Every press release from DESNZ highlights the potential jobs that could be created by the latest net-zero announcement. However, the reality is lacking behind the idea.

Even the Resolution Foundation, not noted for its attacks on Labour, conclude that the Government is failing to deliver on its promise of thousands of renewable sector jobs, particularly in replacing former oil and gas roles in existing hubs.

Ed Miliband, the former energy secretary, boasted of a ‘clean energy jobs plan’ in October 2025, saying: “Thanks to the clarity and ambition of our Clean Energy Superpower Mission, the number of jobs supported by clean energy industries could almost triple in Scotland and at least double in Wales, Northern Ireland and almost every region of England, as the sector grows from around 440,000 jobs in 2023 to support 860,000 jobs across the UK by the end of the decade.”

In a report, the Resolution Foundation cites new research funded by the European Climate Foundation that shows that estimates that only around one-in-ten of these new net-zero jobs will be permanent roles in industrial hubs, with the rest either dispersed around the country or temporary. If they are spread across the 18 areas promised these industries, the permanent roles amount to just 2.6 per cent of their combined jobs.

The impact of the net-zero transition on local economic growth has not always been positive. The report also notes that living standards in Aberdeen are now below the UK average for the first time since 2003, with the city’s wage premium having fallen by three quarters since the early 2010s.

The causes are manifold, with grid bottlenecks meaning that the nearest wind farm was ordered to switch off for more than 70 per cent of the time it could have been generating last year. Lkikewise, in Grimsby, the issue is scale. The town operates around a third of Britain’s built offshore wind capacity, and the electricity sector has driven most of the area’s output growth since 2018. But operations hubs employ few people once wind farms are built, and the manufacturing and supply-chain jobs that could anchor the local economy have been spread around the east coast instead. Local colleges have reportedly scaled back training as the opportunities they planned for failed to appear.

Jonathan Marshall, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “As decisions on Rosebank and Jackdaw steal the headlines, politicians on all sides risk missing the bigger picture when it comes to jobs and the impact of net-zero. The transition already underway is being poorly coordinated, leaving local economies planning for a net-zero jobs boom that risks never arriving.”

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