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 to 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?
| Pay equity to ensure the absence of bias by gender, race, or ethnicity | 42% |
| Training for managers | 5% |
| Training for all employees | 11% |
| Review of the performance review process | 6% |
| Review of the promotion process | 7% |
| Review of benefits offered | 2% |
| Review of recruitment | 11% |
| Review of policies around flexible schedules | 4% |
| Mentorship/sponsorship programs | 12% |
What action would you like your company to take to enhance workplace fairness?
| Gender | Pay equity to ensure the absence of bias by gender, race, or ethnicity |
| Man | 40% |
| Non-binary/non-conforming | 31% |
| Prefer not to identify gender | 32% |
| Transgender | 50% |
| Woman | 44% |
The survey of 1,000 full-time workers whose companies said something publicly or internally about equality following George Floyd’s death was conducted on Blind’s platform during October 29-November 13, 2020. Companies mentioned in this press release were not involved in the survey or this release.
About Blind
Blind is the largest anonymous professional community with 4.1M users from big tech, unicorns, and startups. Our user base consists of 70,000+ from Microsoft, 60,000+ Amazon, 25,000+ Google, 23,000+ Facebook, and many more. Our mission towards transparency breaks down professional barriers, empowering informed decisions, and inspiring productive change in the workplace.
About Syndio
Syndio is pioneering EquityTech as a new category of technology solutions that contribute to social equality. For its part, Syndio is focused on solving the well-documented wage gap, which the World Economic Forum predicts will persist for another 200 years if left unaddressed, and more immediately, pay equity within companies. Syndio believes the inequalities facing society cannot fully be resolved without a foundation of fair pay. With the right tools and a commitment to transparency and accountability, issues with pay equity are 100% solvable, today.