21 Companies have to care In the Green World, corporate responsibility isn’t just a nice ‑ t o ‑ h ave – it’s a business imperative. Companies are open, collaborative organisations that see themselves as playing an essential role in developing their employees and supporting local communities. Reacting to public opinion, increasingly scarce natural resources and stringent international regulations, companies push a strong ethical and green agenda. This is characterised by a strong social conscience, a sense of environmental responsibility, a focus on diversity, human rights and fairness of all kinds and a recognition that business has an impact that goes well beyond the financial. Trust is the basic currency underpinning business and employment. Companies have to place their societal purpose at the heart of their commercial strategy. The automation conundrum Automation and technology are an essential element of the Green World as they help to protect scarce resources and minimise environmental damage. Technology is used extensively to replace the need for travel, driving rapid innovation in communications technology. But the question of where people fit into the automated Green World looms large. Technology is a double ‑ e dged sword for Green World employers – it allows them to meet their ethical and environmental agenda, but at what cost to humans? What it means for workers Employees enjoy family-friendly, flexible hours and are encouraged to take part in socially ‑ useful projects. They trust their employer to treat them fairly in terms of pay, development and conditions and in return are expected to reflect the culture of the company in their approach and behaviour. The high ethical standards to which companies are held has cascaded down to employees; conduct and ethics are taken very seriously at work and performance is assessed against a wide range of measures, including how efficiently workers manage their travel and resources. 23 % say ‘doing a job that makes a difference’ is most important to their career. PwC survey of 10,029 members of the general population based in China, Germany, India, the UK and the US