The growing importance of sustainable investment could help diversify the old men’s club mentality of Japan Inc. boardrooms, as companies look to draw from a nontraditional talent pool for senior positions.
From Recruit Holdings Co. to Sumitomo Life Insurance Co., Japanese firms are hiring younger and more diverse workers to lead sustainability roles that require thinking outside the box of traditional management practice.
Burgeoning demand for talent that can take on these roles seems inevitable given the expanding global ESG market and the need for Japan and other countries to encourage companies to take action to achieve carbon-neutral goals. That could help improve the country’s poor standing on measures of corporate diversity.