Policy Changes: How Corporations Have Evolved Their Responses to Coronavirus Over The Last Month

JUST Capital has been tracking how America’s largest companies are responding to the COVID-19 crisis and we can now chart changes between the launch on March 24 and our latest update on April 21, 2020. Our data shows that, of the 100 companies we’ve analyzed, the majority have implemented new policies and practices related to customer accommodations, production and distribution changes, and work from home policies. 

Most interesting, perhaps, is that companies continue to evolve their policies over time as the true scope of this crisis comes into view. For example, the number of companies making special customer accommodations has grown significantly over the past few weeks.

But clearly, that’s not all. Some of these policy shifts are for the better, and others are troubling. Over the last month, the number of companies that have: 

• Voluntarily closed some or all of their retail or branch locations, or suspended some or all of their operations or services, has nearly doubled from 23% on March 24 to 45% today.
• Disclosed that they have furloughed or provided voluntary leave at low or no pay to their employees has nearly quadrupled from 7% on March 24 to 27% today. (Disclosure around layoffs, however, has remained relatively flat: 4% on March 24 vs. 6% today, though companies often hold off on reporting this.)
• Provided financial assistance, in the form of grants, bonuses, or wage increases, to their employees is up from 19% on March 24 to 33% today. 
• Instituted executive pay cuts have more than quadrupled from 6% on March 24 to 27% today.. 
• Provided community services to help with relief efforts – such as organizing food banks, blood drives, or even providing free softwares for schools – has more than tripled from 14% on March 24 to 45% today. 

Over the course of the next week, we will unpack some of these specific policy changes in more detail. And if you’re looking for more insights, take a look at our daily policy blog, which includes updates from companies outside of the largest 100, our recent analysis on paid sick leave, and the rest of our coronavirus content channel.