Just Capital released its 8th annual Americans’ Views on Business Survey in October. The results underscored the incredibly complex stakeholder landscape facing CEOs today, but they also provided real encouragement for corporations seeking to adopt a leadership role in society going forward. Our annual People’s Priorities Report, presented here, follows the Views on Business survey with a detailed breakdown of what, exactly, the public expects of business at this point in time, which issues matter most, and where the greatest opportunities for business leadership and differentiation may lie. The issues raised by the public and their prioritization of those issues will underpin the 2025 Just Capital Rankings of America’s Most Just Companies, coming soon in Q1.
The findings of this report resonate strongly with the sentiments that drove the results of the November 2024 election cycle – Americans are concerned about their economic well-being, about how they are treated as consumers, about being able to support their families. And they appear distrustful of institutions as they repeatedly call for increased transparency, corporate accountability and leadership.
In a hyper-divided world, this report offers a playbook for understanding and addressing stakeholder demands, and provides examples of how companies can unlock competitive advantage through action. For CEOs, boards, and other business leaders seeking to make sense of things, it represents an invaluable, practical, and very timely strategic guide.
The public is unified in wanting companies to treat their workers and their customers with respect, humanity, and fairness. Of the 17 key issues we identified and evaluated, almost all of the top ten are connected to how companies act on basic worker- and customer-related factors. In addition, the desire for integrity in business leadership rose significantly in ranked importance. In contrast to four years ago, when CEOs were expected to speak out or take a stance on hot-button social issues, the public says that today leaders should direct their focus to core operational, strategic, and financial matters. Moreover, it is deeds that matter far more than words. The public is less interested in hearing about company commitments, pledges, and targets and much more focused on understanding what a company is actually doing on the issues of greatest importance.
Key findings include:
Overall, there is a tremendous opportunity for corporate America to take a leadership role in tackling some of America’s more intractable economic and societal challenges, and in doing so, to become a unifying force in the country.
Just Capital’s annual Rankings process begins with small-group discussions with a diverse and representative mix of Americans across the U.S. to understand the actions and behaviors they expect from a “just” business. Focus groups enable our research team to hear the unvarnished voice of the public speak about what issues matter most, and whether these opinions have changed over time. The polling team then distills the major themes of these discussions into statements that capture these concepts, or “Issues,” which become the foundation by which we annually track and evaluate companies in our Rankings of America’s Most Just Companies.
This year, this work yielded 17 Issues (see Fig. 1 below). Over time, we have seen that many of these Issues are evergreen, in that they are consistently mentioned year after year when we engage in conversation with the public. Since all of these Issues are deemed essential to a just business model, we conduct a follow up exercise wherein the public gives us the relative importance of the 17 Issues.
Each Issue is color-coded by the Stakeholder it impacts most. While we reference the public prioritizing several Issues in this report, please note that many of the Issues’ relative importance varies by a fraction of a percentage point.
The People’s Priorities are determined by responses to a survey of more than 3,000 U.S. adults, who are a fully representative cross-section of Americans. This means we hear from a variety of voices, both by demographic groupings such as race/ethnicity, gender, income levels, and age, and by other descriptive data such as political ideologies and whether or not respondents are active investors. We expect to see some variation in how each group ranks the 17 Issues provided, yet Figure 2 shows a remarkable consistency. Across demographic groups in the three highest-ranked Issues: Pays a fair, living wage, Acts ethically at the leadership level, and Supports worker well-being. These findings signal that the public is united, not divided, across political ideologies around the issues they want companies to prioritize.
Fig. 2: Top 5 Issues by Demographic Group
Yet there is indeed some variance in the Issues’ relative importance when comparing demographic groups. For example, “Provides benefits and work-life balance” is the #5 issue on average, Republicans and adults age 65 and older prioritized it much less, and Issues related to sustainability and the environment ranked higher among young adults and those identifying as Democrats than among their older or more conservative counterparts. But by and large, the pattern of responses is generally the same in terms of where Issues fall in relative rank and weight.
Conceptually, Americans agree on what they considered to be just business behaviors. The terminology that one group uses to express a concept can contrast with how another group interprets the issue. We will uncover those differences as we dive deeper into our data.
In every one of the eight years we have fielded this survey, the public has clearly conveyed that corporate America’s #1 priority should be its workers. For our annual survey, we categorize our 17 Issues by which core group they affect most (their main “Stakeholder”): Workers, Communities, Customers, Shareholders, or the Environment. The public generally gives Issues under the Workers Stakeholder their highest prioritization, and this year is no different – 4 of the top 6 Issues for the 2025 Rankings are related to Workers (see Fig. 1). These Issues are arguably “closest to home,” and the consistency of their placement over time signals that most Americans believe that worker treatment is fundamental to a just company.
“Pays workers fairly and offers a living wage that covers the cost of basic needs at the local level” continues to be ranked 1st across nearly every demographic cohort. However, with a weight of 11.6%, it comprises a lower proportion than it did in the 2024 Rankings (17.7%), and 2023 Rankings (21.1%). This suggests that while a fair, living wage continues to be fundamental to the public’s perceptions of just corporate behavior, wages may have risen enough in the past few years (via talent demands or rises in states’ minimum wage level) that the relative importance has decreased.
While fair pay is the most important element of just business leadership, how focus group participants interpret this issue varies. For some, fair pay means that workers are able to pay their bills, support their families, and have a bit left over to save each month; for others, fair pay means that employers are more transparent about publishing pay ranges; others still talk about fair pay in terms of wage equity: that companies pay the same amount for the same job both internally and in terms of what is fair for the market.
I am thinking about [retailer]… I really want to see their employees not seeming so stressed out at work… A wage you can actually live on. A wage that you can pay your bills and you’re not trying to take out payday loans or get extra credit cards.
– F; 45-49; Moderate; Post Grad; White; Kids; Pacific
At my current job, you can be a 25-year vet and there can be somebody who just started two years ago and you’re making nearly the same amount. It’s strange.
– M; 40-44; Moderate; Republican; HS Grad; Black/AA; Kids; South
“Supports worker well-being and provides safe and healthy working conditions” is the second highest-ranked of the Workers Issues, comprising 9.8% of a company’s score and ranking #3 in overall importance. Indeed, a recent survey from Deloitte on human sustainability underscores our own data, showing that only about half (56%) of workers feel their overall well-being is “excellent” or “good.” Over time, the public has said that this issue is an essential part of just leadership, although in the past few years, our focus group participants have spoken about this issue more broadly than companies simply providing a physically safe work environment. Almost equally often, respondents named other examples of positive worker treatment, including actions such as providing mental health support options or culture-building initiatives (such as providing sessions for employees to give leadership upward feedback).
A [company’s] responsibility to their employees? Treat them well. Safe working environment.
– F; 55-59; Moderate; Bachelor’s; White; No kids; Midwest
Good leadership is being open to feedback from the employees. You may not do everything they say, but at least you’re open to hearing them out in things that could help the job overall.
– M; 40-44; Moderate; Republican; HS Grad; Black/AA; Kids; South
Benefits ranks 5th among the public’s priorities: “Offers a quality benefits package that supports work-life balance for all workers” comprises 7.2% of a company’s score, roughly in line with the previous year (7.6%). Across demographics, the public largely agrees that a fundamental element of a competitive pay package is good benefits, but what those benefits entail can be different depending on life stage or other factors. Some mentioned flexible scheduling, paid time off, and corporate care benefits so employees can look after children or aging family members. Other mentioned monetary investments like insurance, a 401(k), and stock packages.
A good work-life balance, allowing for those that have young families to be able to take care of their children, take care of spouses, not be held just to having to work a certain number of hours.
– M, 35-39 Somewhat Liberal; Democratic Post Grad; White; No Kids, Midwest
Companies that have big stock packages [should make] both the corporate shareholder and employee shareholder benefits standardized so everyone has a stake in the company and feels like they’re part of the investment goals of the company themselves.
– M; 30-34; Somewhat Conservative; Bachelor’s; White; No kids; West
The Issue on Ethical Leadership rose 5 places this year to reach the #2 spot, driven presumably by a widespread desire to rebuild trust between institutions and the people they serve, several high-profile examples of poor ethical leadership by corporations, and a growing sense of cynicism in society overall. “Conducts business ethically and honestly, and takes responsibility for wrongdoings,” comprises 10% of a company’s score in our 2025 Rankings.
While ethics can be extremely subjective, we found there is general agreement on the interpretation in a business context: across demographics it means being open, and honest about business operations, companies doing what they said they were going to do, not misleading people or covering up unjust acts, and operating with a greater sense of corporate responsibility and good citizenship.
I think being transparent and honest, our lenses into being fair and just, I think acting with integrity and definitely with ethical behavior are further ways to provide fair and just behavior or services.
– F; 35-39; Somewhat Liberal; Post Grad+; White; Kids; West
If [companies] post record profits, but pollute a river or lake, those profits came from the public then. They didn’t come from your innovation.
– M; 40-44; FT, Somewhat Conservative; Post Grad; White; Kids; West
Relatedly, transparent communication entered the top 5 Issues, with “Is honest and transparent in communications with customers about its products, services, and operations,” rising from the #12 rank last year to #4 this year, receiving a 7.7% weight. Although this issue is generally categorized as belonging to the Consumer Stakeholder, many focus group participants talked about this issue as fundamental to ethical leadership. Respondents describe a desire for companies to engage in transparent practices, honest communication, and corporate accountability.
