Weber Shandwick partnered with KRC Research in May/June 2018 to conduct an online survey of 502 adults employed in one of the following professions: software/application developer, software engineer, web developer, database administrator, computer systems analyst, computer programmer, software QA engineer, network system administrator, business intelligence analyst or data scientist.
The survey describes CEO activism to respondents as follows: “In the past year or so, some chief executive officers (CEOs, or top leaders of companies) have spoken out publicly and taken a stand on controversial issues. For example, CEOs have spoken up about social, political and environmental issues such as climate change, gender pay equity, same-sex marriage, immigration, gun control and discrimination.”
- Tech professionals favor CEO activism.
- Positivity traverses borders.
- 82% of tech professionals have a favorable opinion of CEO activists.
- Favorability for CEO activism is not limited to those in the tech sector.
- Tech professionals who work for technology companies have a slightly higher favorability than those in non-tech sectors for CEO activism.
- 81% of tech professionals think CEOs have a responsibility to speak up about issues that are important to society.
- 88% of tech professionals agree CEOs need to speak out when their company’s values are threatened.
- 78% expect CEOs to speak up on employees’ behalf.
- 79% of tech professionals would be more loyal to their organizations if their CEO took public positions on issues.
- Tech professionals expect leadership commitment to activist positions.
- 86% of tech professionals expect that words should be followed by action, 79% assume that the board is aligned with the stance and 74% think there’s value in a CEO being among the first to speak out.
