The importance of talent has been a recurring theme in the last few weeks. Antonio Neri, CEO of HPE, highlighted it in his recent CNBC interview celebrating his company’s top spot in the 2025 Just Capital Rankings. Surveying over 1,200 global business leaders for its new 2025 Risk Report, global consulting firm Protiviti identified the ability to attract, develop, and retain top talent, and talent and labor availability, as the #3 and #4 issues. And in the discussions I’ve had with CEOs since our Rankings launched earlier this month, it’s come up time and again.
Hiring the best talent is only the start of the journey. As Goethe noted, great talent finds its happiness in execution. This means investing in people, providing the right incentives, creating conditions for workers to flourish, nurturing a sense of purpose – all things Just Capital’s benchmarking and scorecards help companies measure. The business case isn’t just intuitive. As of February 18, companies that perform well on our Workers stakeholder have outperformed their Russell 1000 equal-weighted benchmark by 17.03% since inception in January 2022.
The talent area is also one ripe with opportunities for innovation. Indeed, our current rankings highlight many creative approaches companies are pursuing. Constellation Energy Corp offers an impressive 94 hours of training or career development per employee. By investing in a growth-driven culture, aerospace company RTX boasts of a turnover rate of just 5%. CoStar Group Inc, which leads their industry in the Workers category, has committed that no full-time U.S. based employee will make less than $60k per year. There are myriad other examples.
If you’re interested to learn more about our services for companies in this area, please reach out.
Be well,
Martin
“This is a massive change in America, and there are other major changes also happening in other countries around the world. We have a choice: Do we want to take a pessimistic, dark view and think that it’s all going to be horrible? Do we want to be optimists and say, in change is opportunity?”
Cisco takes a survey of how CEOs are implementing AI at their companies, and the obstacles that are getting in their way. Explore the whole study here.
CNBC reports that Southwest Airlines is planning to eliminate nearly 1,750 jobs in an unprecedented move to cut costs, and the New York Times reports that Chevron is planning to eliminate nearly 9,000 jobs worldwide.
One bright spot? Chipotle plans to hire an additional 20,000 workers from March – May, which the company dubs “burrito season”. Reuters has the story.
Proctor & Gamble and Kroger join companies like Costco in pushing back against the attacks on their DEI programs, while at the same time, the Wall Street Journal reports on how big banks are trying to scrub public mentions of their DEI efforts.
Speaking of big banks, JP Morgan Chase is officially starting a round of layoffs. Yahoo Finance has the story.
Axios reports that the amount of in-person work doubled this year as many employers start to enforce return-to-office mandates. Explore the data here.
It’s been a busy week to say the least. MLK Day, the inauguration of President Trump, a flurry of executive orders and announcements, the World Economic Forum in Davos, not to mention the most snow in Houston, Charleston, and New Orleans in 130 years and more L.A. fires.
But let’s start with the newly-released 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, which centers on a “crisis of grievance”. It’s disturbing reading. According to the report, optimism for the next generation is lacking, over half of young adults approve of hostile activism, and there’s been an “unprecedented global decline in employer trust”. Grievances against government, business, and particularly the rich are widespread, and with greater grievance comes more suspicion of AI and more belief in politics as a zero-sum game.
Interestingly, only business is seen as both ethical and competent. CEOs are considered justified for acting on social issues if they can have a major impact and improve business performance. Priority issues included providing good paying jobs, employee training and reskilling, and nurturing workplace civility. Tackling affordability, climate change, misinformation and discrimination were identified as areas where business should go further.
All of this dovetails neatly with Just’s own recent survey work. Though global in nature – as this week’s Davos agenda demonstrates (see below) – the themes in the Edelman report are especially resonant in the U.S. They will likely shape the second Trump Presidency. They also give U.S. corporations an incredible opportunity to step up and lead, not only in providing the pathways to economic security that Dr. King espoused, but to heal division and rebuild trust within society itself.
