Is Sustainability Entering a New Era?
Just a couple of years ago, sustainability had been one of the fastest-growing sectors in business. Companies in all industries started establishing ESG teams, issuing sustainability reports, setting net-zero goals, and allocating substantial funds to environmental activities.
Now it seems like the discussion is changing its direction.
Business uncertainty, new regulations, geopolitical issues, and priorities of businesses have driven many companies to reconsider the role of sustainability in their corporate strategies. Sustainability is no longer seen as a separate department and becomes part of general operations of a company.
Sustainability Is Becoming More Operational
Rather than being the responsibility of a separate ESG team, the issue of sustainability can be seen in other departments, including:
Risk management Regulatory compliance Supply chain management Environmental, health, and safety (EHS) Climate reporting Corporate strategy
Again, this does not mean that sustainability becomes less significant.
Technical Skills Become Increasingly Valuable
Companies will always need people who know about environment and sustainability issues. But now they also want employees who would be able to combine their sustainability knowledge with practical technical skills.
Some of those skills are:
Environmental engineering GIS & spatial analysis Carbon accounting Data analytics Environmental compliance Climate risk assessment ESG reporting
The demand grows for specialists who can analyze environmental data and make business decisions based on it.
Future Outlook
We won't see another boom of ESG hiring like it happened several years ago. But the need for sustainability-related jobs hasn't disappeared.
Climate change adaptation, resources management, environmental legislation, and sustainable infrastructure development will continue to be long-term priorities for governments and businesses all around the world.
Instead of asking if the number of sustainability jobs decreases, we might ask ourselves:
"How do the sustainability jobs evolve?"
Perhaps, those joining the sustainability workforce right now should think about combining environmental knowledge with other skills.
What do you think? Do you work in the sustainability or environmental management industry? Have you observed this trend? Will the field become more integrated into companies' activities or there would be more sustainability jobs in the future?






















