BusinessWeek seems to have taken on the self-appointed role as debunker of green business, which as I've written before is an odd switch from the beginning of 2007. The trend continues: Last week, the magazine took an unnecessarily harsh (but not necessarily surprising) perspective on a new survey about interest in green values at work. By Andrew Winston

PR firm Hill & Knowlton talked to MBA students globally and asked them what factors would influence career and job choice. They ranked the factors by percentage that said it was "extremely" or "very" important. Here's the list from the study:

Career opportunities.......................................95
Corporate culture/working environment.............86
Compensation and benefits package................85
Employee satisfaction....................................84
Quality of products and services......................75
Financial performance/growth potential.............73
Corporate governance and ethics.....................58
Social responsibility/community involvement.....49
Brand and marketing message........................48
Environmental/green policy..............................34

BusinessWeek looked at this and declared "Green Isn't Gold for MBAs" and pointed out that green stuff is at the bottom. Now, color me optimistic, but I think these numbers -- 49% on CSR and 34% on green -- are actually pretty high. Of course career opportunities and money are going to be nearly universal; it's like asking consumers about price and quality versus other considerations -- of course they come first. I would expect that very few MBAs would pick on environmental considerations alone.

But I'm amazed that one-third or more of these MBAs consider green as important as those other factors (remember, this is "extremely" or "very" important). And where would those numbers have been five years ago? What's the trajectory on this?

What was interesting, and BusinessWeek does get to this after its sensational headline, was what happened when the questions got more specific. Two-thirds won't work for tobacco and half don't want to work for energy or autos -- those are just the two biggest sectors in the world. Finally, to cap it off, one in five American MBAs -- and 42% and 38% in EU and Asia respectively -- would be inclined not to take an "attractive" job offer from a company with a poor environmental reputation.

If you're recruiting for top talent, and you're not tackling green issues, wouldn't it worry you that 20%-40% of your pool of applicants may have no interest in you?

And the numbers may be rising as you look at even younger cohorts. Monster.com did a survey of undergrads recently and found that 92% wanted to work for a green company. They were so impressed by this finding, they launched a green careers website. The recruiting giants are convinced even if BusinessWeek isn't.

This article was originally posted on Andrew Winston's blog. Click here for more of Andrew's insights on innovating for sustainability.