Its an uncommonly tumultuous time in America for politics, and never before has broadcasting political views been so fraught with the potential for causing personal and professional damage. All across the country, extended families are biting their tongues across the dinner table from each other – especially during the holidays.. But what about at work? Polite etiquette would dictate keeping political views to one’s self in mixed company when passions are running so high. But those high passions, which most of us feel surging in our breasts multiple times a day in the current climate, have a pulse of their own. We can’t control whether something we hear angers us, and biting your lip when you feel like your side needs to be heard can be a Herculean task for some. Most employees, however, report that their coworkers political views do not affect their ability to work in harmony with them.
The information comes courtesy of the latest reading of an ongoing study by Comparably. Over 10,000 employees responded to the study.
Three-quarters of all respondents say that the political views held by their coworkers – whether they agreed with them or not – did not affect the efficiency of their teamwork. This would imply that most employees are able to keep politics out of their heads at work, and keep a cool head if they hear something that might otherwise set them off. The internet offers many an anonymous forum to political arguments, so perhaps many people can vent their frustrations that way.
When results are broken down by ethnicity, we see that African-American respondents are notably less happy having to hear about their coworkers’ political views. The Hispanic/Latino segment also had a response lower than average. Asian/Pacific Islanders, Caucasians, and the “other” grouping all responded at around the same three-quarter average that we saw from overall responses.
Hot tempers and unease about opposing political views seem to cool off with age. Employees from the Gen Z and Millennial are less willing to deal with politics at work, and presumably less willing to accept opposing views from those they have to work with. This eases with age, with people in their mid-50s responding “no” at a rate of 80% and just above.
We can see that same trajectory looking at job experience. Workers who have been in the workforce for more than 10 years are 12 percentage points more likely to answer “no” to the question about whether coworkers’ political views made working alongside them more difficult. 
Employees in Operations and HR have very little trouble letting political issues slide off their back at work. Workers in Design and Communications are much less liable to be okay with politics at work. Note that workers in the Executive suite tend towards less acceptance of politics at work.
Female employees of Communications departments are 16% more likely to answer “no” to the question than their male counterparts. Male Engineering workers are 12% more likely than women in that department to answer “no.” And females in Legal are 20% (!) more likely to be okay with their coworkers political views than men in Legal.
Latest reading as of November 12.
