CHROs look for volatility but positivity in the next 12 months:  CHROs are revising their one-year forecast for business, expecting volatility to persist longer than anticipated.  That’s the main finding from StrategicCHRO360’s latest CHRO Confidence Index, a forward-looking indicator that measures sentiment for business among HR chiefs at U.S. companies. In April, after two consecutive quarters of growth, the Index retracted nearly 3%, as America’s talent chiefs brace for a longer-than-expected path to recovery.  In the most recent ask, CHROs rated their view of the current business environment at 6.5, as measured by a 10-point scale where 10 is Excellent and 1 is Poor. Similarly, when looking at the next 12 months, CHROs expect the business environment to be 6.7, down from 6.9 in Q1, both higher than in 2022.  The Index is now flirting with Very Good levels, according to the 10-point scale labels, where 5 and 6 are within Good territory and 7 and 8 are Very Good.  Overall, 35% of the 129 CHROs we surveyed said they expect conditions to improve over the next 12 months, vs. 31% percent in January. Only 20% expect conditions to be worse in April 2024. Instead, 46% don’t anticipate things to change much over that one-year period. Source: Strategic CHRO May 2023

New graduates feel hopeful about job market:  According to the Monster 2023 State of the Graduate Report, which highlights insights from 1,000 recent and soon-to-be college graduates, many of them appear anxious yet confident about finding a job quickly. And while they also anticipate having to compromise during their job search, they’re looking for positions that offer advancement and career-growth opportunities. In fact, for some that’s a deal-breaker. Further findings include that nearly three-quarters (74%) of graduates are worried about current economic conditions, but 88% are confident they’ll receive a job offer shortly after graduating.  More than half (54%) would turn down a job at a company that doesn’t offer career growth.  More graduates (45%) expect a higher starting salary this year, despite widespread layoffs and climbing employer costs.  Almost half (49%) say the most important aspect of a job is a flexible work schedule, and 34% say it’s the ability to work remotely. While diversity is important to graduates, it’s less of a priority this year (42%) compared to 2022 (57%), as graduates focus on other factors such as salary and flexibility.  And mental health and work-life balance are important for graduates, with the majority (59%) saying they would quit a job if the workplace became toxic.  Source Benefits Pro5/11/23

Weight discrimination against women a major issue for employers:  "Heavier women tend to earn less," the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said in a 2011 report, which analyzed the results of multiple studies on the topic. "These penalties have not only increased over the past few decades but continue to increase as women age."  However, men don't seem to face a similar weight bias.  Some studies even found that white males seen as overweight actually earn more. However, the wage penalty for women seen as overweight was consistent in each study.  This wage cut comes on top of the fact that women already earn 20% less on average than men in the U.S. As women age, the effect of weight on their wealth gets worse. The National Institutes of Health published a report that found that the financial net worth of moderately to severely obese women ages 51 to 61 was 40% lower than that of normal-weight peers and it fell even more than 60% of their counterparts when they were 57 to 67 years of age. No such pattern could be found for men, the report found.  Michigan is the only state currently in which weight is a protected class and a subtle form of discrimination when it comes to pay equity.  Source: NPR 4/29/23

Employees don’t want to leave but feel forced to:  Betterworks has released the results of its annual State of Performance Enablement global HR research report, which shows 75% of employees prefer to stay with their employers, but a lack of internal career development and feelings of bias undermine retention, engagement, and productivity. Only 48% percent of employees see a path for advancement in their company and many still see performance management processes as unfair: 37% who weighed in with an opinion give their employer’s performance management an “F” grade.  Managers have to learn the skill of being a career counselor, and employers should provide the time for employees to gain new skills for the next internal position.  Further, careers could be in a lattice, not just vertical, but also horizontal.  Source:  CCH 5/3/23

Companies are gaming the H-1B system:  The Biden administration says it has found evidence that several dozen small technology companies have colluded to increase the chances that their prospective foreign hires will win a coveted H-1B visa for skilled foreign workers in this year’s lottery.  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that awards H-1B visas, said it has found that a small number of companies are responsible for entering the same applicants into the lottery multiple times, with the alleged goal of artificially boosting their chances of winning a visa. The findings were laid out in a notice to employers viewed by The Wall Street Journal. That practice, according to the agency, is in large part responsible for inflating demand for visas to a record high this year, with 781,000 entries into the lottery for 85,000 visa slots. Though it isn’t technically illegal for a foreign worker to have multiple companies submit visa applications on their behalf, companies submitting applications must attest that they have a real job for the employee in question if they win a visa. If companies that win a visa then quickly contract an employee out to third parties or lay off an employee on the visa so he or she can switch companies, that could potentially amount to fraud.  Source: Wall Street Journal 4/28/23

Chicago clarifies that its anti-harassment law applies to all employers with employees in Chicago:  Last year, the Chicago City Council amended the City’s sexual harassment ordinance for the express purpose of promoting zero tolerance of violence and harassment in the workplace. In interpreting the amendments, however, the City applied an incorrect definition of “employer.” Specifically, under the City’s initial guidance, businesses with employees working in Chicago were considered “employers” required to comply with the amended ordinance only if they maintained a physical presence in Chicago and/or were subject to the City’s licensing requirements. In recently published guidance, the City corrects its position. In recently published guidance, the City corrects its position to clarify that the “requirements of the new sexual harassment protections apply to all employers … whose employees work in Chicago.  The training requirement applies for all employees who work in Chicago, even if remote, and their managers or supervisors, even if the managers or supervisors work outside of Chicago.”  Source:  Littler 5/16/23