand 
of the ESF+ (2021-2027). For further information please consult: https://european-social-fund-plus.
ec.europa.eu/en/direct-management-easi.

LEGAL NOTICE

The information and views set out in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily 
reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies 
nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the 
information contained therein. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet 
(http://www.europa.eu).

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 

1 PES POSITIONING THEMSELVES IN THE GREEN TRANSITION 
1.1 PES strategies to address labour market challenges linked to the green transition 
1.2 Defining green jobs 

2 IDENTIFICATION OF GREEN SKILLS 
2.1 Identifying different types of green skills for the green transition 
2.2 Skills anticipation and informing on skills needs 

3 DESIGNING PES SERVICES AND MEASURES FOR THE LABOUR FORCE 
3.1 Training for the green transition 
3.2 Targeted PES services and Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMPs) 

4 WORKING WITH EMPLOYERS 

5. CONCLUSIONS 
Annex 1 Overview of PES’ approaches in defining green jobs. 
Annex 2 Activities by PES to address the impacts of the green transition 
Annex 3 Overview of resources for PES 

REFERENCES 

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INTRODUCTION 

   What is this Toolkit about?

A greener economy will require the 
development of new skillsets as well 
as support for workers, jobseekers and 
employers to manage job-to job transitions. 
Thus, most importantly, the green transition 
is expected to have a major impact on 
changing skills requirements1.

This Toolkit supports Public Employment 
Services (PES) to provide practical guidance 
and promote skills development for the 
green transition. PES can play a significant 
role in identifying and anticipating skills 
needs, increasing matching efficiency for 
green jobs, to support job-to-job transitions 
into green and green-driven occupations, 
to equip workers with demanded skills, and 
to ensure the green transition is fair. The 
Toolkit aims to strengthen PES’ operational 
capacities to effectively support when 
implementing fair transition policies, with 
a focus on labour market transitions and 
improving skills intelligence. 

The political guidelines by the European 
Commission 2024-20292 reinforce the 
goals of the European Green Deal, namely 

that Member States have pledged reduce 
net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 
at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 
levels and the European Commission has 
adopted a set of proposals to make the 
EU’s climate, energy, transport and taxation 
policies. One-third of the EUR 1.8 trillion 
investments from the NextGenerationEU 
Recovery Plan and the EU’s seven-year 
budget will finance the European Green 
Deal3. Contributing to the Green Deal 
features among the objectives of the 
Decision establishing the PES Network4.  

The Council Recommendation on ensuring 
a fair transition towards climate neutrality5  
stresses that the transition needs to be fair 
and calls on Member States to ‘strengthen 
the operational capacities of the relevant 
public services to provide effective guidance 
and support for implementing fair transition 
policies; in particular, strengthen public 
employment services to support labour 
market transitions and skills intelligence’. 

The European Pillar of Social Rights Action 
Plan6 highlights that unity, coordination 
and solidarity are needed to move towards 
a greener decade. The green transition 
is also facilitated by several EU financial 
instruments, such as the Just Transition 
Mechanism7 (see Section 3), the Social 
Climate Fund8, and the European Social Fund 

1  European Network of Public Employment Services, Greening of the labour market – impacts for the Public Employment 
Services, Small-scale study, 2021, available https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/a5ce471b-f0dd-11eb-a71c-
01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 
2 Political guidelines for the next European Commission 2024−2029, https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/
e6cd4328-673c-4e7a-8683-f63ffb2cf648_en?filename=Political%20Guidelines%202024-2029_EN.pdf. 
3 European Green Deal, https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en 
4 Decision (EU) 2020/1782 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 amending Decision No 
573/2014/EU on enhanced cooperation between Public Employment Services (PES), https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/
TXT/?uri=celex:32020D1782. 
5 Council Recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality, 2022, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/
EN/TXT/?uri=oj:JOC_2022_243_R_000. 
6 The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, https://op.europa.eu/webpub/empl/european-pillar-of-social-rights/en/. 
7 Just Transition Mechanism, https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/finance-
and-green-deal/just-transition-mechanism_en. 
8 Social Climate Fund, https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets/social-climate-fund_en. 

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Plus9, as well as the REPowerEU plan10, the 
InvestEU Programme11 and the Innovation 
Fund12.

Skills are at the centre of the European 
Commission agenda. Roxana Mînzatu, 
European Commission’s Executive Vice-
President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality 
Jobs and Preparedness will lead the work on 
implementing the Union of Skills published 
in March 202513. 

 Who is the Toolkit for?

The Toolkit is targeted at PES staff in 
management positions at headquarters, 
at regional and local levels, as well as 
employment counsellors and staff working 
in the area of labour market information 
systems. It should also benefit other 
organisations working closely with PES on 
the green transition, including line ministries 
and other ministries, those in the training 
ecosystem, sector associations, social 
partners, non-governmental organisations 
(NGOs), local stakeholders. 

How is the Toolkit organised?

The Toolkit is divided into five Sections:

1.  Section 1 presents PES strategies in 
relation to the green transition and 
definitions on green jobs. 

2.  Section 2 focuses on the identification of 

green skills. 

3.  Section 3 discusses the design of PES 

services for the labour force.

4.  Section 4 covers PES activities for 

employers. 

5.  Section 5 provides some short conclusions.

Sections 1 to 4 give a short background on 
key developments and challenges for the 
PES, showcasing inspiring practices put in 
place by PES in their own institutional and 
economic contexts. Each Section concludes 
with a checklist for PES on issues they may 
want to consider when developing strategies, 
producing labour market information, 
developing and implementing active labour 
market policies (ALMPs) and counselling 
services for the labour force and employers 
in relation to green skills and jobs. 

The Toolkit is based on desk research in 
202414, previous work for the European 
Network of Public Employment Services, 
inputs from the Taxonomy PES Network 
Working Group, a small taskforce of PES15 
which organised a call for practices from 
the PES Network. Wider examples beyond 
the EU are also provided, building on desk 
research16. Supporting the green transition is 
still a new field of activities for many PES, 
thus the evidence base is limited. Promising 
practices are taken as an illustration; 
however, they mostly lack thorough 
evaluations at the time of writing. 

9 ESF+, https://european-social-fund-plus.ec.europa.eu/en. 
10 RePowerEU Plan, https://commission.europa.eu/topics/energy/repowereu_en.
11 InvestEU Programme, https://investeu.europa.eu/investeu-programme_en. 
12 Innovation Fund, https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/eu-funding-climate-action/innovation-fund_en. 
13 For more information on the Union of Skills, https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/union-skills_en. 
14 Please note some examples might be not running anymore but were relevant at the time of desk research. 
15 The taskforce included the following PES: BE-ACTIRIS, DE, EL, ES, LV, LT, MT, SI. 
16 World Association of Public Employment Services, PES and greening economies Catalogue of Actions, WAPES G7 Working 
Group Changing Labour Markets, 2023, https://wapes.org/blog/2023/07/12/catalogue-of-actions-new-wapes-g7-group-supports-
greening-economies/?lang=en. 

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1 PES POSITIONING THEMSELVES IN THE GREEN TRANSITION 

PES need to respond to the various impacts of the green transition on the labour market, 
which affect different PES functions (as outlined in Table 1). 

Table 1. Impact of the green transition on PES services

PES service
Labour market intelligence

Addressing the green transition in PES services
Research (with partners) on the impact of the green
transition, such as via the development of skills forecasting 
models.

Labour market taxonomies 
and classification systems

Defining what constitutes ‘green’ in occupations and skills in 
PES classification systems.

Support for employment 
adjustments in case of
economic restructuring

Mitigating effects of the green transition linked to job 
losses, ensuring access to jobs by supporting job and 
geographical mobility and skills development.

Career counselling

Supporting jobseekers, including young people benefitting 
from dedicated programmes, to plan their career by 
providing information on present and future skills needs, 
including for the green transition.

Active Labour Market 
Policies (ALMPs) provision

Supporting jobseekers, including school leavers, to develop, 
adapt their skills, upskill, retrain and engage in the 
vocational training needed for the green transition.

Supporting people at risk of losing their employment 
through early interventions, particularly in sectors affected 
by economic restructuring.

Integrating more vulnerable 
groups and individuals
from disadvantaged 
backgrounds into the 
labour market

Providing access to adult learning, especially for vulnerable 
groups, focus on upskilling and reskilling, in the green 
economy. Provide support (through vocational guidance 
and counselling) to attract more women into green jobs, in 
particular in STEM fields related green jobs.

Support for employers

Supporting employers to better define their needs in 
their job offers. Developing skills/occupational profiles 
with employers. Supporting employers and employees to 
manage job-to-job transitions in sectors or regions affected 
by structural change.

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As a result and to address sector-specific 
challenges, some PES have included the 
green transition in their strategies at 
national and/or regional level. In 2023, 
6 of 31 PES (19% of respondents) had 
developed, or were in the process of 
developing, a strategy for the green 
transition of the labour market (France, 
Malta17, Austria, Poland, Slovakia and 
Finland)18. Other PES initiatives are trigger 

by economic restructuring or come directly 
from national policies on greening of labour 
markets and related skills development. 
Several PES are involved in work to define 
and measure green jobs and identify related 
skills. Some countries are undertaking joint 
efforts to establish a common definition of 
green jobs.

Figure 1. Share of PES with strategies, measures, and activities to support the 
greening of the economy

Source: PES Capacity Questionnaire 2023, Part 1, Q5.5: What strategies, measures, and activities are in place at your PES 
specifically to support the greening of the economy?

17 The Maltese PES has implemented training initiatives which promote the upskill and reskill of the workforce vis-a-vis the 
green transition. There is however no official green transition strategy related to the labour market. 
18 European Network of Public Employment Services, Trends in PES Assessment report on PES Capacity, 2023, https://employ-
ment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/pes-network-capacity-report-shows-latest-trends-public-employment-services-2024-05-06_
en. 

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1.1 PES STRATEGIES TO 
ADDRESS LABOUR MARKET 
CHALLENGES LINKED TO THE 
GREEN TRANSITION

Strategies on greening the labour market 
help to secure political and operational 
commitment, ensuring that services are 
supported and adequately resourced. 
A strategic approach can be part of an 
overarching strategy of the PES or a 
self-contained strategy purely focusing 
on this topic. 

Strategic approaches within PES 

Strategic approaches within PES are 
often coherent with, or triggered by, wider 
initiatives, such as the United Nations (UN) 
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 
or EU initiatives like the European Green 
Deal or the 2022 Council Recommendation 
on learning for the green transition and 
sustainable development19. Political or 
high-level support is often crucial to 
allocate resources for implementation 
and ensure commitment from decision 
makers. For example, the strategy of the 
PES Forem (Belgium Wallonia), has been 
influenced by national policymaking, 
namely the priorities of the (previous) 
Walloon regional authorities, and 
their action plan to give new impetus to 
vocational training (Wallonie Compétences 
d’avenir). 

One of the six operational axes is ‘Meeting 
the challenge of green transition’, boosting 
the sustainable development dimension 
in training plans. The Regional Policy 
Statement (2019-2024) calls for a Climate 
Employment Renovation Alliance, with 
a focus on job creation in sustainable 
construction20. In turn, internal PES 
strategies on the green transition, as well 
as wider legislation and policies, influence 
the definition of green jobs used within PES 
(See Section 1.2)

Strategies need to be evidence-based 
and, ideally, backed up by labour market 
intelligence, such as skills forecasting 
models (see Section 2.2). However, most 
PES still face capacity issues in assessing 
the impacts of the green transition on jobs, 
and thus on the skills required, and in any 
event are not involved in forecasting21. 

Moreover, recent work by the PES Network 
stresses the need for more partnership 
working to capture trends in the green 
transition22. Stakeholders such as 
professional organisations, social partners, 
education and training sectors, national 
statistical offices, and institutions with 
specific expertise related to greening can 
provide expert input, e.g. on the changes of 
skills requirements of occupational profiles.

