Survey: Majority of Employees Find Companies’ Social Justice Responses Meaningful, Not Performative

To increase workplace fairness, employees overwhelmingly want companies to look at pay equity, according to survey by Blind and Syndio

Seattle — December 10, 2020 — Six months after many companies made statements about equality in the wake of George Floyd’s death, 64% of employees feel their employers’ responses to social justice issues this summer were meaningful rather than merely performative and 82% have confidence their companies will follow through on their social justice commitments, according to a survey by anonymous professional network Blind and equity tech company Syndio.

However, these sentiments were not shared equally among employees across race; a majority of Hispanic (73%) and Native American (67%) respondents felt their companies’ responses were performative whereas most Asian/Pacific Islander (63%) and white (72%) respondents felt their companies’ responses were meaningful. Sentiment among Black employees was more split, with 54% saying their employers’ responses were performative.

Many of the survey respondents were employed at tech companies, with representation highest from the following organizations: Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Cisco, Facebook, Dropbox, Intuit, and Uber. A majority of respondents from Cisco, Facebook, Google, and Dropbox felt their companies’ responses were meaningful while respondents from Amazon and Microsoft were more mixed. Dropbox stood out for having a high percentage of employees that feel its response was meaningful (91%) and have confidence it will follow through with its social justice commitments (91%). 

To enhance workplace fairness, nearly half of employees want their employers to look at pay equity to ensure the absence of bias by gender, race or ethnicity. Employees overwhelmingly chose pay equity from a range of options regardless of gender. 

“Trust and transparency are two sides of the same coin. These results show that when companies are transparent around a commitment to fairness in the workplace, it makes a difference in the minds of employees,” said Maria Colacurcio, CEO of Syndio. “However, employees are still experiencing gaps between what their employers say and what they do. Ensuring sustainable pay equity is one of the easiest and most impactful steps a company can take to increase fairness in the workplace and benefit all of its employees.”

What action would you like your company to take to enhance workplace fairness?