You are aware that the business judgement rule[0] allows company directors wide latitude in how they run the company, right? I understand expecting companies to make strong efforts to be as profitable as possible, but there is literally no need to do so at the expense of both employees and the company's public image. Rather than trying to "minimize that perception," the simplest way to deal with this type of scenario is to just not do the bad thing.
agree, I don't expect corporate to be maximally unethical, rather I expect them to be maximally profitable.
>Being perceived as unethical towards your workforce can furthermore hurt
Agree, but if they can find a way to minimize that perception so that the risk doesn't overweight the benefit then they should.