Businesses across sectors are rapidly reshaping their hiring priorities, and sustainability skills are now at the centre of that shift. LinkedIn’s Climate Talent Stocktake 2025 reveals that workers with green skills are 46.6 percent more likely to be hired than the global average. On top of that, more than half are stepping into roles outside traditional energy or sustainability functions. The message is clear: green skills have become core business skills, and organisations are competing for talent that can navigate risk, compliance, efficiency, and innovation. Keep reading as we delve deeper into the findings from the report and what they mean for the corporate sustainability landscape.
Green skills are now in demand far beyond sustainability roles
One of the most striking findings from LinkedIn’s new report is the broadening scope of demand. For the first time since the Stocktake began in 2021, over half of recently hired professionals with green skills moved into roles not historically associated with sustainability.
These include:
- Supply chain and procurement
- Financial analysis and reporting
- Software engineering and digital product development
This shift demonstrates how sustainability is no longer confined to specialist teams; it is embedded in cost control, regulatory alignment, product design, supplier management, and operational decision-making.
As LinkedIn’s workforce and climate policy partnerships lead, Efrem Bycer, explains: “The usefulness of these skills extends far beyond reaching climate commitments to managing risk, mitigating costs, finding efficiency, promoting resilience and driving innovation.”
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Workers want climate-related roles, but feel blocked by limited training
As part of LinkedIn’s Climate Talent Stocktake 2025, a poll of platform users revealed strong employee appetite for climate-aligned work, with two-fifths of respondents saying they would like a job contributing to the energy transition. Yet almost half reported feeling unable to access the training required for such a role.
This highlights a structural challenge: organisations increasingly expect employees to contribute to sustainability goals, but many have no clear pathway for building those competencies internally.
Another notable finding explains why employers value this talent. Businesses are not only seeking technical sustainability skills; they also view green-skilled professionals as having highly transferable capabilities such as:
- Adaptability
- Project management
- Critical thinking
- Systems thinking
- Conflict management
This indicates that green-skilled workers are perceived as strategically minded, change-ready, and able to work across functions, qualities essential for operating in today’s complex regulatory and organisational environments.
Conclusion
LinkedIn’s analysis reinforces a broader trend: sustainability capabilities are becoming essential across all business functions, from supply chain to finance to technology. Yet the demand-supply gap shows that businesses cannot rely on the existing talent market to fill these roles.
To stay competitive and compliant, organisations now need structured, accessible, and role-specific upskilling. The data is clear: demand for green skills is accelerating far faster than supply, and the businesses that act early will secure the talent, resilience, and innovation capacity needed for the years ahead.
At ISS, our corporate sustainability training courses are built to bridge this gap. We equip teams with practical, actionable skills directly aligned to emerging market needs. Explore our enterprise training solutions today and start preparing your organisation for 2026 requirements and beyond.
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