A third of UK workers would turn down a company with poor sustainability credentials
Inspiration
A third of UK workers would turn down a company with poor sustainability credentials
34% of UK workers would turn down a job offer if a company’s environmental, sustainability or climate control values were not aligned to their own, according to a new global survey.
White-collar professionals placed a company’s green values above what an employer does from a political (29%), charitable (27%), or social affairs (21%) standpoint.
These findings come from a survey and upcoming ESG Report by recruiter Robert Walters, which has timed the release to coincide with the United Nations Climat Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.
7000 professionals were surveyed across the world, with French employees coming out as the most likely to turn down a job on sustainability grounds. 53.47% of those surveyed said they would do so.
France was closely followed by Chile (53.45%), Switzerland (51.52%), Brazil (46.28%) and the Netherlands (41.5%).
At just over a third, the UK ranked 13th in the world for employees caring about a company’s green credentials, while 51% of British workers said that is it important to them that a company’s social and political values align with their own.
When breaking down the figures by age, Generation Z (18 to 24) and Baby Boomers (55 to 73) were most likely to be concerned about whether an employer was doing its best to tackle climate change.
Chris Poole, Managing Director at Robert Walters, said: “We have certainly entered a new era of recruiting – whilst all the normal questions still do get asked around pay, benefits, training and career paths, increasingly we get asked ‘what does X company stand for.’
“When offered a potential new role; job searchers are quick to jump onto a firms social media handles, their ‘about us’ page, and most importantly googling latest news articles aligned to the company.
“Employers failing to improve on their sustainability credentials should expect to see a knock-on impact to their hiring. With there being so many avenues to being environmentally conscious as an employer, there simply isn’t much room to ignore the matter.”
Key takeaways:
- Over half of professionals in France, Chile and Switzerland were prepared to turn down a job offer with a company with poor sustainability credentials. The UK figure was 34%.
- 51% of UK employees said it was important to them that a company’s values align with their own.
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