I think being transparent … throughout the process of what they’re doing for their employees and what they’re doing for the environment for the better would help us, I guess, trust companies more because I think there’s a big lack of trust between the consumer and the customer and the seller.
– M; 40-44; Moderate/Dem; Bachelor’s; Hispanic; Kids; South
Being ethical to consumers. So no false advertisements and such.
– M; 25-29; Moderate; Bachelor’s; Asian; No kids; West
I tend to think favorably upon companies that are transparent and open and honest. And I think to your point, even if the data is lackluster or disappointing or whatever, I think being transparent and open and honest is a favorable trait.
– F; 35-39; Somewhat Liberal; Post Grad+; White; Kids; West
Another key finding from this year’s Survey is that in 2024, Issues related to the Customers Stakeholder are prioritized to a greater degree than what we have seen in the past few years, reflecting Americans’ ongoing concerns about kitchen table issues of the economy and inflation.
To that end, a new issue arose in our focus groups: fair pricing. The events of any one year can determine which To that end, a new issue arose in our focus groups: fair pricing. The events of any one year can determine which of the 17 Issues Americans deem more important than others. “Offers quality products and/or services at a fair price” debuted at #8 in overall priority this year and commanded a 6.1% weight, at least partially as a result of the persistent perception of high prices resulting from COVID-19-related inflation.
In the America’s Views on Business Survey, 79% of respondents agreed that “it is unjust for corporations to increase profit margins by keeping consumer prices high even as the cost of materials comes down.” Indeed, focus group participants mentioned being charged higher-than-usual prices for everything from soft drinks to baby formula, signaling that rising prices has been a key pain point for Americans over the past 18 months.
It’s not that ‘maybe groceries cost $200,’ now they’re costing $300 for their family on a monthly basis just due to inflation.
– Alexis; F; 25-29; Moderate/Rep; Some College; Black/ AA; No kids; Midwest
At the same time, a few express fair pricing as the price of a good or service being in line with its value and quality.
I want to get a quality product for my money, and in my mind I kind of have a price range that I’m feeling like is fair for a certain product… I definitely don’t want to spend extra on something and then be disappointed.
– F; 45-49; Moderate; Post Grad; White; Kids; Pacific
There continues to be a persistent call from the public that a just company “Values its customers by treating them with respect and providing a positive customer experience.” To some, this means having respectful, responsive customer service that resolves issues quickly. For others, it means simply delivering on the expectations they set for the performance and value of their products and services. Regardless of interpretation, fair customer treatment rose 3 spots for the 2025 Rankings, to #7 and 6.3% of the model.
I’m patronizing your business. If I have an issue, I just want to be treated with respect and I just want the issue to be taken care of.
– F; 45-49; Very Liberal; Some College; Black/ AA; No kids; Mid Atlantic
I think when you can get through to somebody, and someone actually answers the phone… Having a more personalized experience with somebody, as opposed to the AI, or the voice recordings that you get.
– F; 50-54; Moderate/Dem; Bachelor’s; White; Kids, West
I think the chief responsibility of the company is to provide the goods and services that it has committed to provide to its customers.
– M; 45-49; Somewhat Liberal; Post Grad+; $100K-$149.9K; Asian; No kids; Mid-Atlantic
Interestingly, even on Issues where there were markedly differing opinions across political or other demographic groups, there is a surprising amount of alignment once terminology is broken down.
Our #12 issue, “Fosters an inclusive and supportive workplace culture with equal opportunity for all,” is a prime example. Although people used different words to describe what “fostering an inclusive workplace” means (liberals used terms such as “inclusivity” and “diversity,” while conservatives preferred “equal treatment of all”), there was widespread agreement that companies should ensure they do not discriminate, consciously or otherwise, among employees and that people of all backgrounds should be welcomed and given the same opportunity to succeed.
I would ask if you’re in a community that’s diverse, how do you not have people working in the company providing a product to a diverse group of people?
– M; 50-54; Somewhat Liberal; Bachelor’s; Black/ AA; No kids; Mid Atlantic
My expectation in that regard would be … to treat everybody equally. As America has always done, you try and be capitalistic in a way that’s going to benefit the community as well as yourself as a company. So you shouldn’t be so concerned about any particular group, or race, or social status, or ideology.
– M; 45-49; Very Conservative; Post Grad; Hispanic; Kids; West
Likewise, Environmental Issues are on average prioritized lower than Worker or Customer Issues, even among the demographic groups who support these issues the most (e.g. younger Americans, Democrats). Yet even among groups where the idea of climate change is not universally accepted, there was broad agreement that companies have a disproportionate influence on the environment and, therefore, have a responsibility to minimize negative impact.
Let’s say if a big corporation moves into my area. It’s probably going to boost up the economy, but should we be concerned about the pollution? How do they plan to do something else with their company’s resources? Are they dumping into the water or the rivers?
– M; 40-44; Moderate Republican; HS Grad; Black/ AA; Kids; South
A great product … shouldn’t mess up the earth. It shouldn’t make the earth worse no matter what you’re selling, what you’re promoting. It shouldn’t make our living worse. It shouldn’t make the air worse. It shouldn’t affect us in a negative way no matter what it is.
– F; 45-49; Very Liberal; Some College; Black/ AA; No kids, Mid Atlantic
Companies could use their position as a market leader to set an example for other companies. By going green, for instance. If they take the first steps in initiating something that could show how they can shrink their carbon footprint, then others would be more likely to follow.
– M; 40-44; Moderate/Dem; Bachelor’s; Hispanic; Kids; South
I do think one thing [that] is very concerning is the fast fashion. I’m trying to stay away from such brands because of the toxic environment.
– F; 35-39; Moderate Republican; Post Grad; Asian; Kids; West
To me, the main message is that whatever company it is, is it taking the appropriate action to reduce any harmful environmental impact that they might be producing?
– F; 25-29; Very Conservative; Bachelor’s; White; No kids: Mid Atlantic
A lot of the time, I’ve seen executives say things like, “We’ll talk about going green by 2030,” but that’s just an overarching statement. It’s a marketing ploy for their customers or their shareholders to say, “Hey, look what we’re trying to achieve,” without any actual goals of how they’re going to do it. And so, within a certain timeframe, if there’s not milestones and ways to achieve those goals, then it’s just fodder. Great leadership would have exact steps and processes in place on how to achieve those goals. And then in doing so, that could achieve long-term success.
– M; 40-44; Moderate/Dem; Bachelor’s; Hispanic; Kids; South
In each of the eight years since Just Capital has fielded this research, the public has consistently told us they support a movement away from shareholder primacy toward a more value-driven operational model of business. What is more, they have then connected the dots between stakeholder value improvement and long-term revenue generation. To that end, the following quotes from our focus groups reflect most participants’ agreement that positive returns are directly related to meeting the needs of key stakeholders, such as a company’s customers and workers.
I believe [companies’] chief responsibility is to churn out quality products that customers demand, but also balance that out with treating their employees right. And I think those two things can lead to shareholder profits, which I know is really their main thing.
– M; 40-44; Somewhat Conservative; Post Grad; White; Kids; West
I want to [invest] with the company that has the better [workers], but if you’re not treating them well, I may be a little apprehensive. Because it can then end up that the [workers] want to pull out, and the investors want to pull out. I don’t want to deal with that type of thing when you’re dealing with my money.
– F; 45-49; Very Liberal; Some College; Black/ AA; No kids, Mid Atlantic
Yet again, the American people have provided clear guidance on the specific actions businesses can take today to rebuild the public’s trust in business and markets as a force for good. This year’s Survey shows plainly and emphatically that regardless of demographic background or political ideology, Americans agree that companies should prioritize their workers and customers. Moreover, they are demanding more ethical leadership in the form of greater honesty and transparency about business strategy and operations.
Focusing on actions that create value for multiple stakeholders – such as encouraging a healthy environment and creating good jobs by investing in renewable energy, supporting human rights and stronger communities by enforcing ethical labor practices, and developing training and educational pathways for employees to grow their careers – is another pronounced theme. Americans do not see different stakeholders as separate business interests competing for attention; they see them as part of an integrated whole.
By recognizing and embracing the critical importance of creating value for all stakeholders, businesses can lay the groundwork for sustained growth, innovation, and excellence. Companies in turn benefit by becoming more successful in the marketplace, and society benefits by realizing impact at scale.
Since its inception, Just Capital’s mission has been to demonstrate how just business – defined by the priorities of the public – is better business. Our goal is to help companies create value for all their stakeholders by focusing on the issues that matter most to the American public. The goal is to help companies improve, and in turn, improve the lives of their workers, customers, and society.
At the core of our work is a robust research program that starts with focus groups in which we ask the American public to identify the policies, practices, and behaviors companies should prioritize to be considered just (which we call “Issues”). These Issues include fair pay and a living wage; an inclusive workplace; stronger, healthier communities; good jobs; a cleaner environment; and more. Then, based on sophisticated polling of a representative sample of Americans, we estimate the relative importance of these behaviors – in other words, how important to defining a just company each behavior is relative to others.
Since 2015, Just Capital has surveyed more than 182,000 Americans – on a fully representative basis – asking them to define just business behavior. For the past three years, we have partnered with SSRS, an objective, nonpartisan research institution that provides scientifically rigorous statistical surveys of the U.S. population, to survey more than 3,000 Americans annually on their perspectives (see Fig. 3 below for demographic information on this year’s survey).
Fig. 3: 2024 Annual Survey Demographics
Before answering questions about the just behavior of large companies, it is important for respondents to have a clear definition of the concept. The definition we provided to our survey respondents is as follows: A just company demonstrates a commitment to doing right by its workers, its customers, the environment, the community, its shareholders, and the business itself.
