UAE: Green job, an unfulfilled dream of almost 60% Gen-Z professionals

Being the woke generation of recent times, under 60% of the Gen Z workers in the UAE seek a green career —one that supports environmental conservation, according to a recent study. But fewer than half of them have ‘good awareness’ of the green roles, as new research on LinkedIn reveals.

According to the study, while 63 per cent of the Gen Z participants agreed that there are few green jobs available in the market, only 16 per cent believed there are enough training programmes that can equip them for such positions.

LinkedIn’s Ali Matar, EMEA growth markets leader, continues: “Gen Z professionals will make up more than a quarter of the international labour force by 2025, so it is time for employers to start listening to them more actively.”

It was also discovered that the core desire motivating the majority of Gen Z interested in having a green job in the next five years is the desire to protect the environment. They also agree that green jobs exist and that there are chances for improved monetary remuneration for these jobs.

‘This generation is not willing to compromise on environmental policies which align with their beliefs from their employers and decision-makers,’ Matar added.

The first avenue for them is to obtain the green skills that would allow them to do so; a task that would need the engagement of the whole stakeholders in the labour market.

LinkedIn data also show that the UAE is the second in the Mena region in terms of average green talent density per generation including Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers.

Nevertheless, Gen Z is the least-equipped professional generation to possess green skills in comparison with other generations.

Analyzing the green talent samples for each generation in the context of the UAE employment market, the results described that 65 per cent of green-skilled employees belong to the Millennial generation. Specifically, just 15% of green-skilled professionals are from Gen Z.

Green-skilled Millennials

Analyzing the green talent distribution according to the generation, it has been ascertained that the citizens of the UAE generate the highest green talent capacity in the millennial generation with 65 % of green skilled population. As for the generation of the green-skilled employees, only 15 per cent of them belong to the Gen Z.

The vast majority of Gen Zs (72 percent) are anxious about climate change, and the loss of sleep and increased stress that comes with the crisis are affecting 56 percent of the young population.