Faith in business leading to corporatocracy
President Ronald Reagan liked to say government was the problem, and private enterprise was the solution. Americans have bought in, lock, stock and barrel.
We trust business leaders more than government or media, and we expect our workplaces to reflect our values and give our lives meaning, according to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer survey.
Our shattered society, fractured by an epidemic of misinformation and disinformation, is leading to corporatocracy.
I’ve written before about how Americans trust their bosses more than their political leaders or any form of media. But after the COVID-19 pandemic, 61 percent of those surveyed said they trust business leaders the most. Only 53 percent trust government, and 51 percent believe traditional media.
With great faith, though, comes great expectations.
More than 85 percent of the 33,000 people surveyed in 28 countries said they expect CEOs to publicly speak out about the issues they care about. Nothing matters more to them than remaining safe from COVID-19.
Almost 60 percent said they want CEOs to prioritize employee safety and impose pandemic protocols, including requiring masks and vaccinations. More than half want routine job skills training and regular communication with the top dog. Fifty percent want a diverse workforce representative of their community.
Workers may no longer have faith in their democratically elected leaders, but they definitely want more democracy in the workplace. More than 60 percent of employees say they want a seat at the table in strategic decisionmaking, and 50 percent say they are more likely to speak up or protest compared to a year ago.
A more specific Edelman survey reveals that employees expect more personal fulfillment from their jobs than ever before. While in the past, you worked to live, today’s employees live to work.
More than 70 percent of 7,000 workers in seven countries, including the United States, told Edelman that a prospective employer must reflect their values, perform meaningful work and provide an opportunity to address social problems.
Six of 10 Americans said their
employer reflects their personal values, and they would leave if the CEO or business took a stand on social issues they opposed. Two-thirds of people between the ages of 18 and 34 said they chose their employer based on corporate values and beliefs.
Three-quarters said they would “take action to produce or motivate urgently necessary changes within my organization.” Forty percent promised to take the issue public, either by whistleblowing, leaking documents or participating in a strike.
More than a third of Americans said they have quit a company “because it remained silent on a societal or political issue that I believed it had an obligation to publicly address.”
Edelman’s results demonstrate how our identity is wrapped up in our careers more so than any other generation. With managers struggling to find skilled labor, companies must deliver not only a paycheck, but a sense of meaning and purpose.
Past generations sought fulfillment elsewhere. Workers joined unions to improve workplaces rather than relying on managers. Others joined political parties, campaigning for candidates and policies. Many found meaning in religion and charity work.
In the 1950s, more than a third of American workers were members of a union. Today, it’s barely 10 percent. Rather than see the CEO as an adversary at the contract negotiation table, workers expect him or her to be a benevolent leader who shares their values.
Political party affiliation has also shrunk over the decades, with 40 percent of Americans calling themselves independent. The days when a significant portion of Americans attended regular political party meetings and directly lobbied politicians are long gone.
Participation in organized religion, meanwhile, is at an all-time low. Less than half of Americans belong to a religious group.
“Over the past two decades, the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has grown from 8 percent in 1998-2000 to 13 percent in 2008-2010 and 21 percent over the past three years,” Gallup polling reported.
Cynics might say that U.S. capitalism has finally succeeded in producing wage slaves committed to a corporatocracy that rules Washington via campaign contributions. Optimists might argue that workers are leveraging their skills to force corporate management to build a better world for everyone.
Both have some element of truth, of course. But I cannot help but notice a correlation between our rising factionalism, intolerance and unhappiness and our greater reliance on our employers for fulfillment.
The most encouraging sign is that 20 percent of workers say the COVID-19 pandemic has inspired them to leave their jobs and seek a more balanced life. I wish them luck.