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There are two types of problems - the kind you’ve encountered before and the kind you’re running into for the first time - and the pandemic has forced most people, companies, and industries to face more than their fair share of both of these types of problems in the span of a few short years.
In the healthcare industry, bed shortages are not a particularly new phenomenon and have presumably been around for as long as group medical care facilities have existed, for example. Dealing with a short-circuiting global supply chain and competing with patients and other non-medical institutions for PPE supplies, on the other hand, was probably a more novel experience in the healthcare field.
Similarly, HR teams around the globe had plenty of experience prior to the pandemic with rapid-fire retirement announcements and managing external factors that unexpectedly necessitate change within personnel structure, but it is probably safe to say that very few human resources professionals throughout history have ever had to reconfigure entire recruitment and hiring processes on short notice around sometimes untested video chat platforms or overhaul employee benefits packages in light of hybrid-work schedules for entire company divisions.
While it would surely be understandable to want to leave all of this in the past after several years in a near constant state of alert in anticipation of the next shoe drop, however, that unfortunately does not appear to be the plight of the HR professionals in the current era who’ve been carrying the torch and must now manage the next great obstacle that workplaces around the world are grappling with - Long Covid - defined by symptoms lasting more than 3 months following initial infection, often characterized by especially debilitating fatigue.
Most HR departments have experience accommodating various forms of disability, of course, but the novelty of the challenge at hand will be in the massive scale and harsh severity of the problem that Long Covid presents.
In terms of scale, about 1 out of every 13 adults in the US is experiencing Long Covid. Given a workforce of about 160 million people, that could lead to more than 12 million cases just in the US alone.
As for severity, one study determined that fatigue and quality of life for some Long Covid patients is worse than it is for late stage cancer and kidney disease patients, and 80% of people experiencing Long Covid report having at least some difficulty conducting day-to-day tasks as a result, which can significantly hinder productivity.
With regard to employer costs that affect the bottom line beyond diminished productivity, estimates indicate that companies’ medical contributions for employees with Long Covid will be $9,000 greater on average than the comparable expenses required for employees who are infected with Covid but show no extended symptoms. For additional context, average Long Covid expenditures exceed expenditures on employees with diabetes by about 26%.
On the brighter side, there have been some recent advancements within the medical research community that’s working to more specifically identify the biological mechanisms and responses in play with Long Covid. Also, some of the more ubiquitous Covid strains appear less likely to produce Long Covid Cases and repeated infection may reduce the likelihood of Long Covid symptoms, which is especially relevant as the disease transitions from pandemic to endemic.
Still, while there are many aspects of life that have largely returned to normal at this point in the pandemic cycle, there are also many ways in which ‘normal’ has been entirely redefined. Barring any additional speculative breakthroughs, Long Covid will likely be a new normal to which people, companies, and industries will once again adapt as it impacts our lives and offices for a long time to come.
The unemployment rate ticked back up three-tenths of a point last month to 3.7% after matching half-century historic lows at 3.4% the month before.
Meanwhile, just under 340 thousand new jobs were added to US payrolls, led by gains in the professional and business services industry for the second month in a row with gains of more than 60 thousand new jobs.
The number of job openings reversed course from the trend of decreasing job openings, and rose by about half a million openings from the end of March through the end of April (the most recent data available), climbing from about 9.6 million to 10.1 million openings.
The total number of hires held steady from month to month at about 6.1 million, as did the hiring rate which only dropped by about a tenth of a point from 4% to 3.9%.
The South and Midwest both registered a hiring rate increase of a tenth of a point, whereas the Northeast and West regions both saw their hiring rates drop by a tenth of a point. The South and Midwest also retain the higher hiring rates overall at 4.4% and 3.9%, respectively, relative to the 3.6% and 3.4 percent hiring rates reported by the West and Northeast.
The separation rate dropped a tenth of a point from 3.8% to 3.7% and total separations were down a little less than 300 thousand.
The number of job quitters and the quit rate also continued to drop, down to 3.8 million from 3.9 million the month before, with the quit rate falling from 2.5% to 2.4%.
Layoffs and discharges dropped as well after having registered a month-over-month increase the month prior - with the layoff/discharge rate dropping from 1.2% to 1% and the raw number of layoffs and discharges falling by about a quarter million down to 1.6 million last month.
Inflation rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in May, which is only one quarter of the inflation registered the month before.
The previous 12 month period saw a total 4% inflation increase, which continues this downward trend as the Federal Reserve convenes this week regarding an additional interest rate increase.
According to the Conference Board’s 2023 report on Job Satisfaction, US workers’ job satisfaction is on the rise - climbing from 56.8% in 2020 to 60.2% in 2021 and 62.3% in 2022 - with improved work/life balance a significant contributing factor.
In fact, the latest figure of 62.3% job satisfaction is the highest ever recorded in the 36 years that this report has been produced and continues a steady upward trend in job satisfaction since hitting an all-time low of 42.6% in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis.
Interestingly, hybrid-remote workers are more satisfied on average than either on-site workers or fully-remote workers are.
Recent research from the Rewards & Employee Benefits Association in conjunction with Howden Employee Benefits and Well Being indicates that company expenditures on employee benefits and perks are going up, with 64% of responding employers planning to increase benefits spending.