19 2022 Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/
legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022H0627%2801%29.
20 Regional Policy Statement 2019-2024, 
https://recherche.wallonie.be/en/home/a-propos-de-nous-1/declaration-de-politique-regionale.html.
21 The internal PES survey for the Taxonomy Working Group suggests that only seven PES (of 23 respondents) monitor the 
effects of the green transition in the labour market. Four PES have a dedicated team to work on the green transition. These 
are often quite small teams of experts providing analysis at national level and/or staff working on regional levels.
22 European Network of Public Employment Services, Greening of the labour market – impacts for the Public Employment 
Services, Small-scale study, 2021, https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/a5ce471b-f0dd-11eb-a71c-01aa75e-
d71a1/language-en. 

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Figure 2. Context of PES Strategies towards green labour markets 

Source: own development.

In terms of staff, few PES (including BE-Forem, DE, EL, PL)23 have a dedicated team to 
work on the green transition. These are often relatively small teams of experts providing 
analysis at national level and/or staff working on regional levels. Some PES developed 
approaches to increase capacity of staff to provide PES services for the green transition, 
such as the examples below. 

23 Internal PES survey for the Taxonomy Working Group, 2023.

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Box 1. Staff capacity building for PES 
services for the green transition24

Formal qualifications: 
Bachelor study courses in 
Career Guidance and Labour 
Market Management at 

Germany’s University of Applied Labour 
Studies (governed by the PES) include a 
module on occupational and labour 
science, which covers the evolving 
competence profiles due to ecological 
policies. A new module was introduced in 
2023 on ‘Sustainable Work and Labour 
Agencies – Future of Work and Integration 
in Times of Climate Change’25.

Exchange and awareness-
raising: In the French PES, 
staff are encouraged to 

consider ecologic change in strategic 
partnerships, for instance via sharing local 
examples to promote the green economy 
(in partnership with other actors, such as 
municipalities) on the intranet.

Staff training: Different 
formats of staff training can 
be applied. For example, the 
French PES provides one-hour 

online training on green and greening 
occupations for PES staff. Another example 
includes the delivery of 24 training 
modules for PES staff implementing the 
Intercept project, a project targeting 
young NEETs in Malta, Lithuania and Italy 
(see also Section 3.2)26 . The modules cover 
labour market changes, work in the green 
economy and required skills.

Internal PES sustainability strategies 

Some PES have developed internal 
sustainability strategies in line with activities 
of other public agencies to raise awareness 
of green issues among staff and clients, as 
an example. These strategies (which may 
be part of the broader PES strategy) aim 
at improving building efficiency, reducing 
waste or promoting sustainable mobility. For 
example, PES Forem (Belgium Wallonia) is 
focusing on internal aspects such as: limiting 
energy consumption and better energy 
management, sustainable transport for 
employees and users, a responsible public 
procurement policy, awareness-raising and 
training.

Another aspect of internal sustainability 
strategies is to update PES training 
equipment. In Portugal, Vocational 
Education and Training (VET) Centres (partly) 
managed by the PES were refurbished with 
technologically intensive equipment to 
accommodate training for professions such 
as wind and photovoltaic energy production. 

TIP: the European 
Eco-Management and Audit 
Scheme (EMAS) supports 
organisations, including public 
authorities, to assess, manage 
and continuously improve their 
environmental performance.

24 World Association of Public Employment Services, PES and greening economies Catalogue of Actions, WAPES G7 Working 
Group Changing Labour Markets, 2023, https://wapes.org/blog/2023/07/12/catalogue-of-actions-new-wapes-g7-group-supports-
greening-economies/?lang=en. 
25 Ibid. 
26 European Network of Public Employment Services, PES support to greening of the labour market, Thematic paper, 2023, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/04ec652e-1ae8-11ee-806b-01aa75ed71a1. 

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To raise awareness internally, staff are 
also supported to meet organisational 
sustainability targets, as shown in the 
examples below. 

Box 2. Staff awareness raising for 
internal sustainability aspects27

Green Teams and 
leadership: The internal 
strategy by PESGermany28 
around reducing emissions and 

sustainable procurement includes Green 
Teams in local PES who promote internal 
sustainability, as well as Green Leaders 
who showcase green issues in their teams.

Making use of new funding 
opportunities

National and EU funding has been used to 
support projects for the green transition. EU 
funds used include the Just Transition Fund 
and potentially the Recovery and Resilience 
Facility, as well as the European Social 
Fund+ that also allows for social innovation. 
However, a challenge in using it for green 
activities is to ensure continuity over time. 
For an ambitious green transition, this type 
of measure may need to become structural, 
i.e. innovative approaches and ALMP budgets 
may need to be taken over by mainstream 
ALMPs29. 

Sustainability Champions: 
Outside of the EU, the UK 
Department of Work and 
Pensions (DWP) trains Work 

PES STRATEGIES: LESSONS AND 
CONSIDERATIONS FOR PES

Key takeaways

Coaches to raise awareness as 
Sustainability Champions, through 
collegial collaboration rather than 
written guidance.

While more PES seem to focus 
on internal sustainability 
strategies, only few PES have 
developed strategies to 
facilitate the green transition30, 

in line with national or/and EU level 
strategies, such as the Sustainable 
Development Goals, the European Green 
Deal or other EU-level initiatives. Strategies 
generally support PES approaches to 
defining, identifying green skills and jobs, as 
well as wider PES services.

27 World Association of Public Employment Services, PES and greening economies Catalogue of Actions, WAPES G7 Working 
Group Changing Labour Markets, 2023, https://wapes.org/blog/2023/07/12/catalogue-of-actions-new-wapes-g7-group-supports-
greening-economies/?lang=en. 
28 Operational implementation programme for ecological sustainability in the German Federal Employment Agency ( Opera-
tives ¬Umsetzungsprogram zur ökologischen Nachhaltigkeit in der Bundesagentur für Arbeit). 2024, https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/
datei/operatives-umsetzungsprogramm-zur-oekologischen-nachhaltigkeit_ba048173.pdf. 
29 World Association of Public Employment Services, PES and greening economies Catalogue of Actions, WAPES G7 Working 
Group Changing Labour Markets, 2023, https://wapes.org/blog/2023/07/12/catalogue-of-actions-new-wapes-g7-group-supports-
greening-economies/?lang=en. 
30 European Network of Public Employment Services, PES support to greening of the labour market, Thematic paper, 2023, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/04ec652e-1ae8-11ee-806b-01aa75ed71a1. 

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Lessons learned, considerations 
and recommendations 

Examples

The strategies for the green 
transitions (only few PES have 
strategies in place) should be 
coherent with those of other key 
stakeholders (such as other public 
bodies or social actors) at EU, 
national and local levels.

Analyse the labour market impact of 
the green transition, such as type of 
jobs affected, characteristics of those 
employees, employers of jobseekers 
affected (e.g. age, education level).

Such analysis can be applied to 
the economy as a whole or focus 
on a specific sector (e.g. jobs in 
construction) and/or geographical 
area.

PES BE (Forem) focuses on job creation31 
insustainable construction, linked to the Regional 
PolicyStatement (2019-2024) that calls for a 
Climate Employment Renovation Alliance. 

PES BE (Actiris) is focusing on specific sectors, 
linked to the ‘Shifting Economy’32 strategy of the 
Brussels- Capital-Region’s government.

PES Poland is involved in an ESF+ funded project 
‘Development and implementation of astrategic 
forecasting system for skills demand in the 
area of green and digital economy’ to set up a 
forecasting system including on green skills (see 
Section 2.2 Skills anticipation and informing on
skills needs).

Establish a stakeholder strategy with 
associations, skills councils, training 
institutions.

PES Slovenia emphasises partnership working in 
its ‘Strategy on Greening of the Labour Market’ in 
its Sustainability Report.

Support local PES in exchanging and 
collaborating at local level with a 
variety of local stakeholders, such as 
municipalities, training institutions, 
employers and NGOs to work 
towards coherent approaches to 
support greening the local economy.

PES Norway is running projects with universities 
to improve PES employees’ knowledge of labour 
markets and their capacity to offer appropriate 
services and measures to their clients33.

At EU level, high level strategic dialogues with key 
stakeholders address the green transition, such as 
in the automotive sector. 

See local collaboration approaches by various PES 
in 3.2 Targeted PES services and Active Labour 
Market Programmes (ALMP)

31 Forem, Anticipating skills and training needs in construction 2021, https://www.leforem.be/content/dam/leforem/fr/docu-
ments/chiffres-et-analyses/analyses/WCA-construction-analyse-VF-20211215.pdf. 
32 https://shiftingeconomy.brussels/shiftingeconomy/. 
33 Ibid. 

13

Promote the green transition amongst staff 
and clients via PES’ internal sustainability 
approaches.

Utilise EU funding to finance innovative 
aspects of the strategy.

At the same time, ensuring sustainability 
of funding sources is crucial to implement 
strategies towards the green transition.

1.2 DEFINING GREEN JOBS 

A definition of green jobs is needed for 
PES to produce reliable labour market 
intelligence and for the development of 
their services (for example, when granting 
employment subsidies for green jobs or 
jobs in green sectors). The need for a 
common definition is also outlined in the 
PES Network Memorandum to the next 
European leadership37. 

Five PES (BE Actiris, BE VDAB, DK, FR, NL) 
set KPIs34 in terms of internal sustainability, 
e.g. reducing energy consumption, waste 
management, sustainable mobility or use 
of renewable energy.

PES France uses the international 
Assessing low-CarbonTransition35 method, 
incorporating the Science based Targets 
Initative SBTi)36 requirements.

PES Sweden used EU funding to develop 
innovative recruitment (see Section 3.2). 
The PES worked on a mapping to define 
green skills via the Kickstart project, 
funded through React EU programme 
(p.20).

In Estonia and Poland, the Just Transition 
Fund supports economic restructuring (see 
Section 3.2). Here the PES is involved in 
upskilling to support job-tojob transitions.

There is however no common 
definition of green jobs across the EU, 
which leads PES to innovate in this domain: 
while some PES have developed their own 
approaches, classifying green jobs is also 
not part of their core mission. Defining 
green jobs is also a complex issue 
for PES. As discussed by the PES Network 
Taxonomy Working Group38, PES face 
several challenges in developing in-house 
definitions, largely because extensive data 
collection and multi-faceted expertise is 
needed. The capacity to define green jobs 
also depends on several factors, such 
as political emphasis, resources, or the 

34 European Network of Public Employment Services, Trends in PES Assessment report on PES Capacity, 2023, 
https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/pes-network-capacity-report-shows-latest-trends-public-employment-servic-
es-2024-05-06_en.  
35 The Assessing low-Carbon Transition (ACT) initiative drives climate action by enabling benchmarking against advanced, 
science-based metrics. https://actinitiative.org/en/. 
36  Science Based Targets, SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard, 2024, https://files.sciencebasedtargets.org/production/files/
Net-Zero-Standard.pdf. 
37 European Network of Public Employment Services, A PES Network Memorandum for the Next European Leadership - 
European Commission, 2024, https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/pes-network-memorandum-next-europe-
an-leadership-2024-04-15_en. 
38 European Network of Public Employment Services, Taxonomy Working Group, 2024, Internal report” Existing approaches 
on green jobs among PES”, (forthcoming). 

14

availability and resources of partners. In 
addition, recent work by the PES Network 
highlights the need to collaborate with 
employers and social partners39. 

Research, national statistical offices, and 
institutions with specific responsibility 
and expertise on greening provide expert 
input to labour market taxonomies, such 
as changes of skills requirements or 
occupational profiles.

Green jobs: existing 
definitions at international level

There is no universally accepted definition 
of green jobs, and definitions vary by 
country and depend on policy priorities or 
sector focus. The UN defines green jobs 
as “jobs in sectors that contribute 
substantially to preserving or restoring 
environmental quality and minimise 
waste creation and pollution”40. The ILO 
defines green jobs as ”decent jobs that 
contribute to preserve or restore the 
environment, be they in traditional sectors 
such as manufacturing and construction, 
or in new, emerging green sectors such as 
renewable energy and energy efficiency”41.

