Not since the COVID-19 era have major U.S. corporations slashed so many employees, and sustainability teams did not emerge unscathed. Companies cut their payrolls by more than 1.1 million positions through November, with the technology and retail sectors particularly hard hit, according to research by recruiters Challenger, Gray and Christmas. Sustainability teams at Boeing, BlackRock, Kohler, Wells Fargo and Zendesk were among those affected by broad workforce reductions. Meanwhile, there were targeted cuts at companies including S&P Global and Southwest, based on shifts in their ESG priorities. There was also plenty of turnover at the top, as companies reassessed their commitments to emissions reductions. For example, Tylenol maker Kenvue’s chief sustainability officer, Pamela Gill-Alabaster, departed in June after the company folded that role into the research and operations and product development division. Long-time leaders move on Kenvue is far from the only corporation to embrace a new organizational structure for its top sustainability executive or to distance itself from offering a C-suite office to that role. When Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president for environment, policy and social initiatives, retires in late January after 13 years on the job, her responsibilities will be split between two senior-level executives: one to handle her policy work, and one to handle her environmental and social mandates. Unilever used the departure of Rebecca Marmot, chief sustainability officer since 2019, to drop the global CSO position. Her successor is Michael Stewart, a former communications strategist for companies including PwC, Edelman and McKinsey. His title: chief corporate…
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