Corporate social responsibility 74% Increase in Advertised Job Roles Since Last Year!

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) leads the way to bridge the gap between companies and the public. CSR, when done right, aims to contribute societally through volunteering or being charitable across company practice.

May 2021 was the second-busiest CSR recruitment drive on record. The findings come from a new report by global recruiter Robert Walters. The report ‘Environment Social and Governance: Mindset over Must’ analyses key labour trends related to the environment, social affairs, and corporate control.

Robert Walters defines CSR roles by the following job responsibilities, as displayed in job adverts:

• Developing policies relating to a company’s ethical, sustainable, and environmental responsibilities
• Ensuring a company has a positive impact on local communities and the environment
• Raising public awareness of a company’s social responsibility commitments through marketing and communications
• Conducting research into best practice
• Writing and actioning a company’s social responsibility and sustainability strategy
• Creating meaningful partnerships with clients, employees, suppliers, charities, and other groups
• Ensuring that a company’s policies meet legal and commercial needs
• Organising meaningful events for employees and their teams
• Encouraging links between the company and educational or charitable groups

 

Leading in Recruitment

The sector-leading in recruiting sustainability experts are the Consumer Goods & Services industry. The sector accounts for 23% of all CSR-professional vacancies, a fall from 25% in 2019.

Other industries which have maintained their recruitment drive and high vacancies include;

• Real Estate & Construction- 19%,
• Professional Services-13%
• Technology, Media & Telecoms (TMT)- 11%
• Financial Services – 8% of CSR-vacancies this year respectively.

 

Perhaps what is most surprising to see is that the Energy & Utilities sector advertised 9% of all CSR-related jobs, followed by 5% from the Public Sector and 2% from Healthcare.

CSR recruitment may be less representative in such sectors, but hiring for this role has increased from near 0% within Public Sector and Energy & Utilities.

Corporate Social Responsibility Findings

• 74% increase in CSR jobs since 2020, and 54% increase since 2019
• 28% of CSR vacancies are for senior roles – up from 7%
• Half of FTSE link pay and bonus to ESG goals
• A quarter of CSR hires from the consumer goods industry
• 40% of all CSR-roles is advertised within London
• 400% increase in Midlands and 150% increase in North West of CSR-roles
• No. of remote CSR roles doubles in the last year

“Right now, businesses are under more scrutiny than ever” as said by Chris Poole, Managing Director of Robert Walters UK.

He further said “As governments strive to achieve environmental targets, and the choice widens for customers on socially conscious products- ESG will increasingly become more critical for survival, and not just for investment.”

Last week at COP26, 60 of the FTSE100 (Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index) companies signed up to a pledge to stop their contribution to climate change by 2050. In addition, nearly half of the FTSE100 companies already link executive and bonus pay to environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures – with this expected to rise in the coming years.

LONDON LEADING THE WAY

When breaking down the figures by region, London continues to dominate on the hiring front representing 40% of all CSR-related vacancies this year, followed by the North West (9%) and The Midlands (9%).

But other regions are making gains on London, wherein the number of CSR-related roles has decreased by 45% in the past year. Job vacancies have increased exponentially in other areas of the UK, including in The Midlands (+400%), North West (+150%), Scotland (+100%), and South West (+33%).

IRELAND LAGS BEHIND

In Ireland, 90% of companies consider ESG in their operational decision-making process, whilst 93% have a dedicated sustainability lead within the firm – of which 66% are at the executive level.

Despite the focus on ESG, CSR-specific recruitment in the Republic of Ireland so far has remained relatively niche in comparison to other ESG-related roles such as Diversity & Inclusion and Corporate Governance.

The largest firms in Ireland recorded only 23 CSR vacancies in the first half of 2021 – with the consumer goods and services sector recording the most roles (30%) and an overall tilt to senior positions (35%).

Daniel O’Leary business director at Robert Walters said “numerous studies have shown that, when weighing up potential employers, millennials are hugely influenced by how a business responds to and tackles social issues.”

So, the future of companies could be deeply rooted in their approach to Corporate Social Responsibility and their approach to the needs of the public.