CSR Jobs Rank High for Newly Minted MBAs: Report

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Even though there are more CSR jobs available to business school grads than ever before, it's not enough to meet the demand, according to a new report from Net Impact and Ellen Weinreb Recruiting.

The study, conducted over the past three and a half years and released yesterday by the two groups, found CSR jobs at two leading business job sites growing at 37 percent per year, with a total of 1,255 jobs posted in that time frame.

Three sectors are highlighted as offering the fastest growth in environmentally oriented jobs: clean technology, consumer products, and public relations. Ellen Weinreb, principal of the Berkeley-based Ellen Weinreb CSR Recruiting, notes that the growth in consumer products jobs is due in large part to Wal-Mart's emphasis: "Wal-Mart is raising the bar by encouraging its suppliers to ramp up their sustainability efforts, and the sustainability jobs follow."

But those aren't the only three sectors joining the green rush. Public relations giants like Edelman and Fleishman, Hillard are also launching or expanding their efforts toward clients' green strategies. And financial markets have embraced the other kind of green in a big way, bankrolling green banking, green buildings and green startups in heavy numbers.

Graduate schools are both driving and responding to this trend; not only are new programs and new schools springing up to address this need, but Dow Chemical recently donated $10 million to U.C. Berkeley to develop a Sustainable Products and Solutions Program.

The report found that the geographical hubs of the new CSR boom are London, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Boston; the companies that had the most job listings were Burbank-based Walt Disney, with 23 postings, Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike with 15 postings, and Seattle-based Starbucks with 14 postings.