We conducted the 20-question survey online with a probability-based sample attained through the exhaustive statistical sampling methods employed by SSRS. The SSRS Opinion Panel is a nationally representative probability-based web panel, and findings are generalizable to the general adult population.
The full survey was conducted from July 10 to July 16, 2024 among a general population sample of 3,008 English- and Spanish-speaking U.S. adults 18+ years of age, with an oversample of 606 Hispanic and 407 non-Hispanic Black respondents. Panelists were sent an email invitation to take the survey online as well as up to eight reminder emails throughout the field period. The survey program was optimized so that respondents could complete it using a desktop or laptop computer as well as a mobile device. In total, 1,023 respondents completed the survey on a computer and 1,970 completed it on a mobile device.
The margin of error is +/- 2.2% at the 95% confidence level. Results were weighted to U.S. Census parameters for age, gender, education, race/Hispanic ethnicity, and Census Division to ensure representativeness of the U.S. population. All margins of error include “design effects” to adjust for the effects of weighting.
To identify the priorities of the public, we calculate for each Issue the probability that an individual would choose that as most important to defining a just company. As such, there are 17 probabilities calculated from the 17 Issues. These probabilities can be referred to as weights as each represents the relative importance of one Issue versus another. To illustrate more explicitly, the Issue “Worker well-being” was assigned a weight of 9.8% as there is almost a 1 in 10 chance that a respondent chosen at random will identify this Issue as most important in defining a just company. By comparison, the weight assigned to “Creates and maintains the conditions for the company’s long-term financial success” has a 3.2% weight.
Our full body of survey work for 2024 also includes six focus groups conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll. To learn more about how this survey data drives Just Capital’s analysis and Rankings of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies, visit the Methodology section of our website.
Corporate leadership today is a challenge of the highest order. CEOs must navigate a deeply divided political landscape, rapidly shifting stakeholder demands, ongoing economic uncertainties, and myriad technological, regulatory, and environmental forces that present risk and opportunity in equal measure. Performance expectations are sky-high, scrutiny is intense, and the margins for error are nonexistent.
Against this backdrop, there is one voice that – perhaps surprisingly – provides business leaders with both calm reassurance and clear direction: that of the American people. Just Capital’s Americans’ Views on Business Survey, our longest-running longitudinal survey, captures this voice in all its rich, diverse detail. And its central message this year is striking. Despite being highly polarized on political issues, Americans are generally united in their expectations for corporations – particularly in areas where positive societal impact dovetails with positive business performance.
Specifically, we find that the majority of Americans – regardless of political party, ideology, or other demographic differences – not only agree that business can and should be a force for good in the world but also are closely aligned on what precisely that means: paying people fairly, investing in their workforce, treating customers better, offering products or services at a fair price, minimizing harm to the environment, strengthening communities, and even making good on climate commitments.
In tracking the public’s views on business over the past decade, we have seen the contours of American opinion evolve considerably. Whereas in previous years we saw greater demand for CEOs to speak out on social issues, opinion is now much more divided. On transparency and disclosure, it is clear that in today’s low-trust environment, people hunger for more information on what companies are actually doing, not what they say they are doing. Despite the broad agreement that capitalism and the economy need to work for all Americans, opinions clearly diverge on whether this is actually happening.
Through it all, one message is constant: The American people want companies to create value for all their stakeholders as a path to creating more value for their shareholders, for themselves, and for society at large. As our investment work demonstrates, this “win-win-win” is not mere conjecture; it’s a fact. This report serves as a blueprint for any corporate leader, board member, or investor who aspires to this outcome.
Each year, we ask the American public to identify and prioritize what issues matter most when it comes to just business behavior. We always start the process by hosting a series of focus groups. This year, we began by asking participants a simple question: What do you think the chief responsibility of America’s largest companies is? Although many responded that it is to make and sustain profits, participants went on to explain that companies are also expected to balance profitability with practices that value society, and they should serve the interests of their workers, customers, communities, and the environment alongside those of their shareholders.
In assessing which stakeholder the public believes is, in fact, the top priority for companies, it is clear that (with 56% of the vote) shareholders come out on top. This is a significant increase compared to four years ago, when workers garnered a much higher share of the vote.
Perhaps surprisingly, these opinions are relatively consistent across political ideologies, as we see below.
The next chart breaks this down even further. When asked which stakeholder companies are positively affecting, almost three-fourths identify a company’s shareholders. The health and safety of workers and the company’s customers also generate a lot of support. Only 34% of respondents believe that companies are having a positive impact on their lowest-paid workers and the environment, a proportion that has changed little in the four years since we started asking this question.
Though the percentages may be larger or smaller depending on one’s political ideology, the pattern of responses is very consistent. Liberal respondents tend to be more skeptical than conservatives that companies are having a positive effect across these stakeholder issues. Overall, though, Americans of all ideologies essentially agree that companies benefit their shareholders and are far less likely to feel companies have a positive impact on their lowest-paid workers.
Capitalism is the means by which the American Dream becomes reality. But according to recent polling from Pew Research, only about half of Americans (53%) say that dream is still possible. Our research findings support Pew’s: When our respondents were asked whether they believe capitalism is working for the average American, only about 1 in 3 agree.
This number has stayed relatively consistent over the past three years after falling from a high of 42% in 2021, a year in which companies were redoubling efforts to respond to the needs of all their stakeholders amid unparalleled intersecting health, economic, and social crises.
Looking at this question from a demographic perspective, the high-level takeaway is intuitive: The older you get, the more money you make, the more you believe capitalism is working for the average American. Of those making under $30,000 a year, only 28% respond positively to this question versus 40% for those making more than $250,000 annually. Likewise, a mere 25% of Gen Z say capitalism is working for the average American versus 49% of Boomers.
Across political ideology, however, the picture is very different, with more than half (52%) of conservatives saying capitalism is working versus only 19% of liberals.
Despite their skepticism that capitalism is actually working for the average American, it is clear that a substantial majority of Americans do, in fact, believe that promoting an economy that serves all Americans is important and can be a force for positive societal change. These numbers are consistent across demographic groupings, generations, income levels, and especially, political outlooks.
We see more variance when people are asked whether companies should take a stand on important societal issues. Overall, a majority (60%) agree that CEOs of large companies do have a responsibility to take a stand – a proportion that has stayed relatively consistent since 2018.
Our focus groups delved into this issue, with one participant saying: “I feel companies reaching out and speaking about social issues is not a bad thing because they do have a stronger platform than a group of people do.” Another participant echoed this sentiment, saying the largest U.S. companies have disproportionate size and, thus, a disproportionate impact on society.
Yet others felt speaking out on issues can be polarizing, and ultimately harmful, for many companies. As one participant noted, “If you take a side … then it continues to snowball where once you start, then you can’t stop because then you’re forced to speak on everything. And what if you don’t have the time to speak on everything? Then you’re balancing all this work in PR when that’s not really your business. Your business is something else.”
One look at how responses to this question differ by political ideology underscores this divergence. Liberals are significantly more likely to agree that CEOs should take a stand on societal issues (73%) versus moderates (62%) and conservatives (47%).
Crucially, when asked whether CEOs should take a stand about any issue versus only those issues that are related to their business operations, the public is much more likely to say “issues related to business” now than they were just four years ago.
The survey results also provide guidance on which issues the public believes corporate leaders can play a role in addressing. Topping the list are tackling income inequality, advancing gender equity in the workplace (equal pay for equal work), and using artificial intelligence (AI) in an ethical way. Protecting voting rights, upholding women’s reproductive rights, supporting the stability of our democracy, and protecting LGBTQ rights garner less support.
Building on the above, it is clear that in defining the idea of just business behavior, several actions enjoy near-universal support: providing equal pay for equal work, retaining and promoting workers from within, considering the best interests of local communities, and expanding childcare benefits.
Examining this result through the lens of political ideology, we see a surprising amount of agreement. Liberals, moderates, and conservatives are seemingly in lockstep in believing that the issues of equal pay, investing in workers (including via ownership programs), and supporting communities are essential to just business behavior today.
For business leaders, this identifies some clear common ground where actions can be taken with the least risk of backlash. Moreover, in mapping the disparities between the public’s perceived importance of an issue and their opinions on the level of corporate action on that issue, we also shed light on where there are the greatest opportunities to demonstrate authentic leadership. Notably, “promoting an economy that serves all Americans” is the issue with the greatest perceived distance between importance and action (46 percentage points).
Americans continue to want more information on the steps companies are taking on key business and societal issues. Here are a few illustrative quotes from this year’s focus groups:
“I tend to think favorably upon companies that are transparent and open and honest. And even if the data is lackluster or disappointing, I think being transparent and open and honest is a favorable trait. And the real kicker is when it’s combined with positive efforts and the reporting is that they’ve done some good things.”
“[Companies should] try to become transparent and more free with their information. Because at this point, I don’t see it, and that’s why there’s a lot of distrust for myself with a lot of big organizations.”
“I think we should be able to expect transparency. Whether we can, or whether we’ll get it or not, that’s to be debated, but I think we should be able to expect it.”
The chart below highlights that public demand for more corporate transparency increased across all disclosure categories from 2023 to 2024.
For many issues, the demand for greater disclosure also transcends political ideology. Specifically, product and safety violations, community involvement, corporate donations, deployment of AI, and (to a lesser extent) minimum wage and political involvement are all areas where we see cross-party alignment on the need for more transparency. Disclosure on environmental impacts and demographic wage information are the areas where political opinion is most divided.
