Over a desire to work for companies they believe that are committed to fighting climate change, Young workers in Western nations are now leaving their jobs at increasing levels.
Numerous studies show that younger cohorts of professionals prefer their employers to take active stands on social and political issues, which has led to the phenomenon known as “climate quitting.”
According to a survey by the accounting firm KPMG, 46% of employees and students in the UK want their companies to show commitment to the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement, generally known as ESG.
One in three employees between the ages of 18 and 24 and about one in five respondents stated they had turned down a job offer because of the employer’s ESG policy. While 82% of respondents gave the potential of connecting their beliefs and purpose to their company “some importance,” 64% of office employees claimed that there are some industries in which they will not work for ethical reasons.
Younger generations are likely to favor social responsibility from their employers more strongly than older cohorts because they “will see the greater impacts” from rising global temperatures over the course of their lifetimes, according to John McCalla-Leacy, who oversees ESG efforts for KPMG in the United Kingdom, “if they want to continue to attract and retain this growing pool of talent,” he continued, they must “have credible plans to address ESG.”
In a Yale University research, over 51% of students from more than two dozen prestigious business schools said they would accept a lesser income to work for a company with better environmental standards.
Researchers said, “Business students have grown even more resolute in their stated intention to work for companies that demonstrate strong social and environmental sustainability practices.”
Investor expectations could not match the willingness of firms to address environmental issues. In an exclusive poll from The DailyWire, 58% expressed the opposite sentiment of companies that leverage their financial power for political or social means, while 29% of respondents expressed approval. American investors would prefer that companies commit solely to the pursuit of profits.
Young people are more likely to work for companies that care about the environment because hiring is difficult for both commercial and public sector enterprises.
Reflecting a constrained labor market that has worsened inflationary pressures, in a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there exist roughly 10.5 million job openings and 5.7 million unemployed individuals across the economy; as young people are more likely to work for companies that care about the environment because hiring is difficult for both commercial and public sector enterprises.
Demographic trends in the West have been altered by concerns about climate change. In a note to investors, economists from Morgan Stanley stated that the “movement to not have children owing to fears over climate change is growing and impacting fertility rates quicker than any preceding trend in the field of fertility decline.”
Thousands of young people have signed pledges like the No Future Pledge, which promotes the avoidance of reproduction to reduce carbon emissions. In an American Psychological Association research, about 56% of adult Americans experience “climate anxiety.”
Sources: DailyWire, Apa.org, Cbey.yale.edu, Kpmg