Green jobs are booming. And as companies look toward a greener future, they’re adjusting their hiring strategies accordingly.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- As employers go greener, young people are also addressing climate change and are contributing to the growth of the green jobs market, which could generate 30 million jobs by 2030.
- In the industries we serve, we’re seeing sustainability hiring at the highest level — the board level.
- Interested in building out your leadership team with sustainability leaders who will have a real impact on your company? Reach out to Rhonda Taylor via email here to start the conversation.
While sustainability professionals have been in demand for years, 2022 saw hiring for these roles jolt into high gear, especially as businesses with facilities looked toward their supply chains and operations and ways to reduce their environmental impacts. LinkedIn data revealed hiring for green jobs consistently outpaced the overall hiring rate globally for four years in a row.
How the green job market is gaining momentum
Companies need more than a few chief sustainability officers to generate real change. Sustainability needs to be a priority among product designers, supply managers, economists, scientists, architects, and other team members in order to improve the overall health of the business and the world.
Employers are increasingly looking for skill sets that align with the role. Analysis of job ads from a global database found a tenfold increase in the number of jobs with “sustainability” in the title over the last decade — reaching 177,000 in 2021.
And it’s not just employers that are giving the green job market momentum.
Recent graduates are also contributing to the growth of this greener sector in an effort to address climate change concerns. Polls found that the majority of young people want to have environmentally sustainable careers. In 2020, U.K.-based company Good Energy surveyed 1,000 young people and their findings revealed that 57 percent of respondents want to work for an environmentally sustainable business.
Who’s hiring for sustainability roles?
According to the fourth edition of the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, which poses questions to 803 companies that collectively employ more than 11.3 million people working in 27 sectors and 45 economies globally, sustainability-related roles could create 30 million jobs by 2030.
In other words, industries across the board (and the world) are actively hiring sustainability roles.
Big names in consumer like Chobani, Cargill, and Simple Mills have all prioritized sustainability leadership in the past few years, hiring consumer brand veterans and impact players like Sheryl O’Loughlin, who previously served as the CEO of both Clif Bar & Company and REBBL, and is the Co-Founder and former CEO of Plum Organics.
Sustainability starts at the top
In the industries we serve, we’re seeing sustainability hiring at the highest level.
“What we’ve seen, especially in the last 1-2 years, is many companies are thinking about sustainability hires at the board level,” Impactful Search‘s Executive Director Rhonda Taylor said. “It’s become more of a priority among businesses, especially those with robust operations, supply chains, real estate, and facilities. They’re thinking more strategically about their footprint and about how they can be more environmentally sound.”
Interested in building out your leadership team with sustainability leaders who will have a real impact on your company? Reach out to Rhonda Taylor via email here to start the conversation.
Rebecca is the Senior Editorial Director at ForceBrands. She’s spent more than a decade on the editorial side of digital media, curating original content and managing social media audiences for impactful brands and businesses. She’s a natural storyteller with a love for connectivity and brand building.