Skip to content
  • MyNewMarkets.com
  • Claims Journal
  • Insurance Journal TV
  • Academy of Insurance
  • Carrier Management
Insurance Journal - Property Casualty Industry News

Featured Stories

  • Northern Neck Insurance to Acquire Frederick Mutual
  • Starbucks Workers Sue Over New Dress Code
  • Articles
  • Jobs
  • Markets

Current Magazine

current magazine
  • Read Online
  • Subscribe
  • Login
  • Front Page
    • National
    • International
    • Most Popular
    • Magazine
    • Forums
    • Blogs
    • Videos/Podcasts
    • Newsletters
  • News
    • Most Popular
    • National
    • International
    • East
    • Midwest
    • South Central
    • Southeast
    • West
  • Magazines
  • Research
  • Directories
  • Jobs
  • Features
    • Events
    • Forums
    • Market Directories
    • Quotes
    • Polls
    • Rankings & Awards
    • Insurance Giving Back
  • Subscribe

Buyer’s Remorse Hits Finance Bosses Who ‘Overhired’ for ESG

By Gautam Naik | May 1, 2025
Email This Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Article
  • 4 Comments

There’s a course-correction underway among financial firms that went all out on ESG hiring just a few years back, according to recruiters advising banks and money managers.

Firms have had to acknowledge that the goal of generating the highest profits often “isn’t aligned with the social and environmental aspirations of the types of people they hired,” says Tom Strelczak, a London-based partner focused on sustainability at Madison Hunt, where he oversees the firm’s European business.

After having “overhired in a very evangelical and philosophical way,” many financial companies are now avoiding some of the ESG (environmental, social and governance) profiles they targeted just a few years ago, he said in an interview.

The pandemic-era, zero interest-rate environment in which ESG enjoyed its heyday drove a hiring boom across the finance industry less than half a decade ago. However, that sense of exuberance around ESG quickly faded when interest rates started to rise and green investment returns faltered.

In the US, the Republican Party seized on the moment to launch a full-scale attack on ESG, characterizing it as a “woke” perversion of capitalism. The political backlash — which intensified after Donald Trump’s return to the White House — sent a chill through the US finance industry, where labels like ESG and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) are rapidly being jettisoned.

Only a quarter of S&P 100 companies published reports with “ESG” in the title last year, down from a peak of 40% in 2023, according to data provided by the Conference Board. So far in 2025, with nearly half of companies having reported, just 6% have used the term.

Related: ESG Being Dropped From Corporate Sustainability Report Titles

In Europe, where ESG regulations are far more entrenched, the backlash has been less pronounced and more centered on implementation. But amid concerns that excessive ESG requirements were harming competitiveness in the bloc, European policymakers have agreed to wind back key planks of ESG corporate reporting requirements.

The upshot is a broad-based retreat from the environmental and social principles that initially led financial firms to look for hires outside their usual stomping grounds. As a result, many of the climate scientists and campaigners from nonprofits who were hand-picked by financial firms just a few years back are now struggling to adapt to their employers’ renewed focus on financial profits, Strelczak said.

They’re often “frustrated and disillusioned,” he said.

Scott Atkinson, global managing partner of the sustainability and climate practice at Heidrick & Struggles, says he’s seeing a similar trend. “Where we are right now is: Can you deliver returns at or above the level of traditional investments,” he said in an interview.

Since 2022, when job growth for ESG professionals soared 120%, demand for such qualifications has ground to a virtual halt, according to data compiled for Bloomberg by Live Data Technologies, an employment researcher. Examples include adjustments that are being made at some of the world’s biggest banks.

On Wednesday, Morningstar confirmed a report by Responsible Investor that it had cut about 6% of staff in its Sustainalytics unit. A spokesperson for Morningstar said the company made the “difficult decision” to reduce its global workforce in response to “ongoing market challenges.”

In the UK, HSBC Holdings Plc recently parted ways with a chief sustainability officer whose background included more than six years at the nonprofit We Mean Business. Now, the CSO role no longer reports directly to the chief executive officer of Europe’s largest bank, and is instead occupied by someone who used to be HSBC’s head of global banking for the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkiye.

The development is even more pronounced on the other side of the Atlantic. Wells Fargo & Co., which abandoned its net zero goals in February, has done away with the role of CSO. The highest ESG title at the bank is now its head of sustainability, which isn’t part of the C-suite.

On Wall Street, which has turned its back on net zero alliances, firms are dropping “ESG” from job titles. And globally, less than 7% of people who took on an ESG role in 2020 still retain an ESG title today, according to figures provided by Live Data Technologies.

The sustainability conference-circuit is also less active, with organizers looking for opportunities to save costs. For example, the annual GreenFin conference in New York, one of America’s biggest sustainable finance gatherings, has now been combined with other climate-focused events.

Trump’s return to the Oval office, and his administration’s vocal disdain for climate and DEI issues, has acted as a further brake on ESG hiring across America. In New York, the pace of year-on-year ESG job growth was just 1.5% in February after contracting in June by 1.8%, an all-time low, according to Revelio Labs, a firm that analyzes workforces.

