Dive Brief:
- Fewer than 4 in 10 U.S. adults want businesses to speak out on current events, according to an analysis released Tuesday by Gallup, conducted in partnership with Bentley University. The number represents a decline of 10 percentage points since 2022.
- The only groups that expressed majority support for businesses taking public stances were LGBTQ+ adults (55%), Black adults (54%) and Democrats (53%) — but each of these groups reported declining support. Notably, the only group that reported increasing interest in businesses speaking out was Republicans, but they still represented the lowest level of support (22%).
- “While 38% of adults generally think businesses should speak publicly on current events, not all events are considered equal,” Gallup noted. Workers most wanted to hear companies’ takes on climate change, mental health, and DEI, but they least wanted to hear about gun laws, immigration policy, international conflicts, abortion and political candidates.
Dive Insight:
Gallup’s findings point toward employees’ weariness with employer political engagement after several highly charged years that have blended politics and the workplace.
The results may be surprising to HR professionals given highly publicized worker protests in the past few years aimed at pressuring employers to speak out. For example, in March 2022, Disney employees pressed the company to publicly oppose Florida’s controversial Parental Rights in Education bill through a series of walkouts and a list of demands — eventually prompting the company to release a statement in opposition to the bill.
Similarly, in 2021, Netflix contended with internal tension and employee walkouts related to its airing of a special by comedian Dave Chapelle, which was widely perceived as transphobic. Then-CEO (and current co-CEO) Ted Sarandos told Variety he “screwed up” in his handling of the fallout.
Despite an upcoming election, however, the temperature has since cooled. In May 2022, Netflix appeared to set employee expectations with an update to its workplace culture document. “As employees we support the principle that Netflix offers a diversity of stories, even if we find some titles counter to our own personal values,” the company wrote. “[…] If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you.”
“For two consecutive years, adults have become less likely to want to hear from businesses on current events, with few topics earning interest from even a slight majority,” Zach Hrynowski, research consultant for Gallup, wrote in the analysis. While Democrats, workers of color, LGBTQ+ adults and younger adults may be more receptive, “even these groups have become notably less open to business involvement in politics in recent years.”
The reluctance toward political talk applies even at the water cooler, recent research shows; nearly 7 in 10 workers told Monster they were uncomfortable discussing politics at work, and 6 in 10 said political talk “should be avoided entirely.”