WASHINGTON, D.C. — When racial justice protests swept across the country last year, hope sprang that the change pushed for on the streets might spill over into the workplace, too.

“Increasingly, the world is getting to be more diverse,” Sandra Timmons, executive director of The Steve Fund, said last year. “This is the future workforce; these are the future leaders.”

However, experts on diversity say that hasn't quite come to fruition at work.

“While we do believe that certainly there's been a lot of good that's been done on by ‘diversity first’ consultancies, that change has not been as sustainable as it should be,” said Lauren Tucker, founder of “Do What Matters,” a consulting firm that helps businesses navigate inclusion in the workplace.

A recent report on diversity in the workplace, from the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, surveyed more than 1,500 working women across the country—more than two-thirds of them were women of color.

It found that 97% of those surveyed feel their employers need to establish better ways to investigate and address discrimination at work.

Among the other findings: 57% of women of color say they hear damaging stereotypes, based on their backgrounds, while they are at work. In addition, 58% say there are no senior leaders of color in their workplace.

Tucker said that’s where so-called, “activist employees” might be able to make their mark.

“Activist employees, in particular, are those who are leaning forward articulating to management what the expectations are,” Tucker said, “and I think we need to understand that those expectations are not just about getting a paycheck.”

It’s also about creating an inclusive environment, where ideas can be freely shared by everyone. Tucker said that starts in company meetings, though, it doesn’t always happen that way as she saw for herself two weeks ago.

“I actually timed how much men talked versus women, and 90% of the talking that was done in that meeting was done by men,” she said.

So, how can all employees help to start a change? Some suggestions include sharing your workplace knowledge with informal networks at work and including a diverse array of co-workers.

As for formal networks, Tucker said employees should get involved in a company’s employee resource group that addresses inclusion. If a company doesn’t have one, she said, employees should consider starting one of their own.

“They have a choice to stay in and lean forward, and a lot of them have activated these groups on their own,” Tucker said. “I mean, it isn't necessarily the employer that's created these groups.”

It’s a focus on diversity that Tucker believes companies should expect to keep seeing.

“What we're seeing is the growth of activism period, both by employees and by consumers,” she said. “And I will say that company leaders who dismiss this activism, company leaders that do not take advantage of listening to these employees, they do so at their peril.”

It is a risk that includes paying a potentially high price to their bottom line.

Federal Labor Department statistics show there were over 4 million more job openings this May compared to last year. That's good news for people who are looking to change jobs or switch careers. And there are a lot of them.

Experts predict a huge wave will leave their employer in the months ahead. 

Jessica Brooks, from Chicago, switched careers mid-pandemic.

"The transition was because I felt kind of stuck in the place that I was in career-wise," Brooks said.

One in four workers plans to look for a job at a different company once the pandemic subsidies, according to a survey by Prudential Financial. And one in five workers switched careers over the past year.

Geleen Antonio left a health care consultant position she's held for six years.

"What's really important for me now is really location independence, the freedom to be able to work out of any city, any country, maybe a coffee shop, even that I didn't have before," Antonio said.

A different survey from LinkedIn this past April found the reason people are switching is that they’re looking for more job flexibility, be it flexible work locations or work hours.

Another top reason? Work-life balance.

Career expert Colleen Sauer says the pandemic has helped us re-prioritize what's important to us.

"COVID put everything into perspective for people," said Sauer. "And what they're overwhelmingly asking for is flexibility. Many employers didn't approach the pandemic in the best way possible for a lot of different reasons. Employees are burnt by that." 

Entrepreneurship is also on the rise. More than half of professionals surveyed by LinkedIn (51%) see themselves either starting a business or freelancing. That includes Andrew Dvorscak — who decided to open a coffee company in Denver. 

 "The pandemic — it was definitely something that pushed me to do it. If I didn't get laid off, I probably would still just be sitting on my hands. Just, oh, it'd be so cool to own a coffee business someday," said Dvorscak.

Haluthai Inhmathong quit her 9-5 marketing job to start her own food pop-up Basil Babe. She says, "working from home kind of puts pressure on a lot of things and you're left alone with your own thoughts. I knew I was unhappy; a job should never make you cry." 

The people Newsy spoke to say, whether it's a career switch or starting a new business, the pandemic sped things up.

Inhmathong says, "if there was no pandemic it was leading up to it. But with the lockdown, it definitely was faster."

This story originally reported by Cat Sandoval on Newsy.com.