Approaches to defining green jobs

Depending on the Member State, different 
actors (e.g. a particular ministry or a 
governmental agency) may have adopted 
definitions, adding to the complexity of the 
landscape. Some PES have also engaged in 
defining green jobs for their own purposes.

In recent years, different definitions 
and measurement concepts have been 
developed by research. Two approaches are 
commonly used to define ‘greenness’: one 
focuses on the process involved, while the 
other looks at outcomes or results42: 

 ● The process-based (or emission-based) 

approach determines the greenness of            
production based on the pollution it causes. 

 ● The output-based approach determines 
the greenness of a product based on 
its potential beneficial effects on the 
environment. 

However, these two approaches do not 
fully consider the entire workforce and 
economy. Table 2 summarises information 
on approaches to defining green jobs that go 
beyond output and process. 

39 Ibid. 
40 OECD, Job Creation and Local Economic Development 2023: Bridging the Great Green Divide, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2023, 
https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/job-creation-and-local-economic-development-2023_21db61c1-en.html. 
41 Green jobs - ILO Research Guides at International Labour Organization, https://libguides.ilo.org/green-jobs-en. 
42 Bontandini, F. and Vona, F., Anatomy of Green Specialisation: evidence from EU production data, 1995-2015, OFCE working 
paper 21/2020, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10640-023-00781-7. 

15

Table 2. Approaches to defining green jobs

Approach
Sector-based approach

Occupation-based approach

Task-based approach

Information
Considers jobs to be green if they are found in 
sectors whose outputs or production processes 
substantially contribute to preserving or 
restoring environmental quality.

Advantage: It may be easier to target 
employment incentives in green sectors in 
terms of programme implementation.
Defines green jobs as having shared 
commonpurposes and requirements, i.e. green 
jobs contribute to safeguarding environmental 
quality in various ways. The focus is removed 
from the greenness of either the process 
or the output and turns instead to what is 
required (tasks, skills, knowledge) for a specific 
occupation to be considered green.

Advantage: Occupation-based definitions 
may be valuable for vocational guidance and 
providing information on occupations.

A more nuanced understanding of 
‘greenness’ within occupations, capturing 
the extent to which workers engage in 
green tasks. Tasks refer to what workers 
are expected to do in the workplace: they 
are the unit of work that produce an output 
(demand side), while skills are the capability 
to perform various tasks (supply side).

Further information on the advantages is 
included below.

Sources: European PES Network, Taxonomy Working Group (forthcoming For green-driven occupations; see OECD, Employment 
Outlook 2024).

Focus on the task-based approach

Few PES are looking at the task-based 
approach (see Annex 1), whether implicitly 
or explicitly. The task-based approach 
allows PES to observe the evolution of 
what workers do, both in existing and new 
occupations, helping to identify the skills of 

increasing relevance for the green transition. 
It can be adapted to different definitions of 
green and applied to different datasets at 
European, national and local level. 

Existing definitions of green skills and 
tasks (ESCO green skillset (see Section 2), 
or the United States’ Occupational 
Information Network database (O*NET) 

16

definition of green jobs and tasks) have 
served as an inspiration and benchmark 
for PES with more established definitions 
on green jobs, such as PES in France 
and Germany. O*NET contains detailed 
occupation-level information on the tasks 
and skills involved in jobs, as well as a 
list of tasks and jobs labelled as green. 
It also provides information on whether 
these occupations require enhanced, new, 
or emerging green skills. By examining the 
tasks associated with green occupations 
and industries, the database provides 
empirical evidence on the drivers and 
effects of green employment. The 
limitations related to using O*NET include 
that the findings relate to the US market, 
and it is unclear at the time of writing to 
what extent they can be applied to the EU 
labour market. 

Through the O*NET’s task information, 
researchers43 constructed a measure of 
greenness, with an emphasis on occupations 
with a larger share of green tasks: ‘The 
greenness indicator is defined as the ratio 
between the number of green-specific tasks 
and the total number of specific tasks done 
in one occupation’.

Piloting a common approach: 
PES Network Taxonomy Working Group 
The PES Network Taxonomy Working Group 
is working on a common approach to 
defining green jobs as part of its work on 
green jobs and skills taxonomies. It aims 
to pilot this common approach with both 
European and national taxonomies44. 

At EU level, the task-based approach will be 
tested on ESCO data. At national level, PES 
are invited to pilot the same methodology 
using their national classifications. The goal 
is to compare the definition of occupational 
greenness from ESCO with a definition using 
different textual corpus. 

DEFINING GREEN JOBS: LESSONS 
AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR PES

Key takeaways

Defining what constitutes ‘green’ 
helps PES to better target their 
interventions. However, 
definitions of green jobs vary 
between stakeholders and are based on 
different methods primarily sector-based, 
occupation-based, or task-based. The task-
based approach has the advantage of 
looking at tasks and skills at the same time, 
which informs evolving skills needs across 
occupations, in line with the ‘skills-based 
approach’ and the notion of skills portability 
between jobs. 

43 Vona, F., Marin, G., Consoli, D. and Popp, D., Environmental Regulation and Green Skills: an empirical exploration, Journal of 
the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Vol. 5, Issue 4, 2018, pp. 713-753; Vona, F., Marin, G. and Consoli, 
D., ‘Measures, drivers and effects of green employment: evidence from US local labour markets, 2006–2014’, Journal of Eco-
nomic Geography, Vol. 19, Issue 5, 2019, pp. 1021-1048. 
44 Seven out of 23 PES in the Taxonomy Working Group. 

17

Lessons learned, considerations and
recommendations
Collaborating with partners and ensuring 
coherence with definitions of green jobs and 
skills used by other national stakeholders, 
such as ministries.

Examples

PES France uses the definition by 
France’s National Observatory for Jobs 
and Occupations of the Green Economy 
(Observatoire national des emplois etmétiers 
de l’économie verte, Onemev).

If the PES has no definition and/or list of 
green skills, exploring the use of the green 
skillset provided by ESCO, building on 
outcomes of the PES Network Taxonomy 
Working Group’s work on green
taxonomies.

Depending on internal capacity, explore 
innovative methods, such as big data 
analysis, to identify green jobs and related 
skills.

See Annex 1 and examples in Box 3.

Artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse online 
vacancy data on green skills (e.g. French 
PES, see Annex 1, or. Finding jobs in green 
industries: methodology, developed by Nesta, 
German PES’ text-mining approach to 
identifying green skills).

Cooperation and coordination with other
stakeholders (e.g. employers and training 
providers) on ‘green’ economic activities, 
jobs and occupations to ensure exchange 
on what is considered green and to gain 
buy in.

PES Croatia is part of a working group 
to review green skills sets, PES Finland 
collects information more informally, PES 
Forem (Belgium Wallonia) interviews 
stakeholders on the impact on occupations 
and skills.

2 IDENTIFICATION OF GREEN 
SKILLS 

Green skills are the knowledge, abilities, 
values and attitudes needed to live in, 
develop and support a society which reduces 
the impact of human activity on 
the environment’45. 

A list of “green skills” can be found in the 
European Classification of Occupations, 
Skills, and Competences (ESCO)46 which 
has adopted the definition of green skills 
developed by Cedefop. From a sector 
perspective, Eurostat is also defining and 
measuring the environmental goods and 
services sector (EGSS47) which provides 
a framework to collect data on the 
environmental sector. 

45 Cedefop, Green skills and environmental awareness in vocational education and training: Synthesis report, Research Paper 
No 24, 2012, https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publications/5524. 
46 ESCO identifies knowledge and competences in over 3 000 occupations. 
47 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/de/env_egs_esms.htm. 

18

Using ESCO to define green skills 

The ESCO green skillset may provide a 
starting point for PES to define green jobs 
and skills. While ESCO is not yet directly 
used by all PES, the European standard 
terminology is implement-ed by PES in 
the context of the EURES regulation’s 
implementation, suggesting the usefulness 
of working towards a common task-based 
definition based on ESCO data. Several PES 
review existing nationally classified skills 
against ESCO’s green and digital skills or 
adopt ESCOs green skills if no national 
definition exists. 

Box 3. Use of ESCO among PES

The European Commission has published 
a taxonomy of skills for the green 
transition in ESCO. It includes 591 skills 
and knowledge concepts considered 
relevant for a greener labour market. 
Examples of green skills include how 
to conduct energy audits, measure the 
sustainability of tourism activities, and 
train staff on recycling programmes. 
Examples of green knowledge concepts 
include emission standards and 
ecological principles. Green transversal 
skills include evaluation of the 
environmental impact of personal 
behaviour and adoption of ways to boost 
biodiversity and animal welfare.

The Swedish PES is working on a 
taxonomy for green jobs. As part of the 
Kickstart ReactEU programme funded by 
the ESF, the PES is mapping ESCO-defined 
green and digital jobs and translating 
them into its own definitions. 

The aim is to create a unified picture of 
green and digital skills and make ESCO-
defined skills compatible with Swedish 
labour market skills definitions. 

PES in Portugal and Greece define those 
jobs requiring a certain amount or specific 
type of green skills as green jobs. PES 
Croatia participates in regular meetings 
and working groups on green skills and 
subsidised employment in green occupations 
and sectors (ALMP Working Group; Sectoral 
Working Group). Green skills are identified 
via an initial mapping of skills from the 
national qualification framework to compile 
a catalogue of skills necessary for the green 
transformation/transition of the economy. 
This catalogue is used to identify green 
skills and support education and training 
measures through vouchers. The catalogue 
is continuously supplemented with green 
and digital skills newly added to the national 
qualification framework and ESCO.

The green transition is expected to have a 
major impact on skills requirements and 
occupations. This will create the necessity 
to invest in training of the workforce, 
for example to employ candidates with 
expertise in working with battery cells, heat 
pumps, solar photovoltaics and wind energy. 
It should be noted in this context that, 
although the shift to a net-zero economy 
may cause job losses in male dominated 
sectors, overall projected job growth key 
sectors is likely to benefit men more than 
women48. As outlined in previous work by 
the PES Network, PES must be aware that 
the skills needs emerging from the green 
transition will impact on occupations in 
various ways:

48 International Monetary Fund, Green Jobs and the Future of Work for Women and Men, Staff Discussion Notes 2024, 003 
(2024), https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400286049.006. 

19

 ● Expansion of occupations demanding 

skill adjustments. There is a distinction 
between occupations requiring minimal skill 
adaptation within existing roles and those 
necessitating significant skill adjustments 
to align with environmentally sustainable 
practices. This is in line with the notion of 
green and ‘greening’ jobs;

 ● Growth of entirely new occupations in the 

green economy; and

 ● Decline in traditional occupations that 
become obsolete due to the twin  
transitions. 

2.1 IDENTIFYING DIFFERENT 
TYPES OF GREEN SKILLS FOR 
THE GREEN TRANSITION

Box 4. Main areas of green skills and 
competences: a definition 

The European Commission and CEDEFOP 
have identified the following five main 
areas as environmental skills and 
competences51:  

 ● Evaluate environmental impact of personal 

behaviour

 ● Adopt ways to reduce the negative impact of 

consumption 

 ● Adopt ways to reduce air, noise, light, water 

or environmental pollution  

 ● Adopt ways to foster biodiversity and animal 

welfare  

 ● Engage others in environmentally friendly 

behaviours

Identifying green skills is a complex task, 
undertaken by only a minority of PES49. PES 
need to identify new and transferable skills 
that can support the transition into jobs 
with an increasing workforce demand, but 
it is often difficult to grasp the new skills 
required and those that can be transferred 
between occupations or sectors50. The 
‘greening of jobs and skills’ is a continuum 
process, involving skill adaptation, upskilling 
and reskilling. 

Skills needed for the green transition 
include new technical skills linked to new 
energy technologies (e.g. designing water 
conservation systems), digital and data 
analytical skills (e.g. managing use of 
resources efficiently), and skills to implement 
the principles of a circular economy (e.g. 
sustainability of products and processes, 
reuse of materials). 

