A circular approach to careers and talent

After leaving school with a handful of pass-grade GCSEs, and almost two years as a NEET (not in education, employment or training), Kai joined as a kerbside waste collection operative. A committed member of the crew, Kai became Team Leader before moving on to a supervisor role at the local materials recycling facility. Seconded for six months to a household waste recycling centre, Kai stepped up as acting Site Manager – and defying a patchy academic record at school – completed an apprenticeship in business administration. The SUEZ Digital Academy provided another opportunity, this time to learn about data analytics and AI, paving the way for a role in the Business Transformation team. In next year’s personal development review, Kai will set a new goal: managing one of the many regional Resource Re-use & Reskilling Hubs opening up across the country to support the growing circular economy.

OK, you’ve probably guessed, Kai isn’t real. Not yet. But their story does overlap with the real career paths of colleagues across our business. And there will be many more careers like it, and some we can’t yet imagine.

The circular economy needs innovation in technology and business models, supportive government policies and consumer buy-in. Less often acknowledged, it also needs new skills and retraining routes into circular and sustainable careers – careers that reward flexibility and continuous learning. 

Rethinking talent and careers

Rather than viewing talent as something organisations acquire and deploy, businesses (in all sectors, not just ours) should create environments in which people learn continuously and develop, move across roles and departments and contribute in different ways throughout their careers.

The focus should be on building careers, not just filling vacancies. That means ensuring you have solid employment practices that are inclusive and fair but also rethinking some basic assumptions about how careers work. 

Green skills grown at home

The UK has a growing green skills gap. In the waste and resources sector, we also have an ageing workforce and need people with a broad range of skillsets to replace colleagues as they retire. 

Thousands of new jobs are required to achieve carbon net zero and build a circular economy – from materials collection drivers and operatives handling repairs and re-use, through sustainable product designers, soft skills and systems thinking, to technicians in renewable energy and remanufacturing, and specialists in AI and automation.

Existing roles, meanwhile, are already being reshaped by AI, automation and the sustainability transition. Amid so much change, continuous learning becomes essential. Funding this workforce development is not an additional overhead – it’s a strategic investment in business continuity in a changing world.

Even in a soft labour market, our sector struggles to attract enough young entrants in competition with other industries. Reskilling and upskilling existing employees should be a key part of strategic workforce planning. People who’ve bought into the company culture deserve the chance to grow their capabilities and fulfil their potential. Career mobility also helps organisations match their people and roles to the needs of markets and customers.

Adapt to survive – and sustain

Employers aren’t the only ones who need to adapt. Employees need to feel confident and open to technological, environmental and organisational change.

The (present) day job is important, but we should encourage people to look beyond their current roles to what’s possible. Help them develop transferable skills and make future pathways across the organisation visible so they can see a sustainable career, rather than just a single job.

Empower them so they can gain the knowledge and skills they choose. Alongside a structured training and development programme, our eLearning platform provides access to modules on everything from using the full Microsoft suite of applications including the collaboration tools, to developing leadership skills, to looking after your wellbeing. Employees can study courses in their own time from home.

The careers we promote need to be circular as well as sustainable. Not only in the sense of serving the circular economy, but also non-linear pathways. This means encouraging movement across functions, departments, teams and disciplines. 

Mobility broadens the mind

Secondments benefit both the individual and the organisation. Secondees give and gain new perspectives, supporting the continuous development of their teams and themselves. 

My colleagues second that:

• Jo, a People Services Coordinator in the HR department, is on secondment to the payroll team. “Apart from a lot of new acronyms, my learning highlights include helping prepare monthly reports, greatly improved Excel data skills, and putting my CIPD Diploma knowledge into action. I’ve also been able to identify time-saving process improvements by applying knowledge from my previous role.”
• Zoe stepped up from Bid Manager in the municipal team to cover the Senior Bid Manager’s secondment. “This gave me exposure to larger, more complex opportunities, increased responsibility and leadership experience.” She secured the role full-time. A secondment in our corporate team last year broadened her knowledge to the industrial and commercial sector. Now Zoe’s joined the team supporting England’s new deposit return scheme. “Each move has built upon the last, pushed me outside my comfort zone, expanded my understanding of the business, and enabled me to contribute in new ways.”

Around 70 colleagues are on secondment around our business – almost as many as the 80 or so promoted so far this year (not counting sideways moves). This level of movement must be balanced with support to stabilise teams, manage workload and retain essential expertise. 

Mobility promotes inclusion

Greater mobility should also be about equity, inclusion and wellbeing. That means moving beyond generational stereotypes and encouraging two-way learning, not least through mentoring.

We currently have 57 established mentoring relationships and over a hundred colleagues recently applied to be mentored by members of our Executive Leadership Team. Our pairings are up and running, with a new cohort starting in January 2027, and everyone being offered a senior leader mentor.

The average age of learners on our Data and AI apprenticeships is 36 within a range from 22 to 58. There were 105 starters on the programme over the last 18 months – in addition to our apprenticeship programme for more conventional roles, from business administration to mechanical engineering, and level 2 through to degree level. This year 166 apprentices have completed their training. (One example of an inspiring arc – from Environmental Assistant via MBA apprenticeship to training as a hydrogeologist.)

A responsible employer should aim for equitable access to all learning and development, and emerging opportunities. Green and digital upskilling must not only avoid creating new inequalities, but it can also widen inclusion if done well. 

Career development also supports wellbeing by building confidence, resilience and personal agency. Employers cannot guarantee job certainty in uncertain times, but we can improve our people’s employability by encouraging flexibility and learning.

A sense of purpose

All this has a wider purpose too. People increasingly seek meaningful work. They’re more engaged and likely to commit their futures to an organisation clearly focused on sustainability – in its widest sense. This includes the long-term economic viability of the business, the individual’s lifetime career options and the contribution both company and employee can make to a more environmentally sustainable society. This gives the work (and Kai) that greater sense of purpose and an ever-evolving enriched career.