Workers are done talking politics in the office

Do politics have a place in the office? With the 2024 U.S. elections underway, it looks like most employees are voting no. 

According to HR software company HiBob, 77% of workers prefer to avoid political conversations in the workplace, marking a 16% increase from 2023. Given the polarizing topics dominating the political landscape — from student loan forgiveness and abortion access to the crisis in Palestine — it's not surprising people are less eager to make their opinions known to their colleagues. In fact, HiBob found that 61% feel sharing political stances may damage their relationships with their peers, and 50% believe it would damage their relationship with their manager. 

Read more: How to engage in political conversations at work — without a fight

"When we compare last year to this year, the percentage of people that want to talk about politics at work has actually decreased, showing there's less of an appetite for it to be a part of their work experience," says Annie Rosencrans, people and culture director for the Americas at HiBob. "We are here to do our jobs, and it's clear people feel having a political conversation will just distract from their ability to focus at work."

This data ultimately hints at the overall sentiment that workers don't have much faith in political discourse turning out to be productive or respectful. Instead, they think their beliefs are more likely to upset colleagues and vice versa. Notably, 68% of employees told HiBob they would prefer to keep politics out of their professional-facing networks and social media platforms, like LinkedIn. 

However, this doesn't mean employees are apathetic when it comes to politics and business. According to HiBob, 44% of workers agree that they could be dissuaded from accepting a job offer if the company is associated with or supportive of opposing political views, which is an increase from 39% in 2023. 

Read more: 6 steps to create an official policy around political conversations at work

And while slower hiring rates have made employees far more hesitant to leave their current jobs, there are still 40% of employees who would consider leaving their company due to its political stance.

"Politics and business have become interwoven pretty substantially in the last 10 years," says Rosencrans. "When you think about company responses to Black Lives Matter and Roe v. Wade, there's an expectation for businesses to take an ethical stance."

Read more: Employees will move jobs and states to find reproductive care

Even if employees want to steer clear of politics altogether, Rosencrans stresses that certain topics are unavoidable. Employees and their families may be personally impacted by changes in legislation, and the office needs to be a safe space for people to express their concerns, she underlines. She advises employers to establish company-wide guidelines on how to have respectful political discourse in the workplace, whether it be in the office, via video meetings or through messaging apps like Slack. 

Additionally, Rosencrans suggests creating a specific space for employees to voice their political grievances, like a monthly town hall or even once a week before or after a team check-in. Either way, companies should come up with a policy sooner rather than later, as issues are bound to intensify as we get closer to November. 

"It's inevitable that people will be talking about politics at work, especially with an upcoming election," says Rosencrans. "So get ahead of it rather than waiting for problems to arise."