This year’s Americans’ Views on Business Survey makes it clear that Americans want corporate leaders to get back to the basics of just business operations: focus on creating value for all stakeholders by concentrating on those areas where positive impact dovetails with positive business performance.
Later this year, we will be releasing The People’s Priorities, a companion report that details what Americans believe are the actions and behaviors of just companies. Together, the data and insights from these reports will support corporate leaders in understanding how they can take action on the public’s priorities and create more value for both shareholders and society at large.
Since 2015, Just Capital has surveyed more than 182,000 Americans on a fully representative basis to assess how well they think companies are doing when it comes to creating value for all their stakeholders and building a more just economy that truly works for all. The 2024 Americans’ Views on Business Survey was fielded among 3,008 Americans – a sample representative of the U.S. adult population – between July 10 and July 16, 2024. Our quantitative research partner is SSRS, an objective, nonpartisan research institution that provides scientifically rigorous statistical surveys of the U.S. population. Our full body of survey work for 2024 also included six focus groups conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll comprising a total of 35 participants who represented a mix of demographics (e.g., age, ethnicity/race, political ideology, household income, and education).
Just Capital’s 2023 Issues Report – The People’s Priorities is by Jennifer Tonti, Managing Director, Survey Research & Insights.
In every year that we’ve been measuring which issues matter most to the public when it comes to just business behavior (what we call The People’s Priorities), the events of that year can determine which issues Americans deem more important than others, as well as the degree to which the public prioritizes each issue. The outputs of this ongoing study help provide a roadmap for companies regarding what issues they should be tracking and investing in to stay one step ahead of shifting expectations.
The top takeaway from this year’s polling is how enduring and consistent the public is when it comes to what they want the nation’s largest public companies to prioritize. Year after year, Americans say that companies should put workers squarely at the heart of their business practices, foremost by paying their workers a fair and living wage. Indeed, Worker Issues continue to command the highest share of priority (42%) among the 20 stakeholder-related issues we measure, with four of the five Worker Issues once again among the top six priorities of the public, with Workforce Advancement gaining in importance this year.
Even more encouraging is that despite vocal attempts by politicians to use business as a divisive wedge issue this year, Americans remain united, not divided, across political ideologies around what they want from companies today. As in years past, we found a broad consensus across demographic and political cohorts – liberal, conservative, high-income, low-income, men, women, young generations, older generations, and white, Black, and Hispanic Americans – that Workers should be corporate America’s top stakeholder priority and that paying a fair, living wage should be the number-one issue to prioritize.
Just’s annual Rankings process begins with focus group conversations with a diverse mix of Americans across the U.S., the goal of which is to understand the actions and behaviors they expect from a “just” business. Focus groups enable our research team to hear the unvarnished voice of the public speak about what issues matter most, and whether their opinions have changed over time. The polling team then distills the major themes of these discussions into statements that capture these concepts, which we call “Issues.” In 2023 (as in the past two years), this work yielded 20 Issues.
Since the public initially tells us that all of these Issues are of high importance, we then conduct a choice modeling exercise as part of our Annual Survey work, enabling us to derive the relative importance of these 20 Issues. From here, we extract a “weight” per Issue that we use as the foundation for our Rankings of America’s Most Just Companies. The weights below reflect the probability that an individual would choose that Issue as most important to defining a just company, based on a representative sample of 3,001 Americans. These weights power our analysis of corporate stakeholder performance at the country’s largest companies, including our annual Rankings of America’s Most Just Companies.
Each Issue is color-coded by the stakeholder it most impacts. While we reference the prioritization of several Issues in this report, please note that the relative importance between many of these Issues often varies by a fraction of a percentage point.
As we saw in 2022, four of the five Worker Issues are among the top six-ranked issues overall. The top-most prioritized issue, “Pays workers fairly and offers a living wage that covers the cost of basic needs at the local level” has been the number one issue for the last six years in a row, and will comprise a substantial 17.7% of companies’ scores in our upcoming 2024 Rankings. This percentage, though lower than we saw last year (21.2%), is still far-and-away the highest across all 20 issues. And the issue is ranked first among nearly every demographic cohort.
From auto to health care to entertainment, 2023 has marked a year of labor strikes across industries. Rising inflation, rapid evolution of AI technology, and the broader impacts of the pandemic on the U.S. workforce have fueled demands for better pay, working conditions, and job security. Even threats of a strike, as was the case for airline pilots and UPS workers this year, has spurred companies to raise wages and enhance benefits. Workers are no longer willing to accept pay that doesn’t allow them to provide for themselves or their families.
In 2023, “Focuses on workforce retention and employee advancement by providing training, education, and career development opportunities” comprises 8.3% of a company’s score, and now is the second highest-ranked worker issue. In the past two years, we’ve seen the issue of retention and advancement steadily increase in importance among the public. This increase occurs alongside the rapid evolution and adoption of AI and other technology by many employers. Fears of how this technology could replace, or diminish, certain jobs in part fueled strikes from Hollywood writers and actors and auto workers. As more workers fear losing their jobs, investing in growth, training, and opportunities for employees can have a positive effect on retention and send an important signal to workers that employers value them. Many companies have already started to recognize and act on this.
Benefits and Worker Health & Safety rank fifth and sixth among the public’s priorities. “Offers a quality benefits package and supports good work-life balance for all employees” comprises 7.6% of a company’s score, up from 6.2% in the previous year. “Protects the health, safety, and well-being of workers beyond what is required by law” remains one highest ranked issues at number six, but its importance has decreased from 7.6% last year to 5.8% this year as the urgency of worker health and safety slows after the height of the pandemic.
One of the obvious reasons why Worker Issues consistently get the highest prioritization among the five stakeholder groups may be attributable to the fact that at some point or another in everyone’s life, they are a worker. Thus, these issues are arguably closer to home than those that are reportedly as important overall, but come in at a lower relative priority (such as communities or the environment) in our polling. What the continued prioritization of Worker Issues across seven years of gathering this data is definitely saying is that, despite all the work companies are doing to make sure their workforce is happy and protected, there is still more to do. A recent Deloitte survey found that there is a marked discrepancy in perceptions of workforce well-being between employees and employers. The survey found that while many leaders say they’re taking accountability for workforce well-being, workers simply aren’t seeing their efforts.
There is a very clear business case for corporate leaders to focus on Worker Issues. Investing in good jobs that provide strong benefits, fair wages, and opportunities for advancement is a value generator for companies. In March, we soft launched the first iteration of the Just Jobs Scorecard and have plans to publicly launch the Scorecard in early 2024. The tool helps companies better understand their current performance on a range of job quality metrics like training and development, and how they could improve. When examining the top-scoring companies across the Scorecard’s categories, we found they outperformed their peers in 2022. Prioritizing worker issues is an opportunity for companies to lead and, in turn, boost their bottom line.
One Issue that falls under the Communities stakeholder, “Creates jobs in the U.S. and provides employment opportunities for communities that need them,” is once again second in relative importance, comprising 11.8% of a company’s score in our Rankings. Two in three respondents (66%) say that creating jobs in the U.S. is more important than last year.
Accountability to Stakeholders, an issue that falls under Shareholders & Governance, is of key importance to Americans as well. “Has an independent, diverse board that holds leadership accountable to the needs of workers, customers, communities, the environment, and shareholders” comprises 9.7% of a company’s score, and is the third most important Issue in 2023, reinforcing the fact that in the eyes of everyday Americans, companies have a broad responsibility to serve all the stakeholders that drive the long-term success of the company (not just shareholders), and that leadership should be held accountable by its board.
The People’s Priorities are based on responses from more than 3,000 U.S. adults, who are a full representative cross-section of Americans. This means we hear from a variety of voices, both by demographic such as race/ethnicity, gender, income levels, and age, as well as behavioral metrics such as political ideologies or whether or not respondents are active investors. What we found was, despite it being a year with increasingly divisive rhetoric in politics and in the media, the public remains remarkably consistent in what they want companies to prioritize today. Across every demographic group we surveyed, whether political affiliation, race, gender, age, or income group, Americans are united in wanting companies to prioritize Workers as the most important stakeholder and nearly all cohorts prioritize the same top three Issues: Pays a fair, living wage; Creates jobs in the U.S.; and Prioritizes accountability to all stakeholders.
To provide further clarity around how to better balance stakeholder interests, we classify each Issue by the stakeholder it affects most, organizing the 20 Issues into five stakeholder groups: Workers, Customers, Communities, the Environment, and Shareholders & Governance.
Specifically, we assign each of the 20 Issues to the one (and only one) stakeholder it most impacts. For example: “Compels leadership to act ethically and with integrity and avoid wrongdoings” is assigned to Shareholders & Governance, whereas “Is transparent in communications with customers about its products, services, and operations” is assigned to the Customers stakeholder. The weight of each stakeholder group is calculated by summing all of its associated Issue weights.
Workers (42%)
For the sixth consecutive year, the American public prioritizes Workers as the most important stakeholder by a significant margin. The Workers stakeholder considers a company’s performance on factors related to how it invests in its employees, including (1) paying a fair, living wage; (2) supporting workforce retention, advancement, and training; (3) providing benefits and work-life balance; (4) protecting worker health and safety; and (5) cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Communities (18%)
The Communities stakeholder considers a company’s performance on factors related to how it supports its communities, including (1) creating jobs in the U.S.; (2) addressing human rights issues in the supply chain; (3) contributing to community development; and (4) giving back to local communities.
