DJ New Source of Climate Pressure for Companies: Workers
By Russell Gold
Investors and customers aren't the only ones pressuring big companies to address climate change -- employees are joining in too.
From Walmart Inc. to Microsoft Corp., many large companies say that concrete commitments to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and buy green power are becoming important to recruiting and retaining workers, especially younger ones.
The issue is especially pronounced in the tech industry, where competition for skilled workers is fierce, and some employees have turned to activism to prod their employers into action.
At Amazon.com Inc., a group called Amazon Employees for Climate Justice wrote an open letter last year, urging the company to commit to a deadline to secure 100% of its electricity from renewable sources. Signed by several thousand employees, the letter also called out the e-commerce giant for ordering 20,000 diesel-engine vans.
A few months later, Amazon committed to 100% renewables by 2030 and made the largest-ever order for electric delivery vehicles. Amazon said the plan "had been in the works for many years and was not a result of criticism."
Microsoft and Alphabet Inc.'s Google have both made climate pledges in recent months, after employees organized and began asking for more action.
"Employees are flexing their muscle and companies are smart enough to realize that as society changes towards fighting climate change, to be on the right side of that challenge is good for business," said Matt Rogers, co-founder of Nest, the maker of smart-home devices that is now part of Google. He has since left the company.
The climate demands are part of a sea change hitting the corporate world as increasingly vocal workers demand that companies and chief executives take positions on important social and political issues.
"Gone are the days where you can just go work somewhere and make good money and that is all you care about," said Jason Wingard, dean of the school of professional studies at Columbia University. "When we have our career week and we engage with employers on campus, one of the first questions students ask is: 'What do you stand for?'"
Four in five companies expect an increase in employee activism, with climate concerns as a top trigger, according to a recent survey of 375 global executives by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills LLP.
"We see a lot more employees using the workplace as a forum to raise social issues," said London-based partner Silke Goldberg. "They are trying to call out their employers and hold them to account for their values."
Nate Hurst, HP Inc.'s chief sustainability officer, said climate issues are central to making the 50,000 workers at the printer and computer company feel like they are part of something bigger and positive.
"One of the best ways to land top recruits and keep existing staff motivated and engaged is to help them understand how their careers and contributions are critical to HP's sustainability efforts," Mr. Hurst said.
Before a global-climate strike last September, HP sent a memo to its workers, letting them know it would be fine to attend. "You have the support of our leadership team if you choose to lend your time and voice to this important cause," the memo said.
HP has committed to reduce its direct emissions by 25% by 2025 and use 40% renewable electricity by this year.
Walmart recently broke ground on a new headquarters complex with more than 20 buildings in Bentonville, Ark., that it hopes will appeal to climate-conscious workers. It will feature solar panels on parking decks, natural lighting through large windows and timber-framed buildings, a method of construction that uses fewer fossil fuels.
"We are going to create a campus where associates want to be and where we can attract the next generation of top talent," said spokeswoman Anne Hatfield. A top consideration, she said, was climate-friendly buildings.
Companies aren't always able to appease environmentally minded workers. Amazon Employees for Climate Justice recently said it would continue pressuring the company to take more action.
"As Amazon workers, we are responsible for not only the success of the company, but its impact as well. It's our moral responsibility to speak up," said Sarah Tracy, an Amazon software-development engineer.
Amazon spokeswoman Jaci Anderson said it was a violation of policy for employees to speak out against the company. Amazon "will not allow employees to publicly disparage or misrepresent the company or the hard work of their colleagues who are developing solutions to these hard problems," she said.
U.S. businesses, led by the tech industry, have been aggressive in recent years in buying electricity from wind and solar farms. Last year, companies signed deals for a record 9.3 gigawatts of renewable energy, according to the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, roughly half of average demand on the New York state power grid.
The largest purchaser, for the second straight year, was Facebook Inc. Amazon, Microsoft and Google were all in the top seven.
Those kinds of commitments matter to incoming recruits such as Amanda Willis, a 29-year-old masters of business administration student at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. For her, sustainability action tops salary and location as criteria for choosing an employer this spring.
"My goal is to work somewhere where I agree with their values," she said.
