Commerciality and corporate social responsibility can co-exist — and candidates for sustainability-centric jobs increasingly reflect such dualfocused mindsets, according to Andrew Cartland, managing director of sustainability recruiter Acre Resources.

“We are experiencing a new generation who combine a passion for sustainability along with a commercial outlook,” Cartland told Recruiter.

Cartland spoke with Recruiter following the release last week of ‘The Sustainable Generation: The Sky Future Leaders Study’ into the attitudes of UK graduates, MBA students and middle managers toward sustainability. According to the report, nearly 80% of respondents believe the values and vision of a prospective employer are important.

Cartland went on to say that until recently, candidates for the sustainability expert roles handled by Acre primarily had qualifications linked to the environment or sustainability. “But in the last few years we have experienced a dramatic rise in interest from individuals from other core business functions … who are interested in focusing their careers down a sustainable path,” he said.

“In conjunction, sustainability is more frequently associated with the bottom line from the perspective of revenue generation and efficiency savings, so our clients are often approaching us for staff from these ancillary functions,” Cartland said.