‘Climate quitting’ a growing trend

New research shows how vital Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments are for attracting new talent, with nearly half of young workers considering ESG when looking for a job.

According to a survey of 6,000 UK office workers, students and apprentices by KPMG, precisely one in five have turned down a job offer when an employer’s ESG commitments failed to match their values.

On average, almost one in two (46 per cent) want the company they work for to demonstrate a commitment to ESG. This rises to 55 per cent for 25-34 year olds, while the proportion of workers turning down employers for ESG reasons rises to one in three among those aged 18-24.

Overall, 30 per cent of people have researched an employer’s ESG credentials when looking for a job, rising to 45 per cent for those just starting out in their career.

The research shows that a company’s environmental impact and its living wage policies are the most sought out factors when researching ESG commitments.

‘The direction of travel is clear’

“It is the younger generations that will see the greater impacts if we fail to reach [climate change targets], so it is unsurprising that this, and other interrelated ESG considerations, are front of mind for many when choosing who they will work for,” commented KPMG’s head of ESG, John McCalla-Leacy.

Nearly two thirds (64 per cent) of office workers said there were certain industries they would refuse to work in for ethical reasons, but clear commitments to ESG by a company would change the minds of over a third.

“For businesses the direction of travel is clear,” McCalla-Leacy continued. “By 2025, 75 per cent 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.”