Report: What will happen to the quality of work life in the green transition?

Press release of The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health 13 January 2025

Work life plays an important role in how the green transition will progress in Finland. Workplaces can promote the realisation of the green transition by changing work and developing the quality of work life. At the same time, the transition will cause changes in working conditions, work processes and the competencies required for the work. The magnitude of the impact depends on the sector and the tasks.

According to the report, green work involves a wide range of stress factors, such as occupational safety risks and uncertainty about the future of one’s own work, as well as requirements for good change management and competence development. 

"For example, the physical working environment will not automatically evolve in a better, healthier and safer direction with the green transition. Challenges to the quality of working life may even become more common when, for example, the often risky jobs in the recycling industry are expected to increase as a result of the green transition," says Arja Ala-Laurinaho, Senior Specialist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. 

The impacts that the green transition and green work have on work life should also be assessed from the perspective of the quality of work life.  

A just transition requires engaging employees and providing training opportunities

The changes required by the transition pose demands on social support at the workplace and the involvement of the personnel in order to keep the mental load caused by the changes under control and to commit to the changes together.

"Most often, organizational changes will cause stress for members of the work community and they can lead to various negative impacts, such as mental health challenges or sickness absences. The social work environment, such as the quality of management and the support of colleagues and supervisors, affects how employees experience these changes," says Sara Malve-Ahlroth, Senior Specialist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

The green transition will result in a reduction of jobs in sectors that cause environmental damage and new jobs will be created in sectors focused on sustainable development.

“Employees’ ability to influence the change processes is essential, especially in sectors and workplaces where operations are estimated to disappear or change radically as a result of the green transition,” says Ala-Laurinaho.

Another key way of carrying out the just transition is providing upskilling and reskilling in times of change. At the same time, it is essential to ensure the availability of skilled workforce also for jobs in new green sectors. 

The green transition raises completely new questions about the quality of work life

Good quality of work life has traditionally been linked to the pursuit of social sustainability, but the green transition broadens perspectives.

“One new perspective on the quality of green work life is the ecological sustainability of work: the work and overall operations of an organization should not be harmful to the climate and ecosystems,” says Ala-Laurinaho. 

Employees' difficult emotions related to environmental matters is a growing theme in assessing the quality of work life. An increasing number of people have such experiences due to the environmental crisis and they have been considered one of the occupational health risks of the future. Environmental emotions, such as climate anxiety, should be taken into account in measures like well-being at work surveys, and support should be provided for handling them constructively at work. Other emerging themes are how the environmental values of the personnel and the workplace align along with opportunities to promote sustainability activities in one’s own work.  

Workplaces can promote the green transition by improving the quality of work life

In addition to stress factors and requirements, green work can also offer many opportunities: learning new things, career opportunities and chances to act in accordance with one's own values, promote the organization's sustainable operations and feel that one's own work is meaningful.

By investing in the development of different dimensions of the quality of work life, workplaces can also promote the green transition. 

“For example, developing the work environment and work processes so that sustainable operations are easy and flow smoothly can help to promote green activities in practice,” says Malve-Ahlroth. 

That is why promoting the quality of work life and the green transition should be considered mutually beneficial processes for responding to the challenges of a changing world and operating environment.  

Further information

• Arja Ala-Laurinaho, Senior Specialist, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, +358 30 474 2516, arja.ala-laurinaho@ttl.fi

Read more

• Read the full report in Julkari (in Finnish): Vihreä työ ja työelämän laatu: Millaisia mahdollisuuksia ja haasteita vihertyvään työhön liittyy?
• The report is part of the research project by FIOH: Understanding and supporting the digital and green transition as part of well-being at work | Finnish Institute of Occupational Health