Insight #3
These results are part of a pattern of increased attention to workplace sustainability over the last decade. A 2013 study by Bain showed that two thirds of employees cared more about sustainability than they did three years previously.
But a recent IBM research in 2021 revealed that the pandemic acted as a catalyst in tipping employee attitudes firmly in favour of sustainability. 93% of respondents said the pandemic had affected their view on sustainability, while 69% said they were more likely to accept a job with an organisation they consider to be environmentally responsible.
However, some employees—two-fifths (40%) of respondents in the US, and almost a third (31%) in the UK—felt that their company was already doing enough to reduce emissions and be more sustainable.
Just as we saw that employees were willing to take action themselves to be more efficient with their energy consumption at their workplaces, they also said they would act to improve sustainability.
The most popular actions include setting up a working group to campaign for sustainability (42% and 21% of respondents in the US and UK respectively) and raising the issue of sustainability with a manager or relevant team (39% and 34% of respondents in the US and UK respectively). Only 8% in the US, and 16% in the UK, would not take action.