Renewable engineering offers best industry career prospects

By Dominic Ellis
Bower Collective report states high demand for Renewable Energy Engineers and Waste Management Officers are the best paid

Training as a Renewable Energy Engineer offers the best career prospects within the energy, waste and utilities sectors and is the second best green career option behind Sustainability Consultant, according to a Bower Collective report.

While Renewable Energy Engineers topped the careers chart, their average salary (£38,074) was less than best paid Waste Management Officers (£44,855). Environmental Engineers, Recycling Managers and Energy Consultants also made the top five industry careers.


The league ranking would make interesting reading for graduates entering the workplace, especially as the UK government has announced they want to quadruple the number of Green jobs by 2030. 

Top findings

  • Demand for Renewable Energy Engineers are up by 231% and general Environmental Engineers up by 165% since 2016
  • Recycling Managers is the green career most in demand right now across all sectors
  • Overall, the demand to fill environmental job roles has increased by 91% in the UK, compared to 5 years ago (2016)
  • They are also well paid, with the average salary 12% above the national average, at £35,267

The three highest scoring careers overall were: Sustainability Consultant, Renewable Energy Engineer and Arboriculturist, respectively. The career with the best average salary was Environmental Designer (£57,511), followed by Environmental Policy (£52,146) and Environmental Law (£51,834).

The eco-job with the most current job vacancies was Recycling Managers and Officers. Sustainability and Environmental Consultants had the second and third most advertised openings respectively. 

The careers with the lowest education requirement but the best prospects were found to be Fisheries Managers and Officers and Farm Managers as both require minimal formal education, and scored well across other factors. 

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