The survey from SaveMoneyCutCarbon examined worker attitudes toward corporate sustainability. It found that 19% of UK employees would never apply for a job with a company that doesn’t “prioritise sustainability”. Additionally, 22% of employees will only support businesses that can demonstrate how sustainability is embedded across their operations.
If these figures were to account for the whole of the UK workforce, it would mean that almost 10 million workers would turn away from a company based on their approach to sustainability.
The survey also found that 14% of workers have felt the need to take sustainability into their own hands because their place of work is not addressing it. This is due to a lack of action from their employers who either aren’t articulating their approaches to sustainability well enough, or a ignoring it outright.
SaveMoneyCutCarbon’s chief executive Mark Sait added: “The Prospect survey echoes our own national study’s insights, emphasising the urgency of cultivating a skilled and motivated workforce to realise our net-zero ambitions.
“As the frontiers of the climate emergency close in, it’s no surprise that for the population at large, awareness is stiffening into action. Working at a company without a meaningful plan to reduce its environmental impact is simply a no-go for many job seekers. For employees, frustration at their own organisation’s lack of development is leading to a new phenomenon: climate quitting.”
The survey builds on a study from Trade Union, Prospects, found that more than a third of workers reported that specialist tasks are being assigned to workers who are not trained to deliver them, due to a lack of investment in skills.
SaveMoneyCutCarbon’s study builds on this, finding that 18% of UK employees feel content with the amount of training they receive in relation to sustainability.
Mind the gap
The number of UK-based jobs in low-carbon and renewable energy sectors in 2021 was almost 40,000 higher than in 2020, official new figures show. However, the Government is still not on track to deliver its flagship pledge of two million green jobs by 2030.
Additionally, a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF), using data from LinkedIn, found that efforts to upskill and reskill workers for a sustainable future are moving at a snail’s pace in comparison to the skyrocketing demand for workers with green skills.