New research from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) indicates that complaints about politically biased treatment at work have increased in the US.
According to the report, the proportion of US employees who claim to have encountered this biased treatment because of their political affiliations has doubled since before the pandemic.
The employees were subjected to unjustified negative treatment because of their political beliefs: Report
The report claims that the employees were subjected to either preferential dealings or unjustified negative treatment because of their political beliefs. This number was at 12% in 2019, and this time around, at least 25% of US workers report having encountered this kind of bias. Data from more than 500 American workers were gathered by researchers.
According to the report, at least 30% of managers said they would be reluctant to hire someone who had disclosed extremely conservative beliefs, while at least 20% said the same about someone with extremely liberal beliefs.
“I can’t work with you if you don’t share my views”
The country has been divided on many issues, including the 2020 presidential elections, the Covid-19 pandemic, workplace safety regulations, vaccine requirements, and national protests against racial injustice and abortion laws. Companies are now faced with the issue of how this complex political discourse should be discussed at work.
SHRM president and chief executive officer, Johnny Taylor Jr. said in the report, “In today’s climate, people are saying, ‘I can’t work with you if you don’t share my views…It’s problem HR professionals and business leaders cannot ignore.”
Only 8% of businesses, according to the report, have informed their employees of the policies regarding such conversations at work. The data was collected from 1,500 human resources professionals, said a report by Bloomberg. Notably, research also revealed that over the past ten years, the majority of top management has become more Republican and politically polarized.