Workforce Health Across the Value Chain 2025

Businesses broadly underestimate the risks posed by climate change to both their supply chain and their workforce. We find they don’t necessarily understand that the areas in which they operate or have elements of their supply chain are susceptible to climate-driven risks, or they have not realized that these risks are growing. Which is why the diagnostic models we are building are so popular. For instance, 28% of employees now report having trouble sleeping at night due to how hot it is. Many businesses have not considered that as a risk, for example. So I don’t think the broader understanding is quite there yet of all the new and growing areas of health-driven risk across FTEs, contractors and supply chains. David Leathers, Program Director, National Commission on Climate and Workforce HealthBusiness priorities for private-sector business leaders FIGURE 1 Source: World Economic Forum. World Economic Forum global risks report 2025. https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2025/Private sectorGlobal risks over the short term (2 years) Global risks over the long term (10 years) Private sector 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5thMisinformation and disinformation Societal polarization Extreme weather events Cyber espionage and warfar e 6thGeoeconomic confr ontation 7thCrime and illicit economic activity 8thInvoluntary migration or displacement 9thPollution 10thInequalityState-based armed conflictExtreme weather events Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse Cyber espionage and warfar e Misinformation and disinformation Adverse outcomes of AI technologies Societal polarization Natural r esour ce shortages State-based armed conflict Involuntary migration or displacementCritical change to Earth systems In 2024, Hurricane Helene damaged Baxter’s North Carolina factory, again triggering a nationwide IV bag shortage.47,48 While these examples highlight the dangers of supply-chain concentration, they also point to an important link between worker well-being, community capacity and operational continuity. Even robust corporate contingency plans cannot fully offset prolonged community infrastructure collapse. They suggest that understanding and investing in resilient local systems – including healthcare infrastructure – can significantly shorten operational disruptions and should be integral to supply-chain risk management. Workforce Health Across the Value Chain: Organizational Insights to Mitigate Risk and Create Sustainable Growth 10