The JUST Report: A Mid-Year Check on The Corporate Stakeholder Landscape
We’re halfway through 2024 already, if you can believe it. So as the Independence Day celebrations continue, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on where things stand in the world of corporate justness.
Overall, I’d say that despite a wider sense of societal instability, the corporate stakeholder space feels relatively steady. Americans’ chief priorities remain firmly centered on pay, jobs, and economic security. The debates and discussions around corporations’ role in society continue, but have become markedly less heated and divisive, and more private, measured and–dare I say–meaningful. Corporations for the most part are focused on gathering data, developing strategy, and generally getting on with the business of understanding what their stakeholders want and working hard to give it to them.
This inevitably means different things to different companies. Some are doubling down on worker-related investments. Some are focused more on branding and communication issues. Others are shifting their priorities entirely. The announcement this week by Tennessee-based rural retailer Tractor Services that it is discontinuing or reorienting certain practices (including its DEI and carbon emission commitments) to focus more on things that “tie directly to business” is an interesting case in point that has attracted a lot of attention. Whichever way you look at it, corporate leaders are very sensitive to the shifting sands of stakeholder expectations and how they align with their core business interests.
I expect things to get more challenging in the second half of the year. The next generation of ChatGPT will undoubtedly shock, amaze and pose some existential questions about morality and business in the modern age. The Presidential election will likely bring varying measures of disharmony and disruption whichever side of the aisle you’re on. According to many commentators, this week’s SCOTUS “Chevron” ruling could up-end the entire regulatory status quo facing businesses in America.
In my view, all of this makes JUST’s role more important. When it’s at its best, American business is an incredibly powerful force for good that is essential to a more just and perfect Union. It helps support the freedoms, liberties and opportunities that define our collective future. Creating the incentives for that is where we will stay focused.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful weekend!
Be well,
Martin
JUST in the News
To understand the financial security of employees across America’s largest publicly traded companies, JUST Capital and Revelio Labs analyzed the amount employees’ wages exceed the local living wage necessary to cover basic budgetary needs. Here’s what we found.
JUST AI
CNBC looks at how AI is eating up corporate tech budgets, but not on the customer side–a majority of the investment is going to training and outfitting their employees.
Must Reads
The Wall Street Journal highlights how Tractor Supply Co has walked back their DEI and environmental initiatives after weeks of criticism on social media.
Bloomberg wonders if “social media labels” would wind up being even worse than “cigarette labels”, examining how that industry used those warnings to escape liability and regulation.
The New York Times examines the pros and cons of the growing list of top employers covering egg freezing, which, while immensely helpful for many workers, points to a potentially growing schism in work/life balance and expectations.
Chart of the Week
Our latest research partnership with Revelio Labs looks at the financial security of employees across America’s largest publicly traded companies, particularly when it comes to entry level and retail jobs. This chart shows the top 5 and worst 5 areas of the country when it comes to starting retail pay. Read more of our wage analysis here.
