The crises of 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial injustices it has magnified, have required employers to rise to the challenge by not only adapting to a virtual work environment, but also responding to the increased demand from employees to connect and give back to their communities.
In recent years, employees have increasingly raised the bar as to what they expect of their employers. More employees, especially Millennial and Generation Z workers, now call for workplace-based social activism. A 2018 MetLife survey found that 76 percent of American employees expect their companies to make a difference in the local community. In fact, three out of four working Americans polled in 2019 by JUST Capital say they would choose to work for the more just company, even if it paid less. Business leaders can no longer sit on the sidelines when social crises arise. Employees expect companies to act and to provide opportunities for them to get involved, too.
This year’s circumstances have only increased that sentiment. A growing number of people and corporations are calling for lasting systemic change inside and outside of work. Millions of protesters have taken to the streets to demand action. Millions more are creating changes big and small in their own communities, from removing racist monuments to running for political office. For example, a record number of Black women are running for public office this year, and at least 122 Black or multiracial Black women filed to run in the 2020 election cycle, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Dozens of cities across America—from Appleton, Wisconsin, to Dayton, Ohio, to Memphis, Tennessee—have declared racism a public health crisis. Such actions have shown that individuals can make a significant difference in their communities. People can change the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the pandemic of social inequities that has been brought to light.
Read the full article about online volunteers by Sylvia Bartley and Emily Lauer-Bader at Stanford Social Innovation Review.
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