PR Pros See ’22 as ‘Year of the Employee,’ Yet Heavy Workload on Social Issues Looms

[Editor’s Note: Our annual predictions feature closed late last month, days before news of another COVID-19 variant broke. At this point, the variables associated with Omicron are unknown. Fallout from the variant could end up dominating 2022. Nevertheless, our group of more than 20 PR pros made predictions based on the best information they had at the time. As such, one theme touched on repeatedly, as Professor LaShonda Eaddy predicts, is that companies will avoid social issues at their peril in 2022. Other predictions varied. Bliss Group’s Bob Pearson sees few limits to technology, while Karen Jones of Ryder System warns of losing the human touch. Social media, trust and AI are table stakes. Relative to previous years, our pros barely mentioned them. Yet healthcare communication, particularly healthcare equity and ESG, are prominent. And accessibility is mentioned. New this year is a bit of fun, a list of ‘Headlines We’d Like to See in 2022.