Healthcare policy costs rises 7%: The average annual premium for both employer-sponsored single and family health insurance coverage rose 7% in 2023, faster than last year but consistent with inflation and wage growth, according to a survey conducted by KFF and published in Health Affairs.  The average premium was $8,435 for single coverage and $23,968 for family coverage this year. On average, workers contributed 17% of the premium for single coverage and 29% of the premium for family coverage. Many employers surveyed raised concerns about their workers’ views of health plan performance. 58% said their employees had a high or moderate level of concern about the affordability of cost sharing. About half said their workers had a high or moderate level of concern about their ability to schedule timely appointments or the complexity of prior authorization requirements. Source:  HR Dive 10/18/23

Raises are expected in 2024:  A survey among 600 business leaders by ResumeBuilder.com found that only 74% will offer employees a raise in 2024, including 14% of them who said everyone will be getting an increase.   According to the report, half of those planning to offer a raise said up to 50% of employees will get one. The latest findings from ResumerBuilder said 69% of employers planning to give raises will be for cost-of-living adjustments, with 27% of them saying the increase will be 5% or more. Another 28% of the respondents said the adjustment will be 4%. 32% said 3% increase.  Source:  HRD 10/24/23

Is your healthcare insurance cutting it?: According to a new Commonwealth Fund survey, for many people, having insurance doesn’t guarantee access to affordable care.   More than half of all working-age Americans responding to the national survey reported they struggle with health care costs. More than one of three are saddled with medical debt, with more than half incurring that debt for care related to ongoing health conditions. The survey also found that 57% of people who reported delaying or forgoing care because they couldn’t afford it also said their health problems worsened as a result. Many insured adults said they or a family member had delayed or skipped needed health care or prescription drugs because they couldn’t afford it in the past 12 months: 29% of those with employer coverage, 37% covered by marketplace or individual-market plans, 39% enrolled in Medicaid, and 4% with Medicare. “Millions of Americans, regardless of their insurance status, cannot afford to be healthy,” says Sara R. Collins, the lead author of the study.   Healthcare benefits are an important recruitment tool.  Is yours a barrier to hiring? Source:  Commonwealth Fund 10/26/23

Even doctors are organizing: Some 500 primary care doctors and other health care workers at Allina Health in Minnesota and Wisconsin voted Oct. 13 to be represented by Doctors Council, an SEIU affiliate that was created in a 1973 merger of two associations representing doctors in New York City. The unit of physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants is the largest group of such workers to ever unionize in the private sector, according to Joe Crane, national organizing director of the Doctors Council. "They don't like the terms that people are trying to make them work under, which tends to be: do more with less and work longer hours, get compensated less," Crane said. "Honestly, the traditional unionization motivations from physicians are the same that have been happening across the country for the last hundred years or so from other workers."  A 2023 American Medical Association issue brief on physicians unions found that 7.2% of actively practicing physicians belonged to a union in 2019, a 26% increase from 2014. A 2022 Journal of the American Medical Association article surveying trends in health care unionization found that 9.8% of physicians and dentists were unionized and that health care workers were more likely to be unionized in the public sector than the private sector.  Source: Law360 10/25/23

How many rounds of interviews?  On LinkedIn, you’ll find numerous stories of candidates undergoing anything from nine to 12 rounds of interviews in their quest to secure a role – only for their application to be unsuccessful.  A prolonged process – say, one that stretches over two months from start to finish – doesn’t just cause psychological stress for candidates, but also has practical implications for firms. Vacant roles remain unfilled, which can be a drain on both time and resources. Candidates can become frustrated and withdraw their application, causing the company to lose out on a good hire.One reason for conducting so many interviews could be that firms are just not adequately prepared when they begin the hiring process. A lack of internal alignment and entangled politics increase the complexity and slow things down. Leaner headcounts – especially in HR departments – due to recent layoffs could also mean that individuals without the proper knowledge of how to interview candidates are being asked to step up without sufficient preparation.  Inefficient stakeholder management could also be at play.  Also, they may be afraid of not getting the “right” hire.  Whatever the reason, too many interviews leads to a poor candidate experience and candidates will likely have choices.  Source:  Insead Knowledge 10/11/23

Hybrid is the future:  In 2019, 60% of remote-capable employees spent their week working fully on-site, whereas that figure has fallen to just 20% in 2023. In contrast, only 8% worked exclusively remotely in 2019, compared with the 29% of remote-capable employees who are fully remote today. At the same time, hybrid work has increased significantly, in route to becoming the most prevalent work arrangement in most offices.  This means that approximately 40% of remote-capable employees have shifted from working entirely on-site to either a hybrid or exclusively remote work arrangement. Per Gallup, five in 10 are working hybrid (part of their week at home and part on-site), three in 10 are working exclusively remotely, and two in 10 are working entirely on-site. Leaders of large companies have confirmed that hybrid work flexibility is here to stay in their organizations. Eight in 10 chief human resources officers (CHROs) from Fortune 500 companies surveyed by Gallup report that they have no plans of decreasing remote work flexibility in the next 12 months.  It is the new work environment.  Source: Gallup 10/9/23