Changes in Personnel Movement at the Corporate Level in the Digital and Ecological Transformations

The digital and ecological transformations are in this respect no exception, though the extent of the change is still a matter of conjecture. Analyses based on the Spring 2022 wave of the IW Personnel Panel suggest that the redirection of business models and work processes towards more sustainability and climate protection could influence the volume of personnel movement. The turnover rate in firms that implement three or more value-adding climate protection measures is 9 percentage points higher than in companies that show less concern for the environment, while the churning rate is also 7 percentage points higher. However, neither of these increases is apparent in the manufacturing sector, where the introduction of climate protection measures is progressing fastest. Climate protection measures generally have a greater impact on personnel movement where they are combined with a digital transformation, and this is particularly true of trading and logistics companies. However, neither in individual sectoral clusters nor in the entire sample has the introduction of new digital technologies and processes alone been accompanied by an increase in personnel movement.