Ellen’s role & journey into sustainability work 

Ellen is the owner of a boutique search firm called Weinreb Group which specializes in placing corporate sustainability leaders and their teams. Having spent over two decades in the sustainability industry, Ellen began her career as a consultant after completing business school. During this time, she had the opportunity to work with clients such as Hewlett-Packard and Levi Strauss, which gave her an insight into the corporate world. It was during this period that she discovered her innate ability to connect people, which led her to start her own search firm 15 years ago with the aim of connecting employers with employees. 

Peggy’s role & journey into sustainability work

Peggy leads global environmental sustainability efforts at LinkedIn. In this role, she is tasked with two primary responsibilities. The first involves leading a cross-company program to implement the three climate pledges related to carbon, water, and waste. The second responsibility involves working alongside product and engineering teams to launch sustainability solutions on the LinkedIn platform. Peggy has been active in the sustainability field for approximately 20 years, during which time she has worked with organizations such as the US Department of State, the International School of Amsterdam, and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a well-known sustainability reporting organization. Peggy’s interest in sustainability is rooted in her early years as a Girl Scout when she participated in local park cleanups, which sparked her passion for this field.

The climate job market – how has it changed & what does it look like today

According to LinkedIn’s data, Peggy points out that many industries are creating new types of green jobs, and there is an increasing demand for green skills in existing job categories. This trend is resulting in growth in both traditional green job categories and the integration of sustainability practices into other functions. The sectors with the greatest demand for green skills worldwide include corporate services such as accounting, finance, reporting, and marketing; manufacturing, energy, and mining; public administration, and construction. It is evident from this list that the need for green skills spans various industry groups.

Advice for companies seeking to grow their ESG & sustainability teams

Peggy shares some advice that has worked well for her in building a team in the tech industry. First, she suggests establishing a central team that develops a strategy based on the company’s business model. This strategy should focus on the areas of impact that are most important to the company’s operations, such as the supply chain for environmental impacts, water for beverage companies, and carbon for tech companies. It’s important to prioritize areas where the company can have the biggest impact with its resources and time. The company should set science-based targets and create a roadmap to achieve them by 2030, not 2040 or 2050.

Secondly, Peggy recommends spreading sustainability across the entire company. While having a small central team is useful, each business group should have a sustainability champion who can make green decisions relevant to their area. Sustainability should be everyone’s responsibility in the company, and it should be at the forefront of their minds. Peggy suggests networking with peers to learn more about sustainability and not going it alone. Many companies are starting to embrace sustainability, and resources are available to help. For example, LinkedIn will soon launch a new Sustainability Resource for companies and professionals who are unsure where to begin. Peggy will share more information about it on her LinkedIn page soon (go follow!).

Ellen echoes Peggy’s advice on embedding sustainability roles throughout the business, rather than just having a standalone sustainability function. She also agrees that sustainability is everyone’s job and that companies should work towards that goal. In terms of advice for hiring managers looking to grow their ESG and sustainability teams, Ellen suggests benchmarking by looking at companies of similar sizes and industries to get a sense of what their team structure is like. She also recommends multifactor balancing, which involves considering the right balance of internal hires versus external hires, specialists versus generalists, and influencers versus individual contributors. Hiring decisions should be a multifactor balancing act. Additionally, companies should conduct a needs assessment, either with the help of a consulting firm or internally, to determine which needs are most essential.

Peggy’s advice for climate jobseekers

Peggy suggests starting by building a basic level of competency, knowledge, and skills in sustainability through various resources such as university courses and degrees, LinkedIn learning courses, and other online and offline resources. She encourages jobseekers to identify their strengths and figure out how to apply them to climate action. For example, are you good at building the business case, science, or communicating and inspiring others? It’s also recommended to build two key skills: being a change maker and a relationship and partnership manager. She advises job seekers to gain experience through volunteering with nonprofits, participating in community groups, and attending free events. Further, Peggy recommends using the Green Jobs collection on LinkedIn to search for jobs in green work in your geographic area. 

Ellen’s advice for climate jobseekers

Ellen offers three pieces of advice. The first and most important one is to network extensively, which involves attending conferences and engaging in social media to expand one’s connections. The second is to continuously upskill by taking courses and pursuing relevant degrees to stay knowledgeable in the field. Finally, building a personal brand is crucial in demonstrating one’s knowledge and expertise, and this can be achieved by writing blogs or creating content related to the field of interest.

The future of the climate job market

Peggy advises that as more jobs become digital, more jobs will also become green, and workers will need to build green skills. She hopes to see more programs that can upskill workers on these skills, even in non-traditional roles. She also supports Ellen’s call for more diversity in the workforce, believing that it will improve the way we tackle climate issues. In terms of networking, Peggy suggests that the most useful connections are often made through weak ties in second or third-degree networks. By connecting with these individuals, they can introduce you to their network, which can be very powerful.

Ellen agrees that more jobs will have a green aspect in the future. She also envisions a future where there is significant growth in the financial sector due to regulatory requirements that require companies to disclose more information, resulting in new job opportunities. Another point Ellen raises is that sustainability leaders are increasingly reporting to corporate boards, making board membership and reporting skills essential for sustainability leaders. Therefore, upskilling in this area can provide additional opportunities in the future.

Resources Mentioned

• LinkedIn
• Weinreb Group
• LinkedIn Economic Graph: Global Green Skills Report 2022
• Greenbiz x Weinreb: State of the Profession 2022 Report
• Reuters: PwC planning to hire 100,000 over five years in major ESG push 
• LinkedIn: Green Jobs

Connect with Peggy Brannigan & Ellen Weinreb

• Connect with Peggy on LinkedIn
• Connect with Ellen on LinkedIn

Connect with Jason Rissman

• On LinkedIn
• On Twitter

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