It’s one of the long-held rules in workplace etiquette: keep your political views out of work conversations. But at a time when the news cycle is fast and furious, when our social media feeds are crammed with articles and rants and memes about the news of the day, it may be harder to hold your tongue.
In honor of President’s Day, which is Feb. 19, Comparably took a look at the latest results of an ongoing query of workers across the tech space to determine whether the old adage remains true. Turns out, it does: when it comes to politics, what you say or do can have far-reaching consequences at work.
Age matters
Forty percent of workers 18 to 35 say the political views of their coworkers affect their working relationships. The highest rate was among workers 18 to 25, at 45%. The rate declines from there, hitting a low of 28% among workers 46 to 50.
The more experienced, the less fazed
Workers with 10 years experience or more were least likely to say their coworkers’ political views impact their working relationships (31%). Workers in the early stage of their careers had the highest rates of being impacted by their coworkers’ views (44%).
Designers most sensitive
Forty-eight percent of workers in design say the political views of their coworkers impact their working relationships. Those in communications and the executive suite weren’t far behind (43%).
Surprisingly, HR employees were among those who had the lowest rates of saying their coworkers’ political views impact their working relationship (30%). Respondents who work in IT had equally low rates.
Women slightly more likely to say their coworkers’ politics impact their relationships
Looking at the results by gender, women were more likely to say their coworkers’ political views impact their working relationships (38% vs 35%).
Florida feeling the heat
Living in a battleground state, it’s no surprise that people in Florida seem to be most affected by their coworkers’ politics. Fifty-five percent of respondents in the state say their coworkers’ political views impact their working relationships. Houston (43%), New York (39%), and Atlanta (39%) also had above-average rates of workers feeling impacted by their coworkers political views. On the other end of the spectrum is Minneapolis, where just 25% of workers say the same.
More than 40% of African American, Hispanic and Latino employees say their relationships are impacted
The data reveals that 45% of African American respondents and 42% of Hispanic or Latino respondents say their coworkers’ politics impact their working relationships. Thirty-seven percent of Asian or Pacific Islanders and those who identify as “other” said the same. The lowest rate of workers who say they are affected by their coworkers’ political views are Caucasians, at 33%.
Methodology
–Questions were in Yes/No format.
–Results are based on 8,030 responses from employees predominantly across the technology sector:
–Employees hail predominantly from small, mid-size, and large tech companies (VC-funded, privately-held, and public) to household brands like Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Uber, etc.
–Data was collected between March 30, 2016 and Feb. 16, 2018.