Be well,
Martin
With Davos in full swing, here are some of the biggest news stories coming from the conference:
CNBC has written an extensive summary of how CEOs are talking about the number one issue at Davos this year: AI. Coverage includes some of the biggest takeaways and quotes on which workforces the technology threatens, what regulation can help or hurt the industry, and more.
The other major theme of Davos? Growth. HP CEO Enrique Lores is optimistic about Trump administration deregulation policies and their capacity to drive growth, echoing similar comments from the CEOs of BNY, TCW Group, and more.
Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey believes global inflation will finally moderate in 2025.
The AP runs down a list of some of the largest companies announcing layoffs, including BP’s recent announcement that the company is eliminating nearly 4,700 jobs worldwide as a cost-cutting measure.
TikTok is back – for now. The Washington Posts writes on Trump’s executive order, which allows the app to function for another 70 days while searching for a U.S. buyer.
Fortune examines the trend of Gen Z creating companies and getting into self-employment at a higher rate – and earlier age – than previous generations, and what that means for the future of employment.
Reuters reports that Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is being offered an $80 million dollar stock bonus to stay on as the head of the company for another five years.
The FTC is suing PepsiCo for allegedly giving one big-box retailer more favorable pricing than others. CNBC has the story.
Nearly 18,000 Costco workers are preparing to strike on February 1st if their new union contract demands are not met, per CBS News.
This chart comes from the Edelman Trust Barometer, and shows that employees across the world are demanding more action from businesses on affordability, climate change, retraining to adapt to technological changes, and more. Explore all the details inside.
As a wise person once observed, it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future. That said, our data, our breadth of relationships, and our vantage point over the corporate landscape does afford us a decent perspective on what might be coming around the corner. So here goes.
Happy New Year to you all!
Be well,
Martin
“One question that we ask everyone, regardless of if you’re a consultant or you’re working in technology…we say: ‘What have you learned in the last six months?’ A lot of the time people are asking me, ‘how do I know if someone’s a learner?’ And it’s a very simple way to know. If someone can’t answer that question, and by the way, we don’t care if it’s ‘I learned to bake a cake,’ if they can’t answer that question, then we know that they’re not a learner.”
Newsweek highlights our 2023 report on how only 9% of America’s largest companies provide paid parental leave parity in their article on why parental leave is starting to look up for Americans.
Martin joins the Purpose 360 podcast along with the CIO of IBM, CEO of Keep America Beautiful, and the Managing Director at Lion Tree to give their predictions on the year ahead around AI growth, DEI, corporate responsibility, and more.
NBC News reports that Meta is ending its fact-checking program and replacing it with a “Community Notes” style system alongside other changes after Zuckerberg said the “program intended to inform too often became a tool to censor.”
McDonald’s drops its employee and supplier diversity targets during the same week that Costco pushes back against anti-DEI board members.
Axios looks at which two industries would actually benefit if Trump implements his tariff plan, and Fortune hosts several opinion pieces debating their potential benefits and detriments.
The Washington Post reports that U.S Steel and Nippon Steel are suing the Biden administration for blocking their merger.
This chart comes from the latest research from Axios, and shows that anti-DEI shareholder proposals have continued to rise since 2020, with an increase over the last year. Explore more here.
As Henry Ford said, “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”
The release this week of our Human Capital Index Concepts puts some real-time market numbers behind this time-tested “employees first” credo. Using our Just Jobs Scorecard analysis, we created three groups of companies comprising the top 20% of performers in each of the Benefits, Employee Wellness, and Hiring & Stability categories. In each case, we tracked these firm’s market performance against the Russell 1000 Equal Weighted Benchmark.
The results are compelling.
All three indexes have beaten the benchmark year to date. Specifically, as of September 30, 2024, the leaders in Hiring & Stability and Employee Wellness were up 16.94% and 16.26%, respectively, outshining the benchmark by 5.09% and 4.41%, respectively. Those in the Benefits category delivered returns of 12.02%, up 0.16% on the benchmark.
