Business under new pressure to save society
Business is now the most trusted institution in the world, Axios’ Sara Fischer writes from a midyear Edelman Trust Barometer report, “A World in Trauma.”
- Companies assumedthat role during the pandemic, when people realized governments couldn’t develop and roll out vaccines alone.
Why it matters: People now expect corporations and CEOs to keep focusing on big social and political issues, even after the pandemic.
Trust in the government is at an all-time low globally, Edelman found this spring from polling in 14 nations.
- Globally, the majority (60%) of people say their country won’t be able to overcome its challenges without business’ involvement.
- People say businesseshave outperformed government across every issue measured — COVID, job creation, health care, education, disinformation, climate and addressing systemic inequalities.
Most people (77%) said their employer has become their most trusted institution, putting more pressure on CEOs to prioritize societal and political issues in addition to shareholder value.
- Roughly 80% of employees expect their companies to act on vaccine hesitancy, climate change, automation, misinformation and racism.
What to watch: The study finds that businesses could be in this position for a long time.
The bottom line: Before the pandemic, customers were considered the most important business stakeholders. Now, it’s employees.
Πηγή: axios.com
