Survey: Employees are still left out of workplaces' climate actions

A comparison of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health’s Climate Change and Work employee surveys from 2022 and 2025 demonstrates that the green transition has not yet become an integral part of daily life at workplaces. 

Employees' role is still limited: in 2025, only about one in four respondents reported that climate-friendly practices are developed jointly at their workplace. In addition, employees’ proposals related to the mitigation of climate change were somewhat less frequent in 2025 than in 2022.

"Employee participation helps to identify sustainability issues, find solutions and implement changes at the workplace. Limited joint development in workplaces raises concerns about whether the progress of the green transition will be comprehensive enough," says Fanni Moilanen, Researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

Climate programmes are becoming more common, but changes to working practices are slow 

Compared to 2022, environmental and climate programmes and strategies have become more common at workplaces in different industries. The greatest changes are visible in the energy, HVAC, maintenance, real estate and transport sectors: in 2022, 24 per cent of respondents reported there being a programme or strategy, compared to 42 per cent in 2025. People or teams designated for climate work at workplaces were also more common than before.

On the other hand, there has been no increase in how often employees observe changes in working practices or processes that mitigate climate change between 2022 and 2025. On the contrary, fewer people in all industries reported having noticed such changes in their workplace. In addition, employees’ perception of the necessity of their own climate action has decreased. This development may be partly explained by the tightening of the economic situation.

"The increasingly challenging economic situation in 2022–2025 may have introduced new pressures to daily life that require immediate reaction. This can reduce individuals' deliberate climate change mitigation measures," says Moilanen.

Climate actions are the rarest in the social welfare and healthcare sector

There are clear differences between sectors in how employees perceive workplaces' climate actions. The green transition seems to be progressing the slowest in the social welfare and healthcare sector. 

In 2025, only 15 per cent of respondents in the social welfare and healthcare sector reported their workplace having an environmental or climate programme. The number of designated responsible persons or teams was also the lowest in the social welfare and healthcare sector. In addition, 59 per cent disagreed with the statement that climate-friendly work is easy, and just over a quarter estimated that mitigating climate change is not important to their employer.

These findings indicate that climate action is not being given the same attention in the social welfare and healthcare sector as in many other sectors. This may be due to cost pressures and extensive organizational changes that make long-term development difficult.

"Every sector needs to move forward with the green transition, but it is not progressing at the same pace everywhere. Where there are few resources and organizations are undergoing changes, climate actions can be overshadowed by other objectives," says Arja Ala-Laurinaho, Research Manager at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

Read the report here

• Read the report (in Finnish): Työpaikkojen vihreä siirtymä ja henkilöstön osallistuminen – Kyselytutkimusten tuloksia työntekijöiden näkemyksistä vuosina 2022–2025

Information about the study

• The Climate Change and Work employee surveys were carried out in 2022 and 2025. Approximately 1,900 employees aged 20–68 who work in Finland responded to each survey. The data is cross-sectional, and the respondents represent different workplaces in different years. The response rate was 38%.
• Project page: Understanding and supporting the digital and green transition as part of well-being at work

Further information

• Fanni Moilanen, Researcher, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, fanni.moilanen@ttl.fi, +358 50 576 1356
• Arja Ala-Laurinaho, Research Manager, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, arja.ala-laurinaho@ttl.fi, +358 40 562 0906