I don't think it's smart for the company. Just like I didn't think it was smart for Thiel to ask "Star Wars or Star Trek?" as a shibboleth for political leanings at Paypal. You are going to filter good people.

However, I think it might serve you. Being a closet conservative in a liberal culture sucks. Being a closet liberal in a conservative culture sucks. At the end of the day, you want to not have your work-life suck.

I'm black. Spent a while living in Southeast Asia. Once, I was going to meet a landlord about renting an apartment and a white friend tagged along. Got there, the landlord was like "Oh. Sorry, no blacks." I was like "Okie doke." My friend was outraged on my behalf. I told him, "That's bad. You know what else is bad? Figuring out your landlord is a bigot only after you've signed a year lease because it was illegal to just say 'no blacks' up front. At least now I only had 10 seconds of shit instead of a year."

Sometimes it's nice when people put their cards on the table. It might not be a good thing for society or for business, but at least you know what you're dealing with.

The lemonade from the lemons is when people reveal themselves, it makes the self-selecting associations easier and saves you time, like you said.

More love, less hate. Namaste.

They don't give two shits about blacks, LGBTQ, Republicans, or Democrats.

But they have a nice business going.

If they hire someone with the wrong thoughts and voting patterns, they might say something wrong, and it might cause ire and focus into the company from angry people on social media.

Sure, they'll fire the person pronto, but why go through the hassle?

It's better to ensure that whatever a new hire says (while on the job, or on his own social media, or even at his spare time), willd not offend the side that has the political / cancel clout atm. If fascism came to power tomorrow, they'd switch to questions like "Do you fully and wholly support the opression of minorities?" to hire you.

So, it's just good business. And if they're also ideologues that hate concervatives? To them that's a win-win!

Oh, and the people in charge of "company culture" or some such shit non-job need to find something to do, don't they?

Plus, it gives the company "progressiveness" points to use on some presentations, news articles, etc ("Why, of course we have a employee sensitiveness education program").

And, in practical terms, not endorsing said social justice movements probably makes you immediately suspect to the hiring managers. After all, why wouldn't you endorse such just causes? What happens if you endorse them halfheartedly?

This makes me extremely nervous about polarization.

Political affiliation is a protected class in employment in California and some other states, but not federally.

Political Discrimination Laws A few states explicitly prohibit employers from making job decisions based on an employee’s or applicant’s politics. In California, for example, employees are protected from discrimination based on their political affiliations and activities. New York and the District of Columbia have similar laws. And, in Oregon and Wisconsin, employees may not be penalized for refusing to attend meetings intended to allow their employer to communicate its political or religious opinions.

Lawful Conduct Laws A number of states have laws that prohibit employers from making job decisions based on an employee’s off-duty conduct and activities, as long as they are legal. In Colorado, for example, an employer may generally not fire an employee for engaging in any lawful activity while off duty and away from the workplace. If your state has this type of law, it will likely protect you from political discrimination.

However, given that candidates aren't employees yet, it's not clear if such laws apply to them.

I ask because it may be permissible to deny someone employment based on them having republican views but not on the basis that they are a registered republican. I know virtually nothing about this law, so someone please correct me.

Federally, the US EEOC has a page listing the "Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices" (https://www.eeoc.gov/prohibited-employment-policiespractices). It makes no references to political orientation or social causes.

Also its not covered under the "Civil Rights Act of 1964" as well.

Certain states have protection against job discrimination for public employees based on political affiliation which would cover your "Do you vote Republican?". However as you said its a consulting firm, so not applicable.

NOTE: IANAL, my SIL does HR and that was her quick answer.

Welcome to the start of the woke interview games.

Legal or not, it's a huge red flag.