Before the coronavirus crisis hit, JUST Capital's research found that 50% of workers at America's 1,000 largest public companies were not making enough to support a family of three, even with a spouse working part time. Today, the health risks encountered by low-paid frontline workers, combined with historic levels of unemployment, have further exposed the fragility of American capitalism and demonstrated why business leaders need to step up and do more to support workers and their families.

If we don't take action now, we run the risk of further entrenched inequality on the other side of the pandemic. That is why we are asking America's CEOs to join us in assessing the financial security of their workforces and taking steps to ensure that none of their employees are struggling to get by.

As we collectively determine how to not only weather this moment but also begin to build a better future, we need to focus significant efforts on what more we can do to develop a resilient workforce. One place to start is to conduct an assessment of employees' financial security and health.

While every company can approach the process differently, the journey PayPal took with its more than 23,000 global employees may offer some useful insights.

In 2018, PayPal anonymously surveyed a large sample of its hourly and entry-level employees to assess their financial security. The results indicated that almost two-thirds of surveyed employees reported periodically running out of money between paydays. This was disappointing and surprising, but provides a valuable lesson to other leaders: Although PayPal's internal analysis showed that it paid at or above market value for each of its employees, the wages were not always sufficient for many families.

PayPal then undertook an intensive process to determine how much its employees needed to earn to enable financial security and health. At the core was a calculation called Net Disposable Income, or NDI, which is essentially the amount left after paying taxes and necessary living expenses. The team decided that hourly and entry-level employees should have a target NDI of at least 20% to ensure they have enough discretionary earnings to do more than just cover the essentials. To drive this increase, PayPal instituted a number of changes to reduce health care costs, grant stock awards to all employees regardless of level or tenure, raise wages where appropriate and provide access to personal financial education.

In less than a year since instituting these changes, PayPal has already made substantial progress. By the beginning of 2021, the company estimates that the minimum NDI for its hourly and entry-level employees will be approximately 16% across global locations -- up significantly from the original estimates, which were as low as 4% in some regions. And PayPal has multiple plans in place to achieve its 20% NDI goal and further reinforce the financial security of its workforce.

Fifty years ago this month, the economist Milton Friedman published his influential essay, The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits, which helped usher in decades of shareholder primacy as the dominant management philosophy for business. Friedman's belief that a laissez-faire approach to markets was most beneficial for society has simply been disproven. Today, there is strong evidence for why CEOs should make workers' financial security a C-suite priority -- because building a resilient workforce is a strategic investment to your bottom line, a down payment on future growth.

JUST Capital's analysis has shown that companies that prioritize the ir workforces outperform their industry peers. And PayPal is finding that when workers aren't worrying about whether they can provide for their kids or afford to go to the doctor, they are more engaged, innovative and committed to serving customers. This performance, in turn, benefits customers and shareholders.

And while we acknowledge that it is a tough time for many businesses, this moment presents us with a rare opportunity to build a better version of our companies. With last year's Business Roundtable new statement on the purpose of a corporation, CEOs of some of the largest and most successful companies in America said they believe that serving all stakeholders is the best path for creating sustainable and inclusive growth.

Imagine what we can accomplish if we collectively recognize the link between employees' financial well-being, our company's performance and the health of the overall economy. The economic impact that would have on families and our communities -- particularly those that have historically been most marginalized and vulnerable -- would be enormous.

Paul Tudor Jones is the co-founder and chairman of JUST Capital. Dan Schulman is the president and CEO of PayPal. The opinions expressed in this commentary are their own.