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by CSE research team
As governments worldwide are now spending vast sums of money on the green economic recovery North America is seeing a hiring boom in ESG roles. For the resources to be spent most effectively, the workforce would have to gain new skills. All kind of organizations are constantly trying to bring sustainability, supply chain and environmental health concerns to their existing operations by posting new jobs related to sustainability ESG. The pressure from environmental, social and governance (ESG) investors and policy makers drive this demand.
Sustainability jobs now span across a wide range of industries, from renewables to finance, and the demand is growing even faster in the following sectors: energy and mining, technology and communications, healthcare, agriculture, transportation, construction and manufacturing. More importantly, the demand for job skills in sustainable fashion, oil spill response, ecosystem management and proficiency in solar systems grew by more than 50 percent between 2016 and 2021. Furthermore, some of the fastest-growing sustainability jobs are in sustainable procurement.
In 2021 North America extended its demand for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) hiring among tech industry companies. The number of roles in North America made up 52.3 per cent of total ESG jobs – up from 42.1 per cent in the same quarter last year. That was followed by Asia-Pacific, which saw a -3.6 year-on-year percentage point change in ESG roles. Technology and communications companies in North America saw the largest growth in ESG roles in the last quarter compared to the previous year.
The fastest growing country was the United States, which saw 39.2 per cent of all ESG job adverts in the three months ending November last year, increasing to 48 per cent in the three months ending November this year. That was followed by Canada (up 1.5 percentage points), the United Kingdom (up 0.8), and Australia (up 0.4). The top country for ESG roles in the tech industry is the United States which saw 48 per cent of all roles in the three months ending November, according to CSE latest research results.
In the US, the number of jobs in renewables has increased by 237 percent over the last five years. Taking into account Canada’s labor market, 315,800 people worked sustainability-related jobs in 2020, up from 60,000 in 2013, and almost 80,000 more workers will be hired by 2025, according to ECO Canada, an environmental work force organization that collected the data.
The demand for ESG analysts and strategists about environmental, social and governance issues has never been higher in 2022. The battle for ESG talent is taking place at all levels.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 24 million jobs worldwide could be created by the sustainable economy by 2030 alone. According to a recent report from LinkedIn, the shift to hiring for the sustainable economy is already underway worldwide. Τhe Bureau of Labor Statistics adds that jobs in environmental science and specialties are projected to grow 8% the next decade.
Employers tend to focus on specific skills, rather than university degrees. What they require is a deep understanding of the economic, social, and environmental intersection. As presented in the last World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, employers estimate that 4 in 10 workers will need to be reskilled.
The Center for Sustainability and Excellence is proud to be part of this shift and support C-suite executives by offering advanced certified education on Sustainability ESG and Corporate Responsibility, Sustainable Development and Circular Economy for professionals who want to maximize their company’s impact, become qualified with the latest knowledge in the field and acquire the globally recognized Sustainability ESG Certification.
More than 90% of FORTUNE 500 senior managers and VPs have attended our programs and joined over 8,000 Certified Sustainability Practitioners from over 90 countries all over the world.
Reach us at [email protected] to claim your spot for the upcoming Certified Sustainability ESG Practitioner Program, Leadership Edition, Digital Version, on April 7, 8 & 11, 2022.
