What is the market for sustainability jobs?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not have data on the number of workers involved in sustainability activities but there is evidence of increasing opportunities for those trained in sustainability-related technical positions (USBLS, 2012). The Economic Policy Institute recently examined private and public sector markets for sustainability-related jobs with these conclusions: green jobs go far beyond renewable energy, states with more developed sustainability policies fared better in the economic downturn, and manufacturing plays a strong role in the green economy (EPI, 2012).
One of the largest studies on CEO opinions of sustainability has recently been produced (UN Global Compact and Accenture, 2010). Using a survey of >750 CEOs, the summary includes the following findings:
Why types of jobs are there in sustainability?
Sustainability professionals use well-developed interdisciplinary skills to create and manage complex systems within a wide array of job markets. From a job-hunter’s perspective, Table 1 at the end of this document has dozens of occupational titles related to sustainability job searches from major sources.
A considerable number of the position titles in Table 1 below represent diverse fields, a byproduct of the interdisciplinary backbone of applied sustainability. Examples include the new occupational titles, Sustainability Director or Corporate Social Responsibility Manager. Job search engines now pull up many such positions, with specialists from engineering to business to environmental or social nonprofit organizations. Examples of the number and diversity of these jobs on university campuses alone are at Campus Sustainability Positions.
Many of the lists of sustainability-related occupations in these and similar sources reflect the four concentrations of the Florida Tech sustainability curriculum: Environmental Science, Business, Engineering and Technology and Social Sciences.
Sustainability is still emerging as a discipline –the job market is expanding in ways that are difficult to fully predict within current fields and still un-named fields that are arising now and in the future. In systems science, these future jobs and occupations are examples of emerging properties, which arise from complex and expanding systems which can spin off new systems in both predictable and unpredictable manners (Meadows, 2008, Thinking in Systems).
Other Job-related Resources
Careers in Sustainability- Arizona State Univ. School of Sustainability
Many useful websites for a remarkable array of new jobs in sustainability are at this link. Students with a sustainability degree have skills that apply to a wide range of professions. A science-based sustainability degree is also valuable for graduate research. Examples of websites with interesting jobs and careers include:
GreenBiz.com - Check it out real-time, examples retrieved in June 2018 include:
Why Green Is Your Color: A Woman's Guide to a Sustainable CareerThis solid resource focuses on women but many of the fundamental ideas apply to all genders.
Forbes List of Six-Figure Green Jobs
In addition, these broad sectors are often named in sustainability job listings:
