Peter Brown and Parul Munshi
How are employees feeling about climate change? Have a look at the five stats below. Taken from PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2024, the figures show that employees are deeply engaged with climate issues—and may not always be aligned with their leaders.
37% Share of employees who say climate change will impact their work to a large or very large extent
A considerable share of employees predict climate change will have a big effect on their job; an even greater share (75%) say it will have at least some impact. By comparison, just 30% of CEOs in PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey say planetary warming will drive changes to the way their company creates, delivers and captures value in the next three years. A possible reason for this perception gap is that CEOs may have more insight than workers into the steps already being taken to manage climate impacts on the business. This points to a leadership imperative: sharing the company’s climate-adaptation and sustainability plans with workers transparently—a practice recent PwC research has shown to have a positive impact on employee retention.
44% Share of workers who think climate change will increase health and safety risks at work
For some workers, a general awareness of climate change’s impact has evolved into more specific concerns: exposure to heat stress, air pollution, and other health and safety risks. These concerns are particularly pronounced in Africa (57%), the Middle East (53%) and Asia-Pacific (51%). Many CEOs are moving to address the threats: 46% of them say they’ve begun or completed actions to protect their physical assets or workforce from climate risk. Another 21% are planning to. As for the CEOs with no plans to invest in the infrastructure, training and protective equipment needed to mitigate climate threats, risk and sustainability teams might point to this statistic: the global cost to business of climate-change-induced extreme weather from 2000 to 2019 is estimated to be US$2.86 trillion.
69% Share of workers who say companies must reduce their environmental impact
Workers who want employers to shrink their environmental footprint represent a solid majority. The share is even higher in Asia-Pacific (73%) and the Middle East (74%), and among millennials (70%). A majority of CEOs are on board: 75% have made moves to improve energy efficiency, and 68% have introduced climate-friendly products, services or technologies. Fewer say they’ve taken action beyond emissions reduction, such as climate solutions centred around natural ecosystems, an approach that’s been shown to be critical to managing climate change. Leaders stand to benefit when they broaden their view of climate action—not only to reduce environmental harm, but to attract and retain top talent.
36% Share of workers who expect to need new skills as the planet warms
As climate change alters operations, supply chains, customer preferences and environmental regulations, workers are going to need the skills to adapt processes, services and products accordingly. A not-insignificant share of workers already know this. A large percentage of CEOs do too: 44% have begun or completed the implementation of “green” upskilling initiatives, and another 23% are planning to. Wherever leaders are in the implementation process—and certainly for the 30% of CEOs who have no green-upskilling plans—taking a phased approach is smart, starting with specialised programs targeting the workers most immediately affected by climate-induced changes.
34% Share of workers who think climate change will create new jobs
The climate crisis is all but guaranteed to create new jobs across a wide variety of fields, from renewable energy and sustainable design to data analysis and policy development. More than a third of employees say they’re aware of these potential new jobs. To help the larger share of workers who are not, executives can start by looking for the skills gaps that might be holding workers back from seizing new opportunities. It’s also important to clearly communicate the job opportunities that already exist within climate-related roles and share success stories of employees who have transitioned into them.
Peter Brown is Global Workforce Leader, Partner, PwC United Kingdom and Parul Munshi is Partner, Workforce Transformation, PwC Southeast Asia Consulting, PwC Singapore
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/c-suite-insights/the-leadership-agenda/workers-have-climate-concerns.html
This article was republished under the Creative Commons licence.