Workers

With the price of everything from gas to food remaining stubbornly high – February’s Consumer Price Index numbers released earlier this week showed inflation actually speeding up slightly – workers struggling to make ends meet seem set for further economic pain. 

The business case for investing in workers is surely watertight at this point. Let’s discuss some of the companies showing why:

“One of the sayings we have at the company is ‘you have to win the right way.'”

JUST 100 Leader Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Antonio Neri joined JUST Capital co-founder Paul Tudor Jones, alongside other executives, to discuss corporate leadership on just business behavior.

Discover which companies are leading on the issues that matter most to Americans today. In 2024, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) leads the JUST 100 for the first time.

“Investing in your people, to me, is a really critical component to being a successful company,” HPE’s vice president of benefits, culture, and people experience told JUST Capital.

With confidence in the economy still feeling elusive for many people and layoffs dominating the headlines – particularly in the tech and banking sectors – it was a nice surprise to see prominent workforce investments by multiple large employers this week. 

These companies lead in our 2023 Rankings on the core worker issues that matter most to the American public.

“Folks realize there’s no going back to the old way. This generation of employees expects companies to pay equitably,” the Syndio CEO said.

Americans don’t think companies are making progress on their commitments to their stakeholders. And, beyond that, they want to see action from America’s largest companies on what matters most – workers.

Are you happy? It may seem like an odd question in times like these. But according to Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer at Google X, and renowned happiness expert, it’s a question more and more employers should be asking of their people. 

This week, I sat down with TIAA Chief Information and Client Services Officer Sastry Durvasula to discuss how artificial intelligence will impact financial services in a recent episode of our Linkedin Live series,

“In Atlanta, we learned that despite the gleaming new office buildings in downtown Buckhead, economic mobility is low, deep inequality persists, and talent goes untapped.”

Companies that create value for both workers and the environment also generate value for shareholders.

The American worker takes center stage yet again. 

Providing a framework for how corporate leaders can improve both transparency and performance on the worker issues that matter most to Americans.

Banks are the leading industry when it comes to fair chance disclosure, with five companies disclosing a policy for hiring formerly incarcerated individuals.

Make no mistake: Regardless of industry, workers are asking more of their employers in a way that hasn’t been seen in a long time.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing former Sprint CEO and JUST Capital Board member Dan Hesse about the importance of purpose-driven human leadership in business. 

What could have been a highly disruptive strike was avoided on Tuesday when UPS and the Teamsters – which represents more than half of the company’s workforce – reached an agreement on wages and benefits just days before their current contract expired.

“Enhancing parental leave has a significant impact in terms of improving productivity, retention, and employee morale,” Morgan Stanley’s David Stark tells JUST Capital.

“Investing in workers isn’t about being nice. You’re doing this because this is how you win with customers. This is how you win as a business.”

Last week’s Supreme Court decision on affirmative action in college admissions could have far-reaching implications for corporate America. 

Despite rising disclosure trends, just 6% disclose both detailed demographic data and race/ethnicity pay ratios, signaling that corporate America still has a long way to go.

This week, we released a powerful video and article series documenting how the lives and livelihoods of workers at Verizon, Chipotle, PayPal, and Prudential Financial have changed because of these investments. I invite you to take a look.