Having led large organizations and partnered closely with learning and development (L&D) teams, we have seen firsthand the difference strong L&D leadership makes. The most effective L&D leaders are risk managers at heart. They anticipate skills gaps, navigate disruption, strengthen leadership pipelines and prepare the workforce for what’s next.

But there is another category of workforce risk gaining traction at the executive level — one that directly affects workforce capability — yet rarely appears in learning strategy conversations.

Senior executives increasingly rank extreme weather and environmental volatility among the top risks to business performance over the next decade. In a 2024 study of 300 senior executives, 81% reported that climate planning and preparedness were important to protect their business operations, with one-third saying it was very important. Yet inside many organizations, the teams responsible for training, workforce health, safety and benefits often rate these same risks as low or not urgent at all.

That disconnect is one of the most striking findings in a report from the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health, “The Increasing Risks to Our People Powered Economy.”

At an enterprise level, leaders acknowledge that disruptions tied to heat, poor air quality, and storms are becoming more frequent and costly. At the functional level, however, these same pressures are often treated as isolated incidents: a safety issue here, an absenteeism spike there, a productivity dip explained by “external factors.”

Rarely are these disruptions examined as part of a coherent workforce risk profile, and even more rarely are they integrated into learning strategy, talent planning or long-term skills development efforts.

The result is a blind spot — one that directly affects an organization’s ability to build and sustain workforce capability.

The Blind Spot

In interviews with executives and workforce leaders across industries, the report reveals a consistent pattern: concern at the top, uncertainty in the middle and growing anxiety among workers. According to a 2025 survey conducted by the Commission in partnership with Northwind Climate, nearly three-quarters of workers (73%) had personally experienced the effects of extreme weather at their workplace over the past year. Yet recent polling with the HR Certification Institute shows that while 50% of HR leaders believe extreme weather is at least somewhat of a concern, many say they lack the tools, data and budget to assess and prioritize these risks.

For L&D leaders, this is more than a safety issue. It is a continuity and capability issue.

Today’s economy is fundamentally people-powered. The majority of enterprise value now resides in skills, knowledge and productivity, not physical assets. When the workforce is disrupted by unsafe conditions, strained infrastructure or repeated interruptions, the impact shows up in health care costs, retention, performance, training continuity and long-term capability building.

Yet many organizations still plan as if these disruptions are rare, temporary or outside their control. For L&D, that mindset can mean uneven access to learning, inconsistent training delivery and widening skills gaps across locations and roles.

These risks are not evenly distributed. They vary by geography, job type and community, creating new challenges for workforce equity, engagement and long-term talent strategy.

Consider Costa Farms, one of North America’s largest plant growers. When Hurricane Helene struck Asheville, North Carolina, in late 2024, the company’s Carolinas facilities suffered significant damage — a location they had never considered high-risk for hurricanes. Meanwhile, their Florida operations were untouched. It was a reminder that climate risk can be unpredictable, and the organizations best positioned to respond and support their workers are those that have already built cross-functional readiness into their operations.

The Role of L&D

So, if senior executives see volatility as a top business risk, why hasn’t workforce resilience — including learning strategy — caught up? Preparing employees for the future may no longer be only about digital skills, leadership development or reskilling. It may also require planning for resilience and building the knowledge, adaptability and organizational muscle needed to maintain performance under increasingly extreme conditions.

The National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health recommends that L&D leaders can:

Train managers and supervisors to lead through disruption. Front-line leaders are often first to make real-time decisions during extreme weather — adjusting schedules, relocating work or triaging safety concerns with little formal preparation. L&D can close that gap by integrating scenario-based learning and decision-making frameworks into leadership development programs.

Build extreme heat and weather literacy into the learning ecosystem. Most people lack a basic understanding of how heat, air quality and extreme weather affect health, cognition and productivity, and when and how these risks show up. L&D can embed this literacy into onboarding, safety training and professional development.

Support cross-functional coordination. Workforce resilience doesn’t sit in one department. L&D can serve as a connector, designing shared learning experiences that bring together HR, safety, operations and benefits teams to build common language and coordinated response capabilities.

If L&D is responsible for building future capability, it cannot afford to overlook the conditions in which that capability exists. The organizations that thrive through what’s coming will be the ones that started preparing now — and L&D can help lead the way.