We’re working hard to build these into investable products, but if you’re interested, you can view sample scorecards for HPE, Union Pacific, Starbucks, JPMorgan Chase and other companies leading on these issues here.
At a time when the future of work is so uncertain, and with new reports indicating growing resentment among American workers and creeping feelings of stagnation in the job market overall, these results should provide reassurance that at least one core tenet of business leadership – look after your people as best you can – still produces results.
Be well,
Martin
(Yum! Brands)
“When I transitioned from being the Chief Brand Officer to the CEO, some great advice I got was, don’t try to be a black belt in everything. Be a black belt in marketing and be a brown belt in everything else. That’s what I think helped me to be successful early on, because I’m not trying to be everything. I understand I’m not a CFO, but I have a great CFO who can lead the business.”
Forbes lists Just Capital’s Just Jobs Scorecard and corporate partnerships as key resources to craft competitive work-family employee benefits in 2025.
Our friends at The Brookings Institution take a deeper look at the counties Trump won – representing a minority share of GDP, but with notable gains since 2020.
Newsweek lists the 22 states that will be enacting minimum wage increases on January 1, 2025.
The New York Times reports that Spirit Airlines has officially declared bankruptcy after a failed merger and $2.2 billion in losses over the past 5 years.
Reuters reports that a Texas judge has blocked Biden’s federal overtime pay rule.
CEO Today looks at how job pay transparency laws are actually changing hiring for the better.
Fortune breaks down how men and women diverge when it comes to the best benefits for retaining them, with women ranking “work-life flexibility” significantly higher than men. Explore the data here.
This chart comes from PwC’s recent analysis of how companies are planning to shift their investments, or stay the course, as Trump takes office in 2025. Look at all the insights here.
Extraordinary leadership by companies on issues the American people prioritize is something we love to see. Yes, we know there is a strong business case for this, as our investment indices evidence. But sometimes they’re just great to highlight out of pure gratification.
Domino’s Pizza’s decision to lower prices back down to pre-pandemic levels – their “MOREflation” deals – in order to support customers struggling with the cost of living is a prime example. Heineken USA’s reverse mentorship programs, that allow employees of all levels to engage with senior leaders, is a great example of workforce development leadership. On the environmental side, Subaru USA, which has committed to being a 100% zero-waste company, recently celebrated 10 years of partnership with the National Parks Conservation Association to remove waste from national parks and divert it from landfills.
Paid leave is another important area we’ve spotlighted recently. Fully 86% of Americans say it is important for big corporations to invest in expanded childcare benefits, yet only around 16% of private sector workers have access to paid family leave. As we saw recently in measures passed in Nebraska, Missouri, and Alaska – all red states, it’s worth noting – paid leave is something that Americans across the political spectrum support.
Thanks to our rankings, leaders on this issue are not hard to identify. Stand-outs include HPE’s 26 weeks of paid leave for both primary and secondary caregivers, and their parental transition program (where new parents can work part time up to 36 months); Etsy’s 12 weeks of paid family leave for employees to care for a relative or assist loved ones; Intel’s extensive medical leave policy, which provides 52 weeks fully paid; and AMD’s 20 days of sick and family time off for full-time US employees.
Just business leadership is all around us. You simply have to know where to look.
Be well,
Martin
“At Intel, we value innovation and recognize that innovation comes from sharing different points of view. As such, our greatest resource is our people. Supporting them through the moments that matter is core to our values. Our primary goal is to create a safe, respectful work environment for all employees, enhanced through company culture and organizational policies, including benefits. We believe that these programs help our employees achieve their personal best, driving business values and increasing retention.”
Former Best Buy CEO (and Just advisor) Hubert Joly sat down with Dan Hesse (former Sprint CEO and current Just board member) to discuss the importance of purpose when it comes to achieving business success, saying: “I believe purpose and profit are not opposed. Pursuing a higher purpose and taking care of all of your stakeholders is a great way to create shareholder value but you have to treat it as an outcome rather than the goal.”
