Page 141 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

related to the redefinition of the social contract, this scrutiny will
intensify. Companies that rely on gig workers to operate will also

feel the effect of more government interference, possibly even to a
degree capable of undermining their financial viability. As the
pandemic will radically alter social and political attitudes towards
gig workers, governments will force those companies that employ

them to offer proper contracts with benefits such as social
insurance and health coverage. The labour issue will loom large
for them and, if they have to employ gig workers as normal
employees, they will cease to be profitable. Their raison d’être

might even vanish.

2.1.4. Stakeholder capitalism and ESG

Over the past 10 years or so, the fundamental changes that
have taken place in each of the five macro categories reviewed in

Chapter 1 have profoundly altered the environment in which
companies operate. They have made stakeholder capitalism and
environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations
increasingly relevant to sustainable value creation (ESG can be

considered as the yardstick for stakeholder capitalism).

The pandemic struck at a time when many different issues,
ranging from climate change activism and rising inequalities to
gender diversity and #MeToo scandals, had already begun to
raise awareness and heighten the criticality of stakeholder

capitalism and ESG considerations in today’s interdependent
world. Whether espoused openly or not, nobody would now deny
that companies’ fundamental purpose can no longer simply be the

unbridle pursuit of financial profit; it is now incumbent upon them
to serve all their stakeholders, not only those who hold shares.
This is corroborated by early anecdotal evidence pointing to an
even more positive outlook for ESG in the post-pandemic era.
This can be explained on three fronts:

1. The crisis will have created, or reinforced, an acute sense
of responsibility and urgency on most issues pertaining to
ESG strategies – the most important being climate change.
But others, such as consumer behaviour, the future of work

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