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GLP-1 medications for weight loss are biting into large employers’ budgets, and in some cases coverage has become financially untenable, recent examples suggest.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan recently said that the company is spending more than $250 million annually on GLP-1s, representing 13% of its total healthcare spending. BofA has no plans to drop coverage, though, as Moynihan cited both short- and long-term benefits for the workforce and the bank, which anticipates spending less on healthcare for obesity-related conditions, such as cardiovascular events.

Starbucks, on the other hand, recently stopped covering GLP-1s for weight loss, Business Insider reported on Aug. 7. The coffee chain isn’t the only high-profile employer to do so—PwC told US staff they would no longer cover the medications for weight loss back in the spring, according to the Financial Times. Though neither company disclosed their GLP-1 spend, a recent survey indicates that the costs of this drug category are prompting some large employers to reconsider coverage. Nearly 8 in 10 employers surveyed by the Business Group on Health, whose members include large organizations, said GLP-1s were driving an increase in their company’s health costs, and 10% say they likely wouldn’t continue coverage in 2027.

Such examples show how the rising popularity of GLP-1s are affecting decision-making around benefits, even as policymakers seek to lower the cost of the medications.

For more on the employers grappling with the high costs of GLP-1s, and where the market is headed, keep reading here.—CV

      

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RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Francis Scialabba

AI is creating mo’ solutions, and maybe problems.

Many recruiters use AI tools to sift through résumés and source candidates, but more and more HR pros are growing concerned about the rise of AI application fraud.

While 78% of people pros say AI increases hiring and onboarding efficiency, 36% report the rise of AI-generated candidate information has reduced their confidence in hiring decisions, an Equifax report found. Nearly three-fourths (73%) of HR pros have seen “fabricated or misleading candidate information.”

“What we’re seeing is there’s more efficiency. It’s a faster process…The challenge is the stories of the folks who slip through,” Chris Johnson, a SVP and general manager of employer services at Equifax, said. “They’re stories both of human error in the process, but they’re also stories of opportunities for us to incorporate AI into the process, so we can check for fraud along the way.”

For more on what HR can do to reduce the risk of AI-related applicant fraud in the hiring process, keep reading here.—MC

      

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TECH

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The Department of Labor (DOL) is reportedly tapping major tech players to help understand the data on AI’s impact on the workforce, according to acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling.

OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Amazon are some of the companies tapped to share data with the DOL in order to help it understand how businesses use AI and where the technology might be headed, Sonderling told Axios.

The new data from the tech giants would supplement the collection of ongoing government statistics, according to Sonderling, providing more insights into how companies are adopting AI and its implications for employees and the workforce. He told Axios the findings would be made public.

“The bottom line is—and I’ve been open about this—the government does not have the data,” Sonderling told Axios

For more on the importance of the data to the DOL, keep reading here.—AD

      

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Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Since 2025, 12% fewer employers are covering GLP-1s as a treatment for obesity. (Business Group on Health)

Quote: “The Trump administration is systematically weakening policies and institutions that give workers a voice, that give workers protections and that hold employers accountable. He’s been doing that from day one, and since then it has absolutely continued and accelerated. You see attacks on every kind of worker protection from safety and health to wage and hour protections. Policy after policy after policy goes directly against the interests of workers.”—Heidi Shierholz, president of the progressive think tank the Economic Policy Institute, on the growing criticism from organized labor claiming President Trump is “the most anti-union president” (the Guardian)

Read: Nike is again bracing against pushback from conservatives, this time from a group of investors urging the athletic apparel and footwear company to abandon in its employee health plans gender affirming care for minors, claiming the benefit puts the company at legal risk after the Supreme Court last year cleared the way for states to ban puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors seeking to transition. (Bloomberg)

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Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photo: Allie Shulman

Allie Shulman didn’t plan to become a people leader — her path from music into HR shows how an unconventional route can still lead to “using power for good” in the role.