Job Sites Going Green To Please Workers

A growing number of employers are going green, putting greater emphasis on reducing their impact on the environment. The issue is important to many employees. Thirty-three percent of employees would be more inclined to work for a company that is environmentally conscious, according to a survey this year by Adecco, a Melville, N.Y.-based provider of workforce solutions. More than half of the respondents thought their company should be doing more.

At Manpower's (MAN) new world headquarters in Milwaukee, which opened in September, a number of steps have been taken to reduce the impact on the environment. The building has been designed with daylight and views in 90% of workspaces, and the building uses 25% less energy and 40% less water than a typical facility its size. Other features: more than 10% of the building uses recycled materials, all materials are low-volatile organic compounds to improve indoor air quality, and more than half of the wood comes from renewable forests.

"Manpower feels very strongly that encouraging our employees to live and work 'green' is a competitive edge in today's tough labor market," says spokeswoman Bethany Perkins in an e-mail.

Babson College in Babson Park, Mass., converts used cooking oil to diesel fuel used in lawnmowers and trucks on campus. Recycling the cooking oil is saving it about $4,000 annually. The campus also has replaced more than 1,700 incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights, saving $15,000 a year.

Johnson Controls has developed a corporatewide inventory of six major greenhouse gases and reports progress annually on reducing those emissions as part of a program it joined with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Spokeswoman Sarah Seifert says in an e-mail that the emphasis has come from the top ranks of the company, attributing it to "management recognition of the benefits and opportunities that it brings. They know this is important to their customers and employees." While employers see going green as a recruitment and retention tool, the results are mixed.

An October survey by McLean, Va.-based Jobfox found 5% of professionals are seeking a career change with a company that is environmentally friendly, making it 18th on the list of top career-related choices. Jobfox is an online career advancement company.