The well-defined boundaries between professional and personal life have blurred considerably as smartphones and personal devices have become ubiquitous and social media is used for both professional and personal purposes. In parallel, the political environment in the United States has become increasingly charged and polarized, and research has shown that a person’s political opinions can impact their career. 

To navigate the complex and evolving cultural and political landscape, employers require assistance. In January 2023, HiBob’s research department surveyed 2000 professionals in the US. The survey’s primary objective was to provide employers with insights into their employees’ perspectives on political expression within the workplace. It sought to determine the appropriateness, location, and manner in which political discourse should occur. Additionally, the survey aimed to identify the potential consequences that employees are concerned about when engaging in such discussions.

Key takeaways

Applicants are deterred from joining a company if their political beliefs are contradictory or in opposition to those held by the company. When deciding whether to accept an offer from a company, politics can have a major impact. Within this survey, 39% of respondents say that a company’s political stance will deter them from accepting an offer to join a company, and only 35% say that it will not deter them. 

1. Employees can be prompted to leave a company due to its opposing political stance

Fewer people will leave a company whose political stance opposes their own once they already work for that company. In this survey, 46% of respondents said they would not leave. However, a significant number, 29%, say that a company’s opposing stance would prompt them to leave the company. 

2. Politics should be kept out of the office and company communication channels 

Employees and managers don’t like talking politics at work. In the scope of this survey, 61% of respondents say that sociopolitical discussions should be kept out of the office, and 66% say they should be kept off of company communications channels like Slack.

3. Unchecked political discussions should not occur on business-related social media platforms; companies should establish clear guidelines detailing what is and is not acceptable 

People are also concerned about discussing politics on personal-professional platforms like LinkedIn. In the framework of this survey, 57% of respondents say that sociopolitical discussions should be kept off of business-related social media, and 43% feel that companies should take action and prevent employees from posting their political opinions.

4. Discussing sociopolitical opinions with managers and colleagues can harm work and working relationships 

According to our survey, there are ramifications for sharing political opinions at work. From this survey question, 42% of respondents feel that sharing their opinions with their manager could harm their job and relationships, and 50% felt the same about sharing opinions with a colleague.

5. Respectful and safe sociopolitical discourse should be encouraged to nurture a legitimately inclusive and diverse company culture

Sociopolitical discourse in the workplace can’t be eliminated altogether in a free society. But free speech isn’t hate speech, and employers must ensure that discourse is held in a respectful and safe manner. In the context of this survey, 48% of respondents who have an opinion feel that respectful sociopolitical discourse should be encouraged to nurture an inclusive and diverse company culture, and 81% of respondents who have an opinion say that sociopolitical topics need to be discussed in a safe space and include voicing opposing opinions respectfully.

Findings

Employer brand 

Companies are increasingly asked to take a stance on political and ideological issues ranging from environmental concerns to racial tensions and support for specific candidates. Our study examined how a company’s political stance impacts its employer brand and whether it deters candidates from accepting an offer to join the company or may prompt them to leave the company where they are currently employed.

We found that a company’s political stance can significantly impact respondents’ willingness to work at a company. In this report, 39% of respondents say that an opposing opinion would deter them from accepting a company offer, 29% say that it will prompt them to leave a company, and 25% don’t have an opinion on the topic. 

We also found that men are less likely than women to join a company with a political stance that opposes their own and are more likely to leave a company for the same reason. We found 43% of men feel it would be a deterrent from joining compared to 35% of women, and 35% of men say it would cause them to leave compared to only 23% of women.

Age also has an impact, with younger workers significantly more likely to avoid or leave a company due to a conflict of political opinion than their older counterparts. In fact, whereas 43% of workers ages 35-44 say they would leave a company whose political stance opposed their own, only 17% of workers ages 54+ say the same. Then 47% of respondents ages 25-44 say that an opposing political opinion would deter them from joining a company, compared to only 30% of respondents ages 54+.

Respondents who are parents are more likely to be impacted by a company’s politics than non-parents. The research finds 44% of parents say they would be deterred from joining a company whose political stance opposed their own, and 36% say that they would leave a company whose political stance opposed their own compared with 39% and 27% of non-parents. More non-parents (30%) say they don’t have an opinion on the issue, compared to 23% of parents.