Shareholders & Governance (16%)
Issues included in this grouping explore how a company maintains good governance and delivers value to its shareholders by (1) prioritizing accountability to all stakeholders; (2) acting ethically at the leadership level; and (2) generating returns for investors.
Customers (14%)
The Customers stakeholder considers a company’s performance on factors related to how it treats its customers, including (1) protecting customer privacy; (2) treating customers fairly; (3) communicating transparently; and (4) making beneficial products.
Environment (11%)
The Environment stakeholder considers a company’s performance on factors related to how it reduces its environmental impact, including (1) minimizing pollution; (2) using sustainable materials; (3) combating climate change; and (4) using resources efficiently.
Year after year, we continue to see that the public supports a movement away from shareholder primacy toward a more stakeholder value-driven operational model of business, one that takes America’s largest companies on a journey to becoming more just. Results from this latest survey shows that the areas Americans want corporations to prioritize have not changed substantially in the past few years. The labor strikes and demands of the last year, however, have added new urgency to them.
It’s become more clear to corporate America that ignoring these priorities presents a significant risk to business. Now is the time for proactive action. And the views of the American public offer a helpful roadmap. We hope that this report once again provides clear guidance on the specific actions businesses can take today to rebuild trust in business and markets as a force for good.
A Representative Look at the Public’s Views
Since its inception, the mission of Just Capital is to demonstrate how just business – defined by the priorities of the public – is better business. Our goal is to help companies create value for all their stakeholders – their workers, customers, communities, the environment, and shareholders – by focusing on the issues that matter most to the American public. The goal is to help companies improve, and in turn, improve the lives of their workers, customers, and society writ large.
At the core of our work is a robust research program that starts with focus groups in which we ask the American public to identify the policies, practices, and behaviors companies should prioritize to be considered just, (which we call “Issues”). These Issues include fair pay and living wage; a more diverse and inclusive workplace; stronger, healthier communities; good jobs; a cleaner environment; and more. Then, based on sophisticated polling of a representative sample of Americans, we estimate the relative importance of these behaviors – in other words, how important to defining a just company each behavior is relative to others.
Since 2015, Just Capital has surveyed more than 172,000 Americans – representative of the U.S. adult population – asking them to define just business behavior. For the past two years, we have partnered with SSRS, an objective, non-partisan research institution that provides scientifically rigorous statistical surveys of the U.S. population, to survey more than 3,000 Americans on their perspectives.
Defining a Just Company
Before answering questions about the just behavior of large companies, it is important for respondents to have a clear definition of the concept. Below is the definition we have provided to our focus group and survey respondents since 2022: A just company operates in a way that serves its workers, customers, shareholders, the environment, and the communities it affects, even if it comes at a cost.
Summary of Methods
We conducted the 20 question survey online with a probability-based sample attained through the exhaustive statistical sampling methods employed by SSRS. The SSRS Opinion Panel is a nationally representative probability-based web panel, and findings are generalizable to the general adult population.
The full survey was conducted from June 23 to July 5, 2023 among a general population sample of 3,001 English- and Spanish-speaking U.S. adults 18+ years of age, with an oversample of 590 Hispanic and 411 non-Hispanic Black respondents. Panelists were sent an email invitation to take the survey online as well as up to eight reminder emails throughout the field period. The survey program was optimized so that respondents could complete it using a desktop or laptop computer as well as a mobile device. In total, 900 respondents completed the survey on a computer and 2,101 completed it on a mobile device.
The margin of error is +/- 2.2% at the 95% confidence level. Results were weighted to U.S. Census parameters for age, gender, education, race/Hispanic ethnicity, and Census Division to ensure representativeness of the U.S. population. All margins of error include “design effects” to adjust for the effects of weighting.
To identify the priorities of the public, we calculate for each Issue the probability that an individual would choose that as most important to defining a just company. As such, there are 20 probabilities calculated from the 20 Issues. These probabilities can be referred to as weights as each represents the relative importance of one Issue versus another. To illustrate more explicitly, the Issue “Creates jobs in the U.S.” was assigned a weight of 11.8% as there is a 1.18 in 10 chance that a respondent chosen at random will identify this Issue as most important in defining a just company. By comparison, the weight assigned to “Generates returns for investors over the long term” has a 1.7% weight.
Our full body of survey work for 2023 also includes six focus groups conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll.
The Americans’ Views on Business Survey was written by Jennifer Tonti, Managing Director of Survey Research & Insights.
As 2022 draws to a close, Americans are faced with a number of uncomfortable economic challenges, including fears over job security and layoffs, stubbornly high inflation, a looming recession, and a political climate rife with rancor and division. Suddenly, the already precarious path to prosperity for tens of millions of people seems even more out of reach.
Such is the backdrop to our Annual Survey on the Priorities of the Public, in which we poll Americans about their Views on Business – specifically, whether they think America’s largest companies are moving toward creating a more just economy and society. Since 2015, Just Capital has surveyed more than 160,000 Americans on a fully representative basis. This survey not only gives us unique and critically important insights into how Americans think about business today, it also gives us a pulse on their hopes and fears, and – when viewed in the context of our previous seven years’ of polling – how each have shifted in time.
In our 2022 Issues Report –The People’s Priorities we found that that across every demographic group, whether political affiliation, race, gender, age, or income group, Americans are united in wanting companies to prioritize Workers as the most important stakeholder and Paying a fair, living wage as the most important business Issue today.
In this companion survey, we find that Americans consistently believe that companies remain firmly wedded to the shareholder primacy model and that there continues to be a basic mismatch between what the public wants companies to prioritize (their workers) and what they perceive companies are actually prioritizing (their shareholders).
We also find that perceptions on whether capitalism is working for the average American plummeted 10 percentage points this year, with a stark difference between those who think capitalism is working (high-income workers, older Americans, Conservatives), and those who do not think capitalism is working (lower-income and hourly workers, Black and Hispanic Americans, younger Americans, and Liberals).
As Edelman saw in its new study, “The Changing Role of the Corporation in Society,” Americans believe businesses and CEOs have a role to play in addressing societal issues, agreeing most when it comes to tackling issues like gender equity in the workplace (equal pay), income inequality, and advancing racial equity. CEOs may experience more pushback when taking a stand to address issues like protecting LGBTQ rights, women’s reproductive rights, and climate change, as the political polarization around those issues is high.
Despite an uptick in positive impressions during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic that companies were stepping up to take care of stakeholders, Americans are now less likely to think companies are following through. They also expect business to talk less and act more. The good news: 81% of Americans believe that business can be a powerful force of societal change and 84% believe people can be effective when they act together to try to change companies’ behaviors. Americans are also willing to support change and help companies transition toward a just economy by paying more for just products and even accepting less pay to work for just companies.
In this year’s survey, we unpack these trends in detail, seeking to understand what matters most to Americans today, against the backdrop of our shifting economic and societal climate, and what corporate leaders should prioritize to live up to the expectations of the public. Let’s take a deeper look at the data.
More than two in three Americans (68%) say that “our current form of capitalism is not working for the average American,” a 10-point increase in negative sentiment from just one year ago. In its recent survey on how Americans perceive capitalism, Pew Research similarly finds modest declines.
In a recent talk, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman discussed why capitalism needs an upgrade, warning, “To many people who are left out of the system, who struggle to make ends meet and don’t believe in the American dream anymore, they tend to radicalize to the far left or far right. So how do we strengthen our democracy by thinking more broadly?”
When we look across demographic breaks, we find substantial differences in Americans’ opinions of whether capitalism is working. Lower-income and hourly workers, Black and Hispanic Americans, temp workers, younger Americans, and Liberals are all far less likely to agree that “our current form of capitalism works for the average American” than white Americans, older Americans, those in high income households, and Conservatives.
Americans agree that companies are on the wrong path, with just 20% agreeing that they’re heading in the right direction – a downward trend from a high of 30% in 2018. What’s more, over half of Americans (51%) now say companies are headed in the wrong direction, a steady trend upward, and a 13 percentage point increase, since 2018.
With regard to just business behavior specifically, more Americans (58%) say that companies are very or somewhat just than say they are not very or not at all just – however, that number is down from a high of 66% in 2021.
When we ask the public whether they think companies are becoming more or less just over time, even though a plurality say that they have stayed about the same, the percentage 0f respondents who say companies are becoming less just has grown in the past year, from 26% in 2021 to 31% in 2022.
The proportion of Americans who trust versus distrust large U.S. companies had been roughly the same over the past few years, but in 2022 that changed, with more Americans now saying that they distrust companies (50%) than trust them (45%).
We see these findings further confirmed by a new question we asked this year – if people trust CEOs to do right by their employees – and only about one in three agreed that they “trust CEOs to look out for the interests of their workers.”
A key question in our Americans’ Views on Business survey asks the public’s thoughts about which stakeholder – shareholders, customers, or workers – they think companies prioritize most. For six years running, and by a significant but varied margin, half of Americans say that shareholders are the top priority in companies’ eyes, versus 31% who say workers and 19% who say customers. When comparing these responses to what the public said in our Annual Survey six years ago, we see two major changes over time.
First, while the percentage who say employees are the top priority has grown substantially, from 9% to 31%, the uptick in this view has now waned since 2020. And second, while the degree to which the public believes shareholders are the top priority has diminished – from 69% in 2017 to 50% in 2022 – it has actually risen since the challenges of 2020. Overall, this paints a picture of an opportunity perhaps lost – or at least not fully captured – by companies to show they are placing workers’ interests at least on par with shareholders’.
