Fourteen and a half percent: this is the share of green and “greening” professions in total jobs in France, in 2018, according to the statistical data and studies department of the Ministry of Ecological Transition. This is 1.2% more than ten years ago.
Green professions are those whose purpose or skills aim to measure, prevent or correct negative impacts and damage on the environment. They only concern one hundred and forty thousand jobs, compared to 3.8 million for so-called “greening” jobs: the latter have in common the integration of new skills to take the environmental dimension into the actions of the profession. The figures are slowly increasing, proof that the “greening” of work takes time, and sometimes requires a change of culture in certain sectors.
In their contribution to the scientific mediation project “What do we know about work?” ” of Interdisciplinary laboratory for public policy evaluation (Liepp), broadcast in collaboration with Presses de Sciences Po on the site’s employment channel Lemonde.fr., the labor economist Nathalie Moncel and the sociologist and anthropologist of work Liza Baghioni, both members of the Labor Employment Professionalization Department (DTEP) of the Center for Studies and Research on Qualifications (Céreq), list the public policies and bodies seeking to anticipate and measure the effects of the ecological transition on employment.
They come to the conclusion that the different nomenclatures – green professions, “eco-activities” etc. – are not satisfactory, since they take into account all the workforce in a category without looking at the actual environmental purpose of each of the professions. .
Lack of upheaval
The numerical estimates still converge on one point: even in the medium term, the ecological transition will not lead to upheavals in the labor market. By 2030, only 200,000 to 500,000 additional jobs will be created, depending on the scenarios. Some sectors remain massively affected, such as construction, which will see 100,000 to 200,000 new jobs, while transport and carbon-based industries will tend to lose workforce.
Researchers are interested in the transformations observed in professions and activities, and the need for the transfer of skills between them. It is more a hybridization of existing qualifications than the appearance of new professions. Since then, “it is the training and support systems for professional transitions that are put at the forefront to ensure a fair and effective ecological transition”they write.
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