It’s been a year since the phrase “Me Too” took on new meaning in America.
It started in October 2017 when actress Alyssa Milano, in the wake of the disturbing revelations about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct, posted a tweet encouraging victims of sexual harassment and assault to reply #MeToo to her post. Since then, #MeToo has become a force for change on the national and global stage.
In honor of the one-year anniversary, Comparably put together a brief data snapshot on the #MeToo movement, sexual harassment and verbal abuse at work. Full methodology below.
On whether the #MeToo movement will improve workplace relations
— More than half of people believe in #MeToo’s power to make a difference in workplace relations. 57% of people say #MeToo will improve workplace relations.
— Women are the biggest believers. Women are slightly more likely than men to say that the #MeToo movement will result in improved relations between men and women in the workplace (59% vs. 55%). Looking closer, men and women in HR had the highest rates of saying the #MeToo movement will result in progress (79% and 76%, respectively). Men in legal (40%), operations (39%) and finance (40%), and women in operations (39%), had the lowest rates of saying the same.
— Hispanic/Latino respondents have the most faith in its potential. 68% of Hispanic or Latino respondents say that the #MeToo movement will result in improved relations between men and women in the workplace. That was the most of any ethnic group. 53% of Caucasians say the same, the lowest of any ethnic group.
— Departments that are most/least optimistic about #MeToo. People in HR, business development, executive roles, and design were most optimistic about the lasting effects of the #MeToo movement (at least 70% say they believe the movement will result in improved relations between men and women in the workplace). People in operations, finance, and legal were least optimistic about the lasting effects of the #MeToo movement (50% or less say they believe the movement will result in improved relations between men and women in the workplace.
— Youngest workers see most promise in #MeToo. Optimism about the #MeToo movement appears to decline with age, hitting a low among people in the 46 to 50 age group. The only exception is the 51- to 55-year age group, which seems to be as optimistic about the movement as younger generations. The most optimistic age group is the 18 to 25-year age group, where 68% of respondents say that the #MeToo movement will result in improved relations between men and women in the workplace.
— Phoenix most optimistic about #MeToo; Houston least. People in Phoenix are the most likely to say that the #MeToo movement will result in progress (69%). People in Houston are the least likely (45%).
On sexual harassment in the workplace
— Nearly 1 in 3 women say they have been sexually harassed at work (28%). Looking closer, 34% of women in executive roles, 33% of women in engineering and 68% of women in product say they have been sexually harassed, the most in any department. Women in HR report the lowest rates of sexual harassment (15%).
— 9% of men say they have been sexually harassed at work. From a department perspective, men in administrative roles and legal say they have faced the most harassment (29%).
— African Americans most affected. African Americans had the highest rates of being sexually harassed at work (24%). Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders had the lowest rates (9%).
— Admin workers had the highest rates of saying they’ve been sexually harassed. People in admin had the highest rates of being sexually harassed (25%). People in engineering had the lowest (10%).
— Generation Z (ages 18 to 25) have the highest rates of being sexually harassed. People 18 to 25 had the highest rates of saying they’ve been sexually harassed at work (29%). The rate declined from there, with people 46 to 50 had the lowest rates of saying they’ve been sexually harassed at work (13%).
— From a location perspective: People in Minneapolis had the highest rates of saying they’ve been sexually harassed (25%). People in San Francisco had the lowest rates of saying they’ve been sexually harassed (10%).
On verbal abuse in the workplace
— 1 in 4 women say they have been verbally abused at work (25%). Women in communications, design and engineering had the highest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused at work (37%, 33% and 33% respectively). Women in HR had the lowest rates (11%).
— 1 in 5 men say they have been verbally abused at work (21%). Looking closer, men in communications, business development, marketing and customer support had the highest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused at work (37%, 33%, 33% and 33% respectively). Men in HR had the lowest rates (13%).
— African Americans report the highest rates of being verbally abused. African Americans have the highest rate of saying they’ve been abused at work (33%). Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have the lowest (28%).
— From a department perspective: People in communications and design had the highest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused at work (37% and 32%, respectively). People in HR had the lowest (22%).
— Verbal abuse most inflicted on the young. People aged 18 to 25 had the highest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused at work (32%). People in their 40s and 50s had the lowest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused at work (20%-22% said yes)
— Results by location: People in Ft. Lauderdale had the highest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused (39%); people in San Diego had the lowest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused (13%).
Methodology
— Employees hail from small, mid-size, and large companies (VC-funded, privately-held, and public) as well as household brands such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Uber, etc.
— A total of three survey questions were included (in Yes/No format). Each survey question was initiated sometime between June 2016 and January 2018. Results are as of September 11, 2018.
— Have you ever been sexually harassed at work? Respondents: 29,676
— Have you been verbally abused or severely harassed (non-sexual) by your boss at your current job? Respondents: 9,204
— Do you believe the #TimesUp/MeToo movements will result in progress in relations between men and women in the workplace? Respondents: 3,291
About Comparably
Comparably is a workplace culture and compensation monitoring site where employees can anonymously and publicly rate their companies and CEOs, access salary data, and find their dream jobs. The comprehensive platform gives job seekers a more accurate picture of what it’s like to work inside an organization since the data is structured and segmented by gender, ethnicity, age, location, tenure, company size, title/department, and education. Since its 2016 launch, Comparably has accumulated more than 5 million ratings from employees across 45,000 U.S. businesses, and has become one of the most used SaaS solutions for employer branding. For more information, go to Comparably.com. For workplace culture and salary studies, including Comparably’s annual Best Places to Work and Best CEOs awards, go to Comparably.com/blog.
