The dilution of sustainability commitments on the part of some of the world’s leading corporations doesn’t appear to have changed the attitude of younger job candidates.
They still seem to be looking for purpose in their roles and want to work for organisations with strong environmental, social, and governance (ESG) credentials. Savvy employers are using this to give them competitive advantage in the battle for talent.
“An active ESG strategy can help organisations connect with employees whose values align with their own,” says Noreen Fitzpatrick, enterprise, employee and skills manager at Solas, the State agency for further education and training.
“A clear, achievable sustainability plan can also indicate that a company is progressive, innovative, and responds well to the challenges of the evolving business landscape. Such efforts feed into the company’s overall culture, and thus into the daily purpose of each employee.”
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The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires companies to disclose their climate and environmental data. By next year, this will affect companies of all sizes either directly or indirectly, from multinational corporations to small-to-medium enterprises.
“Though implementing ESG measures can seem daunting for a business, sustainability initiatives can create value in terms of attracting talent,” she points out.
One way companies can upskill incoming and existing employees in green skills is via highly subsidised Further Education and Training (FET) micro-qualifications, available under the Skills to Advance initiative.
“These short, flexible, fully accredited courses are available to employees and employers at little-to no cost and are delivered locally by your nearest education and training board,” she explains.
“Programme timetables are designed to meet the operating schedules of businesses, and training can be delivered in online, in-person, or blended learning formats, to best accommodate learner needs. Our Green Skills suite of FET micro-qualification programmes equips employees with the tools and knowledge needed to be agents of change, helping them plan and reach both business and personal sustainability goals.”
Opportunities in this field are growing. A report from Solas’s Enterprise, Employees and Skills unit, in partnership with Deloitte Ireland, has identified new and emerging occupations in sustainability.
Despite the apparent row-back on the sustainability agenda in some quarters, one of the report’s key insights was that regulation is seen as a clear driver in many organisations’ sustainability agendas, with 52 per cent of survey respondents recognising a need for ESG skills development as a result of government regulation.
As the public grows increasingly concerned about the global climate crisis, many businesses and industries are taking action to meet their customer and stakeholder expectations.
The same is true for employees, who often seek to work for a company whose environmental values align with their own, she points out. There is also evidence of a “purpose premium”, indicating that more purpose-driven companies outperform their peers.
The Deloitte report The Purpose Premium: Why a Purpose-driven Strategy is Good for Business, published in 2021, showed that 78 per cent of people would prefer to work for a purpose-driven company, and 75 per cent of millennial workers would take a pay cut to work at an environmentally responsible company.
“What may be overlooked by employers, however, is how the offer of sustainability upskilling can add value in terms of talent attraction and retention,” says Fitzpatrick.
“As business requirements rapidly evolve to meet the priorities and interests of the population, it is not realistic for employers to keep hiring to fill skill gaps. Instead, employers can invest in their workforce to upskill them in rapidly changing skill areas, such as sustainability skills or artificial intelligence, for example. This way, sustainability upskilling can be one of the benefits offered to employees, instead of being seen as a trade-off for something else.”
A more recent study from Deloitte, published this year and looking at Gen Zs and Millennials, found that purpose influences job satisfaction, with roughly nine in 10 youngsters considering a sense of purpose to be important to their job satisfaction.
But purpose at work is subjective, it found, with some saying it’s “about having a positive impact on society”, and others saying their purpose is to earn money, find a work-life balance, or learn new skills and so have the time and resources to drive change outside of working hours.
As a recruitment specialist at Two into Three, a consultancy that helps charities to source key talent, among other services, Shannon Barrett sees at first hand how important a sense of purpose is for many people.
“From what we see on the recruitment front, candidates early in their careers are often less impressed by status and are instead drawn to purpose and impact. They ask sharper questions about mission, values, inclusion and who benefits. For them, alignment isn’t a ‘nice to have’; it’s a deal breaker,” says Barrett.
Pay still matters, but purpose is increasingly the differentiator. “We’re regularly approached by people in the private sector looking to pivot into the non-profit sector – even with a salary drop – because they want their skills to translate into visible social value,” she adds.
Employers don’t need to be charities to attract purpose-led candidates. “But they do need to be specific and honest about their social impact. Vague claims won’t suffice, people want real examples and proof that impact is a core focus in decision making.
“What matters most to early career professionals is credibility – a mission they can stand behind, leadership that lives the values and a culture where fairness and inclusion are non-negotiable. For example, if diversity, equity and inclusion is treated as an add-on, younger candidates notice immediately.”