S&P Dow Jones Indices has partnered with Just Capital to develop new benchmarks for the U.S. corporate bond market: the iBoxx Just Capital USD Investment Grade Benchmark and the iBoxx Just Capital USD High Yield Benchmark, featuring companies in the top 50% of our rankings. Check out S&Ps blog post about the Indices.
According to The Economist, oil tycoons are betting big on A.I., saying it will improve efficiency and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. But that could be a smokescreen for an incredible windfall in the near-term in supplying the power to A.I data farms.
Fortune reveals its inaugural ranking of the 100 Most Powerful People in Business. Elon Musk took the number one spot. Explore the full list here.
Entrepreneur reports that Nissan’s CEO has cut his salary in half while the company lays off 9,000 workers due to poor sales last quarter.
The Hill ranks the best and worst cities for renters making minimum wage.
This chart comes from the Bipartisan Policy Center, and shows, as of early this year, which states have mandatory paid family leave, voluntary, or none at all. You can explore the data here.
Although the dust is still settling from this week’s historic election, two things are becoming apparent.
The first is that of all the factors that drove President Trump and the Republican party to such a decisive victory, the prioritization by Americans all around the country of their basic economic well-being was of overriding importance.
Our own survey work, reported here two weeks ago, hinted at this. Edison Research provides direct verification: voters who identified the economy as their primary concern chose Trump over Harris by 79% to 20%; 45% of voters said their family’s financial situation was worse today than four years ago, compared to 20% in 2020; and of these, 80% favored Trump.
The second is that if Americans’ faith in capitalism is to be restored, and a new “Golden Age of America” truly enters, the business community must play a larger role.
Not out of a sense of morality or political predilection. And not because of tightening regulatory or political risk – Republican control of the Senate and potentially the House makes this unlikely. But out of pure self-interest. Because the fact is that what we find most Americans want – investment in workers, good jobs, customer protections, stronger communities, a clean and safe environment, and pathways to prosperity that all people can access – serves as a template for business leadership that generates higher returns for shareholders, greater long-term value for companies, and enduring benefits for society overall.
This, in short, is the stakeholder capitalism model. Providing the incentives, the data, and the expertise to help companies along that path is what we do at Just. In the next few years it will be a – perhaps the – defining issue for the country. If you are interested to work with us, or learn more about what we do, please reach out.
Be well,
Martin
Rather than just one point of view, we’re sharing how business leaders have reacted to Trump’s victory and what it means for corporate America going forward as reported by CNBC and Business Insider.
Fortune reveals that, on average, employees feel that 60% of CEOs are “digitally illiterate”, especially when it comes to AI in the workplace.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had to reassure investors that the company’s AI push will pay off after expenditures increased by 81% in the third quarter.
The New York Times’ Wednesday edition of Dealbook breaks down what a Trump presidency may mean for business. Two toplines: businesses will likely face fewer regulatory pressures, and CEOs will likely be far more cautious when it comes to “speaking up” on social issues.
Reuters looks at how the stock market is reacting to the announcement, and what industries are seeing major boosts.
There was plenty more on the ballot across the nation besides the presidential race. NPR highlights which states chose to increase minimum wages or paid leave, and those whose voters rejected those measures. Related, WBUR reveals why Massachusetts voted against giving tipped workers a wage increase.
Just before the election, Boeing workers officially ended their strike, accepting a 38% pay increase.
Bloomberg analyzes a report by Bank of America examining the state of childcare in America. The good news? In some major cities, the average price is going down partially thanks to local investment, partially (unfortunately) from families seeking cheaper, lower-quality care.
In the wake of the election and constant concerns about the economy, we wanted to re-up this chart from our 2024 Americans’ Views on Business report, which shows that across demographics, a majority of Americans do not feel that capitalism is working for them. Explore more of the insights here.
