How Green Jobs Can Help Counter the UK’s Hiring Freeze

As world leaders gather for COP30, the UK is quietly reshaping its labour market through a steady rise in green collar jobs.

In October, the UK Government forecasted clean energy jobs would create 400,000 extra jobs by 2030, doubling the clean energy workforce to around 860,000. What’s striking is who benefits. Beyond the engineers and analysts, the Government expects sharp rises in jobs for plumbers, electricians, joiners, glaziers and other trades. Heat pump and solar installation roles, for example, could grow by up to 10,000 by 2030, electrical installation roles by up to 8,499 and window fitting roles by up to 3,999.

Shifting the Labour Market

This is all happening at the same time as UK employers are navigating something much chillier: widespread hiring freezes and hiring hesitation. Employment Hero’s recent reports paint a pretty clear picture. Small businesses have been pulling back from credit in the run-up to the Budget, which tends to ripple into slower hiring. While there was a 2.6 percent jump in SME employment in September 2025, it came after months of cautious hiring and outright freezes driven by uncertainty and cost pressures. The squeeze on younger workers as wages and inflation interact has also added another layer of pressure for sectors trying to attract early career talent.

The Hiring Conundrum

So the million pound question: Can the boom in green jobs help unstick a labour market that’s freezing up elsewhere?

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK hit roughly 690,900 full time equivalent green-industry jobs in 2023, up from around 513,300 in 2015. That’s a 34.6 percent increase and it’s coming from a mix of established and fast accelerating sectors. Three main activities make up more than half of all green jobs: waste management, energy efficient product manufacturing and renewable energy. Waste accounts for about 158,400 Full-time equivalent (FTE) roles and has grown 56.7 percent since 2015. Renewable energy has expanded even faster, growing 153.9 percent and reaching 71,100 FTEs. Low carbon transport is the fastest mover, up 181 percent since 2015.

In short, the answer to that question is yes, but only if the necessary structural support is sustained. Green sectors like renewables, waste and low carbon transport are cutting through some of the wider stagnation because they’re backed by policy, investment and unavoidable demand. 

Structural Barriers Remain

But SME hesitation is real. Even expanding green firms still face rising employment costs, tax uncertainty and borrowing constraints. If these pressures carry on, they risk slowing the hiring momentum even in green industries. That’s where government policy becomes the deciding factor. Stable incentives, long term funding and training programmes could turn green job growth into a counterweight to the broader hiring freeze.

Lessons to Be Learned

With COP30 as the backdrop, the UK’s numbers offer an interesting lesson. Climate action isn’t just about targets and treaties. It’s about labour shifts. If the UK leans into this, green jobs could become both a climate strategy and an economic stabiliser, giving workers new paths and giving employers a reason to restart stalled hiring.

Right now the transition is happening. The question is whether the wider economy lets it gather speed.