49 Nine of the 24 PES identify green skills (Taxonomy Working Group). 
50 European Network of Public Employment Services, PES support to greening of the labour market, Thematic paper, 2023, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/04ec652e-1ae8-11ee-806b-01aa75ed71a1. 
51 European Commission, Towards a structured and consistent terminology on transversal skills and competences | European 
Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO), 2022, https://esco.ec.europa.eu/en/about-esco/publications/publica-
tion/towards-structured-and-consistent-terminology-transversal. 

20

                               
Figure 3. Typology of green skills

Source: Pavlova, 2017 

Green skills encompass not only technical 
skills and soft skills, but also attitudes, 
behaviours and values.

Green skills enhance existing skills for 
greening all occupations and the acquisition 
of specific green skills for new green jobs 
in industries such as waste and water 
management, renewable energy, eco-
tourism, and environmental consulting 
services (see Figure 3). This indicates 
that while generic green skills and 
skill enhancements are necessary for 
all occupations to transition to greener 
practices, new green occupations demand 
additional specialised green skills. 

Some of these skills are portable from 
one sector and occupation to another. The 
International Labour Organization (ILO) has 
identified a number of portable skills to 
train environmental awareness52, including 
strategic and leadership skills, willingness 
to learn about sustainable development, 
management and business skills, as well 
as entrepreneurial skills, consultation skills 
to advise consumers, systems and risk 
analysis, language skills and information 
technology (IT) skills. 

52 Strietska-Ilina, O., Green skills for green jobs, Presentation, ILO, 2015. 

21

The green transition emphasises the need 
for training and skill transferability, with 
generic skills being transferable to many 
similar tasks (to varying degrees)55. Some 
PES are starting to look at how workers in 
traditional sectors can be upskilled to work 
in green occupations, building on sector-
related insights necessary to identify the 
specific skills needed for the green transition 
and portability of skills (e.g. Germany and 
Sweden). Table 3 presents an example from 
Spain of green competency requirements 
adding to the skillset required in certain 
traditional sectors.

Portable skills also include technical skills 
(e.g. in civil engineering) that can be used 
for different kind of energy sources. More 
specifically, transversal green skills and 
competences can be classified into53:

 ● Cognitive competencies: Environmental 

awareness and a willingness to learn about 
sustainable development, systems and 
risk analysis, ability to assess, interpret 
and understand the need for change and 
the measures required, ability to identify 
opportunities and create new strategies to 
respond to green challenges.

 ● Interpersonal competencies: Coordination, 

management and business skills to facilitate 
holistic and interdisciplinary approaches that 
encompass economic, social and ecological 
objectives, communication and negotiation 
skills to discuss conflicting interests in 
complex contexts, marketing skills to 
promote greener products and services.
 ● Intrapersonal competencies: Adaptability 
and transferable skills that help workers 
to learn and apply new technologies and 
processes required to green their jobs, 
and entrepreneurial skills to take the 
opportunities presented by low-carbon 
technologies.

 ● Technological competencies54: Quantification 

and monitoring (waste, energy, water), 
management systems (waste, energy, 
water), procurement and selection, material 
use and impact quantification, impact and 
use minimisation, impact assessment, risk 
management. 

53 Green Skills Resources, based on Pavlova, 2014, and a study of per capita, 
https://www.greenskillsresources.com/category/generic-green-skills. 
54 There is some debate about whether technological competencies can be included in the category of generic skills; however, it 
is justified if transferable elements of the technical skills are considered.
55 Rodrigues, M, Fernández-Macías, E. and Sostero, M., A unified conceptual framework of tasks, skills and competences, 
Seville, European Commission, 2021, JRC121897. 

22

Table 3. Green activities in traditional sectors: an example from Spain 

Traditional sector
Auxiliary automotive industry
Electronic components and electricians
Civil public works
Chemical and electronic industries
Agriculture
Shipyards
Plumbers

Green activity
Components for wind turbines
Components for wind turbines
Construction of thermoelectric generators
Photovoltaics
Biomass activities
Offshore wind farms
Solar thermal energy

Example for potential skills transferability. Source: CEDEFOP (2018); Skills for green jobs in Spain; an update.

Working closely with partners to 
identify green skills 

The identification of skills often requires 
extensive external expertise, and many PES 
may profit from expertise by partners. For 
example, the Estonian PES is cooperating 
with the Ministry of Education and Research 
to develop green skills curricula for higher 
education, micro-credentials, and training. 
It also cooperates with the Estonian 
Qualifications Authority, which researches 
future skill needs (including green skills), 
and with a data science partner to develop 
a skills gap analysis tool (mapping green 
skills against the labour market demand). 

Some PES work locally to gather knowledge 
on required green skills from local partners. 
For example, the Slovak PES has consulted 
representatives of individual sectors 
and industries, while Finland’s labour 
market training experts in ELY (Centre for 
Economic Development, Transport and the 
Environment) Centres identify relevant 
green skills needs. 

Restructuring in specific sectors, where 
industries enter a process of environmental 
transition, affects often whole regions. PES 
or other national agencies analyse relevant 

sectors impacted by the green transition. 
Poland’s Ministry of Family, Labour and 
Social Policy undertakes expert surveys on 
the possible impact of the energy transition 
on relevant sectors (e.g. mining), while 
France has indepth qualitative studies on 
occupations in sectors affected by the green 
transition. 

Example: France – competences 
required for the circular economy

In France, the Ministry for Ecological 
Transition has identified competences 
needed for the circular economy56. 
The applied eco-concept differentiates 
between competences, such as analytical 
competences, use of technologies and 
problem-solving skills applied to the 
production and distribution of goods, 
and knowledge of materials, physics, 
chemicals, production processes, regulatory 
issues, specific norms, public tenders, etc. 
Specialists in eco-conceptions are mainly 
demanded in combination with other skills 
and competences in the small and 
medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector.

56 Ministère de la transition écologique, Compétences pour l’économie circulaire, 2020. 

23

2.2 SKILLS ANTICIPATION AND 
INFORMING ON SKILLS NEEDS 

Both sustainability and digitalisation are 
reshaping the labour market, as highlighted 
by CEDEFOP’s Skills Forecast. High-skill, 
so-called, ‘thyroid occupations’57 (e.g. 
waste treatment and alternative fuels 
engineers) are driving innovation, while 
medium-skill technical roles (e.g. biogas 

technicians) remain crucial. Information and 
communications technology (ICT)-related 
jobs (e.g. data scientists) will also support 
the green transition. Automation may shift 
roles from production to office-based work. 
Managerial positions will guide businesses 
towards sustainable practices, while human 
resources (HR) officers will ease worker 
transitions and address skill shortages. 

Figure 4. Key occupations for the green transitions (selected sectors, experts’ 
assessment) 

Source: Cedefop Skills forecast in cities, waste management, agri-food and circular economy

could also lead to job losses, for example in 
some mining activities or fossil-fuel based 
energy production, as well as in parts of the 
automotive sector. A number of studies aim 
to project future workforce needs. 

According to the European Commission, 
if implemented properly, the green 
transition could create around one million 
additional quality jobs in the EU by 2030, 
and two million by 2050, in sectors such 
as construction, ICT or renewable energy58, 
circular economy, sustainable transport59. 
While these sectors are likely to face skills 
shortages, the impact of the green transition 
57 Cedefop names “thyroid occupations” as high- and middle-skilled occupations that invent, design, and concep-tualise green 
transition solutions (such as engineers, process designers, and scientists – research and develop-ment) and implement it (such 
as managers, lawyers, renewable energy technicians, and communication spe-cialists). https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/news/
circular-economy-step-skill-needs-and-importance-thyroid-occupations. 
58 European Commission, Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition - Investing in a climate neutral future for the benefit of 
our people, SWD(2020) 176 final, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0562. 
59 Ibid. 

Forecasts are not directly comparable, as 
they make different assumptions based on 
the type of policies implemented. 

24

 
Most forecasts predict a small net job 
creation, with variations across different 
sectors and regions in Europe, linked to 
regional disparities in economic structure. 
Some forecast examples are presented in 
Table 4 below:

Table 4. Estimates on future skills needs for the green transition and 
employment impact

Employment 
Impact
1.2% 
additional 
growth,
2.5 million jobs 
by 2030

Source

Method

European Green 
Deal skills 
forecast
scenario Cedefop
(2021)60 

Skills forecast
scenario 
until 2030. 
Assumptions 
based on
various 
Commission
communications 
on the sectors 
most targeted by
the European 
Green Deal, from 
carbon emissions
reduction and
sustainable
economy 
policies61 

Sector Impact

Skills Impact

Gains and losses 
across
sectors, 
redirection
towards cleaner
production

Employment 
gains are slightly 
more pronounced 
for some of the 
medium- and low-
skilled occupations 
(highest for crafts 
and related trade 
workers (+1.7%) and 
plant and machine 
operators and 
assemblers (+1.6%) 
and in elementary 
occupations (+1.4%). 
Among high skilled 
occupations, 
employment is set to
increase most for
legislators, senior 
officials and 
managers (+1.4%). 
Technicians and 
associate
professionals 
(+1.3%) and clerks 
(+1.2%) follow 
closely.

60  Cedefop, The green employment and skills transformation: insights from a European Green Deal skills forecast scenario, 
2021. https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/files/4206_en.pdf. 
61 Scenario assumptions relate to the achievement of the 50-55% emission reduction target by 2030, sector- or 
technology-specific policies contributing to the emission reduction target, and circular economy plans. The assumptions 
incorporate increased energy efficiency, and the cost needed to achieve it – linked to the Renovation wave, changes in the EU 
emissions trading system aimed at accelerating the renewable energy transition in road transport, and policies encouraging 
less carbon-intensive technology. The impacts of future price increases of polluting energy sources (through taxation) on road 
transport and buildings are also incorporated. Assumptions relating to the circular economy plan include increased recycling 
rates in sectors with high resource usage (e.g. electronics, plastics, vehicles) and harmonisation of the waste collection and 
management systems across the EU. 

25

 
Fit for 55 climate
package: Fit 
for 55 climate 
package: 
Impact on EU 
employment by 
2030 Eurofound 
(2023)62 

OECD Skills
Outlook (2023)63 

Projections from 
a global
macroeconomic 
model how the Fit 
for 55 policy
package affect 
the territorial, 
sectoral and
occupational 
structure by
2030
Projections for 
the Fit for
55 package, 
modelling
analysis 
comparing
different 
scenarios

Net creation of
204 000 jobs

Boost in mid-paid 
and
mid-low paid jobs, no
tertiary qualifications
required

Higher impact in 
mining/extractive 
regions 
(e.g., Poland, 
Romania),
benefits 
construction
sector

Growth in demand 
for:
interacting with
computers, thinking
creatively, analysing 
data, communicating 
externally.

Job creation in 
high-skill
occupations, 
declining
opportunities 
for
blue-collar 
workers

A switch from
fuel-based 
energy
towards 
renewable
energy and a 
structural
reallocation 
towards the
service sectors. 
Together, these 
effects result 
in changes in 
employment
by occupational 
category, in 
particular, 
towards more 
labour-intensive 
sectors.

countries are developing skills anticipation 
tools, such as Poland and Belgium (Wallonia 
region), see below: 

Examples: Skills forecasting project of 
the Polish PES and occupations of the 
future in Belgium-Wallonia 

An analysis of recent trends in the 
composition of green jobs and green-
driven jobs by OECD (2024)64, suggests 
that the net-zero transition is creating and 
will continue to create jobs that tend to be 
concentrated in high-skill occupations and 
represent an opportunity mainly for highly 
educated, urban workers who have the 
competences required for these jobs. 
In contrast, for low-skilled workers, 
green-driven occupations may not be a 
sufficiently attractive alternative to jobs 
in the rest of the economy (including 
high-emission industries). Several 
62 Eurofound, Fit for 55 climate package: Impact on EU employment by 2030, 2023,
https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/publications/2023/fit-55-climate-package-impact-eu-employment-2030. 
63 OECD Skills Outlook 2023: Skills for a Resilient Green and Digital Transition, OECD Publishing, Paris,
https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-skills-outlook-2023_27452f29-en.htm. 
64 OECD, Job Creation and Local Economic Development 2023: Bridging the Great Green Divide, 2023, https://www.oecd.org/en/
publications/job-creation-and-local-economic-development-2023_21db61c1-en.html. 

