One in three young people have turned down a job offer because the employer’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments were not in line with their values.
According to a survey by KPMG UK, 9% of adults are actively looking for a job linked to ESG, rising to 14% of 18-24 year olds.
Its survey of nearly 6,000 UK office workers, students, apprentices and recent higher education leavers found that 46% of people want the company they work for to demonstrate a commitment to ESG, with those aged 25-34 the most likely to value an ESG commitment from their employer (55%), and those aged 18-24 a close second (51%).
Across all respondents, 20% had turned down a job offer because an organisation’ ESG strategy did not meet their expectations, which KMPG UK called ‘climate quitting’. Eighty-two per cent place some importance on sharing their values and purpose with the organisation they work with, rising to 92% of 18-24 year olds.
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Thirty per cent researched an organisation’s ESG credentials when looking for a job, rising to 45% of Gen-Z respondents.
The environmental impact of an organisation (46%) and living wage policies (45%) were the key areas that were sought organisations to address during the recruitment process.
Younger workers are the most interested in fair pay commitments (45% of those aged 18-34), while those aged 35-44 are more likely to be interested in an organisation’s environmental impact (45%).
John McCalla-Leacy, head of ESG at KPMG in the UK said: “It is clear from recent COP27 discussions that, while some progress is being made, there is still a long way to go if we are going to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C. It is the younger generations that will see the greater impacts if we fail to reach this target, so it is unsurprising that this, and other interrelated ESG considerations, are front of mind for many when choosing who they will work for.
“For businesses the direction of travel is clear. By 2025, 75% of the working population will be millennials, meaning they will need to have credible plans to address ESG if they want to continue to attract and retain this growing pool of talent.”
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The survey also found that 64% of office workers would refuse to work in certain industries for ethical reasons, but a clear commitment to ESG would change the minds of 37% in this group.
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