In keeping with these findings, the public also agrees that companies are not living up to their commitments to take action on critical societal challenges. In the two years since the Business Roundtable announced a movement away from shareholder primacy, our data show that the public remains skeptical on whether America’s largest companies are actually following through on their commitments to a stakeholder model, with 86% agreeing that companies “often hide behind public declarations of support for stakeholders but don’t walk the walk.”
The following chart shows that the public believes that companies have the most positive impact on their shareholders (75%) at a greater margin than other stakeholders, including customers (65%), the health & safety of their workforce (64%), quality jobs (56%), and local communities (55%).
Far fewer say that the environment and low-wage workers are positively impacted by the behavior of large companies. Compare the one in three Americans who say companies have a positive impact on the “financial well-being of their lowest-paid workers” to nearly twice as many who say “their shareholders” in the chart above.
Looking at positive impact measures over time, the public’s perspective is that companies are moving in the wrong direction. For example, the percentage who say companies have a positive impact on society overall has fallen from a high of 58% in 2018 to just 49% of Americans in 2022.
There are similar dips in the percentage of Americans who say companies have a positive impact on the quality of U.S. jobs and the well-being of local communities.
Yet the percentage who say companies have a positive impact on shareholders is substantially higher, and even increases slightly over the past five years.
Workers are the engine of a company, and from our recent survey on workers and wages, it is clear that Americans firmly believe that companies that invest in their workers by paying a living wage are more competitive in their industries, better for the economy overall, and more profitable in the long term. In this survey, we find that Americans again agree that the focus of a just company should be its workforce, with majorities agreeing with the following statements:
What’s more, there is remarkable consensus on these issues when looking across political divides, suggesting that, despite sentiment that the right and left are polarized when it comes to issues like a living wage or even forms of collective bargaining, liberals and conservatives are more aligned than we might think.
To protect workers’ right to fair treatment, almost nine in 10 say that workers should have the right to collectively bargain for pay and other protections. This strong agreement on collective bargaining tracks with public pollster Gallup, which finds that Americans’ approval of labor unions is at its highest point since 1965.
What’s more, we find that support for unionization of the workforce is consistent across all political ideologies. Consider what Amazon union leader Chris Smalls said at a hearing on Amazon’s labor practices in May of 2022:
Companies looking to stave off unionization trends should assess their workers’ financial wellness to ensure all employees are able to make ends meet. In this survey we heard that more than 80% agree that companies need to pay their lowest-paid workers a living wage – something we’ve seen reinforced with strong agreement from the public in our survey on workers and wages, which found that 84% agree that large companies should pay employees enough to make ends meet. Our 2022 People’s Priorities Survey also echoed this sentiment, with “Paying a fair, living wage” as the #1 Issue for the public, gaining more than 20 percentage points in importance over the last two years.
Inflation and an impending recession are already impacting the lives and pocketbooks of most Americans, meanwhile the lowest-wage workers in the U.S. unfortunately bear the brunt when wages don’t keep up with inflation.
In an effort to better understand the state of corporate America when it comes to paying a living wage, Just Capital has also refined its measurement of this issue for our upcoming 2023 Rankings. Among our initial findings? About half of Russell 1000 employees do not make a family-sustaining living wage.
With job quits rates hovering at about 4 million between August 2021 and August 2022, the phenomenon alternately called The Great Resignation and The Great Reassessment could flourish. To that end, a large majority of Americans think this was a key moment for worker power: 79% agree that The Great Resignation is an opportunity to hit the reset button and focus on workers.
Finally, when it comes to a company’s profits, Americans say that workers are not getting their fair share of the pie: 84% agree that companies don’t share enough of their success with their workers. With profits surging 35% last year, 2021 was the most profitable year for American corporations since 1950. And while employee compensation rose 11%, the so-called labor share of national income – the portion that’s paid out as wages and salaries – fell back to pre-pandemic levels. It’s clear that American workers aren’t sharing in the prosperity they are helping companies create.
In recent years, CEOs have found themselves in the position of needing to speak out on both critical and contentious issues, and the landscape is becoming more challenging to navigate as more politicians attempt to bring companies into culture war issues as the election cycle heats up. To help corporate leaders understand public expectations during these tumultuous times, we’ve asked Americans each year for the last five years if they believe the CEOs of large companies have a responsibility to take a stand on important societal issues. This year, two-thirds of Americans overall – a number that has remained relatively stable in our years of polling – believe CEOs of large companies have a responsibility to take a stand.
There are, however, significant differences in the degree of agreement when looking at this question across political breaks: with far fewer Conservatives agreeing CEOs have a responsibility to take a stand (44%) compared to their Liberal (81%) or Moderate (75%) peers.
Of the almost two-thirds who say that CEOs have a responsibility to take a stand, another two-thirds of that group says they should do so no matter the issue, rather than focusing solely on issues that directly impact their business.
With a majority of Americans saying that CEOs should take a stand on issues, the question then becomes which societal issues should they address. In response to this year’s survey, a substantial proportion of the public says corporate leadership has a role to play in addressing all of the following issues, with income inequality and gender and racial equity receiving the highest levels of support (77% or more).
And although majorities say CEOs have a role to play in these issues, there is less consensus when looking across political breaks, with Conservatives less in support of CEOs taking a stand on these specific issues than their Moderate or Liberal counterparts. There is particularly low support from Conservatives when it comes to LGBTQ rights, women’s reproductive rights, and climate change (45% or less).
However, for the question of upholding our democracy – an issue that has become increasingly politically divisive – majorities of all three political ideologies agree that CEOs have a role to play in protecting both democracy and voting rights. Those numbers are bolstered by the 72% of Americans who say corporate America has a responsibility to protect the democratic process by promoting free and fair elections.
Positive assessments of corporate behavior are also informed by the public’s views on how companies have weathered recent events, including the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, half of Americans say companies have shown leadership throughout the pandemic, down from a high last year of 54%.
When we look at another pressing social issue – advancing racial equity – a higher percentage (60%) of Americans say companies are doing well demonstrating a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, a number that has stayed steady over the two years that we’ve tracked views on this issue.
Still, there is ample room to improve: almost half (47%) of Americans agree that companies are not doing enough today to hire and promote Black Americans in the workforce. That number rises to 83% among Black Americans.
Action on these issues have lasting impact for the public, with a large majority of Americans saying they will remember the companies that took missteps in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic (68%) as well as those that took missteps on issues related to racial injustice (67%).
The good news? Americans are willing to support change and help companies transition to a just economy. We asked Americans to tell us whether they would take positive action in supporting companies that are more just, and two-thirds or more said that they would either accept less pay in a new job at a just company, and/or pay more for a product made or sold by a just company.
This comes at no surprise when we see that a whopping 84% of Americans believe that their own actions can shape the future: a level double-digits higher than when we first asked this question in 2017 (71%).
That Americans have strong opinions about large U.S. companies may be attributable to the degree to which the public is informed about corporate activities and behavior (in 2022, 23% say they are Informed or Very Informed, up from 18% in 2020).
While this year’s Americans’ Views on Business survey shows an overall less optimistic perspective on how companies are faring in transitioning from shareholder primacy toward a more just and equitable economy, our 2022 Issues Report – The People’s Priorities and full slate of polling reports from the last year, provide a clear, consistent, and unified message from Americans about how to turn the tide, and that is to put workers at the heart of business strategy.
For companies that are looking for solutions to everything from political polarization to the rise in unionization, or losing talent to competitors, the answers lie in listening to the voice of the public, and most importantly, to your workers. They will tell you, as they’ve told us for the last seven years, to focus on paying a fair, living wage, protecting their health and safety, supporting their development through training and upward mobility, providing good benefits and work-life balance, and more. The pandemic catalyzed a fundamental shift in expectations for workers, with many reevaluating what’s most important to them.
As we discussed in a recent Fortune editorial with the Ford Foundation, “Now is the time for employers to listen to their workforce and collectively ensure our economy delivers on the promise of the American Dream for everyone.” Business leaders are increasingly faced with complex economic, social, and political headwinds, but investing in workers is a powerful North Star to use to chart the path forward.
For additional resources on where to get started, visit:
We conducted this survey online with a probability-based sample attained through the exhaustive statistical sampling methods employed by SSRS. The SSRS Opinion Panel is a nationally representative probability-based web panel, and findings are generalizable to the general adult population.
The full survey was conducted from June 22 to July 11, 2022 among a general population sample of 3,002 English- and Spanish-speaking U.S. adults 18+ years of age, with an oversample of 540 Hispanic and 460 non-Hispanic Black respondents. Panelists were sent an email invitation to take the survey online as well as up to eight reminder emails throughout the field period. The survey program was optimized so that respondents could complete it using a desktop or laptop computer as well as a mobile device. In total, 1,063 respondents completed the survey on a computer and 1,939 completed it on a mobile device.
The margin of error is +/- 2.2% at the 95% confidence level. Results were weighted to U.S. Census parameters for age, gender, education, race/Hispanic ethnicity, and Census Division to ensure representativeness of the U.S. population. All margins of error include “design effects” to adjust for the effects of weighting.
September 15, 2022
JUST Capital’s 2022 Issues Report – The People’s Priorities is by Jennifer Tonti, Managing Director, Survey Research & Insights.
