The paper aims at defining sustainable jobs. Sustainable jobs are referred to sustainable growth where social, environmental and economic conditions are satisfied. First, different definitions of growth are examined. We show that the economic definitions don’t get the question of employment right: labour is missing because full employment is supposed in the long run. Then, local experiences of sustainable employment are examined. Two kinds of jobs are found. On the one hand, jobs that belong to the market sector and refer to normal jobs (full time jobs kept by insiders). These jobs are not connected with the question of sustainability. On the other hand are found jobs which refer to the public employment policy, which aim at helping unemployed people to find a new occupation. These jobs refer to transitional markets or the non profit sector. These jobs are numerous in the environmental sector. But most of them are temporary and belong to the so called secondary sector. People who have these jobs want them to become permanent jobs, but don’t question their quality or characteristics as sustainability stands. Then sustainability is confused with stability, and the quality of jobs is not examined. In fact, since these policies need a local grounding, there is confusion between the goals of environmental policies and employment policies, which obscure what is really at stake in the development of sustainable jobs: a definition of new economic constraints or a tool for public policies (either centralised or decentralised). Finally, three characteristics are suggested: quality of jobs, local commitment and partnership.