Workers & Wages

Helping workers prepare for their financial futures is a major JUST issue. And it’s not only a problem for older working Americans. Indeed many Gen X and Millennial adults in the workforce today worry about the costs associated with both caring for their parents as well as their children. 

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

6.1 million full-time American workers are not making enough to support a family with another full-time working adult and two children, our latest report with Revelio Labs shows.

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

Avangrid CFO Justin Lagasse speaks about how the initiative aligns with the energy company’s longterm goals of in a continuing to support employee financial health.

“We want to be a company that attracts top talent to build long-term careers,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO.

With the pushback on ESG and ‘woke’ companies now maturing, there is room in America today for a more objective, data-driven framework that supports values-led business leadership.

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

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

“Our job is to create value and my measure of value is not just shareholder value. Ultimately, stock price is a reflection of how you do things and what you deliver. One of the sayings we have at the company is ‘you have to win the right way.’”

Beginning with last year’s 2023 Rankings, we reached out to the same qualifying companies to more accurately capture the experience for gig workers and to ensure that these companies’ scores are more reflective of their entire workforce.

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

“If the business community isn’t out there telling the real story — the American story — of opportunity and progress in this country, then no one should be surprised when people believe it’s as bad as the headlines and the political ads say it is.”

Bank of America CHRO Sheri Bronstein explains what’s behind the company’s leading performance for Workers in our 2023 Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies.

Capitalism, it seems to me, is undergoing a transformation, not unlike Charles Dickens’s famed Christmas creation, Ebenezer Scrooge. The question is whether its future will be different from its present and its past.

While millions of American workers do not currently have access to paid sick leave, multiple studies show that it provides tangible benefits to companies – reducing absenteeism, the number of employees working while sick, and reducing turnover.

As a member of The Worker Financial Wellness Initiative, Prudential Financial is investing in its workers, like Shanelle Forde, and seeing their engagement boost in return.

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

Workers and wages remain the American public’s top priority for companies, with a bump in importance for workforce advancement amid AI and job security fears.

JUST is partnering with the Schultz Family Foundation and the American Opportunity Index to connect the dots between corporate policies and real-world outcomes for workers.

What makes a good job? It’s a question that’s driving many conversations today – from picket lines with auto employees and Starbucks baristas to C-suites and boardrooms across the country.

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

As companies increasingly adopt AI tools, how can they ensure these technologies align with the priorities of the public and benefit all stakeholders? The Just AI Initiative aims to shed light on this critical question.

TIAA’s Sastry Durvasula explained how artificial intelligence will help cut business inefficiencies, change its financial products, and help reduce inequality in the workforce and economy.

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