Why is green tech a must for young employees?
Gen Zers care about the environment more than any other generation before. Millennials drove the green movement on a wide scale. Gen Alpha will join the market pretty much to continue this eco-friendly approach. Is your business ready for the green future?
What does green technology mean?
Eco-friendly tech solutions help preserve the natural environment mainly through energy efficiency and reduction of harmful waste. Green tech innovators use scientific research, including energy, atmospheric science, agriculture, material science, hydrology and many others to create eco-friendly solutions in different life and business areas.
Examples of eco-friendly tech
The range of green tech solutions is growing dynamically. These are the ones that are gaining worldwide popularity:
Green tech trend becomes a must
Eco-friendly approach has transformed into a lifestyle, especially for younger generations who boldly implement green principles into their environment. It is crucial that as potential employees they choose companies that actually deliver on their sustainability promises.
An era of green tech solutions in business is already here as the companies from different branches, as well as the whole countries, want to reach their sustainability goals. Legal regulations and national policies drive and support that movement in various areas. For example, the European climate law makes reaching the EU’s climate goal of reducing EU emissions by at least 55% by 2030 a legal obligation.
The numbers prove that the global green tech market grows rapidly. Its size is expected to reach 61 billion dollars in 2023 and 417 billion dollars in 2030.
Why is eco-friendly tech crucial to young people?
As the oldest Gen Zers are now in their mid twenties, and Millennials impact business to a great extent, it’s important for companies to look closer to the ways young people seek meaning beyond their professional life.
In Team Lewis’ report: New Rules: How Gen Z Is Changing the World of Work, 96% of Gen Zs believe that businesses should be involved in solving social issues, while over half refuse to work at a company that doesn’t share their values.
As The Deloitte Global 2022 Gen Z and Millennial Survey shows, protecting the environment remains a top priority for Gen Zs as well as for Millennials. About 75% of respondents believe the world is at a tipping point in responding to climate change, but less than 50% are optimistic that efforts to protect the planet will be successful.
Gen Zs and Millennials want to see employers prioritise visible climate actions that enable employees to get directly involved, such as banning single-use plastics and providing training to help people make better environmental decisions. It seems the companies that don’t act in line with young people’s values probably will be missing out on many talented candidates due to not meeting climate goals.
Business is to choose green tech
Companies need to focus on their sustainability plans and create long-term ESG strategies to respond to green goals as well as the needs of their current and future employees. 48% of Gen Zs and 43% of Millennials say they have put some pressure on their employer to take action. Those who feel their employers are listening and incorporating their feedback, are also more loyal. Deloitte’s 2022 CxO Sustainability Report found that 65% of leaders are feeling pressure from their employees to act.
The same report shows that 97% of companies have already felt negative impacts of climate change and feel pressure to act from their stakeholders.
19% of the total survey sample are implementing at least 4 of 5 of the needle-moving actions that are:
- Developing climate-friendly products or services
- Requiring suppliers and business partners to meet sustainability criteria
- Updating or relocating facilities to make them more resistant to climate impacts
- Incorporate climate considerations into lobbying and political decisions
- Tying senior leader compensation to sustainability performance
Green business future is already here
As different surveys show, the current and future specialists truly care about eco-friendly solutions in the companies they apply to. For those owners and decision-makers who want to attract talent and build sustainable business for future generations, green tech is the right direction.
