What is climate quitting?

People are leaving their jobs over the climate — but why? And should you?

17 Jan 2023

Climate quitting in an office
Climate quitting in an office

Climate quitting is a term that’s been doing the rounds lately, and for good reason.

Almost on a daily basis, we hear of record temperatures, melting ice caps and other extreme weather events. As we know, all all of these worrying issues are related to climate change.

What we also know is that without action, both on a personal level and on a wider scale, the problem will only continue to get worse. One such way employees are making their voices heard is through climate quitting. 

That’s right, people are leaving their jobs over the climate. Specifically, due to inaction by their employers. 

Here is what you need to know about climate quitting. Plus, how as a business you can put measures in place to avoid it luring your best talent elsewhere. 

P.S: You can also scroll to the end of this post to view GoSquared’s own contribution towards helping the planet and reducing climate quitting in your business. ⬇️ 🌎

Climate Quitting: An Overview

Climate quitting refers to employees quitting their jobs due to the company’s stance on climate change. Namely, when a company does not take satisfactory measures to reduce its own carbon emissions.

The term climate quitting has been the topic of several reports recently, with the likes of Bloomberg and LinkedIn all publishing articles about the issue. 

In short, there are growing fears that if offending companies continue to ignore their own contributions towards climate change, then this could dramatically increase employee turnover. 

Why Are People Quitting Their Jobs To Fight Climate Change?

quitting jobs due to climate change

A third of employees said they would leave their jobs if their company took no action on climate. That’s according to a survey of 2,000 UK office workers by Supercritical

The same survey found that 70% of workers would be proud to work for an employer who was committed to climate action. 

Demonstrating just how passionate the world is about saving the planet, Bloomberg reports that 51% of workers would accept a lower salary if it meant they could work for an environmentally responsible company. 

So why is this all happening?

Quite simply, climate isn’t an issue we can either ignore or assume doesn’t apply to us. In 2022, the UK experienced an unbearable summer heatwave. Across the world, we’ve seen more extreme weather events that have caused disruption, not to mention left devastation in their wake.

So when it comes to our everyday work, employees want to know they are contributing towards the solution, rather than the problem. 

Therefore, employees are wanting to quit businesses which aren’t environmentally conscious, rather than quitting working altogether as the phrase may suggest. Instead, workers are leaving to find companies which better align with their own interests. This is the exact reason climate quitting is now a thing.

How Can You Avoid Climate Quitting In Your Business?

It’s no secret that employees will at least consider quitting a job if they aren’t happy with any aspect of it. While the likes of salary or management styles may spring to mind as some of the biggest employee gripes, the company ethos is also hugely important too. 

So what all companies need to be doing, if they haven’t already, is considering how they can become a greener businesses. Whether that’s striving to be net zero by a certain timeframe, or making simple changes such as using fewer raw materials to produce any physical products. 

Likewise, allowing remote or hybrid working wherever possible to reduce pollution generated by commuting. 

The rewards of becoming a sustainable business could also be pretty lucrative, as 24 million so-called ‘green jobs’ could be created by 2030, reports the International Labor Organization

However, all of this starts by having an honest conversation as a business about where improvements need to be made. Larger corporations should also look to appoint a sustainability officer to keep track of the company’s progress. 

EcoSend By GoSquared – The Climate Conscious Email Marketing Tool

EcoSend by GoSquared

It can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to becoming a greener company. So how about reducing the carbon emissions generated by your digital marketing efforts?

Most businesses don’t realise that their marketing can be as polluting as the airline industry. In fact, some 300 billion emails are sent per day. Research suggests each email generates between 4g and 50g of carbon depending on its weight.

So, one simple change your business can make today to fix that is to switch to EcoSend

EcoSend is our new email marketing platform, which gives you all the tools you need to send beautiful, effective campaigns, but without the impact on the planet. 

Our paid plans start from just $49 per month. All you have to do to get started is sign up, and we’ll plant a tree on your behalf just for doing so! 

With EcoSend, cleaner greener email marketing starts today.

About the author

Rachael O'Flaherty

Content Writer

Grow your business sustainably

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Grow your business sustainably

Get the EcoSend Weekly newsletter — inspiration, helpful tips, and a good giggle, every Friday.

Grow your business sustainably

Get the EcoSend Weekly newsletter — inspiration, helpful tips, and a good giggle, every Friday.

The email marketing platform for better business

Win new customers, send better email, and make the planet better with every campaign.

  • Free Email Templates

  • Smart Segmentation

  • Lead Forms

  • Automated Campaigns

  • Automatic Offsetting

  • Team Sharing

  • HTML Email Editor

  • Multi-channel Campaigns

  • Drip Campaigns

  • MailChimp Import

  • Zapier Integration

  • Powerful API

The email marketing platform for better business

Win new customers, send better email, and make the planet better with every campaign.

  • Free Email Templates

  • Smart Segmentation

  • Lead Forms

  • Automated Campaigns

  • Automatic Offsetting

  • Team Sharing

  • HTML Email Editor

  • Multi-channel Campaigns

  • Drip Campaigns

  • MailChimp Import

  • Zapier Integration

  • Powerful API