Employers appear optimistic heading into 2024. The recently released 2024 National Business Trends Survey by the Employer Associations of America (EAA) revealed that two-thirds of organizations are expressing confidence in the economy, a significant leap from the 49% reported in the 2023 survey. This positive sentiment is mirrored in executives' projections, with 72% anticipating flat to slight increases in sales and revenue for the upcoming year, compared to 53% in the previous report.

One of the latest trends in the workforce is overemployment, a trend in which people hold multiple full-time positions.  This is beyond moonlighting with a small, part-time job.  It’s as extreme as someone holding two, sometimes three full-time positions – meaning they are “on the clock” for multiple employers at once - unbeknownst to the employers.

The initial demands from the UAW included a 4-day workweek.  While that was eventually dropped during negotiations, many expect it will continue to come up in the future. A recent survey conducted by Gallup in collaboration with Bentley University revealed that 77% of respondents expressed that a four-day, 40-hour workweek would have a positive impact. However, once achieved, it doesn’t always have the positive effect expected.

In the competitive landscape of the modern job market, companies are constantly looking for innovative ways to attract and retain top talent. While traditional benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off remain essential, forward-thinking companies are now exploring unique and creative perks to stand out.

Over the past year we’ve had quiet quitting, loud quitting, quiet hiring, quiet firing, and quiet constraint.  Now we have quiet cutting which is the practice of reassigning employees to roles that do not align with their career aspirations, ultimately achieving workforce reduction through voluntary attrition. This allows companies to circumvent the expenses associated with severance packages or unemployment benefits.

Striking a balance between work and personal life has become increasingly challenging. As employers strive to be more inclusive and flexible, the concept of floating holidays has emerged as a valuable tool to help employees maintain a balance.

Half of your employees are looking to leave. Yes, we said half.  50%. This is according to the 2023 Global Workplace Status report.  Is your organization a victim of this statistic? You might not know until it’s too late.

From "Bare Minimum Mondays" to "Put Your Boss on Blast on TikTok Fridays," there's a bold new trend called loud quitting. Instead of resorting to quiet disengagement, employees are now using social media as a platform to voice their frustrations and announce their resignations in a very public manner. This new trend affects workplace morale, productivity, and employer reputation. 

First there was Quiet Quitting, now there is Quiet Constraint – corporate America's current hidden threat at work. According to data from Kahoot!’s recent Workplace Culture Report, over half (58%) of employees say that they withhold valuable knowledge they could share with their colleagues. The Gen Z generation exhibited this behavior more than any other generation, with 77% of Gen Zers reporting that they silently sit on beneficial information in the workplace.

According to FlexJobs’ 2023 Work Insights Survey of over 5,600 people, 96% of workers believe a remote or hybrid work arrangement is best for their mental health. Only 4% of workers thought being in an office full-time is best for their mental health. A decreased stress level was the top reported health benefit of remote work.

About half of workers are not fully engaged in their jobs, according to a study conducted by Gallup. This means they are only doing the minimum required to get by – not good for employers. This drop in employee engagement has happened two years in a row. But why?

ChatGPT, and now GPT 4, and other similar artificial intelligence tools (AI) are proliferating through the marketplace.  Unlike other disruptive technologies that would create new jobs to support it, AI may have the opposite effect.  A study by Goldman Sachs reported that 300 million jobs may be lost due to AI.  It may also be a wage suppressant.

A large share of workers say they aren't taking vacations, often due to the high costs, according to research by Eagle Hill Consulting. 39% of U.S. workers report that they have not taken a vacation during the last 12 months. Nearly half of workers (45%) state the reason as being it’s too expensive. This is another effect of inflation.

Over the years, HR has evolved from personnel to human resources to business partners to HR consultants and more.  However, often HR remains very transactional, with minimal involvement in strategic planning and decision-making.  In part, that is the design of HR as the facilitators of people within an organization to constantly putting out fires as legal compliance grows.  But in 10 years from now, will HR change from transactional to more strategic roles?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the way Human Resources (HR) operates. As the HR landscape becomes more complex, HR practitioners need powerful tools to manage and support employees effectively. AI can offer HR practitioners an efficient and effective way to automate and streamline various HR processes. By leveraging AI, HR practitioners can reduce the time and resources required to manage HR processes while improving the employee experience.

One area that has plagued our nation’s recovery from the pandemic has been the sluggish labor force participation rate (LFPR).  According to recent analysis by the Federal Reserve, the February 2023 LFPR was 0.8 percentage points lower than its February 2020 level. This gap in participation amounts to 2.1 million individuals who are not part of the labor force.

A Stanford professor of organizational behavior makes an interesting observation about certain employer lay off practices. He believes when certain industries start laying off employees in anticipation or reaction to a perceived business downturn that in many are just copying off one another rather than reducing their workforce by necessity.

Are your employees passionate about a cause or do they want to volunteer at their kids’ reading day for an hour?  Then it’s time you look at offering VTO – Volunteer Time Off.  It is proven to improve employee engagement and productivity.  It is also great for your brand.

If you have a teenager in your home, you’ve likely heard many of their terms….and maybe had to ask them what it means or secretly google it.  This year, Gen Z will turn anywhere from 11 to 26 years old.  This means many of them are now bringing their slang to the workplace.

There has been a lot of discussion recently around ChatGPT and how it affects HR and the workplace.  So, as an experiment I tried it.  I asked ChatGPT to write me 500 words on the effect of ChatGPT on HR.  This is the unedited response it generated:

We are officially in a post pandemic workspace now.  What does that mean?  We probably are managing remote teams, figuring out smarter ways to work, and meeting more efficiently. 

A recent article on Safeguardglobal.com shared some quotes from leaders on their thoughts about the future of work. With our upcoming Future of Work panel discussion at the HR Conference on March 16th, I thought I would share some of the quotes shared in the article as well as some from our panelists.

Just as companies have adapted to remote work, a new development in workplace flexibility may be on the horizon: the four-day work week. In fact, two recent studies have shown that this work arrangement could offer significant benefits for both employers and employees.

By now, many have heard of ChatGPT and the efficiency it has provided for many. ChatGPT was created by OpenAI, an AI and research company.  ChatGPT is a chat box which uses natural language processing driven by AI technology in an open environment.  Currently it is free to use, but eventually it will likely be monetized because the actual computing costs are high.  ChatGPT in its current form can provide answers to questions, write emails, compose essays, and write code. 

The layoff tidal wave is growing.  The downsizing of Q4 continues into the new year as companies slash staff.  This is the last thing employers and employees want to see happen. It means financial uncertainty for all parties involved. The reality is that sometimes these measures must be taken.  Let’s define the differences, the pros, and cons.