According to "The Ethical Employee", a survey by The Work Foundation and The Future Foundationan, an increasing number of young job seekers and older workers are choosing between potential employers because of their record on recycling rather than the pay and benefits package on offer. For employers who are increasingly targeting these two groups in their recruitment, the message is clear.

The research found that around 10% of the workforce are ‘ethical enthusiasts’ who hold such strong views on corporate social responsibility that it is likely to influence their choice of employer. Ethical enthusiasts are more likely to be young people (18-24) and older people (45 and over).

A further 10% of the workforce marries self-sacrifice with self-interest. As well as corporate ethics, this group looks for an employer with employment practices that come under the umbrella of good corporate citizenship - such as flexible working arrangements, compassionate approaches to illness and family crises.

The research also found that employers without a good record on corporate ethics are more likely to lose staff in the next 12 months. A third of all employees are very likely to be job hunting in the next 12 months because their employers have a poor record on corporate social responsibility. This is particularly true of ethical employees. Over half of them (53%) who currently rate their employing organisation as below par on its contribution to the wider community say they are fairly, very or extremely likely to leave over the next 12 months.

The survey also shows that - on the whole – those companies that are rated as good corporate citizens are also felt to be good companies to work for. Marlboro, Railtrack and McDonalds are the companies that the working population would least like to work for. In contrast – the BBC, British Airways and Virgin are the most popular organisations.