“Trump has delayed any recovery from damage that was already done,” said Neil Farrell, a London-based recruiter who focuses on sustainability.

Those ESG professionals still getting jobs tend to be specialized in the minutiae of things like European regulations, with almost 90% of CSOs saying they now spend more time on regulation and compliance than they used to, according to a recent survey by Weinreb Group.

ESG professionals still have a place in the financial sector, said Ellen Weinreb, a sustainability recruiter in San Francisco.

“There are definitely still jobs out there,” she said. “But fewer.”

Photograph: Pedestrians outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. Photo credit: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.

Was this article valuable?

Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.

Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.

Here are more articles you may enjoy.

Moms Turn in Sons Charged With $50,000 in Vandalism at Florida School
Report: Man Who Died on Universal Orlando Roller Coaster Had Spinal Condition
Florida Adjuster Convicted for Sending Carrier Checks to His Fake Firm
Starbucks Workers Sue Over Company’s New Dress Code

Written By Gautam Naik

More From Author

The most important insurance news,
in your inbox every business day.

Get the insurance industry's trusted newsletter

Email This Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Categories: International & Reinsurance News, National NewsTopics: environmental social and governance (ESG) criteria, financial services, Research and Trends, talent management
  • Have a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk@insurancejournal.com

Featured Comment

  • May 1, 2025 at 1:54 pm
    Joe says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 5
    Thumb down 8

    ESG and DEI are proof that progressive liberalism is a disease that destroys everything it infects.

Latest Comments

  • May 2, 2025 at 7:50 am
    PolarBeaRepeal says:
    No one with any financial sense looks at investment results on an immediate liquidation basis.
  • May 1, 2025 at 2:59 pm
    InsKid says:
    Really? And how is your 401k looking these days under president Bone Spurs?
  • May 1, 2025 at 1:54 pm
    Joe says:
    ESG and DEI are proof that progressive liberalism is a disease that destroys everything it infects.

Add a CommentSee All Comments (4)Add a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

More News
Parents Slam OpenAI, Character.AI Over Safety in Senate Hearing
Bank of England’s Bailey Says AI Can Help Regulators to Find the ‘Smoking Gun’
Markets/Coverages: Tokio Marine Kiln Launches Enhanced Cyber Product Suite
New Jersey Panel Issues Recommendations on Social Media Use by Teens
More News Features

Read This Next

  • Buyer's Remorse Hits Finance Bosses Who 'Overhired' for ESG
  • While One Suit Over Citizens' DOAH Hearings Is Dropped, Drama Builds in Another
  • Florida Adjuster Convicted for Sending Carrier Checks to His Fake Firm
  • 7 Years of Double-Digit Growth; New Players on Top 25 E&S Insurers List
  • Keeping Small Business Insurance Customers

Insurance Jobs

  • Workers Compensation Claims Adjuster | NY Jurisdiction - Syracuse, NY or Open to remote
  • Commercial Lines Account Manager – REMOTE - Texas
  • Director – Assistant Risk Manager - Hartford, CT
  • Commercial Lines Account Manager – REMOTE - Georgia
  • Sr Consultant, Actuarial and Analytics – Personal Insurance Reserving - Hartford, CT
MyNewMarkets
  • Rethinking Assault & Battery Liability in Commercial Real Estate
  • From Golf Greens to Sausage Fests: The Wild World of Prize Insurance
  • As Schools Prepare to Pay Athletes, What Role Will Insurance Play?
  • Turning Non-Standard Risks Into New Revenue: How Agents Can Capitalize
  • When Insurance Isn't the Optimal Risk Management Approach
Claims Journal
  • UK's Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack Shutdown to Hit Four Weeks
  • Hong Kong Braces for Fierce Winds as Super Typhoon Nears
  • Amazon Heads into FTC Jury Trial Over Prime Cancellation Claims
  • Insurers Fighting $345M Georgia School Abuse Award, With Policy Wording at Issue
  • China's EV Boom Saddles Its Auto Insurers With Chronic Losses
Academy of Insurance education
  • September 25 Captive Insurance and the Ethics Equation: A Framework for Integrity
  • October 2 Customer Support: The Continuum of Service, Satisfaction, and Success
  • October 9 Forward Into The Past: Certificates of Insurance, Additional Insureds, and Other Contractual Risk Transfer Issues

Insurance News

  • News by Region
  • News by Topic
  • Yesterday

Site Search

Features

  • Insurance Markets Directory
  • Forums
  • A.M. Best Company Ratings
  • Industry Events
  • Agencies For Sale
  • Newswire
  • Insurance Jobs
  • Rankings & Awards

Connect with us

  • Email Newsletters
  • Magazine Subscriptions
  • For Your Website
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Do Not Sell My Info

Insurance Journal

  • Submit News
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Reprints
  • Link to Us
  • Contact Us

Wells Media Group Network

  • Insurance Journal
  • MyNewMarkets.com
  • Claims Journal
  • Insurance Journal TV
  • Academy of Insurance
  • Carrier Management
© 2025 by Wells Media Group, Inc. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Site Map