Talking on a panel on the ReThink convention on Thursday, Paddy Balfour, Asia Pacific govt director for recruiting agency Acre, mentioned that the “trade is consuming itself” as companies rent from consultancies to satisfy a rising demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG) knowhow.
“Specialist consultants are getting employed into corporates. Corporates then return to the consultants to get specialist recommendation – and realise there isn’t a one there,” Balfour mentioned.
This has led to corporations trying to find extra inhouse experience, which is tough to seek out, he mentioned.
Balfour didn’t present knowledge to assist his statement, however in response to a printed evaluation on Acre’s LinkedIn platform, it famous that the worldwide consultancy market has been going through some headwinds on account of varied components comparable to hiring freezes and redundancies, but “there stays a continuing stream of labor” for sustainability consultants and a requirement for them to “get the job performed”.
On the identical time, corporations lack particular specialist data, need exterior assist and are gearing up to make use of extra consultances {and professional} companies this 12 months, it famous.
Talking to Eco-Enterprise on the sidelines of the occasion, Balfour mentioned that the issue of a expertise deficit in consultancies has softened considerably since 2021, according to a deceleration within the job market, however the issue continues to hang-out the sector.
“Company roles are inherently extra generalist in nature than consultants. It’s crucial for there to be a wholesome consulting market to make sure that deep technical expertise is out there throughout the market,” he mentioned.
He famous that consultancies are being compelled to fill the hole with much less skilled consultants, which results in an erosion of the standard of the recommendation being supplied to the market.
His concern was echoed by John Pabon, sustainability marketing consultant and creator of a e book on greenwashing, who famous that corporations are sometimes hiring consultancies, then discovering they must spend time up-skilling them on ESG.
“You pay massive bucks for a big-four marketing consultant which will solely know as a lot, and even much less, than you do,” he mentioned, referring to EY, PwC, Deloitte and KPMG who make up the highest 4 international skilled companies agency. “As a substitute of engaged on the laundry checklist of different issues it’s important to do, you even have prepare your consultancy.”
“This isn’t to say there isn’t a experience in consultancies. However it’s simply not on the degree of maturity commensurate with the astronomical price ticket consultancies are charging,” he mentioned.
In Asia, demand for company sustainability expertise is rising quickly amid rising disclosure and regulatory necessities, however the area has been struggling to fill the inexperienced expertise hole, a survey by enterprise social platform LinkedIn revealed final 12 months. The area is lagging america and Europe in how rapidly employers are including sustainability experience.
Balfour in contrast the evolution of the chief sustainability officer (CSO) function with the rise of the chief monetary officer (CFO). The CFO has over time graduated from accountant to senior company strategist. The CSO function has taken on a parallel diploma of significance, however with the “lacking engine room beneath”, Balfour mentioned, referring to the hole in capability wanted to meet the function’s tasks.
Companies must create the “proper pathways” for expertise to enter sustainability roles, he mentioned.
Lacking youth expertise pipeline
However the route into the sustainability workforce for younger individuals just isn’t simple, partly due to poor hiring choices and competence greenwashing – that’s, organisations exaggerating their sustainability experience, advised Mark Cheung, co-founder of the Hong Kong youth local weather training group Community of Environmental Pupil Societies.
He mentioned that younger individuals are being held again from the job market by corporations that aren’t creating sufficient entry-level sustainability roles to justify their inexperienced claims. “Corporations normally assume that having only one or two individuals is sufficient, however they are overlooking the true capability we have to see in sustainability [to achieve goals],” he mentioned.
Younger individuals in Hong Kong are struggling to seek out accessible alternatives in sustainability, and college training just isn’t making ready college students nicely sufficient for sustainability careers, Cheung added.
Although the federal government has prioritised coaching town’s profitable finance sector, there’s a must develop sustainability expertise in different areas and “construct linkages” between universities and firms, he mentioned.
Balfour mentioned that corporations want to put money into individuals from different industries and jurisdictions to fill sustainability roles as Hong Kong struggles with a expertise crunch. “In case you don’t assume laterally, you received’t discover the appropriate options,” he mentioned.
To place the company sustainability agenda in perspective, LinkedIn’s Hong Kong-based senior account director Celina Kwong famous that whereas demand for inexperienced expertise has elevated quickly since 2016, demand for synthetic intelligence knowhow has outstripped sustainability by a number of components. “This exhibits the place corporations are actually focusing their cash on,” she mentioned.
