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Last month, the Supreme Court decided that schools like the University of North Carolina and Harvard were in violation of the constitution’s Equal Protection clause as a result of their express, affirmative-action inclusive admission practices. Many questions still remain, however, in terms of how the practical impacts will play out in admissions offices and on campuses, as well as how far this ruling will reverberate into race-conscious corporate hiring practices.
One significant distinction between race-conscious admissions and race-conscious hiring is that they are governed by two separate sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with admissions being addressed in Title VI and private employment practices falling under Title VII.
Also, while the ruling was constructed narrowly so as to apply only in the academic and educational admissions context, if a similar interpretive framework were used in addressing the Title VII question of race-conscious hiring, similar results could reasonably be expected.
To that point, it’s worth noting that some of the same groups who supported the process of striking down affirmative action in university admissions have opposed diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and have been filing complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against some of the country’s biggest employers, claiming bias in their hiring practices. Depending on how the EEOC and the involved companies respond, of course, those complaints may very well find themselves working their way through the court system sooner than later.
So what kind of changes might be in store should the Supreme Court elect to hear a case about race-conscious hiring? In the majority opinion on the college admissions case, the Court effectively overturned a previous case from 2003 in which that iteration of the Court validated the University of Michigan’s consideration of race in the admissions process “as one factor among many, in an effort to assemble a student body that is diverse in ways broader than race.”
According to the new rule, college and university applicants “must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race” although in writing the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts did allow that schools may consider how race may have influenced the applicant’s experience and character.
While DEI initiatives aren’t necessarily seeing the level of investment from companies that they were back in 2020, and recent waves of layoffs are disproportionately impacting DEI workers, building an inclusive workplace remains an outwardly stated priority for many companies both as a reflection of company values and as means of obtaining the advantages that can be derived from diverse collaboration.
Given recent developments, it’s very possible that these very diversity-minded hiring practices are going to be challenged in the courts in the next few years, in which case companies that want to actively seek out diverse hires may have to start doing in short-answer and essay formats right alongside the colleges and universities, which is something that may be worth spending some time thinking about in advance.
The US added 209 thousand jobs last month, which is a positive number despite reflecting a bit of a slowdown from the last few months.
The unemployment rate dipped back down by a tenth of a point to 3.6% after having made a three-tenths of a point jump up the month prior following the more than 50-year low of 3.4% unemployment registered in April.
The number of job openings fell to 9.8 million in May (the most recent data available) - down from 10.1 million the month before in line with the general trend.
The total number of hires was slightly larger in May (6.2 million) than in April (6.1 million), with the hiring rate climbing from 3.9% to 4%.
The Northeast was the only region that saw a drop in its hiring rate (-0.1%) to 3.3%, while the South and West both registered a 0.1% increase (to 4.5% and 3.7%, respectively), while the Midwest registered a 0.2% increase in hiring rate, which rose to 4.1%.
The separation rate ticked up a tenth of a point to 3.8%, and total separations increased by about 211 thousand to 5.9 million.
The quit rate rose a couple of tenths of a point to 2.6% and increased by about a quarter million job quitters to a total of 4 million quits over the month.
The layoff and discharge rate held steady at 1%, matching the previous month’s figure of 1.6 million.
Inflation is at its lowest point over the last 2 years, with a year-over-year increase of just 3% from June of 2022 to last month.
In fact, when relatively volatile food, energy prices are excluded from the calculation, core inflation is at an annualized rate of about 2.4%.
It’s also worth noting that these figures are down markedly from the 3.8% average annual inflation that the US clocked from 1960 through 2022.
Over the last couple of years, employers have been offering more comprehensive and varied benefits packages, but as more and more offerings have become available, however, employees have become more likely to overlook some of the potential perks and benefits package components.
According to research from The Hartford, 70% of employers believe that employees are not effectively taking advantage of the benefits packages, and estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics predict that employees could effectively increase their salaries by 30% if they were optimizing the benefits that are already available to them.
With the proportional balance of employees shifting away from in-office workers, managers in many industries are finding themselves on somewhat unfamiliar ground when it comes to managing remote workers.
