President Biden proposes $13.9 billion budget for Department of Labor FY 2025:  President Biden released its proposed budget for the next fiscal year.  The proposal calls for $13.9 billion in discretionary funding for the DOL, up $318 million, or 2.3%, from the 2023 amount. Of that total, $2 billion would go to "empowering and protecting workers," a category that includes addressing workers' wages, unlawful child labor, and independent contractor misclassification.  The budget plans for increasing penalties not only at DOL but with EEOC and NLRB as well.  Further, funding would go toward establishing a paid family and medical leave program. Under the new program, workers would be able to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave. Covered reasons would include caring for a new child or a seriously ill loved one; healing from a serious illness; addressing issues related to a loved one's military deployment; finding "safe leave" from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking; or for grieving. Although this provision may have bipartisan support, the budget is unlikely to pass, and is merely the first round of the budget wars.  Source:  Law360 3/11/24

Are we now in the “Big Stay?” MyPerfectResume surveyed nearly 2,000 Americans, finding that 80% predict 2024 will be the year workers stay with their current employers. Given the waves of layoffs since the end of 2023 and into the first months of this year, it's unsurprising that workers seem more hesitant to job hop. On top of that, 45% of survey respondents predict that the number of remote job openings will drop, too, making the labor market even less attractive to job seekers. According to MyPerfectResume, 70% believe re-skilling will be necessary, while 74% believe work experience will be more important than a college degree. However, employees do not expect to upskill on their own: 72% of survey respondents want their companies to embrace mentorship and coaching programs. If the "Big Stay" is about workers sticking around, then employers will want to ensure their company is a place worth sticking with. Over 80% of workers believe organizations will further invest in mental health and well-being programs, and 79% believe DEI efforts will become a bigger priority this year.  Further, 71% of workers expect that more companies will include salary information in their job postings. Source:  EBN 2/23/24

Is AI taking over the recruitment realm? Not yet. Assessment platform SHL surveyed 1,600 HR professionals about whether they’d used AI-based assessments in the hiring process, the majority responded no.  Only 12% indicated that they had used artificial intelligence to help evaluate candidates during the talent-related decision-making phase.  It turns out that AI seems to be most trusted by HR when it automates repetitive tasks and provides insights, but human involvement remains crucial for thorough candidate evaluation and decision-making in hiring. Specifically, HR professionals voiced concerns about the potential for AI systems to perpetuate human biases or focus excessively on irrelevant details of candidates’ responses or competencies.  They also expressed a need for a better understanding of AI processes to effectively explain decision outcomes and mitigate legal risks associated with questionable employment outcomes. However, the reluctance to embrace AI in hiring does not automatically extend to other areas of HR operations. According to i4cp’s 2024 Priorities & Predictions report, HR leaders are leveraging gen AI for various tasks, including email communication, presentation creation, policy development, case study compilation, scenario planning, sentiment analysis of employee surveys and industry trend monitoring.  Source: Human Resource Executive 2/26/24

Why manager training is important:  Employees across the world have underscored the need for more empathetic leaders as they grapple from stress, burnout, and declining job satisfaction, according to a new report.  A survey by Dayforce from over 8,700 employees across the world found that only 48% agreed their organization empathizes with employees.  Among those who disagreed, 90% of them said leaders exhibiting more empathy to employees would positively impact their work lives. This includes: Improving job satisfaction (52%), Improving job performance (39%), Increasing productivity (37%), Improving mental health or levels of burnout (48%), and making them more loyal (41%).  With labor supply still an important strategic initiative, investing in managers may assist in reducing turnover and employee brand.  Source:  HR Director 2/15/24

Is college worth it? A decade after enrolling, attendees of 1 in 4 higher education programs are earning less than the median annual income of $32,000 for high school graduates, according to The HEA Group, which analyzed data from the Department of Education to track the earnings outcomes of about five million students.  About 8% of institutions show their students' median income a decade after enrolling is less than $22,000 a year, or about 150% of the federal poverty line — low enough to qualify for some public assistance programs, The HEA Group found. About 56% of Americans now believe that earning a four-year college degree isn't worth the cost, compared with 40% a decade ago, according to a poll last year from the Wall Street Journal and NORC at the University of Chicago.  In addition to the soaring cost of college, the 64% graduation rate at colleges granting 4-year degrees means some students are leaving in debt but without a degree hindering them from enjoying the college wage premium. The HEA Group's income data covers all higher education attendees, including both those who graduated and those who dropped out.  Source: Yahoo Finance 2/19/24

Majority of respondents think all workers should have pension plans:  According to the report from the National Institute for Retirement Security, 79% of respondents to a national public opinion poll of working-age Americans believe that the nation faces a retirement crisis, up from 67% that expressed that sentiment in 2020, the last time NIRS conducted such a poll. Also, 83% of respondents said they believe all workers should have a pension plan, and 77% said the disappearance of pension plans makes it harder to "achieve the American dream." That feeling is expressed in 87% of respondents saying, "leaders in Washington don't understand how hard it is for workers to save retirement," according to the report. That is up from 76% that replied with that answer in 2020. When asked whether pension plans were better than 401(k) plans in achieving retirement security, 65% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed, the same response as in the 2020 survey.  Source:  Pension and Investments 2/27/24