Companies of different sizes show little variation in their response to a company’s political stance as a deterrent for joining, with comparable numbers indicating similar responses for “agree” and “disagree”. The most significant discrepancy is among companies with 501-100 employees, where 42% of respondents say that a company’s political stance will deter them from accepting an offer to join, and only 33% do not agree. Respondents in mid-sized companies with 251-1000 employees are more likely to be prompted to leave a company due to its political stance than smaller or larger companies.

Managers are more likely to be deterred from joining or leaving a company where they currently work due to its political stance than individual contributors. The research finds 41% of managers would be deterred from joining, and 33% would leave, compared to 38% and 26% of individual contributors.

Where should sociopolitical issues be discussed? 

Our study also looked at the respondents’ opinions about where sociopolitical issues should and should not be discussed, including the office, company digital communication channels, and on social media.

The majority of respondents, 61%, feel that sociopolitical discussions should be kept out of the office because they can negatively affect company culture,  with no significant disparity between genders. Only 19% disagree or think that sociopolitical discussions can be conducted in the workplace, and an additional 20% do not have an opinion on the topic.

While the majority of respondents in companies of all sizes feel that sociopolitical discussions should be kept out of the office, respondents working for larger companies with 500+ employees are more likely to feel that way than their counterparts in smaller companies (64% of respondents working in companies with 500+ employees, compared to 53% and 57% in smaller companies).

Political discussions on company digital communication channels

The majority of men and women respondents feel that sociopolitical discussions should be kept out of the company’s digital communication channels. However, more women feel that way than men (68% of women compared to 63% of men).

Respondents of different ages feel similarly about this issue. However, young respondents ages 25-34 were more likely to disagree that sociopolitical discussions should be kept out of the company’s digital communication channels than their older counterparts.

Respondents working for larger companies with 500+ employees were more likely to agree that sociopolitical discussions should be kept out of the company’s digital communication channels (70% and 71% compared to 57% and 61% in smaller companies).

Political discussions on social media

The majority of Men and Women respondents (57%) feel that sociopolitical discussions should not only be kept out of company communication channels but should also be kept out of personal-professional social media channels. A significant percentage (23%) state that they do not have an opinion on the issue.

Respondents who are married or living with a partner are likelier to think that sociopolitical discussions should be kept out of social media (60% compared to 53% of their single counterparts). They are also most likely to have an opinion on the topic. Only 19% say they do not have an opinion, compared to 26% of single respondents.

Preventing employees from arbitrarily posting political opinions on social media

In the previous question, we looked at whether or not political discussions should be kept out of personal-professional social media. However, we also asked respondents if they think employees should be actively prevented from posting political opinions on personal-professional social media channels. While a significant number of both genders feel that companies should prevent employees from posting indiscriminately about politics, more men (46%) than women (41%) feel that way.

Respondents ages 35-44 stand out regarding this question, with 50% feeling a company should prevent employees from posting about political opinions, compared to 42% in all other age groups.

Parents are also more likely to think companies should prevent political posts, with 46% of parents agreeing that companies should do so, compared to 39% of non-parents.

There is some variation among respondents in companies of different sizes. Only 35% of respondents in companies with 101-250 employees feel that companies should prevent employees from posting about politics, and that number is higher in all other company sizes, with 48% of respondents in companies with 501-1000 employees and 43% and 45% of respondents in companies of other sizes.

Managers are more likely to think companies should prevent posting (46% compared to 42% of non-managers). Managers are also more inclined to have an opinion on the topic. Only 22% of managers say they do not have an opinion, compared to 27% of non-managers.

How should sociopolitical issues be discussed in the workplace?

Free speech doesn’t necessarily mean hate speech, and our study found that respondents want the option to discuss politics as long as it is done in a respectful and safe manner.

Should discussions be encouraged?

Despite concerns about posting on company communication channels and social media, almost half of the respondents, 48%, feel that respectful sociopolitical discourse should be encouraged to nurture an inclusive and diverse company culture. However, there is a difference between genders; 53% of men feel that companies should encourage respectful discourse, compared to 43% of women.

Younger respondents were much more likely to think that respectful sociopolitical discourse should be encouraged than their older counterparts. Whereas 57% and 59% of respondents under age 44 felt that it should be encouraged, only 45% of respondents ages 45-54 and 38% of respondents ages 54+ felt the same.

