Employee Activism In The Age Of Purpose: Employees (up)rising

Weber Shandwick, in partnership with United Minds and KRC Research, has released Employee Activism in the Age of Purpose: Employees (UP)Rising as an expansion upon Weber’s extensive work on corporate activism. While our previous research focuses on the impact of CEO activism on consumers, technology professionals and marketing and communications leaders, this latest study explores a movement in which employees are speaking up about their employers.

Nearly four in 10 employees (38 percent) report that they have spoken up to support or criticize their employers’ actions over a controversial issue that affects society. These employees are Employee Activists. Millennials are the generation most likely to be Employee Activists (48 percent), a rate significantly higher than that of Gen Xers (33 percent) and Boomers (27 percent).

Among recent Employee Activists, the most common targets of their attention were other employees (46 percent) and top leaders at the organization (43 percent). Approximately one-third of those who took action were also hoping to get the attention of the general public (35 percent). They were less likely to want the attention of financial investors of the organization (12 percent) and the news media (11 percent).

Employee Activism in the Age of Purpose: Employees (UP)Rising provides recommendations that organizations should consider when navigating the new wave of employee activism. View the report below or access as a PDF here.