A vision for Green Jobs in Greater Manchester
Meeting Greater Manchester’s 2038 net zero target will require significant changes across many areas of the local economy, which will only be achieved if the workforce have the right skills and competencies needed within this growing green economy.
Here at Groundwork, we know that all jobs will need to change to some extent to support the transition to a low carbon economy. We also believe the growth in Greater Manchester’s green economy can not only accelerate progress towards net zero and help address the crisis facing our natural environment, but can also deliver good jobs and careers, improve services and infrastructure and support levelling up of communities across the UK.
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How Groundwork will help make this vision a reality
We’ve been helping people learn new skills and become better equipped to access work, or further training or education, for over thirty years, prioritising those who are marginalised or at risk of exclusion from the labour market.
Our employment specialists work with young people, care leavers, veterans and people with a criminal record, supporting them into jobs, particularly greener jobs.
We provide mentoring and coaching alongside a series of pre-employment training courses (accredited & non accredited) covering three areas of the Green Economy; the natural-environment, the built environment and energy.
Every skills and employment programme we deliver includes Carbon Literacy training as standard, ensuring that everyone is aware of the climate emergency and how their actions at work and at home can make a positive difference.
We deliver employment programmes at our offices in Rochdale and Tameside, at partner sites across the city region and within a prison setting.
Over the next three years we will expand our Green Jobs programme, launching the Groundwork Green Skills Academy, where we will provide L2 and L3 accredited training courses which build on our current programmes.
Why are green jobs needed?
A new way of working
Carbon-intensive jobs will need to be phased out in order to create a carbon neutral city by 2038 but this is an opportunity not a barrier. New job opportunities will be created in a range of sectors including energy, construction and the natural environment.
Just transition to net-zero
The Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy Evidence Review from 2022 supports Groundwork’s approach to Green Jobs; prioritising new opportunities in the Green Economy to those who currently hold carbon-intensive jobs and those from historically marginalised communities, helping to deliver a ‘just transition’.
Representation
The Environmental sector is one of the least racially diverse professions in the UK, with just 4.8% of the workforce identifying as Black, Asian or from other minority ethnic groups, compared to 12.6% across other professions. We will upscale approaches like those highlighted in the New to Nature programme so that opportunities in the Green Economy are available to people from all communities and backgrounds.
Green Futures Partnership
We are a founding member of the Greater Manchester Green Futures Partnership; a group of social enterprises working together to create inclusive and sustainable green skills training and employment opportunities across Greater Manchester, supporting the city region’s aim of becoming carbon neutral by 2038.