Home NEWSBusiness Green jobs: ESG and sustainability skills in high demand as employers struggle to find qualified candidates

Green jobs: ESG and sustainability skills in high demand as employers struggle to find qualified candidates

by Nagoor Vali

Quite a few sectors are creating extra inexperienced jobs, fuelled by the expansion of sustainability-focused markets, mentioned Dicky Leung, supervisor of building, engineering and provide chain at recruitment agency Robert Walters.

Renewable vitality is among the many areas of experience corporations are trying to find as they attempt to fill sustainability roles. Picture: Shutterstock

“Quantifying the extent of inexperienced work might be difficult, resulting in a niche between employer expectations and people of potential staff,” Leung mentioned.

To bridge the information and expertise hole between contemporary graduates and the necessities of sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) roles, Hong Kong’s Enterprise Setting Council (BEC) organised the Inexperienced Jobs Honest with the Community of Environmental Pupil Societies (NESS) on January 24.

Greater than 100 college students attended the truthful, making it evident that kids are all for a variety of inexperienced job alternatives, mentioned BEC CEO Simon Ng.

This consists of roles starting from renewable vitality and waste administration to inexperienced buildings, sustainable transport, company sustainability, inexperienced finance and different associated fields.

“There’s a excessive demand for professionals with expertise and information within the above areas, and corporations are actively searching for candidates to fill such positions,” Ng mentioned.

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The urge for food for sustainability expertise globally is outpacing provide by practically two to at least one, in keeping with LinkedIn’s International Inexperienced Expertise Report revealed final yr.

Around the globe, just one in eight staff has a number of inexperienced expertise, in keeping with the report.

Between 2022 and 2023, the share of inexperienced expertise within the workforce rose by a median of 12.3 per cent, whereas the share of job postings requiring no less than one inexperienced talent grew twice as shortly – by a median of twenty-two.4 per cent, in keeping with the report.

The pool of potential candidates could also be small due to a lack of know-how of the alternatives and advantages of inexperienced jobs, in keeping with Hays’ Smith.

“Efforts might be made to boost consciousness about inexperienced jobs and their significance in sustainable growth,” he mentioned. “This may be completed by academic campaigns, workshops and profession gala’s to draw extra people to think about careers within the inexperienced sector.”

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Primarily based on observations on the Inexperienced Jobs Honest and a survey performed beforehand, individuals have been largely searching for consulting or conglomerate-related inexperienced jobs akin to in-house sustainability officer, ESG reporting advisor and undertaking officer, mentioned Mark Cheung, co-founder and govt director of NESS.

Environmental and sustainability analysts are projected to be in nice demand, mentioned Robert Walters’ Leung.

“These specialists consider their firm’s ESG initiatives and establish alternatives to spice up effectivity, foster optimistic societal impacts, and assure correct useful resource utilisation,” he mentioned. “Their experience spans sustainability reporting procedures and tips, company social duty, and information evaluation.”

Whereas inexperienced expertise has surged out there in recent times, it’s nonetheless troublesome to seek out expert candidates who’re well-versed in environmental insurance policies, sustainability reporting processes and information evaluation, Leung mentioned.

“Whereas it’s potential to seek out people with theoretical information, employers typically categorical that the problem lies in figuring out whether or not these candidates can successfully implement ESG initiatives in follow,” he mentioned.

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As a result of world pattern in the direction of ESG and decarbonisation, the marketplace for inexperienced jobs is turning into more and more aggressive, in keeping with Eddie Tse, group sustainability supervisor at Gammon Development, which took half within the Inexperienced Jobs Honest.

“All … sectors are searching for people with ‘inexperienced’ information, expertise, and expertise. This broad demand could make recruitment tougher,” he mentioned.

Gammon is actively searching for people with a selected set of onerous and comfortable expertise to fulfill the necessities of inexperienced jobs. These embrace communication and presentation expertise, in addition to related educational coaching, expertise and technical {qualifications} and know-how, Tse mentioned.

“The demand for such expertise typically exceeds the obtainable provide, making recruitment efforts extra aggressive,” mentioned Krisdean Legislation, director of company engagement at environmental group The Inexperienced Earth, which additionally took half within the truthful. “Consequently, we always discover modern methods to draw and retain prime expertise on this sector.”

The Inexperienced Earth prioritises people with a ardour for nature and environmental safety, Legislation mentioned. Data of sustainable practices, environmental administration and useful resource conservation are important for the group to contribute to a greener future successfully, she added.

Universities and different schooling suppliers in Hong Kong even have a task to play.

“Whereas some establishments provide related programmes, growth continues to be wanted to fulfill the growing demand for expert professionals within the inexperienced job market,” Legislation mentioned. “Collaboration between business and academia might play an important position in bridging this hole.”

The inexperienced job market’s fast growth has outpaced the supply of expert professionals, leading to heightened competitors amongst corporations to draw and retain certified candidates, in keeping with Mark Harper, group head of sustainability at John Swire & Sons (HK). Swire additionally participated within the Inexperienced Jobs Honest.

“Discovering people with the best mixture of expertise, expertise, and cultural match is turning into more and more difficult,” mentioned Harper. “At Swire we prize systemic pondering and having an modern mindset as this allows us to seek out artistic options to the advanced sustainability challenges our companies face.”

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