Co-financed by ESF+ 2021-2027, the 
main goal of ‘Development and 
implementation of a strategic forecasting 
system for skills demand in the area of 
green and digital economy’ is to im-prove 
the supply of skills demanded in the digital 

26

Using big data analysis to 
identify green skills: PES 
France uses text analysis to
identify green skills. On EU 
level, Cedefop and Eurostat 
set up a database on online
job advertisement to map how 
the greening of economies in 
Europe impacts labour
markets. This data can be 
used to monitor skills need at 
sectoral or regional level, but
it can also update on 
definitions on green skills and 
occupations.

Some PES have introduced green jobs and 
skills in their career guidance and vocational 
guidance information (e.g. Green section in 
France’s MétierScope, see example below, 
and in Germany’s BERUFENET65). 

and green economy in Poland by 2050. 

The forecasting will integrate data on 
green and digital skills from existing 
systems, as well as incorporating a 
function generating forecast. The 
generated forecasts will then be used to 
formulate recommendations for activities 
and policies to develop skills to meet the 
needs of the green transformation. 
They will also be made more widely 
available in annual reports.

The PES Forem (Belgium Wallonia) 
has launched a project to identify the 
occupations of the future for Wallonia 
over the next five years. It aims to adapt 
and improve the range of services 
(whether organised by the PES or another 
player in the market). Forem’s Market 
Analysis and Training Department (AMEF), 
after consulting more than 300 Walloon 
experts, published an initial analysis of 
the occupations of the future. This 
wide-ranging study took a broad look at 
the various sectoral development factors 
and their presumed effects on the 
development of occupations. 

Source: Taxonomy Working Groups answers to the PES Network 
survey. 

PES are key in managing employment 
impacts of transformation processes. While 
the complexity of defining green may limit 
the capacity of PES to provide advice on 
upcoming green employment opportunities, 
some PES are increasingly integrating green 
occupations and required skills in their 
labour market information system to inform 
training providers, jobseekers, employers, 
and local, regional and national stakeholders 
in the field of economic development and 
employment. 

65 https://web.arbeitsagentur.de/berufenet/. 

27

 
Example: Career counselling site by French PES

Source: France Travail, https://candidat.francetravail.fr/metierscope/metiers-avenir/transition-ecologique66

Gender imbalances in the green transition 
need to be more considered by PES, as 
job growth is expected in sectors in which 
women are underrepresented. For instance, 
EU-level projects such as the Women4Green 
project67 raise awareness of STEM subjects 
amongst women and girls.

IDENTIFYING GREEN SKILLS: 
LESSONS AND CONSIDERATIONS 
FOR PES

Key takeaways

The anticipation of green skills 
allows PES to provide high 
quality labour market 
information and to plan PES 

service delivery more strategically. Research 
shows that the green transition is likely to 
continue to create new jobs, but job losses 
are expected in some sectors. Hence, 
knowledge about the different types of skills 
required for the green transition helps PES 
to develop services and to inform customers. 
Notably, the portability of skills is 
challenging to quantify. In order to mitigate 
those knowledge gaps, PES can work with 
data to anticipate skills or in partnership 
with experts to gather input locally.

66 MétierScope, https://candidat.francetravail.fr/metierscope/ 
67 https://women4green.eu/project/. 

28

 
 
Lessons learned, considerations and
recommendations
Utilising research on skills needs and 
portability of skills in different sectors and 
occupations in the course of the green 
transition, or developing national models. 
This also includes understanding
differences of various forecasts which work 
with different assumptions.
Analysing online job advertisements and 
other labour market data (such as those 
related to training or qualifications) can 
add to valuable insights for analysing the 
development of skills demanded.
Using sector-related insights by partners is
necessary to identify specific skills needed 
for the green transition and reflect on the 
portability and transferability of such skills.
Supporting counsellors in informing PES 
clients about future skills needs.

3 DESIGNING PES SERVICES 
AND MEASURES FOR THE 
LABOUR FORCE

In addition to providing jobseekers with 
information and career guidance, PES have 
several labour market programmes68 in 
place to support the workforce to cope with 
the green transition. The main measures 
include training, employment incentives, 
direct job creation programme, and financial 
support through unemployment benefits and 
transition benefits. 

Examples

Cedefop skills forecast scenario, as well as 
labour market skills forecasting by other 
institutions or organisations such as the 
European Commission, Eurofound, OECD 
and ILO (see Table 4.).

PES France example in Annex 1, as well as 
work done by Cedefop

Examples of PES Croatia in Annex 1 and
PES Germany and PES Sweden in Section 
3.2.

See France and Germany examples in 
Section 2.2, use of leaflets, campaigns on 
green jobs and education.

although determining training content still 
needs further work69.

3.1 TRAINING FOR THE GREEN 
TRANSITION

Learning systems are crucial for ensuring 
that workers stay employable and 
productive throughout their careers, as 
skill requirements evolve. A ‘skills- based 
approach’, so a focus on continuous learning 
(rather than primarily qualifications), helps 
to facilitate job-to-job transitions via 
portable skills and upskilling for specific 
green occupations. 

As the main challenges of the green 
transition consist of upskilling and reskilling, 
as well as identifying transferable skills 
for job matching, the key activities of PES 
need to focus on skills. PES have started to 
facilitate training for the green transition 
(both focused on technical and soft skills), 
68 Labour market programmes database, https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1143&intPageId=3227&langId=en. 
69 Ibid. 

PES’ involvement in steering training 
offers towards skills needed for the green 
transition depends on their mandate and 
how they refer their clients to training 
measures, in a context where a large 

29

majority of PES are responsible for upskilling 
and reskilling, but most of the time in 
cooperation with partners70. Some PES 
cooperate with training providers and steer 
training content via training vouchers and 
contracting systems. Other PES provide 
training themselves. Table 5 below describes 
some of the training initiatives undertaken 
by PES.

Of course, the role of employers and 
professional sectors is crucial in training 
dynamics. A recent report71 underlines that 
training (and education) in some sectors 
that are key to the green transition (e.g the 
construction sector) is lagging behind.

Table 5. Training approaches for the green transition 

Country

Training content

Target group

Austria

VET innovative training
project for alternative
energies and
energy-efficient use of
energy. Individual
training plans are drawn up

Environmental
Foundation Programme’s
workplace-based
training

Students at vocational 
schools and colleges,
apprentices, jobseekers,
employers, individual
training for employees, 
50% of places are
reserved for women

Further information 
(delivery
models)
Climate Protection 
Competence Centre, 
a joint measure with 
the PES and Vocational 
Training Institute (BFI),
as well as in cooperation 
with employers

It provides training in 
the areas of waste and 
resource management,
green mobility, energy 
and building technology, 
agriculture and forestry.
Research, education and
counselling are also 
offered.
23 training centres, run 
by the PES for 
in-demand and future-
oriented competences in 
areas with strong
economic development 
potential72 

People in employment
and jobseekers,
employers

Belgium,
Wallonia,
(Forem)

Croatia

Training centres and centres 
of excellence – some
specialised in construction 
and environment
(Construforms, Wallonie-Bois,
Environnement and the
Namur - BW construction 
training centres)
Accredited providers provide 
training (microcredentials,
partial and full qualifications) 
based on green skills
identified (see page 20)

People in employment
and jobseekers

Voucher scheme for 
upskilling run by
the PES

70 European Network of Public Employment Services, Trends in PES Assessment report on PES Capacity, 2023, 
https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/pes-network-capacity-report-shows-latest-trends-public-employment-servic-
es-2024-05-06_en. 
71 Fulvimari A., Garaffa R., Kunertova L., Van Der Vorst C. and Weitzel M., Labour Market transitions and skills investment needs 
in the green transition - a new approach, Fair Transition Working Paper series, European Commission, 2025. 
72 https://www.leforem.be/centres-de-competence.html.  

30

Jobseekers

PES (ELY Centres) plan 
and procure
training

Young people and
jobseekers

Training courses are 
co-funded by the French 
PES

Jobseekers

Vocational Schools of 
Apprenticeship
run by the PES

Labour market training
includes solar panel installer, 
photovoltaic installer, circular
economy expert, low-carbon 
expert, climate change
expert, specialist qualification 
in the environment sector,
business security expert

10 000 training courses73 in 
ecological transition jobs with 
a focus on construction,
public works, logistics,
waste recovery, recycling

Training in smart homes
and cities, green
entrereneurship,
ecological design,
bioclimatic design, use
of new technologies,
renewable energy,
electric mobility

Training courses in wind
and photovoltaic energy
production, hydrogen
production, energy efficiency, 
electric mobility, water
efficiency, forest management

Finland

France

Greece

Portugal 

Portugal

Jobseekers and people
in employment

Recovery and Resilience 
Plan (RRP) investment 
into 55 vocational 
training centres, 31 
directly managed and 24
partly managed by the 
PES

EUR 20 million allocated 
to training providers and 
employers

Green Skills and Jobs
programme focuses on
energy efficiency, renewable 
energy, water efficiency, 
sustainable mobility, circular
economy

Workers in companies
directly or indirectly
affected by the increase
in energy costs and
jobseekers

Attracting workers and adapting their skills 
to new demand in the labour market can 
be a challenge in regions where new jobs 
are created in high volumes. One prominent 
example is the north of Sweden that has a 
good supply of renewable energy and access 
to raw materials and natural resources. The 
Swedish PES have set up a regional office 
for this transition (see also Section 3.2)74.

Evaluations of ALMPs show that skill-related 
training and occupational re-orientation 
programmes can be effective in increasing 
re-employment probabilities, particularly in 
the medium and long term. They have also 
been shown to have some effect on 
re-employment wages after displacement75. 

73 Ministry for Ecological Transition and Solidarity and Ministry of Labour (Ministère d’Etat, Ministère de la Transition 
écologique et solidaire, Ministère du travail), Press release, 14 May 2018, Lancement des 10 000 formations aux métiers verts et 
verdissants dans le cadre du Plan d’Investissement dans les compétences - France Travail | francetravail.org. 
74 Arbeitsförmedlingen, Tackling the labour and skills shortages linked to the green transition in the North of Sweden. 
Presentation by Shawn Mendes, Director of International Affairs. 
75 Eppel, R., Huemer, U., Mahringer, H., & Schmoigl, L. Evaluierung der Effektivität und Effizienz von Qualifizierungsförderungen 
des Arbeitsmarktservice Österreich. WIFO. 2022. 

31

3.2 TARGETED PES SERVICES 
AND ACTIVE LABOUR MARKET 
PROGRAMMES (ALMPS)

PES offer services to a wide range of 
participants, including workers at risk of 
becoming unemployed as a result of 
the green transition, or those in need of 

skills adaptation, employees, NEETs, and 
unemployed people. 

Target Group
Workers at risk of 
becoming
unemployed

PES services and ALMPs
Identifying sectors and workers
affected

Tools
Insight to identify transition
pathways, see Box 5 below.

