The explosion in green jobs arose from a perfect storm of new investor requirements, consumer preference, political focus and growing regulation. PwC alone plans to hire 100,000 ESG-related roles globally over the next 5 years.5 But these roles are not just leadership positions. Workers are also needed to deliver on sustainability promises and keep ESG commitments running, even when standards are met.
Embedding efficiencies and reducing the reliance on natural resources has meant that digitisation is the logical next step for many companies. As such, the climate talent gap is a technical one. Digital professionals are needed to set up and manage the transition to green services such as data storage, cloud connectivity and automation. This is where the existing technical teams step in. Already holding the right set of skills to implement technologies, these employees become natural sustainability teams.
Training for technology workers is also showing growth. Heavyweights in climate training, both Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and the CFA certificate in ESG investing now offer modules in technology transition.
Using restructures and layoffs as the solution to the climate talent shortage is costly and time-consuming, whereas reskilling your technical professionals on the workings of ESG frameworks might just offer the long-term solution.