The current economic environment is a marked difference from the one rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing recession in 2020, and the “restart” we began to see in 2021. This year, ongoing pandemic-related supply shocks and repercussions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have helped to spark the highest inflation in decades. Soaring costs and economic uncertainty about a recession are impacting the national mood. And Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell recently warned Americans that the Fed’s plans to continue rate hikes to slow inflation will “also bring some pain to households and businesses.” Economic inequality that was exacerbated by the pandemic could widen further in a sharper slowdown, understanding low-wage workers are often the first to lose hours and jobs.
It’s to be expected that the social, economic, and political disruptions at any moment will have some bearing on Americans’ attitudes and values during that time. In every year that we’ve been measuring which issues matter most to the public when it comes to just business behavior (what we call The People’s Priorities), the events of that year can determine which issues Americans deem more important than others, as well as the degree to which the public prioritizes each issue.
This year, the resounding refrain from the public is that America’s largest companies should put workers squarely at the heart of just business practices, foremost by paying their workers a fair and living wage.
Over the last six years, Worker Issues have consistently commanded the highest share of priority among the 20 stakeholder-related issues we measure, and this year is no different. Four of the five Worker Issues we track – including paying a fair, living wage; protecting worker health and safety; providing benefits and work-life balance; and investing in workforce training – are among the top six priorities of the public, and the collective prioritization of all five worker issues will comprise 44% of a company’s score in our Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies.
What is more, despite increasing media attention and political rhetoric that the country is incredibly polarized, we are not divided as a country when it comes to just business behavior. There is broad consensus across all demographic and political cohorts that Workers should be corporate America’s top priority – something we also found in our recent survey on Workers & Wages. Specifically, among every demographic group – liberal, conservative, high-income, low-income, men, women, young generations, older generations, and white, Black, and Hispanic Americans – the Workers stakeholder is the top priority. And for every one of these demographic groups, the most important Issue is “Pays workers fairly and offers a living wage that covers the cost of basic needs at the local level.”
Every year we begin our annual Rankings process by facilitating a series of group conversations with a diverse mix of Americans across the U.S., to help us broadly understand the business behaviors and actions that they consider to be most “just.” These focus groups enable our research team to hear the unvarnished voice of the public speak to what issues matter most, and whether their opinions have changed over time. The polling team then distills the focus groups’ major themes into statements that capture these concepts, which we call “Issues.” In 2022, this work yielded 20 Issues, which is consistent with the number of Issues last year.
Since the public initially tells us that all of these Issues are of high importance, we then conduct a choice modeling exercise as part of our Annual Survey work, allowing us to derive the relative importance of these 20 Issues. From here, we extract a “weight” per Issue that we use as the foundation for our Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies. The weights below reflect the probability that an individual would choose that Issue as most important to defining a just company, based on a representative sample of 3,002 Americans. These weights power our analysis of corporate stakeholder performance at the country’s largest companies, including JUST’s annual Rankings.
Each issue is color-coded by the stakeholder it most impacts. While we reference the prioritization of several Issues in this report, please note that the relative importance between many of these Issues often varies by a fraction of a percentage point.
Below we take a deeper look at these Issues, and focus on a few that have made substantial movement up or down in relative importance this year.
The above chart shows that four of the five worker Issues are among the top six overall. Most notably, “Pays workers fairly and offers a living wage that covers the cost of basic needs at the local level” is the top-most prioritized Issue for the third consecutive year, and will comprise a significant 21% of companies’ scores in our 2023 Rankings. This is a nearly six percentage point increase from last year, with three-quarters of Americans saying that this Issue is “more important” (including 50% saying it is “much more” important) than last year. And as we mentioned above, among each of our key demographic groups, this is consistently the top-prioritized Issue.
The current economic climate has undoubtedly impacted the public’s priorities. Findings from our partners at The Harris Poll show that 83% of Americans say their top concerns include the economy, inflation, and jobs. And despite the July U.S. job rate reaching pre-pandemic highs, eight in 10 Americans remain concerned about America entering a recession. Maintaining a stable job with a wage that enables a family to make ends meet each month is crucial staying afloat in today’s uncertain economy.
It is doubly important that wages rise in step with inflation. A recent JUST Capital poll shows that 87% of Americans say large U.S. companies have a responsibility to regularly increase wages to keep up with the rapidly rising cost of living. Large majorities of Americans also think that companies that pay a living wage are better for their workers, more competitive in their industry, and better for the U.S. economy overall. Unfortunately, this is more of an aspiration than a reality for workers in our economy today. As the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last month, average weekly earnings may have risen 4.2% from June 2021 to June 2022, but real weekly earnings decreased 4.4% in that same time period.
This Issue also captures the concept of fair pay, which both ensures fairness of pay between peers as well as equal pay for equal work across gender, race, ethnicity, etc. Even in 2022, women continue to struggle to be paid at parity with their male colleagues – in 2022, women are paid 82 cents for every dollar earned by men, with even wider pay gaps for women of color, including Black, Hispanic, and American Indian women who earn 79, 78, and 71 cents to the dollar, respectively. Equitable pay – across gender and race/ethnicity – is a critical element in better, fairer treatment for companies’ most valuable assets: their workers.
In 2022, “Protects the health, safety, and well-being of workers beyond what is required by law” comprises 7.3% of a company’s score in our Rankings, showing that even two years from the height of the pandemic, protecting worker health and safety continues to be critical to the public. What’s more, two-thirds of Americans say that this Issue is more important this year than last.
Upward mobility for workers is an additional area of focus for Americans in an unsettled labor market. McKinsey finds that career advancement is the main reason people continue to leave jobs during the Great Reassessment. As such, “Focuses on workforce retention and employee advancement by providing training, education, and career development opportunities” has moved up five places, and comprises 7.1% of a company’s score in our Rankings.
Finally, “Offers a quality benefits package and supports good work-life balance for all employees” comprises 6.2% of a company’s score, a level unchanged from the previous year. As we saw in our August 2022 survey on workers and wages, majorities of Americans believe companies have a responsibility to provide quality, affordable health insurance to all adult workers, including part-time workers (84%) and match employee contributions to retirement savings plans (74%). And in our April 2022 survey focused on how companies support women in the workplace, 64% of respondents said it was important for companies to provide all workers at least 12 weeks of paid parental leave to promote equity at work.
There is a very clear business case for corporate leaders to focus on worker issues. Investments in good jobs can reduce the high costs incurred from absenteeism and turnover, increase a company’s labor productivity, and ultimately grow its revenue. Companies can also gain a competitive advantage as their corporate reputation attracts values-aligned job seekers, customers, and ESG investors. To help companies assess, measure, and improve performance on the worker issues that matter most to the public, we’re proud to announce the creation of a new JUST Jobs Program.
One Issue that falls under the Communities stakeholder, “Creates jobs in the U.S. and provides employment opportunities for communities that need them,” is once again #2 in relative importance, comprising 11.1% of a company’s score in our Rankings. 60% of respondents say that creating jobs in the U.S. is more important than last year.
Ethical leadership, an issue that falls under Shareholders & Governance, continues to be of high importance to Americans as well. “Compels leadership to act ethically and with integrity and to avoid wrongdoings” comprises 7.6% of a company’s score, and is the third most important Issue in 2022. Earlier in the year, our focus group participants told us that they are paying attention to how leadership acts – or doesn’t act – on important societal issues. Our polling confirms that Americans want corporate leaders to take ownership when companies make mistakes or become embroiled in a crisis or controversy. Action is perceived as good faith. Failure to own up to mistakes results in reputational damage.
The Environment stakeholder has grown to encompass 12% of the model. Americans told us that Minimizing pollution (up five places to become the eighth most important Issue) and Combating climate change (up two places to the 13th most important issue) are higher priorities for Americans in 2022, helping to propel the Environment stakeholder’s importance in our Rankings this year.
A need for increased transparency and disclosure from companies has been a key, recurring theme we heard in focus groups. This year, the refrain was louder than ever. As such, we modified the language in this Issue to broaden the focus to be more inclusive, and in turn, the Issue “Is transparent in communications with customers about its products, services, and operations” has moved up four places to become the 12th most important to Americans.
Another notable change is the “Cultivates a diverse and inclusive workplace with equal opportunity” Issue, which fell in priority from seventh most important in 2021 to 15th in 2022. Make no mistake: our polling shows that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion continues to be an important element of just business behavior, with 92% saying that it is important for companies to promote racial equity in the workplace, and 77% saying that racial equity cannot be achieved until all workers are paid a living wage. What is more, half of respondents say this Issue is more important than last year.
One possible explanation for this decline is that we are two years removed from the racial justice movement our nation rose to in response to George Floyd’s death. And with economic matters such as inflation and recession closer to home for many Americans, when it comes time to prioritizing this issue over others, its relative importance falls.
The Priorities of the Public are based on responses from more than 3,000 U.S. adults and are representative of a cross-section of Americans. This means we hear from a variety of voices, both by demographic such as race/ethnicity, gender, income levels, and age, as well as behavior such as political ideologies or active investors. Remarkably, we found that there is substantial consistency in the Issues most important to these groups, with nearly all cohorts prioritizing the same top three: Pays a fair, living wage; Creates jobs in the U.S.; and Acts ethically at the leadership level.
With a few exceptions, each demographic is fairly unified in how they want corporate America to prioritize the top five Issues, demonstrating remarkable unity and consistency in a year when companies are increasingly under scrutiny from politicians and pundits for “being out of touch with the values of everyday Americans” or that stakeholder-focused capitalism is not “a reflection of consumer demand.”
To provide further clarity around how to better balance stakeholder interests, we classify each Issue by the stakeholder it affects most, organizing the 20 Issues into five stakeholder groups: Workers, Customers, Communities, the Environment, and Shareholders & Governance.
