Green jobs risk widening gender employment gap

The global energy transition could widen the gender employment gap if nothing is done to improve female representation across three key sectors, new analysis suggests.

The findings from PwC show that the move to net-zero emissions is likely to result in net job creation in OECD economies, with new green jobs in the utilities, construction and manufacturing sectors.

However, these sectors are all male dominated – currently employing 31% of the male workforce, but just over 11% of the female workforce. If nothing is done to improve this, the analysis suggests the employment gap between men and women will widen by 1.7%, rising from 20.8% in 2020 to 22.5% in 2030.

“It is clear that building a truly inclusive and equal workplace still requires significant focus and support from governments, policymakers and businesses,” said Ian Elliott, chief people officer at PwC UK.