🕒 Last updated on August 22, 2025
The shift to a greener and more digital economy is bringing big changes to the world of work. Factories, power plants, and industries are rethinking how they operate. While many fear that climate action will wipe out jobs, the real danger is different. If Europe moves too slowly in building clean industries, new jobs may end up being created in other regions instead. That could leave Europe behind in the global race for clean technology.
How the green shift changes jobs
Decarbonization—cutting carbon pollution to reach net-zero—affects both the number and the type of jobs available. Some jobs will vanish completely, such as coal and oil-based power generation. Others will transform, like construction roles that now require skills in energy-efficient retrofitting and low-carbon technologies. Entirely new jobs are also emerging, such as wind turbine technicians or carbon trading specialists.
Experts break this shift into four main processes: job creation, job substitution, job destruction, and job redefinition. For example, in the car industry, old jobs linked to combustion engines are disappearing, while roles in battery production and software design are growing. Wind and solar power plants in the renewable energy sector increase demand for personnel. At the same time, activities that rely on fossil fuels are declining without being directly replaced.
Across the OECD, about 20 percent of workers are already in green-related occupations. Almost half of these jobs are existing roles that are being reshaped to fit new skills. A smaller share, around 14 percent, are entirely new jobs created by the green transition. But the changes are uneven. Workers with higher skills can move into new roles more easily, while those in low-skilled jobs face bigger barriers. This makes retraining and reskilling critical.
Patchy progress in Europe’s clean industries
European institutions have often promoted climate policy as a win-win, highlighting studies that forecast millions of new jobs by 2030. Estimates suggest that investment in green sectors could bring over two million jobs across the EU. Solar energy alone could employ one million workers by the end of the decade, while the battery sector will require hundreds of thousands of trained specialists.
But reality on the ground tells a slower story. Between 2018 and 2022, jobs in some of Europe’s clean technology sectors fell instead of rising. In just five years, Germany, which was previously a leader in the wind industry, suffered a decline in employment from over 140,000 to less than 90,000. Denmark and Spain also faced similar declines in wind employment. In heat pumps, Italy leads with around 135,000 jobs, but even there, job numbers slipped in recent years. Spain and Portugal saw even sharper declines.
Solar energy highlights Europe’s struggle most clearly. Today, most solar jobs in Europe are in installation, not manufacturing. Panels are imported, mostly from Asia, leaving Europe with fewer production jobs. China, on the other hand, has a significant edge in international markets because the majority of its jobs are in manufacturing.
Overall, clean energy jobs in the EU stood at just over one million in 2022, spread mostly across ten member states. Germany leads in solar and wind, Italy in heat pumps, and France also holds a strong share. But growth has been slower than expected, and the uneven progress raises questions about Europe’s ability to capture the full job potential of the green transition.
Why delay when it is the bigger risk?
The debate around green jobs often focuses on “carbon leakage,” the fear that strict climate rules will push industries abroad. But evidence shows the greater risk is underinvestment in green industries at home. If Europe fails to build its own clean-tech capacity, other regions will take the lead, and the jobs will go with them.
💊 Denmark flaunts 1.3% economic growth — but experts warn Ozempic profits mask deeper troubles
This risk is especially clear in sectors such as cars, steel, and energy. Traditional strengths, like Europe’s dominance in combustion engine vehicles, do not automatically transfer to the electric age. New supply chains, new skills, and significant investment are required for green steel and battery technologies. Without them, Europe may lose its industrial edge.
The last decade already shows warning signs. Despite policy targets, clean energy job growth has been muted and unstable. Where jobs have been created, they are often tied to deployment rather than manufacturing, limiting Europe’s role in high-value parts of the industry. Meanwhile, international competitors are racing ahead.
The numbers reveal how fragile the situation is. Fossil fuel jobs make up only a small share of Europe’s workforce, so fears of mass layoffs are often overstated. The bigger employment risk lies in not securing the jobs of the future. Slow action and fragmented policies could see Europe miss out on clean-tech opportunities, resulting in more job losses overall.