Green talent boom: sustainability ‘beast’ demands new graduate skills
By Iain Gillespie
Students who gain qualifications in sustainability are not only helping save the planet, but they are also entering a gateway to one of Australia’s – and the world’s – fastest-growing and most widespread fields of employment.
Sustainability jobs exist in every facet of society in an endless variety of roles from accountancy and data analysis to finance, planning and energy production – and because each field of expertise is advancing rapidly, they will all require life-long learning.
A quick online search for jobs listed under “sustainability” throws up more than 16,000 vacancies across Australia, including senior roles paying up to $300,000 and jobs for undergraduates starting at $64,000 that offer ongoing training and career advancement.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Demand for graduates with sustainability qualifications is rapidly increasing, with Australia’s plan to transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 predicted to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
They will be needed in every sector of the economy. For instance, according to the Australian Energy Council an extra 85,000 employees will be needed by 2030 in renewable energy infrastructure alone.
The green ‘talent’ boom
A LinkedIn report based on an analysis of its nearly 800 million users found global demand for green talent and green skills already outpacing supply. “The impact of the green transition has reverberated throughout all sectors and countries across the globe – with not one left unchanged,” the report concludes.
Austin Blackburne, technical director for one of Australia’s biggest recruitment agencies, Hayes, says demand for university graduates in sustainability will definitely grow and become more competitive.
“It’s a dynamic and attractive industry that people with a good social conscience want to be part of,” he says. “If you’re a bright young graduate, it might be more attractive to enter the sustainability field. At the moment, it’s very candidate short.
“Sustainability is such a big beast. It encompasses everything from the circular economy to ESG [environmental, social and governance] to corporate sustainability, and then you obviously have the renewable component.
“It’s a broad term, but degrees like a bachelor of science are needed for the more scientific roles, and some sort of postgraduate study in sustainability would be pretty valuable.”
Demand for sustainability graduates in areas like carbon emissions, clean energy, accountancy and data analysis is set to soar with new laws requiring businesses to provide annual Climate Related Financial Disclosures (CRFD) from next January.
Luke Menzel, CEO of the Energy Efficiency Council.
Luke Menzel, CEO of the Energy Efficiency Council, says the mandatory requirements are likely to be a game changer for Australian businesses.
“The new laws will require companies to disclose a raft of climate-related information alongside their annual reports, including climate-related risks and opportunities, internal governance, and metrics and targets relating to greenhouse gas emissions,” he says.
“Initially these regulations will only apply to very large companies, but by July 2027 they will apply to any entity that is required to lodge financial reports and meets at least two of the following criteria: a consolidated revenue of $50 million or more; consolidated gross assets of $25 million or more; or more than 100 employees.
“Eventually, companies will need to disclose emissions in their supply chain, meaning smaller companies that sell goods and services to these larger companies are likely to be quizzed on their emissions and plans for cutting them over time.”
Tuning into company needs
A survey by ABB, a global technology company that advises industry on how to achieve a sustainable future, found 83 per cent of Australian businesses will increase investment in sustainability over the next three years.
Sarah Al-Hashimi, ABB’s head of Australian communications, says the top-tier executive role of chief sustainability officer is becoming a lot more prominent in Australia and internationally.
“Sustainability is growing in importance for a number of reasons,” she says. “Everything from investor expectations to board expectations and general public expectations in terms of corporate behaviour and dealing with climate change.
Sarah Al-Hashimi, ABB’s head of Australian communications.
“The engineering discipline, for instance, will start to take on new tertiary modules to deal with decarbonisation, so education is evolving and will continue to evolve as traditional jobs are re-skilled to meet the energy transition needs.”
Universities and educational institutes generally will need to make sure qualifications are being modified to meet the rapidly evolving technology landscape, Al-Hashimi adds, so that when workers enter the field, they are well qualified to handle the latest technologies.
“We need that talent to help construct and operate green infrastructure, but also within businesses to ensure sustainability strategies can deliver real commercial outcomes.”
Blackburne says the sustainability job candidates Hayes sees are driven by environmental motives rather than by money and are looking for employers that are genuine about sustainability and have a core belief in net zero.
“The sort of people that are attracted to this space want genuine, authentic principles at the company they work for, not just tokenistic,” he says.
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