For years, one of the best-known findings in sustainable investing was that companies on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list delivered unusually strong stock returns. Alex Edmans documented the result in a 2011 study, and later research with coauthors found a similar relationship in the U.S. while studying workplace lists around the world.
We revisited the Fortune list and extended our analysis through April 2026. The long-run result is striking: $1 invested in an equal-weighted portfolio of publicly traded list members at the start of 1998 grew to $24.74, compared with $11.91 in the S&P 500, including dividends.
But most of the list’s advantage came in its early years. After adjusting for risk, it largely disappeared after 2009. From September 2015 through April 2026, the list portfolio trailed the S&P 500.
That made us wonder whether the idea behind the research could be made more useful today. An annual list covers a small set of employers. What could we learn by measuring employee experience across more companies, more often?
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Looking beyond the list
We built a PeopleReturn employee signal using monthly observations covering 582 companies since 2015. The Fortune list, by comparison, included 240 publicly traded companies over 28 years.
The chart below starts all three approaches at $1 in September 2015. By April 2026, the highest-scoring companies in our employee signal grew to $4.88, compared with $4.46 for the S&P 500 and $3.92 for the Fortune list portfolio.
The PeopleReturn portfolio swung more than the market, so we checked whether its returns were simply compensation for extra risk. We compared companies where employees reported high and low trust, and the gap held after accounting for common market risks, including in a test limited to larger companies.
The lower-scoring companies were especially revealing. Their weaker returns suggest that employee trust may help investors spot risks in a holding, as well as identify stronger employers.
What else can the workforce tell us?
Our archive holds tens of millions of employee reviews spanning nearly two decades, including ratings and the text employees wrote. We’re studying those observations alongside data on safety, hiring and turnover, labor activity, benefits, and workforce disclosure.
Some investors will want to know whether a workforce measure relates to future performance. Others may be more interested in investing according to their values. For someone focused on employers of veterans, for example, we can pair external recognition with operational workforce data to see whether a company’s reputation is reflected in its practices.
Research note: These are historical backtests, not live portfolio returns. The Fortune and PeopleReturn portfolios shown in the charts are equal-weighted. In our five-factor tests, the Fortune list’s annual alpha was 5.1% in 1998–2009 (t = 2.22) and −0.4% from 2010 onward (t = −0.27). The sector-neutral spread between the highest- and lowest-scoring PeopleReturn groups had 6.5% annual alpha (t = 2.09); a test limited to companies worth at least $1 billion had 8.8% (t = 3.33). The lowest-scoring fifth in that larger-company test had −5.5% annual alpha (t = −2.81).
In other human capital news…
- The 20-Something Employees Who Want Feedback to Be Gentle The oldest members of Gen Z are about to turn 30, yet companies are devoting more time and resources than ever to figuring out how to give this manager-befuddling generation better direction. For help, they are turning to a cottage industry of multigeneration-workplace consultants and even artificial-intelligence bots, while ripping up the script for what used to be once-a-year evaluations. (Wall Street Journal)
- Companies risk losing their most AI-savvy employees while leaving majority behind A growing AI skills divide is creating a diverging workforce, with the majority of workers at risk of being left behind as access to learning and development falls – even as AI use and the pace of workplace change accelerate. (PwC)
- 2027 Global Culture Report Reveals How Organizations Can Amplify People and Connection to Drive Innovation and Productivity Based on data gathered from over 25,000 workers across 23 countries, the report finds that workplace culture acts as an amplifier. While struggling cultures intensify uncertainty and burnout, thriving cultures magnify trust, connection, innovation, purpose, and performance. (O.C. Tanner)
- Starbucks scales back ESG goals and fires sustainability staff Starbucks has scaled back or scrapped green goals and fired sustainability staff as the early mover on climate commitments pursues $2bn in cost cuts. The coffee shop chain has revised or dropped pledges to halve water use and waste, while a goal to cut carbon emissions by 50 per cent is under review. (Financial Times)
- With national holidays approaching, Chinese workers demand a proper break With China set for a week-long holiday at the start of October, many workers are taking to social media to complain about the widespread practice of requiring staff to work weekends either side of the break to maintain output. The online outcry is the latest in a series of social media flare-ups over gruelling schedules, low pay and weak labour protections, with growing calls to punish employers through consumer boycotts or legal action emerging as a new tactic and highlighting deepening labour market strain. (Reuters)
- Disney’s AI push has a new target: annual reviews Disney employees may have AI to thank for their next raise. The Mouse House encouraged employees to use AI ahead of their annual reviews, including by suggesting that they ask chatbots to generate their goals and ways they can improve in the year ahead. (Business Insider)
- Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index: Third record low of 2026 Employee confidence fell to a record low in September, according to the latest data from the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index, and marking the third time this year that the index has hit a new nadir. Over the last year, employee confidence has continued to grind lower as anxiety around job security, economic uncertainty and inflation mount. (Glassdoor)
- Indian Executives Gain Clout in a Post-DEI Corporate America After decades of climbing the executive ranks at US companies, more men of Indian descent are now entering the boardroom. A record 16 Indian men joined S&P 500 boards this year, taking directorships at companies including Walmart Inc., Southwest Airlines Co. and Western Digital Corp., according to ISS-Corporate and data provider Equilar. Only White men and women added more seats. (Bloomberg)
- Workforce in motion: Skills and pathways to future jobs in the United States AI, automation, and broader structural trends are accelerating the reallocation of work across the US economy. Capturing its benefits requires developing new professional pathways and skills, and reducing barriers between declining and growing occupations. (McKinsey)