Why We Don't All Have to (Or Shouldn't) Become Environmental Engineers

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Commitment to a better world: there are sustainable jobs in many sectors (symbol image)

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There has always been a lot of pressure on choosing a career.

How do I want to spend the next decades of my life?

What social standing goes with a job?

And is it even possible to earn enough money with it?

In addition, others often want to have a say.

First and foremost: the parents who want their child to become a doctor.

Or continue the family business.

In addition to this already charged mixture of expectations, many young people today have one more: The job should have a purpose, not just bring in the proverbial bread and butter, but ideally make the world a better place.

In the 2019 Shell Youth Study, 59 percent of 12- to 25-year-olds said it was "very important" for them to do something meaningful at work.

In the survey four years earlier, it was 51 percent.

The Fridays for Future movement shapes the image of this generation.

And indeed, the young are extremely worried about the climate crisis.

A long-term study by Klaus Hurrelmann, who is also responsible for the Shell study, shows how much they care about the topic: Before the war in Ukraine took over, the respondents consistently named climate change as their biggest concern.

Climate focus when choosing a career can be counterproductive

So what is more obvious than aligning your career choice with the climate issue?

Wanting to do everything to save the planet not only after work and at the weekend, but also during working hours?

Well, first of all, you have to be able to afford it.

If a green job requires a long study or doesn't bring in enough money quickly enough, then idealism doesn't foot the bills.

Hurrelmann's studies show that it is the better off young people who want to do something for the climate.

And secondly, a climate focus when choosing a career can also be counterproductive.

Because it can put additional strain on young people in making this already strenuous decision.

But also because sustainable development does not only need climate specialists.

There are good reasons why the climate crisis is currently so present.

Looking out the window you can see parks that look like October from drought in August;

in some areas of Germany there are even forest fires that are otherwise only known from Greece or California.

Nobody in their right mind would deny what young people are feeling these days: the climate crisis is mankind's greatest challenge - and it will change everything.

Also the labor market.

This can already be observed.

Sociologist Markus Janser from the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) has determined that there are more and more so-called green job profiles.

In a long-term study, he examined the descriptions of over 4000 job profiles in the database of the Federal Employment Agency.

And it was found: between 2012 and 2020, the number of jobs related to climate change increased by almost 19 percent.

However, Janser's figures also show that not all disciplines are equally concerned with the climate.

Instead, it is above all individual sectors in which the green jobs are concentrated - above all the energy sector, waste disposal companies and logistics.

So the impression can arise: If you want to do something good for the world, you actually have to become an environmental engineer.

Or at least automotive mechatronics technician for electric cars.

Just doing a green job because it makes social sense doesn't make you happy either.

Scientific studies show that it is a mixture of different factors that makes us happy employees.

A sense of purpose is one of them.

However, it is at least as important to have a job that suits your talents and skills.

And here is the core problem: the labor market is changing, but people are only changing to a limited extent.

And talents and interests are naturally distributed differently.

Anyone who is good at languages ​​but has little use for natural sciences will not suddenly want to study geoecology.

Or environmental engineering.

That doesn't mean, however, that all of these people can't find meaningful jobs — or have to choose against their own inclinations.

On the contrary.

Their skills and commitment are also urgently needed.

Sustainability has many dimensions

In 2015, the United Nations set goals for global sustainable development, towards which all member states want to work.

In German, the project is titled »Transformation of our world«, and it is about no less: changing the world in such a way that a good life is possible in the long term.

The goals include a lot that sounds classic green: affordable and clean energy, for example, climate protection measures or sustainable cities and communities.

But there are also a number of other goals: high-quality education, for example, gender equality or decent work.

In everyday life, »sustainable« is now often used as a synonym for everything that is somehow supposed to be environmentally friendly or green.

According to its scientific definition, the term sustainability has three dimensions: ecological, yes, but also economic and social.

The three-dimensional model has since been supplemented and revised many times, but one thing is undisputed: Without economic and social changes, good life on this planet will not succeed in the long term.

This also means that fighting social inequalities or access to education is just as important as making cities climate-resistant and converting cars to electric motors.

And it is said that the work of a teacher is just as meaningful as that of a climate scientist.

Last but not least, the climate crisis is always an economic and social issue.

If the current economic order consumes too many resources and produces too much CO₂, it must change.

This in turn requires new business models, companies that think differently about production and services.

The social order will also continue to falter.

Some areas will feel the effects of the climate crisis much earlier, and entire areas could become uninhabitable in the near future.

Cushioning these new inequalities is an enormous social challenge.

Many challenges, many career opportunities

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Helena Flachsenberg

Make it your job!

A SPIEGEL book: Professions for a sustainable future

Publisher: Gabriel

Number of pages: 192

A SPIEGEL book: Professions for a sustainable future

Publisher: Gabriel

Number of pages: 192

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One can easily feel overwhelmed by these immense challenges.

But this is precisely where it can help to take action – for example when choosing a career.

Knowledge of the many dimensions of sustainability can open up perspectives for young people looking for a job with meaning.

Because it means that they have opportunities across almost the entire breadth of the professional world to work for a better world.

And that there are opportunities for everyone to contribute their talents and skills.

There is the young business graduate who took over the family business, a duvet manufacturer, and now only uses recycled down for her products.

There is the graphic designer who helps to educate about sexism and homophobia with her designs.

And then there is the web developer programming the website of a bank that refrains from immoral speculation with weapons or food.

They all make the world a little better with their job, and often a little greener too.

Looking at your own talents and skills is a solid guide when choosing a career.

If you do what he or she is good at, you will make faster progress, have more success stories – and can ultimately achieve more.

Not the worst prerequisite if you want to change the world.