“Yesterday, my fiancée was refused a job offer… because she refuses to take a plane. But the worst part is that the company brags about being carbon neutral and supporting [l’organisation] WWF. » Posted on LinkedIn in the spring of 2023, this message from Guillaume de Lustrac, a young carbon footprint consultant, was widely shared and commented on social networks. By a committed young generation, but also by human resources (HR) directors, challenged by the expectations of new recruits. What are your environmental commitments? What certifications have you obtained on these topics? You are not a mission-driven company, why? These are the questions that are frequently asked of recruiters.
In the age of emergency ecological, job interviews turn into interrogations on the sincerity and extent of the companies’ commitment. “Among the candidates we call, some decline interview offers because we work with one company in the arms sector or another in the tobacco sector”, confides Frédéric Benay. The general director of the recruitment firm PageGroup invites its customers to “embody the company’s values, otherwise at the risk of being cut off from many young talents”. According to a study carried out in June 2021 by the CSA institute for LinkedIn and the Environment and Energy Management Agency, for an equivalent offer, 78% of employees would prefer to join a company committed to the ecological transition. For new entrants to the job market, environmental impact is the most anticipated business transformation, according to the latest study from April 2023 on the relationship with work of graduates from major schools, led by the NewGen Talent Center, the Edhec Business School center of expertise dedicated to the aspirations, skills and behaviors of younger generations.
“Every job is a digital job”we insisted in the 2010s, during the digital transformation of companies. “Today, we could add: “Every job is a green job.” And the HR function in particular, due to the extremely varied nature of its action”, summarizes Antoine Poincaré, vice-president of Axa Climate School. From career management to communication, including working conditions and remuneration, human resources are at the heart of the ecological transition. And this, from the job interview, during which the company is open to suspicions of greenwashing (“greening”).
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