TOTAL REWARDS

Jonathan Heisler

Do employers know whether their mental health offerings actually benefit their workers? It seems many are in the dark.

Nearly all (97%) employers offer mental health services, according to a 2025 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Yet far fewer actually take steps to know if their programs are working for their employees.

“Employers would benefit from greater visibility into their employee utilization data…[and] from more rigorous accountability systems to ensure their benefits are always meeting the mark,” the report authors wrote.

The 85% of employers that expressed interest in enhancing their mental health benefits might consider looking to Match Group as an example. The parent company of online dating services including Match.com, Tinder, and Hinge retooled its mental health benefits after double-clicking on sentiment that its surveys picked up from its young workers.

For more on how employees helped reshape Match Group’s mental health benefits, keep reading here.—PM

      

Sponsored By PwC

What does it actually take to operationalize AI? This was the question AT&T asked themselves. Soon after, their enterprise AI transformation was born.

It began with a clear strategic vision, but what followed was the work of turning this vision into valuable day-to-day operations. While many organizations find themselves willing to discuss AI, the chats can sometimes, er, stall when it comes to implementing change.

Wes Long, AVP, HR Technology at AT&T, shares lessons learned and what it took to redesign workflows, drive adoption, and build AI that scales beyond the pilot phase.

One big takeaway: To embed AI into an enterprise like AT&T, it really takes buy-in from the top down. And AI adoption stalls when the solutions aren’t practical.

Hear what else they learned.

DEI

Credit: Morning Brew, Inc., Photo: Getty Images

Thinness has long been synonymous with status, and while it may be uncomfortable to admit, “pretty privilege” is real, even in the workplace.

A new paper from Harvard University shows that after years of body positivity efforts, unemployed women who use GLP-1 medications for weight loss are more likely to return to work faster than those who are considering the drug.

“Their employment rate rises 13 percentage points overall and 27 percentage points after six or more quarters, and their weekly hours rise by nearly ten hours at the longer horizon,” Rebecca Diamond, economics professor at Harvard who authored the study, wrote. “Much of the employment gain is movement out of unemployment rather than out of retirement or disability.”

The study, however, did not find that employed women who use GLP-1s for weight loss enjoy a professional advantage.

For more on how weight loss culture informs hiring, keep reading here.—KP

      

Sponsored By Bank of America

Great benefits merit great participation. Only 56% of employees who are offered an HSA feel confident they understand how it works, and fewer know they can invest the balance. Annual enrollment is a great opportunity to bridge that gap and help employees make the most of what’s already theirs.

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Getty Images

Tech unemployment ticked up in September, but demand for IT talent was strong in another indication of an unsettled industry labor market.

AI continued to be a major driver of the tech labor market. As Jordan Rosenblatt, solutions consulting manager at Nexthink, told IT Brew, it’s important to balance the market’s AI skills gap with the potential the ubiquitous technology brings to the enterprise.

“You want workers that are able to take on these new technologies and utilize them effectively,” Rosenblatt said. “At the same time, we see a lot of fear in the market around AI potentially replacing people.”

For more on how AI is disrupting the tech employment market, keep reading on IT Brew.—EH

      

Sponsored By DoorDash

The secret to get your people back in the office: food. Just ask DoorDash for Business. They tapped the minds of 1,000+ decision-makers to get their takes on workplace meal programs. Grab the white paper to read up on the role of meals at work.

work perks

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Initial unemployment claims were 197,000 for the week of Oct. 3, marking the fourth week in a row where jobless claims were under 200,000. (the Department of Labor)

Quote: “Ight Imma head out.”—text from a meme that one worker printed out and allegedly used as their resignation letter (LinkedIn)

Read: Walmart’s quest to program robots to sort merchandise in its warehouses is creating costly headaches for the retail giant. (the Wall Street Journal)

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