JOB APPLICANTS are increasingly querying their prospective employers about the company’s climate-change policies, First Philippine Holdings Corp. said.
“The ability to hire the best also depends on them taking a stance that’s for the betterment of the world,” the group’s Chief Executive Officer Federico R. Lopez said during a virtual conference hosted by the Makati Business Club Thursday.
He said younger applicants now prefer firms that have specific positions on mitigating climate change or those with ongoing efforts to do so.
Citing evidence gathered from his industry counterparts, Mr. Lopez said companies have interviewed promising candidates asking about the company’s position on issues like coal mining.
These candidates tend to seek other jobs if the interviewer fails to provide a suitable answer, he said.
As such workers rise up the ranks, their advocacies are expected to come to the fore.
“Imagine that kind of purchasing power putting its bulk behind the issue of climate change? That can change many, many things,” Mr. Lopez said.
The country should prepare for this new wave of employees and consumers, he added.
“If as a country we are not ready for that, we will not be part of the global supply chain as it moves forward. We will be left out and not only that, we will be left with stranded assets,” Mr. Lopez said. — K.C.G. Valmonte