Green Collar Work: Implications for Career Development

Abstract

Despite widespread evidence that green-collar work is increasingly sought as a career pathway, it remains largely undifferentiated in job descriptions and recruitment sites, leaving environmentally oriented school-to-work, and just transitions, underserved. Digital Recruitment Platforms provide databases for the analysis of green-related knowledge skills, abilities and other characteristics by job seekers and career counselors. A frequency analysis of job needs and opportunities on a New Zealand digital recruitment site was conducted in December 2024. In terms of content, a diverse range of green roles was differentiated in terms of adjacent green collar work (existing and generic skills in sustainability-oriented work contexts) and core green collar work (output or process based green work, that may be direct or indirect).In terms of process a context-sensitive protocol is described, which is potentially transferable to aid just transitions; to help meet CSR obligations for organizations, and to inform workforce planning for governments and multilateral institutions.