Managing career transitions 
via skills assessment, upskilling 
(focus on specialised green skills), 
making sure that jobseekers can 
access other/new jobs (requiring 
occupational or geographical
mobility and skills development)

Jobseekers, incl.
vulnerable
groups

Employment incentives,
skills-assessment, upskilling and 
reskilling, matching
Job creation programmes

Recommender systems to nudge
job search into sustainable
occupations, online job matching

Developing upskilling-reskilling
programmes, including leading to
micro-credentials

NEETs

VET with a focus on new
occupations, informing on future 
skills needs

Aligning these training initiatives
with the skills demanded in the
labour market

Social 
entrepreneurs

Promoting self-employment and 
business start-up in green jobs

Financial incentives

Employees in all 
occupations

Career counselling with a focus
on generic green skills useful in
all occupations, on-the job
learning, often with a focus on
soft skills on environmental
awareness

Pathways for Careers
Training vouchers

32

PES have longstanding experience in 
mitigating the impacts of industrial 
restructuring. The energy transition and 
downsizing of fossil-based energy (such as 
coal mining) leads to job losses in these 
industries and indirectly affects other jobs 
through its impact on local economies. 
For this reason, occupational and regional 
mobility of workers and jobseekers need to 
be promoted, along with the development 
of local economies and social infrastructure. 
This calls for broader approaches, including 
using various labour market programmes 
and partnerships at sectoral and local levels.

Regions heavily affected by the energy 
transition have to cope with various 
challenges, such as the revitalisation 
of areas with persistent levels of high 
unemployment and poverty and social 
exclusion. These are best addressed in 
partnership with various actors79. PES 
activities include labour market analysis 
of affected local areas, support to local 
and regional stakeholders to diversify the 
regional economy, implementing upskilling 
and reskilling activities, and supporting job 
transitions. Evaluations have also shown 
the benefits of early intervention during the 
notice period by PES, before (individual or 
collective) dismissal takes place80. 

Workers at risk of becoming 
unemployed

PES and partners can proactively identify 
workers affected by the green transition 
and customise services to meet their 
needs, reducing the risk of (long-term) 
unemployment, via tools identifying career 
transition pathways and studies. 

Box 5. Tools to help with career 
transition76 

France’s Ministry for Ecological Transition 
and Solidarity and Ministry of Labour have 
developed Supporting Career Transitions 
website77, a tool to identify occupations at 
risk of being displaced, as well as green 
and greening occupations and pathways 
for occupational transitions. It includes a 
comparison of tasks, competences, skills, 
qualifications, and wages. 

Passport4Work78, developed by a multi-
level partnership collaboration of private 
companies, municipal services in the 
Eindhoven region in the Netherlands, the 
PES, and various social enterprises, is an 
online job-matching platform that aims to 
alleviate skills mismatches by increasing 
labour market transparency and providing 
highly personalised and gamified online 
counselling. The tool engages jobseekers in
 a gamified assessment to build their 
‘passport for work’ (i.e. an overview of their 
skills and attributes). 

76 OECD, Job Creation and Local Economic Development 2023: Bridging the Great Green Divide, 2023, https://www.oecd.org/en/
publications/job-creation-and-local-economic-development-2023_21db61c1-en.html.
77 Ministry for Ecological Transition (Ministère de la Transition écologique) https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/politiques-publiques/lac-
compagnement-transitions-profession-nelles#:~:text=Il%20s%E2%80%99est%20concr%C3%A9tis%C3%A9%20en%202015%20
sous%20la%20forme%20d%E2%80%99un%20kit. 
78 The Innovation in Politics Institute, Passport4Work, https://innovationinpolitics.eu/showroom/project/passport4work/. 
79 European Network of Public Employment Services, PES support to greening of the labour market, Thematic paper, 2023, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/04ec652e-1ae8-11ee-806b-01aa75ed71a1. 
80 OECD, OECD Employment Outlook 2018, https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-employment-outlook-2018_empl_outlook-
2018-en.html.

33

Examples: PES activities in regions 
affected by coal mining closures

To support structural change in the regions 
affected by the coal phase-out since 2020, 
the German federal government has 
earmarked significant funding to support 
the transition81. The research institute of the 
Federal Employment Agency (IAB) undertook 
a labour market analysis of the Rhenian 
region and established a qualification and 
occupational profile of mine workers (mainly 
VET-trained). One persistent challenge is 
to understand the full impact of the coal 
exit for the regional economy. The three 
local PES in the Rhenian Revier are working 
together82, with the Revier PES agency tasked 
with coordinating activities with other actors. 
The companies and employees in the region 
need advice on change management and 
transition, individual funding opportunities, 
and offers to adapt qualifications to new 
economic structures. Concrete PES activities 
in the wider region included moderating 
dialogue between key companies in the 
summer of 2022 to foster cooperation on 
the design of transitions, a job hub, and 
creating perspectives83.

In Poland, EU funding will support a broad 
set of measures to strengthen and diversify 
the regional economy, as well as improving 
quality of life in the region of Silesia. The 
Just Transition Fund is primarily intended 
to generate new jobs for people leaving the 
mining industry and related industries84. 

It supports the retraining of employees of 
large mining companies if the company’s 
activities diversify and move away from 
mining activities towards a green and digital 
economy. 

Spain’s trade unions and the government 
agreed EUR 250 million for the Plan del 
Carbón to mitigate the effects of the 
closure of all Spanish coal mines. Some 
budget has been set aside to restore and 
environmentally regenerate former mining 
sites, with former miners given priority for 
employment in these jobs. An action plan 
will be created for each mining community, 
including plans for developing renewable 
energy, improving energy efficiency, and 
invest-ing/developing new industries85.

In Greece’s Western Macedonia and 
Peloponnese regions, coal was massively 
used in production, resulting in a special 
programme in March 2025 aimed at hiring 
1 000 unemployed people affected by the 
transition to the post-coal era. A special 
pre-work programme was set up for 3 000 
unemployed people aged 18-29 to enable 
them to gain work experience in the public 
and private sector. A special team of 10 
PES staff was formed to implement these 
specific programmes. 

Source: Taxonomy Working Group responses to PES Network survey.

81 German Federal Government, The Future Has Just Begun – A Short Profile of the Rhenish Lignite Area, 31 March 2021. 
82 Rhenish Revier, https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/vor-ort/bruehl/rheinisches-revier. 
83 European Network of Public Employment Services, PES support to greening of the labour market, Thematic paper, 2023, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/04ec652e-1ae8-11ee-806b-01aa75ed71a1. 
84 Through the Just Transition Mechanism, support will be available to all Member States, focused on carbon-intensive regions, 
or those with the most people working in fossil fuels. 
85 Industriall Union, Spanish coal unions win landmark Just Transition deal, Press release, 1 November 2018, 
https://www.industriall-union.org/spanish-coal-unions-win-landmark-just-transition-deal/. 

34

Measures implemented by PES in the 
context of employment losses can focus 
on promoting the transition of workers 
to other sectors and occupations. In the 
case of the restructuring of the oil shale 
sector in Estonia, the PES is designing 
several measures to support Just T
ransition: salary grants for employers 
to shift from a carbon-intensive sector 
to another industry; degree study 
allowances to enable employees who 
were working in the carbon-intensive 
sector to acquire a new profession at 
a higher or vocational education 
institution; micro-qualifications (micro-
credentials) allowance to enable 
employees who were working in the oil 
shale industry to gain new 
qualifications86. Another example 
from Sweden showcases support for 
mobility of the labour force to regions 
where jobs are created in the green 
economy. 

Example: PES activities to support 
regional and occupational mobility
towards dynamic greening industries 
in Sweden 

Sweden is seeing new and large 
investments and expansions in renewable 
energy, especially in the northern parts of 
the country (worth an estimated EUR 100 
billion). Upper Norrland is a key mining 
region, with the extraction of rare minerals 
needed for the clean transition. A regional 
PES office supports the new industrialisation 
strategy via detecting skills needs through

surveys, spreading information about skills 
needs in the expanding industries (mainly in 
Västerbotten and Norrbotten), stimulating 
geographical and professional mobility, 
and strengthening associated strategic 
collaboration87. The PES has developed an 
analysis model to define large business 
investments and expansions.  

Source: PES Network, 2023; OECD 2021; information provided 
by the Swedish PES to the PES Network.

Support for jobseekers, including 
vulnerable groups and NEETS

PES have primarily been involved in 
implementing small-scale employment 
incentives in the context of the green 
transition88. In some cases, they have also 
been involved in their design, alongside 
line ministries and other ministries. 
Measures focus mainly on green sectors. 
Employment subsidies, for example, aim 
to support hiring unemployed people in 
green jobs (e.g. the government in 
Slovenia launched the ‘Green Jobs’ 
employment incentive in 202189, in 
cooperation with the Ministry of the 
Environment, Climate and Energy, while 
Bulgaria has had a small-scale dedicated 
employment incentive programme for 
more than a decade). 

In Greece, a programme for 5 000 
unemployed people aged 18-66, focused 
on the green economy sector and funded 
by the Recovery and Resilience Facility 
(RRF) was set up to support full-time 
employment in businesses that are active, 
or will be active, in the green economy. 

86 European Network of Public Employment Services, PES support to greening of the labour market, Thematic paper, 2023, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/04ec652e-1ae8-11ee-806b-01aa75ed71a1. 
87 Swedish PES, Uppdrag om kompetensförsörjning vid stora företagsetableringar och företagsexpansioner, 18 December 
2021. 
88 See for more examples: European Network of Public Employment Services, PES support to greening of the labour market, 
Thematic paper, 2023, https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/04ec652e-1ae8-11ee-806b-01aa75ed71a1.  
89 ‘Green Jobs’ employment incentive is an ALMP programme where only employers who have hired an unemployed person 
within a specific occupation in a particular sector, selected by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy, were eligible 
to receive a subsidy. The selection of occupations and sectors was not based on any common definition. 

35

 
An example funded by EEA and Norway 
Grants Fund which trains NEETS in green 
skills is described below:

Example: Training NEETS through the 
INTERCEPT project

The INTERCEPT project aimed to harness 
the potential of NEETs aged 25-29 in 
the green economy. It brought together 
universities, research and training 
institutions, analysis and planning 
institutes, as well as employment 
promotion agencies, from six European 
countries: Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, 
Malta, Poland and Slovakia. The project 
conducted comprehensive research on the 
demographics, trends and needs of NEETS, 
as well as the skills employers 
deem necessary for green jobs. It also 
offered a 25-hour training opportunity in 
green skills and facilitated 240-hour work 
placements with green companies in Italy, 
Malta and Lithuania. INTERCEPT led to the 
development of an introductory green skills 
training programme – Award in 
Green Jobs Motivational Training – marking 
an important step towards addressing the 
evolving needs of Malta’s green transition. 
This training programme is accredited by 
the Malta Further and Higher Education 
Authority (MFHEA) and is available for free 
to working age individuals residing 
in Malta through Jobsplus. By aligning 
these training initiatives with the skills 
demanded by emerging and evolving 
industries, INTERCEPT established a 
foundation for creating new 
job opportunities within the green 
economy. 

More information is available at https://interceptproject.eu/

Job creation programmes target 
disadvantaged groups (e.g. NEETs, long-
term unemployed, recipients of social 
benefits and other vulnerable groups) 
with a focus on projects that are socially 
and environmentally useful, without 
competing with the regular labour market. 
However, examples of the dedicated use 
of employment incentives targeting both 
vulnerable groups and the green economy 
are limited for several reasons:

 ● Many jobs in the green economy require 
skills at a medium and high qualification 
level that people in vulnerable groups often 
do not possess. 

 ● Employment incentives used in the green 

economy, for example facilitating the labour 
market transition of specific groups such as 
young people or older people, may happen 
more often but not be recorded by the PES 
as a specific employment incentive(s) for 
green jobs. 

Social entrepreneurs

Social enterprises and cooperatives also 
support projects on green transition. In 
France, regional partnerships support 
the PES’ activities to place long-term 
unemployed people into sustainability 
projects implemented by social enterprises 
(e.g. Territoires zéro chômeur de longue 
durée, implemented in some regions90). More 
generally, social economy organisations 
in France are often at the forefront of 
the green transition because their social 
objectives align with environmental 
sustainability. 

90 Territoires zéro chômeur de longue durée, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLspaQU2vIM&feature=emb_title. 

36

In Croatia, in 2025, unemployed 
individuals can receive support of up to 
EUR 20 000 to start their own business in 
the digital and green sectors. This includes 
funding to cover the costs of establishing 
a business, with a requirement to work 
in the business full-time for at least 24 
months and provide evidence of eligible 
costs. Green jobs are defined as those 
providing environmental benefits, 
assessing compliance with environmental 
standards, educating on green 
technologies, and aiding green business 
transformation. 