Respondents who are married or living with a partner were more likely to think that respectful sociopolitical discourse should be encouraged (65% felt that it should be, compared to only 58% of single respondents). Single respondents were more likely not to have an opinion on the topic (27% of single respondents don’t have an opinion compared to 20% of their married counterparts).

Respondents working in mid-sized companies with 251-500 employees were least likely to agree that respectful discourse should be encouraged (43% compared to 47%, 48%, and 50% in larger and smaller companies).

Managers were significantly more likely to agree that respectful sociopolitical discourse should be encouraged to nurture an inclusive and diverse company culture (55% compared to 42% of respondents who aren’t managers).

The need for a safe space to voice opinions respectfully

The majority of respondents feel that sociopolitical topics need to be discussed in a safe space where opposing opinions can be voiced respectfully. There was no difference between genders on this issue. However, women were slightly more likely to have an opinion on the topic than men, perhaps because women are more likely to feel unsafe in these discussions.

Respondents ages 35-44 are most likely to agree that sociopolitical topics need to be discussed in a safe space (66% agree that they should, compared to 58%, 61%, and 62% of respondents in other age groups). Older respondents were more likely not to have an opinion on the topic (25% and 27% of respondents ages 45 and over said they had no opinion, compared to 20% and 22% of respondents ages 25-44).

Respondents who are married or live with a partner are more likely to think that sociopolitics need to be discussed in a safe space (65% compared to 58% of their single counterparts). Single respondents are more likely not to have an opinion on the topic (27% compared to 20% of respondents who are married or living with a partner).

Respondents working for larger companies were more likely to agree that sociopolitical topics need to be discussed in a safe space, with 55% and 57% of respondents in companies with 51-250 employees agree, compared to 61%, 63%, and 65% in larger companies.

The ramifications of discussing politics in the workplace

We also wanted to learn more about employees’ perceptions about the ramifications of sharing their political opinions with managers and colleagues.

Sharing an opinion with a manager

A significant portion of the respondents, 42%, feel that sharing a political opinion their manager disagrees with could harm their position in the company. Men were more likely than women to feel that way (46% compared to 39% of women).

Younger respondents were more likely to feel that sharing an opinion their manager disagrees with could hurt them, with 48% and 49% of respondents ages 25-44 feeling that it could, compared to only 34% of respondents ages 54+ (possibly due to older respondents having more seniority and tenure).

In larger companies (251-2500 employees), a higher percentage of respondents (44% and 45%) believe that expressing a political opinion conflicting with their manager’s views could potentially harm their position. In contrast, in smaller companies, this sentiment is shared by a slightly lower percentage of respondents (36% and  39%).

Managers were slightly more likely to think that sharing an opinion with a manager could harm them than were individual contributors.

Sharing an opinion with a colleague

Respondents are also concerned about the impact of sharing their political opinions with colleagues. Half of the respondents say that sharing their political opinions could harm their relationships with colleagues and negatively affect their team productivity.

Respondents ages 35-44 were likelier to feel that sharing political opinions with colleagues could be detrimental (57% compared to 47%, 49%, and 50% in other age groups).

Married respondents, and those living with a partner are more likely to agree (55%) that sharing their opinions may have a negative impact compared to 50% of single respondents.

Respondents in larger companies with 500+ employees are more likely to think that sharing their political opinions will have a negative impact (54%), compared to 44% of respondents who work in companies with fewer than 250 employees.

Managers are also more likely to think that sharing their opinions will have a negative impact (55%) compared with 46% of individual contributors.

Where does it leave us?

In our politically charged world, everything is seen through a political lens. Even a company’s claim to be making a difference in the world, introducing a disruptive technology, or publicly supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion can be perceived as a sociopolitical position.  That political stance is part of its employer brand and something that applicants consider when deciding whether or not to accept an offer from the company. For some people, a company’s political stance may actually prompt them to leave the company where they are currently employed. 

Despite a strong sentiment that sociopolitics should be left out of the office and channels for company communications during charged times such as national elections, global conflict, economic downturns, climate events, or a pandemic, sociopolitical discussions in the workplace can’t be avoided altogether. People-first companies can’t ignore the issue—doing so can result in broken working relationships and damage cultural safety. That is why companies need to set clear guidelines for respectful discourse and create safe spaces where discourse can take place. Doing so is key to creating a supportive, inclusive work environment for all employees, regardless of political opinions.