Study: Sustainability grads need other skills

From big companies like General Electric and Starbucks, to Main Street shops and garage startups, “green” job skills are growing more attractive to potential employers.

But a new study from Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business says all those idealistic sustainability graduates coming out of U.S. universities also need to have other skill sets beyond wanting to save the planet from global warming, pollution and waste.

“Right now, sustainability jobs in business are linked to existing organizational structures,” says W. P. Carey School of Business Professor Kevin Dooley. “You’re probably not going to find a sustainability department in many companies, but employees with skills and interest in sustainability will get assigned to related projects and move up the ladder.

“Job candidates with both sustainability skills and a solid professional background in a field like business or engineering are receiving job offers that far exceed what’s warranted in the current market, and that’s because there aren’t many of them,” Dooley added.

Dooley said companies are hiring sustainability-focused executives to spearhead green efforts, and those managers will be hiring workers to help institute reforms and initiatives.

Read more in the Phoenix Business Journal.