Abstract
<jats:p>How does the skill demand of firms shift as the business landscape evolves? We study this question using hurricanes as a source of plausibly exogenous variation in local exposure to climate risk, and examine how firms' demand for green skills responds. Using U.S. online job postings (2010–2019) linked to hurricane exposure, we find that firms in affected areas are 8% more likely to post jobs requiring green skills after a hurricane, relative to the baseline mean. This effect is persistent and considerably larger in non-tradable, consumer-facing sectors than in tradable sectors. Survey data corroborate that disaster exposure leads people to update their beliefs about climate change as a local threat. We also show that the effect is not explained by post-disaster "build-back-better" reconstruction activity or firms' anticipation of stricter regulation, and that it is robust to the inclusion of industry trends. Together, these results are consistent with a consumer-demand channel through which climate shocks shape firms' skill demand.</jats:p>