Sustaining Workers: The Influence of Environmental Sustainability on Employee Commitment and Recruitment

Abstract

Employees increasingly seek out organizations with environmentally friendly reputations. However, we still do not fully understand the extent to which environmentally friendly policies and practices matter for employee commitment and recruitment. Thus, we use original survey data with an international group of employees (N = 1964) to investigate how sustainability practices matter to workers when it comes to job commitment and recruitment. Using logistic regression models, we found that millennials (OR: 2.18; 95% CI: 1.43–3.32), Gen Z workers (OR: 3.29; 95% CI: 1.73–6.24), and workplace leaders (OR: 1.88; 95%CI: 1.44–2.47) reported that an employer's sustainability practices matter significantly for how committed they feel to their jobs. Additionally, millennials (OR: 1.77; 95% CI 1.12–2.80), Gen Z workers (OR: 2.33; 95% CI 1.18–4.61) and leaders (1.89; 95% CI 1.41–2.53) reported that sustainability efforts would impact their willingness to accept a new job offer. When staffing is an issue, organizational dedication to environmental sustainability is one potential strategy for recruiting and retaining certain groups of employees.