Rome, November 9 (askanews) – While COP31 in Antalya shines a global spotlight on the ecological transition, in Italy the real challenge is being played out every day within companies. As highlighted in the Rome Business School report by Alessandro Franceschini and Valerio Mancini, sustainability is no longer an isolated area of compliance, but a key driver of industrial strategies that is transforming traditional roles from within, from procurement to finance.
ESG managers are also evolving within this framework, increasingly called upon to act as bridges between different company departments to translate environmental and social criteria into operational decisions. Demand for green skills is skyrocketing, but the market is experiencing a significant mismatch between supply and demand. By 2025, Italian companies have planned to hire nearly two million people with ESG skills, but 53,4% of them report difficulty finding suitable candidates, a worse rate than for other professions.
What's often lacking are transversal skills such as problem solving, autonomy, and teamwork, which are considered essential in 80% of green roles. To overcome this impasse, which particularly affects SMEs, training related to real business technologies and effective reskilling of internal staff is needed. Only then can the enormous demand forecast for the coming years be transformed into tangible, quality employment.
Askanews