These are 5 potential ideas for better motivating remote workers:
Mothers are leaving jobs and in some cases exiting the workforce at a quickening pace, with 25% identifying as stay-at-home parents, which is up 10% from the 15% who identified as stay-at-home parents in the 2022 survey. In total, 18% of respondents had left their job or the workforce entirely within the last year.
Given that more than 40% of women who left their jobs (or the workforce in general) did so either to be with their children or because they were unable to find childcare, it’s no surprise that the best way to entice these job-leaving mom’s back to your company (or the workforce in general) is to increase schedule flexibility according to almost 2 out of 3 respondents (64%).
More than half of respondents (52%) also cited access to affordable childcare as a top factor that could make returning to work eminently more feasible. Access to affordable childcare is a major consideration for mothers currently in the workforce, as well, with nearly half of the respondents relying on outside childcare in order to meet their work demands and 63% paying for more than 30 hours of outside childcare per week.
About 9 out of 10 companies that invest in wellness programs see a positive return on that investment, which is comparable to the expected rate of positive ROI on other benefits such as health insurance coverage.
Not only can businesses expect direct savings that exceed wellness program costs more than 90% of the time, but about 85% of respondents attribute their investment in wellness initiatives to lowering recruitment expenses and reducing employee absences for sick leave.
Average wages have increased 4.4% so far this year, which is significantly up from the average 3.1% increase reported in 2021.
Survey forecasts are expecting a slightly lower increase of 4% in 2024, so there does appear to be some ebbing here, though the vast majority of employers (70%) still anticipate pay raises next year to be at or above the same level as this year, while just 14% are budgeting for lower year-to-year pay raises.
This recent piece from Forbes highlights some of the most in-demand employee benefits at the moment, including:
A recent study from BambooHR determined that nearly 9 out of 10 American workers have knowingly come to work sick just within the last 12 months, and almost half of those employees who came to work sick did so on more than one occasion over the course of the year.
At the same time, 3 out of 4 operational managers have suspected an employee was abusing their sick leave, and more than 8 in 10 HR managers have shared that same suspicion.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is collecting data and conducting research into heat-related illness and injuries that occur on the job and will be hosting Small Business Advocacy Review Panels this summer in order to bring together commercial and governmental representatives to share their insight and experience in the process of honing the new standard to best achieve the desired results.
While experts from a wide variety of industries are certainly welcomed and encouraged to attend and provide input, the most-sought-after insight involves the industries where heat exposure illnesses are most common and dangerous, such as agriculture, landscaping, construction, manufacturing, warehousing, oil and gas, utilities, waste management, and food services - particularly restaurants with hot kitchen working spaces.
A medical practice in North Carolina had submitted what it believed to be all the necessary paperwork in order to renew its cybersecurity insurance, but the policy lapsed just two days before the company suffered a serious ransomware attack.
Given that recovery from the attack cost the practice more than $300 thousand on top of nearly $700 thousand in lost revenue while their internal systems were out of operation, the practice is now suing their insurance provider for negligence in failing to inform them of the lapse in coverage with sufficient notice to prevent it.
One cybersecurity expert claimed that the depth of infrastructure analysis and risk assessment required before a policy can be issued or renewed would have made it unrealistic to renew a policy with such short notice, and any accidental lapses/gaps in coverage, as a result, can instantly become extremely costly mistakes.
2022 was a banner year for the cyber insurance market, which saw premiums grow by 50%, bringing the size of the total market to $7.2 billion.
Much of that growth is a direct result of improved underwriting practices which resulted in better loss ratios, which decreased by 23 points from 66% to 43% on standalone policies and by 18 points on packaged policies, falling from 66% to 48%.
When considering AI and its potential impacts, it’s important to recognize some things that AI can not do well, which currently includes strategic thinking, negotiation skills, and the ability to establish relationships that are based on trust and mutual benefit.
What AI does do well is provide insurance brokers with data-analysis-based insights, roadmaps for streamlined workflows, and automation for the most mundane necessities of the job, which gives brokers more time to do the things they do best and the things that can make them successful in their roles.
Two of the main ways that insurance brokers have been putting artificial intelligence to work to the benefit of their business are via improved customer service platforms and increased risk management proficiency, which can both lead to a significant competitive advantage, especially over less technologically forward competitors.
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