Just two years after what some called the “Great Awakening” of racial injustice, workers are starting to question their employer’s commitment to the movement.
Companies like Walmart and Bank of America made massive pledges to invest into charities and funds that worked to combat racial inequality following the murder of George Floyd.
However, the work seems to have stopped there. Lisa Osborne Ross, CEO of Edelman US says, “there’s a gap between expectations that were raised and delivery.”
Confidence has waned that organizations will “do what is right” when it comes to addressing racism, and employees are now willing to quit without concrete action according to data from Edelman.
Six in ten workers said they refused or left a job in the last year due their employer’s failure to address or speak out on racism. However, the lack of real commitment has effects beyond the workplace — in the last few weeks, there have been two mass shootings that have predominantly impacted minority groups.
Ross calls current efforts like hiring people of color to lead DEI efforts a “window dressing.” In fact, data from Russell Reynolds Associates shows that the average chief diversity officer remains at their jobs for less than two years.
“There’s a feeling that there’s this one person who can come in and save the company,” said Deepa Purushothaman, cofounder of women of color research and advocacy group nFormation. “It doesn’t work that way.”
