Although most U.S. workers don’t think the November election will influence their careers, 32% of those responding to a recent survey said they believe it will have a “significant impact,” according to an Oct. 7 report from FlexJobs.
Among those who anticipate an impact, 19% said they think it will be positive and 13% think it will be negative. And even among all workers, 22% said the current political climate is causing higher stress at work.
“With the November election only weeks away and political discussions continuing to heat up, the political climate is understandably top of mind for most professionals,” Toni Frana, lead career expert at FlexJobs, said in a statement. “And even though the majority of people do not believe the election will have an impact on their job directly, challenges like inflation and economic instability have heightened workers’ concerns related to career security and financial goals.”
In the survey of more than 3,000 workers, increased expenses and workplace stress were named as the top challenges of the current political climate. Men and women had similar views about the top career factors affected, such as difficulty finding new employment; higher stress at work; reduced earning potential or salary stagnation; and a loss of income, benefits or hours.
But talent attraction and retention may be partially tied to a company’s political stance, the report found, with 60% of workers saying it factors into their decision to work for a company. While 13% said a company’s political stance is a “major deciding factor,” 22% said it was a minor factor but not a deal breaker, and a quarter said it was a factor but not the most important one.
In fact, 29% said they wouldn’t work for a company with policies or practices that didn’t align with their values. A higher percentage of women said they were unwilling to do so compared to men, at nearly a third.
At the same time, 71% of workers said they’d work for or consider working for a company that supports policies and practices they don’t agree with, as long as the job was appealing due to factors such as good compensation or job fulfillment.