The Ministry of Environment unveiled a green collar employment report Dec. 17 in Taipei City, highlighting the need for such professionals within the workforce to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
According to the report, an average of 22,000 green collar jobs were offered by 3,600 companies per month and recruited staff in 2024, which was 3.29 times the number eight years ago.
In terms of industries, demand from the electronic information, software and semiconductor sectors was highest, with 4,300 personnel hired monthly. This was followed by the general manufacturing industry, with 3,200 per month; the construction and real estate sectors, 2,700; retail, wholesale and direct selling industries, 2,500; and legal, accounting, consultants, R&D and design sectors, 2,300. The survey also points out that 80 percent of such jobs were located in the cities of Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, from north to south, as well as northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu City and its neighboring county.
The report demonstrates that personnel including electric vehicle design engineers and water treatment system planners are vital to implementing the 12 Key Strategies to Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050. It added that the enterprises’ demand for green collar staff in product and project management is significantly increasing, showing companies are implementing the country’s net-zero emissions trend.
Another result shown is that 22 percent of green collar jobs require environmental-related certificates, up from 19 percent in 2017, while only 39 percent of such jobs are restricted to relevant graduates, down from 49 percent in 2017. Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming said during the event that this is helpful for young people to attend cross-field environmental protection courses and obtain professional certificates to participate in green collar positions such as brand marketing, community promotion and project management.
The report also listed certificates required by enterprises for the jobs, including those for wastewater treatment, air pollution prevention and waste removal, as well as competency tests required to be taken for Corporate/ESG sustainability managers.
According to Peng, the demand for green collar personnel will continue to grow one to three times within the next five years. The MOENV is also planning to work with universities throughout the country to establish a public-private personnel cultivation alliance to train at least 3,500 personnel per year starting 2025.
Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)
