Earth Day 2007: Are American Workers Going Green?

  
    
  
  
    
      In recognition of Earth Day 2007, which takes place on Saturday, April 
      22, Adecco (NYSE:ADO) commissioned a survey to find out if American 
      workers are bringing their environmental consciousness to work. The 
      latest Adecco USA Workplace Insights Survey found that only 1/3 (33%) 
      would be more inclined to work for a “green” 
      company, despite all the recent attention on environmental issues.
    
    
      Key findings from the survey:
    
    
      
        A slight majority want their company 
        to do more: About half of employed adults (52%) 
        think their company should do more to be environmentally friendly. 
        Only about 1 in 5 employed adults (22%) say their company already does 
        enough or too much, while about one in four (26%) are just not sure.
      
      
        He said, she said: 
        Employed men are more likely than their female counterparts to say 
        they know their company’s environmental 
        policy (35% men vs. 28% women).
      
      
        What’s 
        your company’s 
        policy?: While about 7 in 10 employed adults (69%) know 
        that their company has an environmental policy, only about a third 
        (32%) knows what that policy is.
      
    
    
      “We’ve seen an 
      increase recently in the number of job seekers who want to work for ‘green’ 
      companies, or companies working in industries that are helpful to the 
      environment,” says Bernadette Kenny, chief 
      career officer, Adecco USA. “However, when it 
      comes to taking less compensation for those jobs not everyone is willing 
      to make that leap unless they are younger and just starting out in their 
      careers. What can be helpful for companies in recruiting and retaining 
      green-minded employees are to communicate its environmental policies and 
      create an environmentally conscious culture by instituting some simple 
      and basic programs.”
    
    
      Earth Day is also a great opportunity for employers to show they care 
      about the environment. Some activities companies can support to help 
      celebrate this holiday include:
    
    
      
        Take a stroll through the park: 
        Sponsor a local public park and enable employee volunteers to spend a 
        day helping to pick up litter, plant flowers, etc.
      
      
        A breath of fresh air: 
        Plant trees on your company’s campus to 
        celebrate the day, as many as you can to help create more fresh air 
        around the office.
      
      
        Create a committee: 
        Bring coworkers together as a group to provide insight and 
        creative ideas around how your organization can establish or enhance 
        its environmental friendly practices. People who have passion around 
        this may have a lot to offer and can help bring concepts to practice.
      
      
        Earth Day is everyday: 
        Develop a five-point plan to articulate how your company and employees 
        can help make everyday Earth Day and distribute it to everyone via 
        email or voicemail. It can be as simple as creating a carpool to as 
        involved as changing all your light bulbs to Energy Star qualified 
        bulbs.
      
    
    
      Adecco is an environmentally “low-impact 
      business” and a member of the United Nations 
      Global Compact Initiative, which supports environmental responsibility 
      and encourages environmentally friendly technologies.
    
    
      Survey Methodology:
    
    
      This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris 
      Interactive on behalf of Adecco USA between March 13 and March 15, 2007 
      among 2,473 U.S. adults 18 years of age or older. Figures for region, 
      age within gender, education, household income and race/ethnicity were 
      weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual 
      proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used 
      to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be 
      online.
    
    
      With a pure probability sample of 2,473 one could say with a ninety-five 
      percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of 
      +/- 3 percentage points. The sampling error for sub-samples may be 
      higher and would vary. However that does not take other sources of error 
      into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample 
      and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
    
    
      ADECCO WORLDWIDE:
    
    
      Adecco S.A. is a Global Fortune 500 company and the world leader in 
      workforce solutions. The Adecco Group network connects over 700,000 
      associates with business clients each day through its network of over 
      33,000 employees and 6,600 offices in over 70 countries and territories 
      around the world. Registered in Switzerland, and managed by a 
      multinational team with expertise in markets spanning the globe, the 
      Adecco Group delivers an unparalleled range of flexible staffing and 
      career resources to corporate clients and qualified associates.
    
    
      ADECCO NORTH AMERICA:
    
    
      Adecco is the workforce solutions leader in the United States and 
      Canada, with a comprehensive service offering that includes temporary 
      and contract staffing, permanent recruitment, outplacement and career 
      services, training and consulting.
    
    
      Adecco operates the following specialty divisions in the U.S. and around 
      the world: Adecco Office; Adecco Industrial; Adecco Engineering & 
      Technical; Adecco Human Capital Solutions; Adecco Finance; Adecco Legal; 
      Adecco Information Technology; Adecco Medical & Science; and Adecco 
      Government Solutions.
    
    
      Adecco S.A. is registered in Switzerland (ISIN: CH001213860) and listed 
      on the Swiss Stock Exchange with trading on virt-x (SWX/VIRT-X: ADEN), 
      the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ADO) and Euronext Paris - Premier 
      Marché (EURONEXT: ADE).
    
    
      Additional information is available at the company’s 
      website at www.adeccousa.com.
    
    
      ABOUT HARRIS INTERACTIVE:
    
    
      Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and 
      fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides 
      innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients 
      make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring 
      improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The 
      Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls 
      and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built 
      what it believes to be the world’s largest 
      panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive 
      serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia 
      offices, its wholly-owned subsidiary Novatris in France and through a 
      global network of independent market research firms. The service bureau, 
      HISB, provides its market research industry clients with mixed-mode data 
      collection, panel development services as well as syndicated and 
      tracking research consultation. More information about Harris 
      Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.
    
    
      To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to 
      participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.