Wanted! Sustainability Professionals Gaining Importance
The ever-growing scope of sustainability expertise is a significant turning point for the future of the economy. During the economic downturn in 2008, companies downsized their workforce to save costs. This led to sustainability positions, among many other departments, being cut. From 2010 onwards, only one in four companies planned to allocate resources to sustainability. However, just ten years later, in 2020, this number doubled, reaching approximately six out of ten companies.
The ever-growing scope of sustainability expertise is a significant turning point for the future of the economy. During the economic downturn in 2008, companies downsized their workforce to save costs. This led to sustainability positions, among many other departments, being cut. From 2010 onwards, only one in four companies planned to allocate resources to sustainability. However, just ten years later, in 2020, this number doubled, reaching approximately six out of ten companies. According to the "State of Profession" report published by Greenbiz, 76% of companies reported a recent rapid increase in the number of sustainability employees – an 18-point rise since 2019. This is a strong indicator of the importance of sustainability in large companies. This report, which is crucial for tracking trends among sustainability experts in both large and small companies, has been published for the seventh time since 2010. The results of the report, produced in collaboration with various partners, are based on approximately 1500 anonymous survey responses. John Davies, the research lead and senior analyst, stated that unlike previous financial crises, sustainability investments emerged much stronger from this crisis. Now, in-house sustainability expertise and human resources in this area are increasing, with more departments adopting ESG roles. This situation is referred to as the "great expansion" in the context of sustainability. Not only has the number of employees increased in companies, but sustainability budgets have also risen by 24% compared to 2019. In addition, gender diversity has increased by approximately 20% since 2010, thanks to the growing number of women in sustainability leadership roles. However, Davies points out that the vast majority of professionals working in sustainability are white, indicating a lack of ethnic diversity and that the sector is lagging in this area. This "great expansion" is thought to be related to the increasing awareness of climate and other urgent issues, especially among senior executives. The report includes participants' ratings of how involved their CEOs are in their company's sustainability program on a scale of 1 to 7. While previous reports showed small increases in CEO interest, in the latest survey, 20% of participants gave this question a score of 7, and 40% gave it a score of 6. In the report two years ago, these rates were 14% and 29%, respectively. Part of this rise is undoubtedly due to increasing pressure from investors on ESG issues. CEOs are also relying on sustainability departments for solutions. As a result, exactly half of large companies with annual revenues over $1 billion have added sustainability personnel or consultants to their staff due to increased pressure, and 35% of companies reported increasing the number of consultants. Aside from these statistics, salary data, which allows for the comparison of salary increase rates of professionals, is also an important reference point for understanding the importance companies attach to sustainability. In this context, the "State of Profession" report presents an important finding by evaluating salaries. In summary, the average total compensation for sustainability managers is $146,900, for executives $227,158, and for vice presidents $404,972. On the other hand, the country also plays an important role in salary rates. 81% of the participants are in the United States, and their base salaries are higher compared to other countries.…