By Jennifer Myers, Globe and Mail
May 21, 2010
It’s easy to be green in good times, when a company’s coffers are full. But what happens when the economy tanks and business begins to slide? Does the green focus fade?
Turns out that as the buzz surrounding green continues to grow so, too, does the corporate commitment to eco-friendly practices.
More than half of U.S. employers now have a formal green program in the workplace, according to a recent survey – up from 43 per cent a year earlier.
What’s more, 79 per cent of Canadian chief executive officers say that their company’s investment into climate change was either unaffected or increased during the recession, according to another global poll of chief executive officers in 52 countries by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Further, 10 per cent of companies added environmentally focused jobs in the last year, and another 10 per cent plan to add green jobs in 2010, according to a Careerbuilder.com survey of 2,700 hiring managers.
“Absolutely. we’re strides ahead of where we were even three or four years ago in terms of interest. We’re seeing a huge appetite for information from companies,” says Randi Kruse, manager of community building at the David Suzuki Foundation.
That interest can be attributed in part to employees. Ms. Kruse says employees, especially Generation Y workers who grew up with a belief in protecting the environment, are increasingly looking to align themselves with companies that share those values.
And savvy companies are quickly learning it pays to respond. “It’s a competitive advantage. And companies that aren’t participating will quickly be left behind,” Ms. Kruse says.
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GREEN JOBS
The talk in governments on both sides of the border is to create green jobs for the new economy. It’s a focus of employers, too. One in 10 companies added environmentally focused jobs in the last year, and another one in 10 plans to add green jobs in 2010, according to a survey of 2,700 hiring managers by job site CareerBuilder.com.
Where is opportunity knocking? Here are the five hottest green jobs in 2010, according to Eco Canada, a Calgary-based non-profit staffing and HR consultancy specializing in environmental careers:
1. Conservation officer
2. Waste-management specialist
3. Aquatics/marine biologist
4. Environmental assessment analyst
5. Meteorologist
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