Business Decisionmakers Lopsidedly Prefer to Hire in Right to Work States

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As seasoned supporters of the Right to Work cause already know, there is a mountain of evidence indicating that laws and legislation authorizing and promoting compulsory union financial support as a job condition are economically harmful.

One particularly powerful example is the survey of CEOs from around the country that Chief Executive magazine annually conducts.

The survey asks business leaders to grade all 50 states in three general categories that businesses invariably consider when they are contemplating where to make job-creating investments.

Recently, CEOs were once again asked to draw upon their direct experience to rate each state for: a) taxation and regulations, b) workforce quality, and c) living environment.

In its May/June issue,, Chief Executive reports its survey results for this year, based on responses received from more than 350 CEOs across industries.  Overwhelmingly, through the years, job creators have judged that, in Right to Work states, employees have superior work ethics, real estate costs are relatively low, and public officials have a much more positive attitude towards business.

And this year, every one of the top eight, and 19 of the top 21, states rated as “best for business” overall are Right to Work states.

In contrast, forced-unionism states dominated the bottom ranks of the 2019 survey.  Not one of the 11 bottom-ranking states has a Right to Work law on the books.

In 2017, Chief Executive directly surveyed CEOs about the impact of the forced-unionism system on their businesses.  The results showed that a remarkable 78% of CEOs either “only hire” or “prefer to hire” in Right to Work states.  Just 3% of CEOs expressed a preference for forced-unionism states! (See the chart below for more information.)

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By an incredible 26-to-one margin, CEOs prefer adding jobs in Right to Work states over forced-unionism states, according to a nationwide survey of hundreds of CEOs conducted in 2017. (Chart originally appeared in Chief Executive magazine.)

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