Careers Week: Making Every Job a Sustainability Job
Careers Week: Making Every Job a Sustainability Job
This is part 2 of 2 in our National Careers Week blog series. In part 1, we highlighted sustainability and net-zero careers that are growing in demand, to help you consider your options for careers that align with your values. Here, in part 2, we show that you can incorporate sustainability into any role – whether climate-focused or not!
In our 2025 ESG trends blog post, we explored the rising demand for sustainability skills across job roles. As green credentials become increasingly expected—even in positions not traditionally associated with sustainability—how do employers ensure that their people are equipped to service this shift?
From the other direction, a new generation of increasingly socially and environmentally conscious professionals is entering the workforce and demanding that sustainability be embedded into their work, regardless of industry. So, how can both companies and employees take meaningful steps to make sustainability an integral part of every role?
It’s National Careers Week and we want to highlight how embracing sustainability across industries can create a more responsible and resilient workforce. Incorporating sustainability into whatever job you do not only future proofs your skillset but can also increase your professional impact and value.
Sustainability professionals often find their scope is limited when their role exists in isolation, confined to a single department without company-wide engagement. By contrast, when sustainability managers work in organisations where every employee sees themselves as a sustainability professional, the potential for meaningful change expands significantly.
This raises an important question: even if you don’t have “sustainability” in your job title, how can you make your job a sustainability job? Whatever industry or job function you work across, there are ways to integrate sustainability into your role. Here’s how:
1. Measure Your Impact
To make a change, you first need to understand the impact of your work. Ask yourself questions such as:
Does my role involve managing supply chains? If so, am I ensuring that suppliers follow ethical and sustainable practices?
What is the carbon footprint of my work? Does my job involve travel, energy consumption, or digital emissions?
Do I contribute to waste production? Could I find ways to reduce or recycle more efficiently?
Is there a social impact to my work on a personal, organisational, or community level?
Being able to identify and then define the areas of your work in which sustainability practices can be incorporated is a crucial first step. To this end, having metrics by which impact areas can be measured is key for accountability and reporting.
2. Align With Company Goals
Your company likely has an ESG or sustainability strategy—but do you know what it includes? These documents aren’t just for the sustainability team; they’re a roadmap for the entire organisation.
How do your measured impacts align with your company's sustainability targets?
Are there specific carbon reduction, waste management, or ethical sourcing goals your department can contribute to?
Can you integrate sustainability KPIs into your personal or team performance objectives?
When sustainability is directly linked to business success, it becomes a shared priority. Aligning with company goals should also help to make the business case for proposing sustainability measures.
3. Reprioritise Sustainability
Too often, sustainability is treated as an optional add-on—a box to tick rather than a fundamental part of decision-making. To embed it in your role, it needs to be integrated from the start.
Instead of considering sustainability after a project is planned, ask: How can I incorporate sustainability into my strategy from day one?
Whether you’re budgeting, hiring, launching a product, or negotiating contracts, sustainability should be a core business decision, not an external consideration.
4. Invest in Education & Training
Expanding your sustainability knowledge isn’t just good for people and the planet—it’s good for your career. Sustainability skills are becoming essential across industries, and gaining expertise in climate literacy, green finance, ESG reporting, circular economy principles, and ethical sourcing can set you apart.
By making sustainability a core part of your professional development, you position yourself as a forward-thinking, dynamic leader—no matter the industry.
The future of work is sustainable.
The companies that will thrive in the coming decades are those that embed sustainability into every function, role, and decision. Whether you’re in finance, HR, tech, or marketing (to name a few!) you have the power to shape a greener and more responsible future, starting with the work you do today.
So, how will you make your job a sustainability job?