Specifically, we assign each of the 20 Issues to the one (and only one) stakeholder it most impacts. For example: “Compels leadership to act ethically and with integrity and avoid wrongdoings” is assigned to Shareholders & Governance, whereas “Makes products or offers services that benefit society” is assigned to the Customers stakeholder. The weight of each stakeholder group is calculated by summing all of its associated Issue weights.
For the sixth consecutive year, the American public prioritizes Workers as the most important stakeholder by a significant margin. The Workers stakeholder considers a company’s performance on factors related to how it invests in its employees, including (1) paying a fair, living wage, (2) protecting worker health and safety, (3) providing benefits and work-life balance, (4) cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace, and (5) supporting workforce retention, advancement, and training.
The Communities stakeholder considers a company’s performance on factors related to how it supports its communities, including (1) creating jobs in the U.S., (2) addressing human rights issues in the supply chain, (3) contributing to community development, and (4) giving back to local communities.
The Customers stakeholder considers a company’s performance on factors related to how it treats its customers, including (1) protecting customer privacy, (2) treating customers fairly, (3) communicating transparently, and (4) making beneficial products.
In 2021 we added “Governance” to the Shareholders stakeholder be more representative of the Issues included in this grouping that explore how a company maintains good governance and delivers value to its shareholders by (1) acting ethically at the leadership level, (2) generating returns for investors, and (3) prioritizing accountability to all stakeholders.
The Environment stakeholder considers a company’s performance on factors related to how it reduces its environmental impact, including (1) minimizing pollution, (2) using sustainable materials, (3) combating climate change, and (4) using resources efficiently.
When looking at stakeholder prioritization across demographic groupings, we see significant alignment, with some specific areas of variance. For instance, Issues relating to the Environment are prioritized more highly among respondents under age 30 and Democrats, whereas Shareholders & Governance Issues are prioritized more highly by those age 65 and older.
There has never been a more urgent moment for corporate America to embark on the journey to becoming more just, and we hope this latest survey report provides clear guidance on how companies can reevaluate their priorities and better align their practices with the values of the American people. The data shines a clear, bright light on the specific actions businesses can take today to rebuild trust in business and markets as a force for good.
Since its inception, JUST Capital’s mission has been to build an economy that works for all Americans by helping companies improve how they serve all their stakeholders: workers, customers, communities, the environment, and shareholders. The goal is to encourage and incentivize real change in corporate America’s leadership.
At the core of our work is a robust research program that starts with focus groups in which we ask the American public to identify the policies, practices, and behaviors companies should prioritize to be considered just, (which we call “Issues”). These Issues include fair pay and living wage; a more diverse and inclusive workplace; stronger, healthier communities; good jobs; a cleaner environment; and more. Then, based on sophisticated polling of a representative sample of Americans, we estimate the relative importance of these behaviors – in other words, how important to defining a just company each behavior is relative to others.
Since 2015, JUST Capital has surveyed more than 160,000 Americans – representative of the U.S. adult population – asking them to define just business behavior. For the past two years, we have partnered with SSRS, an objective, non-partisan research institution that provides scientifically rigorous statistical surveys of the U.S. population, to survey more than 3,000 Americans on their perspectives.
Before answering questions about the just behavior of large companies, it is important for respondents to have a clear definition of the concept. Below is the definition we provided to our focus group and survey respondents in 2022: A just company operates in a way that serves its workers, customers, shareholders, the environment, and the communities it affects, even if it comes at a cost.
We conducted the 20 question survey online with a probability-based sample attained through the exhaustive statistical sampling methods employed by SSRS. The SSRS Opinion Panel is a nationally representative probability-based web panel, and findings are generalizable to the general adult population.
The full survey was conducted from June 22 to July 11, 2022 among a general population sample of 3,002 English- and Spanish-speaking U.S. adults 18+ years of age, with an oversample of 540 Hispanic and 460 non-Hispanic Black respondents. Panelists were sent an email invitation to take the survey online as well as up to eight reminder emails throughout the field period. The survey program was optimized so that respondents could complete it using a desktop or laptop computer as well as a mobile device. In total, 1,063 completed the survey on a computer and 1,939 completed on a mobile device.
The margin of error is +/- 2.2% at the 95% confidence level. Results were weighted to U.S. Census parameters for age, gender, education, race/Hispanic ethnicity, and Census Division to ensure representativeness of the U.S. population. All margins of error include “design effects” to adjust for the effects of weighting.
To identify the priorities of the public, we calculate for each Issue the probability that an individual would choose that as most important to defining a just company. As such, there are 20 probabilities calculated from the 20 Issues. These probabilities can be referred to as weights as each represents the relative importance of one Issue versus another. To illustrate more explicitly, the Issue “Creates jobs in the U.S.” was assigned a weight of 11.1% as there is a 1.11 in 10 chance that a respondent chosen at random will identify this Issue as most important in defining a just company. By comparison, the weight assigned to “Generates returns for investors over the long term” has a 2.2% weight.
Our full body of survey work for 2022 also includes six focus groups conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll and eight additional surveys fielded throughout the year. To learn more about how this survey data drives JUST Capital’s analysis and Rankings of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies, visit the Methodology section of our website.
Every November 11, our nation pays tribute to military veterans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. At Just, we want to honor the moment by taking stock of how the public views corporate America’s responsibility to veterans, and by analyzing how companies are currently performing when it comes to supporting the American veteran workforce. Our findings show the ways in which the public believes corporate America can best support this cohort and in turn, contribute to creating a more just and equitable economy that supports all Americans
Just Capital, in collaboration with our research partners at The Harris Poll, surveyed active duty military and veterans, their family members, and the wider public. Of the 3,058 respondents, about 13% were active duty or veterans themselves, 31% were immediate family members of veterans or those serving active duty; 24% were extended family members of veterans or those serving active duty; and 50% were neither veterans themselves nor had family who were (respondents could fall into more than one group, therefore percentages do not add to 100%).
Over time, our polling has consistently shown that a strong majority of the public believes that, as corporate leadership is the driving force behind just business behavior, CEOs of large companies have a responsibility toward addressing issues of societal importance. Across a list of issues affecting society, the biggest percentage (87%) of respondents say America’s largest companies have a responsibility to actively recruit veterans to their workforces.
While only 37% of the companies we rank disclose having veteran hiring policies, by and large, respondents say that they would support companies that start new hiring initiatives, and the topmost means of support is purchasing that company’s goods & services or recommending them to friends and family. Those who are veterans themselves or are family of veterans say they would support these companies to a much greater degree (61% would recommend a company, 53% would purchase from that company) than non-veterans (44% would recommend, 36% would purchase).
Looking at the responses to this question across different age brackets, there are generational gradients on recommending and purchasing. Respondents ages 45+ are more apt to recommend or purchase from a company that has announced a veterans hiring initiative, while applicants age 44 and below are more apt to apply for a job at the company or post about the company on social media.
We also see that one in three millennials (age 35-44) say they would invest in a company that started a hiring program, the highest percentage across all generational splits, and about twice that of older Americans (13% among Age 55+). Millennials are a generational segment who are primed to invest and are at a point in their lives in which they may have the means to do so by a more significant margin than older or younger generations.
We then asked respondents about their opinions on the myriad ways that companies can support veterans. About one in three (32%) say that recruiting and hiring more veterans to the workforce is the primary way companies can help, with more veteran respondents (39%) choosing this option than non-veterans (26%). Another way in which companies can support veterans is by developing training, skills, and mentorship programs for their workers (29%) and creating a more inclusive culture (22%), with similar percentages across respondent status choosing these two options. Those who are neither veterans nor have vets in their families are most likely to be unsure about the matter.
There appears to be some differences in opinion on the key way companies can help veterans when we look at results across age cohorts. Younger respondents (age 18-34), are significantly more likely to choose “create an inclusive workplace culture such as dedicated employee resource groups and education and sensitivity training for management and staff” than older respondents, who are more supportive of hiring more veterans for open jobs, by a factor of almost two to one over the younger generation.
Although veteran recruiting is also a key issue, the reality is that veterans face lower unemployment than others. The unemployment rate for veterans has been consistently lower than nonveterans since the early aughts. In 2020, the unemployment rate for veterans was 6.5%, while for nonveterans it was 8.0%.
Issues of veterans’ employment are somewhat deceptive – underemployment is more likely to be a key struggle within this group, with around 12% of veterans underemployed and about 34% more likely to be underemployed than non-veterans. Veterans in the workforce may not be engaged to the full extent of their abilities, resulting in difficulty both finding and landing jobs that closely match training and skills honed during their military experience.
There is public awareness that underemployment is an issue. When asked how much employers are doing to help veteran workers achieve their full potential in the civilian workplace, a majority (57%) say most companies are “not doing enough,” and more veterans (62%) than non-veterans (54%) say employers aren’t doing enough.
Providing more inclusive support to veteran employees is an issue both in the workplace and in a company’s surrounding community. America’s largest companies have aways to go to align with the public’s priorities and develop programs to address not just unemployment but underemployment – and in our companion analysis, we see that these efforts also pay off in the market. As we mark Veterans Day this year, we are reminded that corporate leaders play a key role in supporting American veterans, and that the public at large is eager to support the companies that make these efforts a priority.
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll in partnership with Just Capital from October 25–27, 2021 among 3,058 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The survey is not based on a probability sample, is not representative, and therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Jennifer Tonti, Managing Director, Surveys & Polling at jtonti@justcapital.com.
