The News
Growing insularity is dividing global populations, according to a poll released in Davos, challenging the World Economic Forum’s goal of fostering “a spirit of dialog” at this week’s annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort.
Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, found that trust in institutions, from governments to businesses, is being eroded by inflation, nationalism, employees’ fear of losing jobs to AI, and the spread of disinformation.
Instead of choosing dialog and compromise, “the world’s going in the opposite direction,” said CEO Richard Edelman. The family-controlled firm’s annual Trust Barometer, which surveyed 37,500 people in 28 countries, reported a “crisis of grievance” last year, with young people in particular showing growing anger at those in power.
This year, its CEO said, there is a prevailing mood of “sullen acceptance and insularity,” with 70% of those polled saying they distrust people with different values and opinions.
Edelman, a prominent advisor to top executives, said CEOs should respond to the findings by doing more to build bonds inside their companies, after a backlash to corporate activism prompted many executives to avoid weighing in on issues dividing their employees.
“Over the past 18 months to two years, business has put its head down and tried to stay out of the discussion and that time’s up,” he said. “CEOs need to be trust brokers. They need to engage, they need to listen. They don’t need to be advocates; they need to organize engagement.”
In this article:
Know More
Just 32% of those polled by Edelman say they believe the generation below them will be better off than they are, in a sign of growing pessimism about institutions, politicians and business leaders delivering a brighter future. Optimism is lowest in developed countries, falling by 9% to 21% in the US. Nigeria, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia bucked the trend, but confidence in the next generation’s prospects declined by double-digit percentages in China, India, Singapore, and Thailand.
“We’ve never seen a one-year crack like this. This is the first time people are starting to doubt the India dream and the China dream,” Richard Edelman said.
Andrew’s view
Many CEOs have been heartened by the Edelman survey’s repeated conclusion that — even as trust in all institutions slides — business is more trusted than government, media, or non-governmental organizations. This year’s report shows the fragility of that advantage, however: while 73% of those surveyed think CEOs have an obligation to bridge divides, just 44% say they are doing so well.
That finding follows a Gallup poll released last week, which showed that the share of Americans viewing big business as a bigger threat to the country’s future than big government or big labor has jumped to 37%, close to the record set in 2002, when accounting scandals felled companies including Enron.
Several CEOs have voiced concern about the polarization in society and in their workforces. But executives, particularly in the US, are also acutely aware of the cost that companies such as Disney and Target have paid after getting caught in culture-war crossfire. Edelman is right to say that engagement need not mean activism, but many will be wary of wading in at all.
Notable
- Edelman’s annual barometer has polarized commentators, with skeptics arguing that a corporate PR advisor has an interest in talking up the levels of trust in business. There have been few studies of the level of trust in public relations professionals, though Gallup has found low trust in adjacent fields such as advertising.