As a result, certain programmes were 
updated to include this content, if it was 
not already present. Following the revision, 
programmes containing digital and/or green 
elements were defined and appropriately 
marked. Out of 192 programmes listed in 
the Catalogue of Training and Education 
Programmes, as many as 48 programmes 
– or 25% – are classified as programmes 
with green elements. Programmes with 
green elements refer to training or education 
programmes that include content related to 
environmental sustainability, climate action, 
or the green transition.

The Empreende XXI in Portugal provides 
start-up funding for investment through a 
non-repayable grant up to a limit of 40% of 
the eligible investment, increased by 15% 
for new products or service in the areas 
of technology, climate transition, business 
model, among others. 

Employees in all occupations

PES initiatives focus also on generic 
green skills and skill enhancements for 
all occupations to transition to greener 
practices. For instance, PES are partners in 
programmes to support the green transition 
within a sector, such as in Sweden. The PES 
supported a regional project, co-financed 
by the ESF, providing the competitive food 
production industry with a skilled workforce 
through skills development initiatives 
and targeted job-matching91. In Slovenia, 
the Catalogue of Training and Education 
Programmes includes 192 programmes. 
These were reviewed in 2023 to target 
digital and green skills, with the assistance 
of registered external training providers. 
Where possible, external providers were 
invited to supplement their programmes 
with digital or green components. 

DESIGNING SERVICES AND 
MEASURES: LESSONS AND 
CONSIDERATIONS FOR PES

Key takeaways

PES have already several 

services in place to support clients 
during the green transition. Often 
services focus on promoting employment in 
green jobs and equipping jobseekers and 
workers at risk of losing their jobs with the 
necessary skills. 

A ‘skills-based’ approach across different 
PES customer groups, from unemployed 
to employees across all occupations, 
ensures that people are equipped with 
relevant and changing skills needs the 
green transition requires. This is especially 
relevant for transferable skills to support 
job-to-job transitions. For the unemployed, 
some PES design small-scale employment 
incentives for the green transition, and 
social entrepreneurs offer employment 
opportunities. However, skill requirements of 
green jobs are a challenge for job creation 
for disadvantaged groups. 

91 European Network of Public Employment Services, PES support to greening of the labour market, Thematic paper, 2023, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/04ec652e-1ae8-11ee-806b-01aa75ed71a1. 

37

Lessons learned, considerations and
recommendations
Identifying workers at risk and supporting
regional transitions.

Supporting for job-to-job transitions for 
people at risk of losing their job, such as via 
working in partnership with employers who 
face skills shortages, offer holistic services 
including reskilling or upskilling, as well as 
relocation services.

Supporting jobseekers, including vulnerable
groups, via upskilling in generic and 
specialised green skills.
Promoting green entrepreneurship, as 
their social aims often align sustainability 
targets. PES can support business plan 
development with a green focus.

Examples

See examples from Germany, Greece, 
Poland, Spain in Section 3.2

Swedish Relocate programme in Section 3.2.

For more advanced PES with capacity for 
data analytics: consider mapping career 
transitions.

Examples in Section 3.2.

Examples in Section 3.2

4 WORKING WITH EMPLOYERS

Employers need a labour force that is 
equipped with skills for the green transition 
and green skills shortages have been 
reported in a large majority of countries92. 
Skills shortages span a range of industries 
and sectors, with the most frequently cited 
being renewable energy (photovoltaic), 
construction, engineering, electrical 
engineering and mechatronics (in descending 
order), alongside other industries. Consistent 
collaboration with employers across PES 
responsibilities ensures that services to 
employers are relevant to meet workforce 
demand. For instance, the taxonomy by 
PES France is available to employers who 
are mandated to list the required skills for 
vacancies they post online, while employers 
are mandated to list the required skills for 
vacancies they post online. When working 

with different employers, PES may want to 
consider different segments and types. The 
‘Eco-Transformation of Industries Matrix’ 
created by the ILO (and advanced by the UK 
charity NESTA93) categorises distinguishes 
employers based on two criteria: carbon 
emission levels and their environmental 
initiatives. 

 ● Leaders: Industries that are most eco-

friendly, as they do not produce high levels 
of carbon emissions and are intensively 
involved in activities that directly protect the 
environment across the economy;  

 ● Neutrals: Industries in this category produce 
low levels of carbon emissions but are not 
involved in activities that directly protect 
the environment. They are part of the 
green sector but are not influenced by new 
climate-crisis policies;  

92 McGrath, C., Heather Rose, Souto-Otero, M., Report on Green Skills: Network of Experts in Adult Learning, Summary Report, 
2022. 
93 Nesta, Going Green, Preparing the UK workforce for the transition to a net-zero economy, 2020, https://media.nesta.org.uk/
documents/Going_Green-_Preparing_the_UK_workforce_to_the_transition_to_a_net_zero_economy.June.2020.pdf. 

38

 
 ● Followers: Although producing high levels 
of emissions, followers are also intensively 
involved in activities that are intended to 
protect the environment and could thus 
create green jobs;  

 ● Laggards: Industries in this category produce 
high levels of carbon emissions and are 
not involved in activities to protect the 
environment. 

Figure 5. The ‘Eco-Transformation of Industries Matrix’ 

Source: Nesta, Going Green, Preparing the UK workforce for the transition to a net-zero economy, 2020,

For PES, collaboration with leaders entails 
that the most sustainable industries need 
to be identified via labour market analysis, 
supporting employers via the development 
of skills profiles and job descriptions, and 
tailoring their courses to reflect this need.

39

 
 
Box 6. Working with employers to identify green skills and tailor training 

Method
Surveys and studies

Examples
PES France published a survey of 15 000 employers in 2022, 
showing that 4 in 10 employers needed new working methods or 
new skills for the green transition94.

Development of skills 
profiles

PES Sweden works closely with employers to harmonise their skills 
profile requests for workers. For example, the Northvolt battery 
factory in Skellefteå has a high demand for battery production 
workers. Both public and private vocational training providers 
support workers with the necessary skills in battery production, 
but also find it challenging to establish the skill profile for battery 
production workers (e.g. maintenance technician) because the 
profile has changed as production has developed.

Sectoral approaches

In Germany, various regional labour market actors collaborate 
toenhance VET, ensuring a supply of skilled workers. These 
networks include cooperation on identifying skill needs 
and forming continuous training partnerships among 
companies, training providers and the PES to address 
specific sector requirements. Continuous training agencies 
(Weiterbildungsagentur) serve as one-stop-shops providing 
transparent access to training and qualification offers for 
citizens and employers. Key participants are employers, regions, 
municipalities, educational providers, chambers, associations, trade 
unions, and employment agencies.

94 PES France, Recrutement, compétences et transition écologique ; des enjeux qui se polarisent sur quelques secteurs - 
France Travail, https://www.francetravail.org/statistiques-analyses/entreprises/offres-demploi-et-recrutements/recrutement-compe-
tences-et-transition-ecologique--des-enjeux-qui-se-polarisent-sur-quelques-secteurs.html?type=article. 

40

Analysis for training needs

In Portugal, within the Pro_Mov project, companies are actively 
involved in the entire training process, from the analysis of 
training needs and design of tailored programmes to the selection 
of candidates and the integration of work-based training and 
hiring. The PES supports candidates to transition to a new 
profession after receiving tailored training and mentoring. The 
project already has a wide range of training activities in seven 
different laboratories, including the Green Jobs laboratory (training 
professionals in microgeneration and electric mobility).

Since 2024 the Austrian PES offers employers an Organisational 
Impulse Consulting (IBB-Impulsberatung für Betriebe) to the 
subject of ecological tructural change. The programme provides 
HR consulting services and is carried out by external contractors 
through a standardised consulting process (four phases), which 
help to translate pressing HR issues into sustainable labour market 
solutions. Measures are designed and implemented to adapt or 
improve a company’s HR Man-agement concerning the ecological 
transformation, also with funding or services offered by the 
Austrian PES, e.g. to train or upgrade employees.

Since 2022, the Austrian PES runs the Environmental Foundation 
programme that offers workplace-based training (tailored 
training and internships in companies) for unemployed in the 
environmental sector.

Participants acquire full apprenticeship diplomas in a shortened 
training period, or those with existing apprenticeship diplomas or 
university entrance qualification acquire higher qualifications. The 
advantages for employers are that they can fill vacancies, the 
qualification is promoted by the PES and they have no wage labour 
costs during the training period (as this training is an internship).

Source: European PES Capacity Report, 2023; questionnaire responses to PES Network taskforce; PES Network, 2023.

especially as participation in lifelong learning 
is much lower in “laggard” industries (in the 
UK, participation rate of leader employees 
in adult learning is about 21%, compared to 
only 11% for “laggard” employees95).

“Followers” and “laggards” are often active 
in brown sectors, as they are associated 
with high carbon emissions. Examples of 
PES working together with “followers” and 
“laggards” are de-scribed in Section 3.2. 
Here, participation in on-the-job learning 
is key. One example outside of the EU is 
the approach taken in the UK where the 
workforce in routine and manual jobs is 
mostly composed of workers with lower 
qualifications, requiring new skills. Technical 
and soft skills described required in the 
green transition need to be enhanced, 

95 Nesta, Going Green, Preparing the UK workforce for the transition to a net-zero economy, 2020, https://media.nesta.org.uk/
documents/Going_Green-_Preparing_the_UK_workforce_to_the_transition_to_a_net_zero_economy.June.2020.pdf. 

41

WORKING WITH EMPLOYERS: 
LESSONS AND CONSIDERATIONS 
FOR PES

Key takeaways

Categorising employers with 
regards to their relevance to the 
green economy, can help to 
target PES employer services 
better. Ideally, PES should work 

with employers to implement a ‘skills-based’ 
approach by assessing skills needs and facil-
itating relevant training needs in the 
context of the green transition. To ensure 
relevant training, employers can be involved 
via setting up workplace-based learning or 
inputting into classroom training.

Lessons learned, considerations and
recommendations

Examples

Segmenting employers into different
categories to customise the collaboration.

See Eco-Transformation of Industries
Matrix96 

Collaborating to identify skills needs via 
surveys and studies, local or sectoral forums.

See Box 6. Working with employers

Building on social corporate responsibility 
willing to employ vulnerable jobseekers.

Supporting employers to develop skills
profiles for shortage professions.

The French PES involves companies 
in recruiting people distant from the 
labour market, notably in green jobs. 
The club ‘Companies are committed’
(Les entreprises s’engagent97) brings 
together companies in 200 local clubs.

PES Sweden works with employers to
develop skills profiles, in Section 3.2 . 
PES Slovakia consults with employers in 
individual sectors

Cooperating with employers to offer workplace
training.

PES Austria in Box 6. Working with 
employers

96 Ibid. 
97 https://lesentreprises-sengagent.gouv.fr/les-entreprises-engagees 

42

3   Green jobs and skills will continue to 

change and develop. Accordingly, PES need 
to constantly inform themselves or conduct 
labour market analyses to grasp  the 
changes in occupational and skills profiles.

4  The PES Network should continue to 

collect specific sectoral and occupational 
practices, as well as, for instance, good 
practices on attracting women into 
green sectors (where evidence remains 
scarce). It will continue its work on a 
common definition of green jobs, while 
acknowledging persist differences between 
countries. 

5. CONCLUSIONS

1 This Toolkit shows the importance of 

PES working in partnership to identify skills 
needed for the green transition, develop 
skills measures, and support regional 
and occupational mobility of jobseekers. 
This includes also raising awareness and 
encouraging women to enrol and work in 
technical (STEM) fields and IT, which are in 
demand for ‘greening’ labour markets. At 
the local level, PES can become active 
partners in managing small-scale 
local ecological transition projects. 
Partnerships would also include setting up 
cooperations with local key stakeholders, 
such as employers, social partners or 
training providers, to manage the large-
scale employment impact of industrial 
restructuring linked to the ecological 
transition. Cooperation with key 
stakeholders is also essential to integrate 
disadvantaged groups into the labour 
market, including in activities related to 
the green economy. Key partners include 
employers, sectoral organisations, training 
institutions, and municipalities.

