April 22nd, 2023 is dedicated to a special international holiday—Earth Day! Earth Day has been celebrated worldwide for more than 50 years. It marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement, and it’s a day devoted to the celebration of our planet Earth and to raising awareness for environmental issues.  

Environmental awareness holds great importance year-round. This is even evident in the corporate sector, where hiring trends show that green jobs and related skills are on the rise. The 2023 Global Talent Playbook released by Lightcast, the global leader in labor market analytics, reported a stark rise in the demand for green jobs both in the United States and globally. The report named “net zero” as the 7th fastest growing specialized skill of the year, growing 1041% between 2019 and 2022. Additionally, two of the report’s top ten emerging occupations also centered around sustainability—the role of sustainability consultant came in at number 7, while the role of energy and sustainability manager ranked number 8. 

In celebration of Earth Day, we’re spotlighting our concentration in sustainability. Like all our areas of study, this concentration is shaped by industry experts to meet the needs of hiring managers. In this concentration, students learn how to identify, analyze, and better understand connections among social, environmental, technological, and economic systems. As in the past, there remains  a growth in the demand for skills relating to sustainability.  

 The LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report 2022 corroborates Lightcast data showing that there was a rise in green jobs across all sectors of the workforce. It reports a 237% increase in Renewables & Environment jobs in the U.S. over the course of the last five years.  

Here are LinkedIn’s top in-demand green skills required by employers in 2021: leaves

  1. Sustainability 

  1. Remediation 

  1. Occupational Safety and Health Advisor (OSHA) 

  1. Climate 

  1. Renewable Energy 

  1. Environmental Awareness 

  1. Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) 

  1. Solar Energy 

  1. Corporate Social Responsibility 

  1. Recycling 

In addition to our core business classes that equip students with skills needed to succeed in the workforce, students pursuing our sustainability concentration also take courses in the areas of sustainability, energy and policy, environment, and resources. Visit our sustainability curriculum page to learn more about the courses we offer. You can also learn more about our program by registering for a Rutgers MBS Informational Webinar.  

From all of us here in the Professional Science Master’s program, happy Earth Day! 

Author(s): Julianna Rossano Published on: 04/21/2023
Tags: Sustainability, Earth Day, Program Highlight