A lot of professionals and academics with a purpose have an uncomfortable relationship with money. Money raised through business development or grants raised is demanding work and leads and proposals pipelines are built over years.

Money is what pays the salaries and funnels your research or development impact. We need to celebrate and build revenue functions way before time.

Sustainability and Resilience, or its quantified cousin ESG is a nudge towards the normative. ESG with all the strengths in reporting and measurement is an accountability instrument to gauge risk. However, it needs to respond to issues of note, such as tech layoffs. Why the silence? This is exactly the juncture where integrity, empathy, and ethics- the other strength of ESG along with transparency can lend a shoulder in the challenging times by saying, we care for you.

If the sustainability paradigm does not respond in the era of mass layoffs, then the soul less performativity will stand out once again, as the raging animal spirits of shareholder capitalism rather than stakeholder will reign.

Automation, and the gigfication of work is a critical call to action for the ESG community.

The Future of Work is a bleak future without proper work, or ones with adequate social protection.

#sustainability #community #empathy #automation #tech #ethics #work #futureofwork