"Going Green" and the Entry Level

By Douglas Richman, Campus Representative, University of Florida

In Aman Singh’s Forbes’s blog post, “CSR And The Job Hunt, More Thoughts,” he discusses how changes in business education to emphasize social responsibility are changing the entry-level job landscape. The ethics movement has moved beyond the classroom as well into grassroots movements, and increased media scrutiny.

In this article he writes, “Business schools are also changing their curricula to emphasize ethics and social responsibility. Companies must realize how messages in business education are shifting, in order to bridge the gap between senior level employees and the new, more socially-inspired bunch, and create a comfortable, efficient, and productive work culture.”

He also suggests that the “Going-Green trend could extend to many workplaces and be beneficial for them. He says, “If a more open-minded understanding of the value of compensation in time and flexibility, versus money, were adopted, perhaps large companies would find it easier to find their balance within this new way of “going green.” He explains that being environmentally responsible is more important to incoming employees than it is to Managers. “ Managers need to consider that the approach that earned them an “A” in business school, isn’t the same measure of success held by their employees, especially recent graduates, who either want an underlying meaning to their day-to-day work or want their jobs to offer them the time and means necessary to pursue social involvement independently.”

I believe that in due time employers and incoming employees will learn to adapt and co-exist with each other. To me, it’s a shift towards awareness spectrum. Incoming employees are more concerned with the topic, and they will voice their thoughts to others. Everyone will become aware of their corporate responsibility, social ethics, and environmental responsibility. Whether they wish to do something, that is the question.