2 The Toolkit includes guidance on 

identifying the impact of the green 
transition at regional and local level, as 
well as at sectoral level. The labour 
market  impact  varies  considerably  between 
local  areas,  given  the  differences  in  local 
economic structures.

43

 
ANNEX 1 OVERVIEW OF PES’ 
APPROACHES IN DEFINING GREEN 
JOBS.

Definitions of green jobs and related 
concepts used by the French PES using 
an occupation-based approach 

In France, the National Observatory 
for Jobs and Occupations of the Green 
Economy (Onemev) was created in 2010, 
bringing together a wide range of actors, 
including the Ministry of Employment and 
the French PES98. Using a task-based, job-
based and occupation-based approach, 
Onemev identified 10 green occupations 
and about 52 greening occupations 
based on the PES classification of ROME 
occupations99. Onemev departs from the 
definition established by Eurostat and the 
OECD. 

It looks more closely at certain activities: 
research and development (R&D), 
environmental engineering, and certain 
public services. In addition, the approach 
includes ‘peripheral activities’ that contribute 
to better environmental quality but less 
directly to the core of the green economy 
(Cedefop, 2019). 

The following definition is shared by all 
national institutions (and is not specific to 
the PES):

‘A green job is one whose purpose and 
most of its associated skills contribute 
to measuring, preventing, controlling and 
correcting negative impacts and damage 
to the environment. More specifically, it 
aims to achieve at least one of the 
following objectives:

 ● reduce energy and raw materials 

consumption,

 ● limit and reduce GHG emissions,
 ● minimise waste and pollution,
 ● protecting and restoring ecosystems,
 ● helping businesses and communities  

adapt to climate change.’

A ‘greening job’ is defined as ‘one whose 
purpose is not environmental, but whose 
associated skills are evolving in line with 
the need to develop know-how and to 
integrate new activities and/or 
technologies that reduce the 
environmental impact of the activity’. 
Data are gathered through a centralised 
statistical entity. In addition to green 
and greening jobs, France Travail also 
identifies ‘jobs linked to the ecological 
transition’: these are not necessarily green 
or greening jobs, but jobs that are crucial 
to the ecological transition trajectory (e.g. 
bicycle repairer - the associated skills are 
not green per se, but this job is essential 
for implementing eco-friendly mobility 
solutions).

The definition used by the French PES is 
not based on international standards. 
Nevertheless, O*NET served as inspiration 
during the development of the occupational 
classification used by the French PES. 

The implementation of ROME 4.0 in early 
2023 allowed for an enriched approach to 
green jobs, which should be in full effect 
by the end of 2024. Other organisations 
involved in identifying labour market 
evolutions in light of the green transition 
include the Directorate for Research, Studies 
and Statistics (DARES) and the National 
Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies 
(INSEE).

98 Onemev, https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/lobservatoire-national-des-emplois-et-metiers-leconomie-verte. 
99 As the PES classification does not allow a quantification of jobs, these occupations were translated into the usual classifica-
tion. This means that nine green occupations and around 70 greening occupations have been identified in the national classi-
fication system of occupations, https://www.notre-environnement.gouv.fr/site-ree/themes-ree/economie-verte/emplois/les-emplois/
article/les-emplois-dans-les-metiers-de-l-economie-verte.  

44

Source: Taxonomy Working Group responses to PES Network 
survey; questionnaire responses to the PES Network; PES 
Network, 2023.

Definition of green occupations by the 
Polish PES

In Poland, green occupations are defined for 
PES purposes in the absence of a 
nationwide definition.

Green occupations are defined as 
specialties related to broadly understood 
activities in the fields of environmental 
protection, ecology, renewable energy 
sources and nuclear energy, public transport 
sector, ecological construction, waste 
management, as well as services important 
for the quality of life (including care as it is 
broadly understood).
A list of green occupations has been 
developed in the Polish Classification of 
Occupations and Specialties, but is a proxy 
for skills and is not binding.

Work is underway to implement the 
Classification of Skills for PES purposes, 
notably as part of the project ‘Development 
and implementation of a strategic 
forecasting system for skills demand in the 
area of green and digital economy’. 

Source: Taxonomy Working Group responses to the PES 
Network survey. 

Defining and monitoring green jobs 
and green transition by the German 
PES

The Federal Employment Agency (BA) 
takes two different approaches to 
monitoring the green transition:

1) The IAB has developed the so-called 
Greenness-of-Jobs Index (GOJI), an 
occupational index that describes the 
shares of green skills and brown skills100 
relative to the total number of skills per 
occupation. It is based on the BA’s online 
database (BERUFENET). The GOJI presents 
percentages of potentially environmentally 
friendly tasks: Renewable energy 
technology, Business organisation and 
strategy; Plumbing and heating, Technical 
railroad operation, Building services 
engineering. (e.g. it enables the 
observation of change over time in 
official occupational descriptions from the 
online database). It is available at a five-
digit level of the German Occupational 
Classification (KldB2010) and is 
transferable to the International Standard 
Classifica-tion of Occupations (ISCO). The 
GOJI enables aggregation of data at 
multiple levels: occupational, geographical, 
sector, company/establishment, and 
worker. It can be broken down at local 
level to show the spatial distribution of 
greenness of jobs in Germany. The GOJI is 
updated yearly, from 2012 until the most 
recently available data. 

2) Statistical information provided by 
the Statistics Department of the Federal 
Employment Agency: The Statistics 
Department monitors three main 
sectors - environmental protection, 
energy and transportation because major 
transformation projects (e.g. investing in 
renewable energy sources, phasing out 
coal, renovating buildings to make them 
more energy-efficient and changing heating 
systems, electromobility and the transport 
transition) generally target these areas. 

100 Examples for Brown Skills: plastics processing, concrete technology, iron weaving, dairy farming and production, Firing 
(ceramics, enamel), glass melting, leather processing, steel construction, flight tourism. 

45

 
for jobseekers, or upskilling and reskilling
supports. Other PES, including Bulgaria,
France and Poland, are in the planning
stages of such activities, suggesting that
mutual learning exercises, a strengthened
network and toolkits could help PES to learn
from one another. Several countries (Greece,
Latvia, Iceland) show limited engagement in 
mitigating job losses but still provide support
through career guidance and ALMPs.
By contrast, countries such as Lithuania
display fewer initiatives overall, indicating
potential to strengthen their support
systems for jobseekers. Very few countries
have specifically developed programmes
for informing young people about future
skills needs (France, Malta) or promoting
self-employment and green start-ups
(Lithuania). Specifically, business creation
was supported if the business idea aligned
with sustainability goals.
Early intervention to support those at risk
of losing their employment and integrating
disadvantaged groups into the labour
market through green initiatives are areas
that could be explored by PES.

Source: Taxonomy Working Group responses to the PES 
Network survey;  Janser, M. (2019). The greening of jobs: 
Empirical studies on the relationship between environmental 
sustainability and the labor market (Doctoral dissertation, 
Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Fakultät Sozial-und 
Wirtschaftswissenschaften). and Bachmann, R., Janser, M., 
Lehmer, F., & Vonnahme, C. (2024). Disentangling the greening 
of the la-bour market: The role of changing occupations and 
worker flows. IAB Discussion Paper 12/2024. 

Definition of green jobs triggered by 
the implementation of new ALMPs in 
Croatia

Since 2023, new ALMPs are specifically 
designed to support employment in green 
(and digital) jobs. The PES issued a manual 
to assess whether a job satisfies the criteria 
to be considered green. Similarly, within
the voucher training system, the Ministry 
of Labour, Pension System, Family and 
Social Policy introduced a skills catalogue 
to determine whether a training programme 
is connected to green skills. The definition 
has been developed by the Croatian PES 
according to Directive (EU) 2020/852, 
together with definitions of green skills in 
the ESCO and the HKO. Croatia considers 
that jobs containing green skills are defined 
as green occupations.

Source: Taxonomy Working Group responses to the PES 
Network survey; PES Network, 2023.

ANNEX 2 ACTIVITIES BY PES TO
ADDRESS THE IMPACTS OF THE
GREEN TRANSITION

The table below provides a comparative
overview of the activities undertaken by
PES across various European countries to
address the impacts of the green transition
on the labour market. Many PES across
Europe (e.g. Belgium (Actiris, Forem, VDAB),
Denmark, Germany, Austria) have already
implemented comprehensive measures,
such as analyses of labour market trends,
initiatives to mitigate negative effects

46

Table A.1: Overview of the activities undertaken by PES across various
European countries to address the impacts of the green transition on the labour 
market

PES

Analyses of labour
market trends

Mitigate negative
effects linked to 
job losses

Belgium - Actiris

Belgium - Forem

Dependent on future
government decision
Yes

Belgium - VDAB

Yes

Bulgaria

Denmark

Plans to do so in the
future
Yes

Germany

Yes

Estonia

Greece

Spain

France

Croatia

Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Austria

Poland

Slovenia

Slovakia
Sweden

Norway

Iceland

Plans to do so in the
future
Yes

Plans to do so in the
future
Plans to do so in the
future
Yes

No
No
No
Yes, improvements still 
needed and ongoing
Plans to do so in the
future
Plans to do so in the
future
No
Plans to do so in the
future
Yes

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

No
No
No
Yes

Yes

Yes

No
No

47

Supporting jobseekers to 
adapt their skills, upskill, 
retrain and engage in 
green VET

Training offer

Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
No
Career guidance
ALMP
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
ALMP
ALMP

Career guidance; ALMP; 
information
Career guidance; ALMP; 
information

ANNEX 3 OVERVIEW OF 
RESOURCES FOR PES

Studies
Cedefop
Cedefop
Cedefop
Cedefop

Cedefop
PES Network

Nesta
Datasets
Cedefop
European Commission

Eurostat

International Labour Organisation

Occupational Information Network

PES Strategies and partnerships
Austria

Belgium-Forem

Belgium-Forem

Croatia

France

France

France
France

France

Skills forecast
Skills intelligence
Green observatory
Tracking the green transition in labour 
markets
The importance of ‘thyroid occupations’
Greening of the labour market Impacts for 
PES
Going Green

Skills-OVATE
European Classification of Occupations, Skills,
and Competences (ESCO)
Environmental goods and services sector 
(EGSS)
International Standard Classification of 
Occupations (ISCO)
O*NET® 29.1 Database

Environmental Foundation Programme’s
workplace-based training
Internal sustainability strategies focusing on
energy consumption, sustainable transport, and
public procurement policy
Project to identify the occupations of the future 
for
Wallonia
Identifying skills for the green transition via
regular meetings
One-hour online training on green and greening
occupations for PES staff
Identification of competences required for the
circular economy
Green section in MétierScope
Tool to identify occupations at risk of being
displaced and green occupations
Regional partnerships like Territoires zéro
chômeur de longue durée

48

France

Germany
Germany

Netherlands
Norway

Poland

Poland

Poland

Portugal

Portugal

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Sweden
Malta, Italy, Lithuania

Les entreprises s’engagent for recruiting 
people
distant from the labour market in green jobs
Green section in BERUFENET
The future has just begun for regions affected 
by
coal mining closures
Passport4Work online job-matching platform
Projects with universities to improve PES
employees’ knowledge of markets
ESF+ funded project to set up a forecasting
system including green skills
Development and implementation of a strategic
forecasting system for skills demand in the 
green
and digital economy
Measures to strengthen and diversify the 
regional
economy in Silesia
Refurbishment of VET Centres with 
technologically
intensive equipment for green professions
Support for entrepreneurship for innovative
solutions
Strategy on Greening of the Labour Market in its
Sustainability Report
Plan del Carbón to mitigate the effects of coal 
mine closures
Support for regional and occupational mobility
towards greening industries
Green jobs initiative
INTERCEPT project

49

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