Write to Russell Gold at russell.gold@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 16, 2020 09:00 ET (14:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
DJ公司氣候壓力的新來源:工人
羅素·戈爾德
並非只有投資者和客户向大公司施壓,要求它們應對氣候變化--員工也加入了進來。
來自沃爾瑪公司對微軟公司(MicrosoftCorp.)來説,許多大公司表示,減少温室氣體排放和購買綠色能源的具體承諾,對於招聘和留住工人(尤其是年輕員工)正變得越來越重要。
這一問題在高科技行業尤為突出,那裏對熟練工人的競爭十分激烈,一些僱員已轉向激進主義,以促使僱主採取行動。
亞馬遜公司(Amazon.com Inc.)去年寫了一封公開信,名為“亞馬遜氣候正義員工”(Amazon Employees For ClimateJustice),敦促該公司在最後期限內確保100%的電力來自可再生能源。在數千名員工的簽名下,這封信還呼籲這家電子商務巨頭訂購2萬輛柴油發動機貨車。
幾個月後,亞馬遜承諾到2030年實現100%的可再生能源,併為電動送貨車下了有史以來最大的訂單。亞馬遜表示,該計劃“已經醖釀多年,不是批評的結果。”
微軟(Microsoft)和Alphabet Inc.(Alphabet Inc.)的谷歌(Google)最近幾個月都做出了氣候變化方面的承諾,此前兩家公司的員工
Nest的聯合創始人馬特羅傑斯(Matt Rogerers)表示:“員工們正在展示他們的實力,而公司足夠聰明,意識到隨着社會朝着應對氣候變化的方向轉變,站在這一挑戰的右邊對商業有利。”Nest是谷歌的一部分,目前是智能家居設備的製造商。從那以後他就離開了公司。
隨着越來越多的工人要求企業和首席執行官在重要的社會和政治問題上採取立場,氣候變化對企業界造成了衝擊。
哥倫比亞大學(Columbia University)專業研究學院院長詹森·温加德(Jason Wingard)説:“那些你可以去某個地方工作、賺大錢的日子已經一去不復返了,這就是你所關心的一切。”“當我們的職業周在校園裏與僱主接觸時,學生們提出的第一個問題是:‘你代表什麼?’”
最近,赫伯特·史密斯律師事務所(Herbert Smith Freeills LLP)對375名全球高管進行的一項調查顯示,五分之四的公司預計員工積極性會增加,而氣候問題則是最重要的誘因。
“我們看到更多的員工利用工作場所作為提出社會問題的論壇,”總部位於倫敦的合夥人西爾克·戈德伯格(Silke Goldberg)説。“他們試圖向僱主發出呼籲,並要求他們為自己的價值觀負責。”
惠普公司(HP Inc.)首席可持續發展官內特·赫斯特(Nate Hurst)表示,氣候問題對於讓這家打印機和電腦公司的5萬名員工感到自己是更大、更積極的事物的一部分至關重要。
赫斯特説:“找到頂尖員工、保持現有員工積極性和敬業精神的最佳途徑之一,就是幫助他們瞭解自己的職業生涯和貢獻對惠普的可持續性努力至關重要。”
在去年9月全球氣候大罷工之前,惠普給員工們發了一份備忘錄,讓他們知道參加會議是可以的。備忘錄説:“如果你選擇為這一重要的事業提供時間和聲音,你就會得到我們領導團隊的支持。”
惠普承諾到2025年將直接排放減少25%,到今年使用40%的可再生能源。
沃爾瑪最近破土動工,在阿肯色州本頓維爾建有20多棟大樓,希望能吸引氣候敏感的工人。它將在停車甲板上安裝太陽能電池板,通過大窗户和木結構建築進行天然照明,這是一種使用較少化石燃料的建築方法。
發言人安妮·哈特菲爾德(AnneHatfield)表示:“我們將創建一個員工想要的校園,在那裏我們可以吸引下一代頂尖人才。”她説,首先要考慮的是氣候友好型建築。
公司並不總是能夠安撫關心環境的工人。亞馬遜氣候正義組織的員工最近表示,將繼續向該公司施壓,要求其採取更多行動。
亞馬遜軟件開發工程師薩拉·特雷西(Sarah Tracy)表示:“作為亞馬遜的員工,我們不僅要為公司的成功負責,也要對公司的影響負責。我們的道義責任是公開表態。”
亞馬遜發言人JaciAnderson表示,這違反了員工公開反對該公司的政策。她説,亞馬遜“不會允許員工公開貶低或歪曲公司,也不會讓他們的同事為這些棘手的問題制定解決方案。”
近年來,以科技行業為首的美國企業在從風能和太陽能發電場購買電力方面一直很積極。根據可再生能源買家聯盟的數據,去年,企業簽署了創紀錄的93億瓦可再生能源協議,這大約是紐約州電網平均需求的一半。
最大的買家是臉書公司(FacebookInc.),這是連續第二年。亞馬遜(Amazon)、微軟(Microsoft)和谷歌(Google)都躋身前七。
這些承諾對新入職人員很重要,比如29歲的密歇根大學羅斯商學院工商管理碩士阿曼達威利斯。對她來説,可持續性行動是今年春天選擇僱主的首要標準。
她説:“我的目標是在我認同他們價值觀的地方工作。”
電子郵件:russell.Gold@wsj.com
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2020年2月16日09:00(格林尼治時間14:00)
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