London drives CSR job boom

Demand for CSR professionals is booming with London fast emerging as the global capital for CSR and sustainability roles, according to new research released this week.

The three and half year study from CSR advisory body Net Impact and Ellen Weinreb CSR Recruiting assessed job ads on two of the leading sources for CSR roles - Business for Social Responsibility’s (BSR) jobs page and CSR-Chicks - and revealed an average annual increase in the number of advertised vacancies of 37 per cent.

The report found that the average advertised salary for CSR roles was $67,000 (£34,000), but Weinreb said that this likely to be lower than the true average as companies tend to only disclose salary information for roles that are less well paid.

London offered the most roles globally with San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Boston also emerging as top hubs for CSR positions.

However, the report also warned that despite burgeoning demand for CSR professionals, competition for jobs was also intensifying as growing numbers of people express an interest in green positions.

"An increasing number of MBA students hope to find a career that blends business acumen with positive contributions to society and the environment," observed Karin Cooke, career program director at Net Impact. "[But] as this report shows, the demand for CSR jobs is tremendous."

Cooke advised that job seekers interested in green positions should look beyond traditional CSR jobs, and "also look for functionally mainstream positions within companies with strong CSR and environmental values".