Three-quarters of U.S. workers want employers to protect environment: Survey

One-fifth would take pay cut if employer 'takes strong action'

Three out of four (76 per cent) workers in the United States said it's important that their employer takes action to protect the environment, according to a survey by WattzOn, a personal energy management platform.

While recycling and waste-reduction programs are the most prevalent programs employers use in and outside the workplace (66 per cent and 44.4 per cent, respectively), only 27 per cent of the 500 U.S. workers surveyed are very satisfied with their employer's efforts to help the environment.

"Employees are demanding more effort from their employers in developing programs to help protect the environment at the office and at home," said Steven Ashby, co-founder and chief product 0fficer at WattzOn. "More can be done to protect the environment through energy efficiency and savings on water and gasoline use. U.S. employees are looking for the tools to help them make environmentally-beneficial changes to their behavior and would like to receive these tools through their employer's benefits and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs."

Other highlights from the survey include:

• Workers want more action outside of the workplace as well. Three-quarters (74.2 per cent) would be interested in their employer providing free resources to help reduce home energy use and bills.

•Nearly one-half of all workers (47.8 per cent) said saving energy is not a priority for their employer and only 11.8 per cent said their company prioritizes reduction in greenhouse gases. And one in five workers (18.8 per cent) said their company has no environmental priorities whatsoever.

•One in four (24.4 per cent) workers said they would be likely to look for a new job if they discovered their employer had a bad record on environmental issues.

•One in five (20.8 per cent) would probably or definitely accept a five per cent pay cut to work for a company that takes strong action to protect the environment.

•One-half of respondents (53.6 per cent) consider a company's focus on environmental initiatives when deciding on an employer, yet only 17 per cent of knew if their own company had a program.

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