Study: Workplaces do not sufficiently anticipate the competence needs of the green transition

The employee survey of The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health shows that the green transition has already changed work tasks, work content and competence needs. However, workplaces have yet to systematically map out what new skills the green transition requires from employees and how the skills should be strengthened.

In addition, promoting green competence at workplaces is still quite rare. Only one in five respondents reported that their workplace organises training that is open to everyone and one in ten had participated in such training themselves. The opportunities for developing competence vary based on the sector, the size of the organisation, educational background and, in part, gender and age.

"Promoting the green transition is also a question of competence. Current measures are insufficient to achieve the objectives. Moreover, the measures are unevenly distributed and do not support a just transition," says Sara Malve-Ahlroth, Senior Specialist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

There are big differences in the anticipation of competence needs in different sectors

The most opportunities for competence development offered by employers were reported in manufacturing and construction, technical and logistical services, and public administration and parishes. There were also differences in the anticipation of competence needs: employees in the technical and logistics sectors reported the most (18%) and employees in the social welfare and health care sectors reported the least (5%).  

The results also support previous research findings showing that organisation-driven development of green competence is more common in male-dominated technical and industrial sectors and that employees themselves are less engaged with it. On the other hand, in the predominantly female social welfare and education sectors, employees are on average more interested in green competence and take more responsibility for the development of their work, but there is less organisation-driven development.

Young and less educated people receive less support than others

According to the survey, large organisations offer more opportunities for competence development than smaller ones, and people with a higher education degree have better development opportunities than others.

Employees under the age of 30 participated the least in all the forms of competence development mentioned in the survey. Only 5 per cent of them participated in open training and 4 per cent in training aimed at limited groups.

"The low level of participation among young adults is an important observation. If employees at the beginning of their careers have no access to the development of organisational green competence, the competence and abilities to respond to changes in the work may become unevenly distributed already at an early stage," says Meeri Karvinen, Specialist Researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

Competence development relies too much on informal learning

According to the study, most of the learning related to the green transition takes place informally through interaction within the work community and in connection with changes in work tasks, and participation in formal training is rare. Additionally, not all employees are aware of what support is available, and support may only be targeted at certain groups within the organisation.  

The results indicate that the engagement in competence development both at work and in free time is partly accumulated to the same people. This shows that currently employees’ own interest in environmental issues plays a major role in promoting the green transition.

"Promoting the green transition cannot be based solely on the employees’ own interests. Workplaces need more systematic mapping of green competence, a more diverse training offering and stronger support for learning at work," Malve-Ahlroth says.

Read the report

• See the report in Julkari (in Finnish): Vihreän siirtymän osaaminen ja oppiminen työpaikoilla: Työntekijöiden näkemyksiä työn muuttumisesta ja osaamisen kehittämisestä

Information about the study

• The Climate Change and Work employee surveys were carried out in 2022 and 2025. This study examines the results of the 2025 survey on employees’ views on competencies related to the green transition in the workplace.  
• Project page: Understanding and supporting the digital and green transition as part of well-being at work

Further information

• Sara Malve-Ahlroth, Senior Specialist, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, sara.malve-ahlroth@ttl.fi, +358 50 527 8625
• Meeri Karvinen, Specialist Researcher, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, meeri.karvinen@ttl.fi, +358 50 472 0424