The grey shades of green jobs: Unpacking the occupational approach to green employment
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The green transition is expected to reshape labor markets, yet measuring its impact remains uncertain. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the occupational approach (derived from task-based measures) for estimating green employment, the most widespread framework among academics and institutions. First, we highlight the theoretical flaws of the occupational approach, noting that its reliance on occupational titles leads to false positives and excludes essential contributors to the green transition, resulting in false negatives. Second, we discuss the methodological problems of this approach, including inconsistent categorizations, arbitrary task definitions, outdated classifications, and the assumption that the content of occupations remains constant across time and countries. Third, we operationalise the occupational approach to measure green employment (the O*NET framework), quantifying green employment in 24 European countries between 2011-2022. The analysis shows that, according to this approach, virtually no new green jobs were created in Europe. Furthermore, we find no correlation between the presence of green jobs and several aggregate and sectoral environmental indicators. These findings reflect the theoretical and methodological flaws in the occupational approach, rendering it unsuitable for measuring the labor market impact of the green transition. Alternative measures focused on green economic outputs and processes should be considered.
Source: Ecological Economics
Authors: Davide Villani, Enrique Fernández-Macías, Ignacio González-Vázquez, Vesna Oshafi
Institutions: European Commission, Joint Research Center
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,730
OpenAlex ID: W7093312430