Americans stand for Microsoft, Facebook…not so much

More than in any other industry, Americans especially value ethical issues when it comes to technology- and media-related industry. And that is no exception for Facebook famously known for its communication and privacy issues.

Guys from the non-profit research group Just Capital decided to conduct research and interviewed 4,000 Americans. Thet asked them about their opinion about 1,000 of the nation’s most profitable corporations and their approach to worker pay, benefits, prioritizing diversity and inclusion, how well customers and shareholders are treated. Other issues closely studied during that study included a company’s environmental and local community activism.

Results of the research

Microsoft became a second-year absolute leader on that list. Other companies like Apple, Intel, Salesforce, Alphabet, and PayPal got into the top-10.

Managing director of programs and strategic engagement at JUST Capital, Alison Omens, said:

“The list tends to have tech and tech-related companies at the top because the issue people tell us is most important is how you treat your workforce. You see companies that are technology, and technology-adjacent, pay their employees above a living wage and give them opportunities for career advancement.”

However, it is worth mentioning that even those companies do not have an entirely clear reputation. Thus, Google employees started to speak out about the company’s stance on sexual harassment in the workplace. CEO of Intel had even to reside after having an inappropriate relationship with one of the employees.

Even Alphabet, the parent company of Google, got dinged a bit for regulatory concerns. In one of the categories, “following all applicable laws”, the company was ranked 715. Google, in turn, is also under the current investigation by the US Justice Department. But still, Alphabet was ranked #6 overall.

Facebook ranking

Facebook, despite becoming the first in worker pay and eighth in other employee categories, still ended up to be 149th in the chart. It was ranked #915 in the “treatment of its customers” category because of the latest scandals related to privacy and communicating dishonestly, according to the survey.

The biggest even that completely ruined users’ trust towards Facebook was the one connected to Cambridge Analytica, when Facebook allowed personal information of users to be shared with third parties without their knowledge and concise. It was also followed by the flow of disinformation on the network.

What about other industries?

Companies from other industries couldn’t do so well. Only Apache (energy company) managed to make the list, while Nielsen got to the top-100. The top retail company, according to the results of this survey, turned out to be Etsy at #52. Amazon was ranked #75.

Notably, the most leading banks of the United States, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, were ranked #70 and #71 respectively.

The main factor that pulled consumer banks down on the list was the fact that despite pf the high salaries of corporate financial service professionals, retail bankers, who work for these companies across the country, tend to get paid relatively low. To give you a better understanding, a full-time bank teller in 2018 was earning about $14,60 per hour, which is $29,450 per year. Meanwhile, the hourly rate for financial analysts in the same industry was estimated to be $41.18, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

JPMorgan CEO, Jamie Dimon, proclaimed that wealth inequality in the US, as well as worldwide actually, is a major problem of our time. He said:

“I think the wealthy have been getting wealthier too much in many ways, so middle-class incomes have been kind of flat for maybe 15 years or so, and that’s not particularly good in America.”