The value conflict at work, linked to the environment and ecology

At a time when there is growing concern about global warming, a significant number of employees believe that their work is harmful to the environment.

A certain number of employees believe that their work harms the environment. This is what economist Thomas Coutrot reveals, who has just published the very first scientific study devoted to the subject.

To achieve this, he analyzed the results of the latest survey on Working Conditions, carried out in 2019 by the statistical services of the Ministry of Labor. It surveyed 24,000 representative workers. For the first time, they were asked, among all questions, whether their work had negative consequences for the environment. 24% responded sometimes. And 7% “always” or “often”.

franceinfo: Who are those who say “always” or “often”?

Sarah Lemoine: They tend to be workers and farmers, mostly men, with few qualifications, and who have a relatively low income. Contrary to what one might believe, it is therefore the least eco-friendly profiles in opinion surveys who feel the most concerned by the consequences of their work on nature.

According to the author, this refers to the fact that polluting and dangerous tasks, the environmental “dirty work”, is rather attributed to the male sex, to the less qualified and the less paid. Hypothesis reinforced, according to Thomas Coutrot, by the presence of temporary workers and foreign workers. They report, more frequently than the others, an environmental ethical conflict.

In general, these workers are more likely to report that they are afraid in their work…

These workers say they are afraid for their safety and that of others. They signal high emotional intensity. Finally, almost half of workers who experience an ethical conflict of this type consider their work unsustainable. 37% say they want to change jobs within three years. This is 10 points more than for all assets.

What about employees who work in offices?

The author of the study looked at 13 professions of engineers and private sector executives, whose activity can fuel consumerism or the overexploitation of natural resources, without their physical health being directly threatened.

The result is that employees do not really stand out from the average. Only 5% think their work has harmful consequences for nature. The most concerned are in communication, graphics, construction, marketing. In banking and industry, on the other hand, nothing to report.