“We know that many Americans are struggling.
Too often hard work is not rewarded, and not
enough is being done for workers to adjust to
the rapid pace of change in the economy. If
companies fail to recognize that the success of
our system is dependent on inclusive long-term
growth, many will raise legitimate questions
about the role of large employers in our society,”
the statement reads.
It’s an implicit recognition that corporations
have a larger responsibility than a return on
investment and also that more Americans are
living under duress today. Wage gains have been
nonexistent to moderate for years. Economic
research as well as government data point to an
era in which Americans must do more for less.
“The American dream is alive, but fraying,” Jamie
Dimon, the chairman and CEO of JPMorgan who
also chairs the Business Roundtable, said in a
prepared statement.
A Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis analysis
found that corporate profits have far outpaced
employee compensation since the early 2000s.
“This new statement better reflects the way
corporations can and should operate today,”
said Alex Gorsky, chairman and CEO of Johnson
& Johnson. “It affirms the essential role
corporations can play in improving our society
when CEOs are truly committed to meeting the
needs of all stakeholders.”
The statement is not a directive. Rather, it is a
shared understanding among CEOs of companies
that employ more than 15 million people with a
collective $7 trillion in annual revenue.
Ken-Hou Lin, a sociology professor at the
University of Texas at Austin who has studied
corporations’ treatment of employees and
shareholders, called the statement symbolically
antfer
(Antfer)
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