Investing in Our Planet by Investing in People

The green sector is growing quickly, and new competencies and talents are needed to keep pace. Generation is ramping up its efforts to address the green skills gap by launching a series of employability programs, with support from the BlackRock Foundation, in the UK, France and Spain in 2022 to train jobseekers from underrepresented communities for roles in the green sector.

In 2021, the BlackRock Foundation committed $13M in anchor funding to Generation to support an equitable jobs recovery in the wake of record losses in employment and income from the global pandemic. Since then, Generation has been able to draw on the resources and employee expertise of local BlackRock offices across the US, UK, India, Italy, France, and Spain to help learners prepare for careers in COVID-resilient professions, such as healthcare, technology, and green sector jobs.

“As the world addresses climate change, the number of job vacancies in the green economy is growing. We need to ensure that the jobs growth in the green economy is equitable, so that historically underrepresented and marginalized communities can also access these opportunities, and we are pleased to partner with BlackRock in this effort”, said Mona Mourshed, CEO at Generation.

In Europe, it is estimated that 18 million people need to be re-skilled for the continent to reach net zero by 2050. And in the US, green jobs are forecasted to comprise 14% of total jobs in the economy by 2030. Therefore, the need to create equitable and inclusive access to the skills and pathways for jobs in the growing green sector has never been more relevant and pressing.

“We share an ambition with Generation to ensure that there is equitable job growth in the green sector. We believe that people should benefit from the new skills required to power the net-zero economy, no matter their socio-economic and educational background”, said Gemma Gooch, Co-Head of Global Social Impact at BlackRock.

Generation has already launched a Retrofit Advisor program in the UK, which trains program participants to help improve the energy efficiency of buildings, and soon will launch a Solar PV Installer program in Spain, and a Bike Repair Technician program in France. Additional programs are being explored as the number of job vacancies in the green economy is increasing, and the supply of talent remains low around these in-demand green skills.