The Alliance seeks to bring opportunities for more people to thrive at work through the growing green jobs labour market, with more jobs for people across social housing communities.
The Alliance presents an opportunity to link the social housing sector with the education and skills sector and the Government at national, departmental, and devolved levels.
The ambition of the Warm Homes Plan will only be met if the workforce required to deliver it is in place.
The drive for sustainability in social housing has increased the need for green skills that support environmentally sustainable practices across energy efficiency, renewable energy installation, waste reduction, and sustainable construction.
Reskilling existing employees and creating accessible pathways to work programmes for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, like social housing tenants, are often cited as crucial yet under-addressed areas. Workforce development hasn't kept pace with the rapid demand for green skills and 'green' jobs. This mismatch is growing as industries scale up their decarbonisation efforts, risking bottlenecks in project delivery and potentially driving up costs due to labour shortages.
Without more coordinated efforts across the public, private, and educational sectors, the green skills gap may continue to slow the transition to net-zero and impede social mobility gains that could result from greater green job access.
The DWP has stated that its goal is to be 'the HR department' for the Government's Growth Mission. This goal means that people here now will be needed to enter the workforce and fill jobs. And that further workforce is available to back-fill, enable movement of people between sectors, and support career changers, new entrants, returners and starters from people currently outside of the labour force but of working age (in ONS terms: the economically inactive).
Green skills are essential for social housing tenants and public sector organisations as they align environmental goals with economic empowerment. For tenants, green skills training provides a pathway to stable, growing careers focused on sustainable practices such as energy efficiency, retrofitting, and renewable energy installation. This training increases job opportunities and supports social mobility by providing valuable, future-focused skills.
Through strategic partnerships and advocacy, the Alliance seeks to connect the dots between green job growth and social housing communities. By leveraging these connections, the Alliance aims to foster workforce development that aligns environmental sustainability with economic opportunity across communities.
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Meet the Alliance Advisory Group here.
