Story Insights

• A Reflection on Earth Day:

  ManpowerGroup’s recent research into the sustainability workforce not only builds on the existing foundation of green initiatives, but also envisions a wide range of roles that enhance our collective sustainability progress.

• Despite the Global Talent Shortage:

  Employers are increasingly investing in sustainability efforts which drive innovation and positive impacts across business models and processes. And, understanding the differences between Green Roles, Green+ Roles, and Turquoise Roles is critical to defining and closing skills gaps.

• Turquoise & Green+ Roles:

  ManpowerGroup discovered that the majority (59%) of Turquoise Roles exist in business professional and leadership settings, while the remainder of the analyzed roles are classified as Green+ and within the scientific, engineering, and skilled technical business functions.

• Taking Action:

  A shift in thinking beyond traditional Green Roles is crucial, as is upskilling from within. Since Green+ and Turquoise Roles are tied to the most strategic business functions, they are critical to long-term sustainable business differentiation.
  

Recognizing and celebrating Earth Day this week is an ideal time to take fresh stock on organizational sustainability in all its forms with all its potential. Fortunately, even as today’s world moves in unprecedented directions, our multi-decade focus on accelerating the sustainability workforce continues.More than nine in 10 global employers(91%) say they do not have the skilled talent they need to achieve their sustainability goals, and in the face of lingering economic uncertainty, LinkedIn found that global demand for green talent still grew twice as quickly as supply between 2023 and 2024. And, despite an increasingly complex outlook for global climate negotiations, the World Economic Forum found that nearly half of employers worldwide (47%) anticipate the ramping up of efforts and investments to reduce carbon emissions.

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These investments innovate business models, processes, products, community connections, and brand experiences through sustainability-driven and bio-inspired decisions, designs, and efficiencies. Positive impacts to climate and natural resource would bring benefits and improvements to the business world as well – powered by the talent that brings a wide array of talents and technologies.

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ManpowerGroup’s recent research into the sustainability workforce not only builds on the existing foundation of green initiatives but also envisions a wide range of roles that enhance our collective sustainability progress. We’ve divided these continuum of roles into three primary categories: traditional Green Roles, Green+ Roles, and Turquoise Roles.

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A New Continuum of Green Roles

Green Roles

Traditional Green Roles are often concentrated in the environmental sciences and outdoors where conventional ecology-oriented scientists, engineers and skilled trades directly interact with and contribute primarily to environmental sustainability. Examples include water quality technicians, forestry technicians and conservation managers.

Green+ Roles

These roles apply multi-domain scientific, technical, and operational skills, principles, practices and technologies to positively impact the environment and living systems – directly and indirectly. Examples include product and process designers, materials and chemical engineers, renewable energy specialists, bio-scientific roles and even the conventional green roles with an updated systems-thinking mindset.

Turquoise Roles

These roles are concentrated in multiple business functions and are key to ongoing business success and resilience. These include senior leadership, governance and policy, community impact, finance, marketing, customer engagement, legal, IT and HR/human services. Turquoise roles are increasingly key to sustainable solutions design and green business model evolution.

Defining Where To Go From Here

ManpowerGroup studied more than 775 roles to determine their place on the Green-Turquoise continuum. We discovered that the majority (59%) of Turquoise Roles exist in business professional and leadership settings, while the remainder of the analyzed roles are classified as Green+ and within the scientific, engineering and skilled technical business functions.

Understanding the differences between Green Roles, Green+ Roles, and Turquoise Roles is critical to defining and closing skills gaps. According to World Economic Forum research, 63% percent of employers identify skills gaps as a major barrier to business transformation in the next five years, and the current green talent supply and demand trajectory will lead to a 19% global shortage of workers with sufficient green skills by 2030.

As for the workers we already have, not only do they care more about employer social responsibility than ever before and, perLinkedIn, 59% of them will require training to perform redesigned roles that may have moved up the Green Roles continuum. When leaders are looking for solutions, be sure to have the capabilities in place you need for resilience and innovation no matter the problem or opportunity. Whether product or process innovation, cost reduction, supply chain improvement, safety, and general de-risking or improvement of many areas of business, there is endless need to reskill because there is endless opportunity to apply sustainability and its league of contributing strategies and designs.

This doesn’t change even when the business and social landscape is flexing; some might say it actually drives the stakes and needs higher. And very practically speaking, new sustainability regulations such as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will require cross-discipline focus to ensure proper reporting and compliance.

Taking Action on Green Role Redesign Tomorrow

• Look across the spectrum: When thinking through how to open opportunities for innovative thinking and close sustainability-related skills gaps, shift your thinking beyond traditional Green Roles. Since Green+ and Turquoise Roles are tied to the most strategic business functions, they are critical to long-term sustainable business differentiation.

• Identify the specific Green, Green+ and Turquoise Roles in your workforce: As a starting point, ManpowerGroup mapped ten priority sustainability outcomes and illustrated how key Green, Green+, and Turquoise Roles come together in action chains to achieve these outcomes while also aligning with overarching business objectives.

• Build your skills arsenal from within: Increase the sustainability of your talent strategy by continuously upskilling those in sustainability-related roles to take on more advanced green responsibilities, and by seeking existing employee input for how their jobs can be re-designed to fit along the Green Role continuum.

• Play the long game: Regardless of short-term shifts in political sentiment, climate change is here to stay, innovative problem-solving is here to stay along with ever-increasing demand for sustainability-improved processes, materials, products and services. Now is the time to build a leadership position that will support the growth of a sustainable business, social, and economic future.

To learn more about the Green Roles continuum and the 775 jobs ManpowerGroup Global Insights has analyzed for right fit, download our new eBook, Sustainability and the Rise of Green+ and Turquoise Jobs