In today's turbulent and dynamic business environment, companies aim to differentiate themselves in the market by changing the paradigm of their business activities. The emphasis is no longer solely on achieving profit; instead, the focus and goals are oriented towards growth based on the principles of sustainable development, with a particular emphasis on social and ethical issues. ESG criteria combine environmental, social, and governance factors. The goal of ESG criteria is to achieve business results through responsible company management, with a special focus on environmental protection and social aspects. This allows for synergistic growth and development, paying special attention to external stakeholders involved in the environmental and social aspects of ESG criteria. All this has led to a change in business management and adaptation to new conditions, and the IT industry faces challenges due to its importance and profitability. External stakeholders, from suppliers to customers, are increasingly interested in labor rights, working conditions, wages, user satisfaction, and community impact. All these factors significantly affect market positioning, market share, and profitability. The aim of this paper was to investigate the extent to which the social aspect of ESG criteria affects the competitiveness and overall business operations of a company. It is important to emphasize that the social component (S) of the criteria is very extensive and includes many parameters that affect the non-financial part of business operations. These will be explained in detail in the paper. An empirical study was conducted as a comparative case study analysis of two companies in the IT sector. The research showed a high level of importance of the social component of ESG criteria, concluding that it represents the cornerstone of competitiveness, especially today when highly educated people have significant bargaining power, which greatly impacts the knowledge-intensive IT industry.