In an era when eye-popping healthcare premiums are prompting employers to take a hard look at their benefits, some are considering an option that wasn’t even available 10 years ago. Rather than paying for a group health plan, they’re giving their employees money to buy their own through an individual coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA).

ICHRAs, first made available in 2020, are still a fairly nascent strategy for employers looking to cut health costs.

HR leaders at organizations that have switched from group health plans to ICHRAs in recent years told us their decisions were driven largely by cost in addition to concerns about employee choice. Transitioning to an ICHRA requires a fair amount of change management, they said, as it puts the onus on workers to manage their own health plans.

For more on how HR leaders are adopting and implementing ICHRAs, keep reading here.—CV, CC

Summer is right around the corner. While many folks head to Orlando, Florida to delight in the amusements of Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, HR Brew is on its way to the sunshine state for a different pastime: the annual Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conference.

Over 25,000 people pros are expected to descend upon the Orange County Convention Center from June 15–19 to attend sessions, hit the expo floor, network with industry peers, and catch a glimpse of a few celebrities. This reporter is particularly excited to lay eyes on the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Christina Aguilera, James Marsden, and Terry Crews.

When I’m not tracking down the stars of Jury Duty and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, I’ll be looking to hear how HR pros are grappling with the most pressing issues facing their industry.

For more about our coverage of SHRM26, keep reading here.—MC

T-Mobile US has set its sights on India.

What in the world? In early June, the wireless carrier opened a new 250,000 square foot tech center in Hyderabad. The center, operated by subsidiary TMUS Global Solutions, will serve as a global capability center (GCC)—essentially, an offshore business center, which in this case will support internal engineering and technology functions for the company. By 2027, it plans to employ around 1,000 people who will focus on software engineering, DevOps, product development, and more, although the Times of India reported that the company had already onboarded more than 500 people at the facility.

The center’s opening follows various rounds of layoffs by T-Mobile in the US, most recently in March and April, with total cuts undisclosed but impacting at least 500 workers in Washington state where the wireless network operator is headquartered. Those cuts affected various parts of the company, including IT operations, analysts, and engineers and technicians, GeekWire reported.

Satellite view. T-Mobile isn’t the only company opening GCCs in India. The majority of the approximately 1,800 offshore corporate offices based in India in 2024 were owned by American companies, including JPMorgan, Target, and Lowe’s, according to the New York Times. These offices brought in a combined $65 billion that year, and earnings are projected to grow to $100 billion or more by 2030, the outlet reported.

For more on how T-Mobile is moving some operations abroad, keep reading here.—PM