Workers

The JUST Jobs program will build on in-depth survey research on what Americans across all demographics value most in jobs today and robust job quality frameworks, with the goal of strengthening businesses, the economy, and the livelihoods of people around the country.

In the face of the backlash against ESG and stakeholder capitalism, have companies eased off in their actions to become more just? Our latest corporate engagement data suggests not. 

Ahead of Labor Day, let’s take stock of where things stand for the American worker. 

Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike agree that it’s a company’s responsibility to pay its frontline workers enough to make ends meet.

It’s a story that captures almost every aspect of the business zeitgeist in America today – workers’ quest for fair pay, good jobs, and better conditions; unions; community support and survival; COVID; health and safety; climate change; ESG; shareholder activism; the corporate profit imperative; and, of course (inevitably), politics. 

Americans are hesitant to agree that the nation’s largest companies are truly moving away from the shareholder-centric model.

Despite widespread support for increased disclosure, when we analyzed the state of human capital disclosure among America’s 1000 largest public companies, we found that overall they are currently lagging.

The ESG blowback is here, and it’s real.

The pressures inflation heaps on business does not mean stakeholder value creation needs to take a back seat. On the contrary, it can be a time for just companies to shine.

Amid new and compounding challenges to Americans’ health and well-being, we’re highlighting the top 100 companies that are stepping up for workers and their families, and communities across the U.S.

The American public is navigating tough times. As prices are going up, wages aren’t keeping up. And the reality is that job growth is very different from quality job growth

While the public believes that ensuring pay equity is an integral part of achieving racial equity, over half of the companies we tracked in the 2022 Corporate Racial Equity Tracker continue to lack disclosure around this issue.

Companies seeking to do right by their stakeholders will have their mettle tested in the weeks and months to come. Let’s start with wages…

On Friday, the Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade – a decision that will demand critical leadership not only from the public sector, but from the private sector as well. To understand how the landscape will shift for the American workforce, we will be tracking how America’s largest companies respond to the ruling.

We spoke with business consultants Susan McPherson of McPherson Strategies and Mackenzie Long and Caty Gordon of Evergreen Strategy Group about guidance they have been sharing with companies in response to the overturning of abortion as a federal right.

Our 2022 Corporate Racial Equity Tracker, launched last week, tracks how the country’s largest 100 employers are measuring up to these expectations on a range of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues from workforce demographic disclosure to community investments.    

The fierce debate over what stakeholder capitalism and ESG is or is not took a sharply political turn this week. 

Cambria Allen-Ratzlaff explains how she’s bringing her career in corporate governance and asset management to her role at JUST.

New York Times reporter David Gelles takes on the late iconic CEO and calls for structural change in his book “The Man Who Broke Capitalism.”

The Corporate Racial Equity Tracker offers an in-depth accounting of DEI disclosures from the 100 largest U.S. employers, through 23 metrics across six specific dimensions of racial equity.

In 2022, nine in ten respondents – with strong majorities across demographic groups – say it’s important for companies to promote racial equity in the workplace.

S&P revealed this week it dropped Tesla from its flagship ESG index. We take a closer look at why, and how Elon could improve Tesla’s ESG profile.

We surveyed Americans to learn what they think about CEO pay today, and what companies should do to narrow the CEO-to-Worker pay gap.

This past week saw three high-profile examples of why it’s so important for corporate leaders to understand what makes their stakeholders tick when making decisions involving complex societal issues. 

Inflation hit its highest level since 1981 in March (8.5%). Its causes and effects are starting to force some difficult conversations on core ESG and stakeholder priorities.