Over 1 in 10 people have considered changing their job due to it’s environmental impact

61% of adults experience feelings of guilt for the environmental impact of the industry or job they work in – does this mean sustainability could become a big factor when choosing jobs in the future? 

New research commissioned by Perkbox Insights has found that 89% of adults experience ‘green guilt’ – a phenomenon stemming from the extensive environmental consequences of modern life, which brings moments when you know you could, and should, be doing more to help the planet.

The study also found that this phenomenon strikes most commonly at work, as 61% of adults feel guilty for the environmental impact of the industry or job they work in. This isn’t just causing people to live with these feelings, it’s also making people rethink their careers. The findings revealed that over 1 in 10 (12%) have considered changing their jobs due to the effects that their work has on the environment.

What’s more, almost a quarter (23%) of employed adults state that their workplace doesn’t focus on acting sustainably and a whopping 83% act more sustainably at home than they do at work.

Looking into why adults don’t act as sustainably at work as they do at home, over 1 in 10 stated that their ‘colleagues don’t act sustainably so it doesn’t feel worthwhile’ – showing that we might be a little too easily swayed when it comes to our environmental efforts. Another 14% feel that it’s hard to make a difference as their company doesn’t ask for feedback, while 33% feel that they don’t have the means to be as environmentally friendly as they would like to at work.

On an industry level, the retail, catering and leisure industries have been found to be most likely to cause their employees to experience green guilt. 80% of those who work in these industries feel guilty about the impact that their work is having on the environment. This causes the statistic of those who have considered changing their job due to it’s impact to jump to over 1 in 5 in these industries. This is followed by 18% who work in the Travel and Transport industry who have also considered changing jobs.

Contrastingly, a quarter don’t experience any feelings of guilt as their work tries to minimise its environmental effects, while just 6% state that they work in a sustainable industry.

Will the sustainability of a company become a bigger factor when choosing jobs in the future?