I develop a theory to explain why talent acquisition for corporate renewal can be costly for firms. I argue that to attract people who can grow firms in new or different directions, firms may need to offer higher wages to (1) compensate for their industry affiliation as a categorical constraint and (2) overcome frictions associated with hiring across industries. Analyses of more than 14 million online job posts support my theory of talent acquisition for corporate sustainability: firms in environmentally sensitive (or “brown”) industries are found to offer higher wages for sustainability-related (or “green”) jobs than firms in other industries for almost identical jobs; this wage premium decreases with the rising demand for green jobs within a given brown industry over time, and when ideological conflicts or career-related risks are mitigated. Supplemental analyses using survey data, employee online reviews, and field-level placement records render further support for the mechanisms. These findings bring an intriguing paradox to light: despite firms in brown industries having the most urgent need to adopt sustainable practices, hiring people capable of delivering such changes is a real challenge. Although firm-specific efforts that alleviate jobseekers’ ideological and career-related concerns may lower the barriers-to-hire, firms do pay more to hire people for corporate renewal, especially when constrained by the way firms are perceived under the existing market structure.