According to a recent article in Yahoo Finance, about 20% of the workforce is currently managing some kind of caregiving responsibility in their personal life, whether that be child care, senior care, special needs care, or otherwise. Further, nearly half of those managing these kinds of caregiving responsibilities (44%) claim that additional flexibility at work with regard to hours and scheduling would be helpful.
The Forbes Human Resources Council put together a collection of different ways that employers can better enable employees to manage mental health, including
Another recent piece notes that oft-touted Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) often fall short of providing the kind of care and attention required by someone experiencing mental health issues, and offers up several alternative mental wellness benefits offerings, including:
Further, this study indicates that 9 out of 10 companies that invest in employee wellness see a positive return on investment, with 85% of HR professionals noting a reduction in sick days and 78% seeing decreased health expenditures when comprehensive well-being-promoting benefits are utilized.
According to Optavise’s 2023 Benefits Broker Report, nearly two-thirds (64%) of surveyed benefits brokers saw an increasing proportion of their client base offering voluntary benefits last year, which is up from 58% in 2021.
The top three newly added benefits for the last 2 years have been accident insurance, critical illness insurance, and hospital indemnity insurance.
Data from Ziprecruiter reveals an explosion in the amount and type of employee benefits offerings that are being included in job postings, with about 25% of jobs advertising they are now offering retirement benefits, and an increasing number of postings are including specific reference to student loan repayment/tuition assistance, PTO, parental leave, and even healthcare.
Given that the average employee only spends about 20 minutes a year evaluating and choosing from among benefits package offerings, a recent piece from Benefits Pro includes some ideas that can help employers, benefits advisors, brokers and employees themselves improve employee benefit comprehension and adoption rates, including:
A new study from LegalShield reinforces the idea that employees are seeking more guidance when it comes to understanding employee benefit offerings and how to utilize them.
Nearly half of the more than 800 employees who were surveyed claimed that they did not feel that they were sufficiently prepared for the decisions they were making during open enrollment periods, and more than 8 out of 10 of the survey respondents responded positively to the possibility of keeping active lines of communication about benefits open throughout the year as opposed to only or primarily during open enrollment periods.
A new article from Time speculates that benefits package components that help make homeownership a more attainable goal for employees will become increasingly sought after, given that 87% of Americans are concerned about housing costs and only 1 out of 5 houses in the US priced at a level that the median-income family could afford, which is down from 2 out f 5 houses priced affordably for the median-income family in 2021.
According to Morgan Stanlye’s annual State of the Workplace report, employers are failing to keep pace with their employees’ growing appetite for financial benefits, with 88% of employees requesting some kind of benefit package component that their employer didn’t offer, up 10% from the 78% in 2021 who requested an employee benefit that their company didn’t make available.
That said, one in four employers have already begun the process of pruning back their employee financial benefits offerings as a cost-saving measure in anticipation of economic downturn. Some of the areas that are seeing these cuts implemented include equity arrangements, financial wellness programs, and retirement savings related expenditures.
A new report from The National Menopause Foundation, despite nearly 2 out of 3 women wanting menopause-related benefit offerings as a part of their employee benefits package, only 14% of women believe that their employer adequately recognizes the importance of menopause benefits and accommodations.
According to The University of Phoenix’s 2022 Career Optimism Study, 89% of employers believe that additional learning and development opportunities provided to their employees are provided frequently, while only 61% of employees agree.
2022 EEO-1 Component 1 Submissions Due
Mid-July 2023 is the current tentatively set date for 2022s EEO1 Component 1 data collection.
This filing must be submitted by every company that has 100 or more employees across all locations and/or is affiliated with a company that has 100 or more employees through common ownership or centralized management.
Further, this filing must also be submitted by any company with 50 employees or more that has a contract with the federal government worth at least $50,000 or has an establishment that holds a federal contract worth at least $50,000.
Companies or establishments thereof that are federal contractors and serve as depositories of federal funds no matter how much or how little, as well as financial entities that are issuing and paying agents for US Savings Bonds and Savings notes must also submit this form.
The Department of Labor released the latest iteration of their Employee Rights Under Fair Labor And Standards Act Poster, which employers are required to display and includes information regarding the current minimum wage rate of $7.25 an hour, as well as other pertinent notes/rules regarding child labor, tip credit, overtime, and the PUMP Act, etc.
The grace period during which the pandemic-inspired flexibility with I-9 employment verification is coming to an end on July 31, 2023 (as previously reported), after which time the virtual inspections of employment documents will no longer be permissible.
Further, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has set the date of August 30, 2023 - just one month after the termination of the flexibility/grace period - as the deadline before which employers who utilized virtual inspection processes to verify employee documentation during the grace/flexibility period must complete in-person follow-up verification for employees whose employment eligibility status was initially verified virtually.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued the final rule in March of 2023, which is an update to 2018’s Summary of Your Rights Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires employers that reject job applicants due to information obtained through a credit report to provide the rejected applicant with information about the credit reporting agency from which the report was obtained, including name, address, and telephone number.
Although the new rule has already taken effect as of April 19, 2023 - compliance does not become mandatory until next year on March 20, 2024.
This piece from Forbes put together a collection of advantages that can be gained via utilizing virtual and augmented reality in an employee training context, including:
A piece in Corporate Wellness Magazine showcases some of the best reasons for incorporating employee benefits consultant webinars into your company's informational resource repertoire, including keeping up with emerging trends and evolving best practices, exploring new strategies, tracking regulatory and compliance-related developments, and experimenting with the latest relevant technological innovations and platforms.
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