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It’s been an especially challenging year finding light conversation topics around the watercooler.
Case in point: Company review site Glassdoor recently crowned “divisive” as 2024’s word of the year in their “best and worst of worklife” report, published this month.
Perhaps no word better encapsulated the simmering tension in the air at offices across the country, in a year with not just a presidential election but unmistakable signs of climate change, touchy pop culture topics, and several landmark shifts to the global economy.
Yet the day-to-day mood sprung more from the evergreen feelings of frustration and resentment, Glassdoor wrote.
“With a word like ‘divisive’ landing the top spot, we wanted to focus on what terms sparked the most incendiary conversations,” the company said. “To dig deeper, we looked at frequent words associated with divisiveness and found the most mentions of ‘election,’ ‘ageism,’ and ‘ghosting,’ among others.”
Use of the word divisive grew by 33% this year, which Glassdoor said is a direct reflection of “election concerns, toxic workplaces, and shifts in company stances on DEI initiatives.”
Bursting the DEI bubble
Indeed, one of the main stories of the year has been the gradual but unmissable rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments at numerous Fortune 500 firms.
The problems began in June 2023, when the U.S. Supreme Court voted to end affirmative action in college admissions, which then led to an array of lawsuits from conservative groups pushing corporations to follow the same example.
In turn, many companies eventually walked back their commitments to bolster support for minority and underrepresented groups.
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, responded to pressure from some conservative activists like Robby Starbuck, and shortly after the election confirmed that they wouldn’t renew its five-year commitment to the racial equity center they developed in 2020.
They also said they’d pull out of the Human Rights Campaign’s yearly benchmark index measuring LGBTQ+ inclusion, and would no longer give any preferential treatment to minority-owned suppliers.
Ford Motor Co., per a letter from its CEO Jim Farley, said it would “not utilize hiring quotas or tie compensation to the achievement of specific diversity goals.” And while it plans to continue developing “a dealer body that reflects the communities they serve, we will not use quotas for minority dealerships or suppliers.”
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Lowe’s, the home goods giant, tractor maker John Deere, and motorcycle stalwart Harley Davidson have all announced DEI rollbacks too.
People of all ages are unhappy
Mentions of the term “election” jumped by 202% — the most of any term — while “ageism” leapt 74% year-over-year, Glassdoor wrote. Ageism remains a particularly thorny topic, as older workers have claimed that their age has worked against them in their job search.
That doesn’t mean younger workers are happy, either. Gen Zers and their elder counterparts have long been at odds when it comes to corporate norms and the quickly shifting parameters of workplace culture.
Perhaps there’s no better illustration of the divisiveness than the lack of conversation entirely. Per a recent LinkedIn report, 1 in 5 Gen Zers haven’t so much as spoken to a coworker over the age of 50 in the past year.
Then again, 2 in 5 workers 55 and older haven’t spoken to a Gen Zer at work all year, either.
Written by Jane Thier for Fortune as “‘Divisive’ is the word of the year in the workplace, as companies like Walmart drop their DEI efforts ” and republished with permission.
