In a world where workforces are increasingly distributed, more companies have started to recognize the importance of bringing workers together, even if they’re not required to show up to an office every day.

But the old playbook for in-person work events is showing its age. Take corporate happy hours, which may not hold the same appeal as they did five years ago. This seems particularly true for younger adults, who are less likely to drink than their older peers, according to recent Pew Research data.

Cesar Carvalho, CEO of corporate benefit firm Gympass, told HR Brew he’s noticed more organizations moving away from “happy hours” to “wellness hours,” and expects to see the trend continue in 2024.

“I’m already seeing a move on businesses, completely changing how they celebrate and build a bond between employees,” he said. For his part, Carvalho said he gathered his team for a boxing class after a stressful week. “You sweat together, spend time together…then you go have a healthy dinner, and suddenly everyone has a ton of energy.”

Keep reading here.—CV

Here’s a tough stat to swallow: 64% of employees say student loan debt makes it harder to save for retirement. In a year marked by the soaring cost of living and turbulent markets, employees are worried about their futures.

To help, Betterment at Work surveyed 1k full-time employees to see how employers can better address these concerns in 2024. The results are pretty telling.

Check out some of their findings:

• Only 40% of employees said they feel financially stable, with a stark difference between genders.
• 60% said they’d be enticed to leave their job for an employer that offers better financial benefits.
• 58% of employees said financial anxiety made it difficult to focus at work.
  

Get the report and meet your employees where they need help.

Moms First, a nonprofit advocating for the interests of mothers in the workplace and culture, recently launched an AI-powered tool to help working parents navigate New York State’s paid family leave benefits.

The tool, called PaidLeave.ai, was built in partnership with Novy.ai, which builds “future forward products,” and Craig Newmark Philanthropies. Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Moms First, told HR Brew she initially reached out to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for guidance on the project.

Saujani said she believes the tool will be useful not only for working parents, but also HR professionals seeking to advise their employees on the paid leave application process.

Seeking simplicity. Saujani noted that working parents may be navigating a number of different systems when they apply for paid family leave. The tool features a chatbot that will answer commonly asked questions.

Keep reading here.—CV

As layoffs hit the tech world in early 2023 and the temperature was rising on corporate diversity programs, LinkedIn reported a decline in chief diversity officers.

However, new data from LinkedIn suggests that DE&I roles are still among the fastest growing in the country.

On Jan. 17, the platform released its annual list of the fastest growing jobs in the US, based on the growth rate of jobs started by users between January 2019 and July 2023. Some may be surprised to hear that while it’s dropped from the #3 spot in 2023, “VP of diversity and inclusion” landed at #7.

The report noted that those in this role typically have a background in HR, as well as skills including diversity training, community outreach, and diversity program development. But the skills people need to be a successful DE&I practitioner may change moving forward, according to Jarvis Sam, founder and CEO of DE&I consultancy Rainbow Disruption.

Keep reading here.—KP

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Nearly one-half (41%) of frontline workers switched jobs in the past 12 months. (Unleash)

Quote: “The video is painful for me to watch…But any healthy org needs to get the people who aren’t performing off. That wasn’t the mistake here. The mistake was not being more kind and humane as we did.”—Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, writing on X about a now-viral TikTok video of an employee’s conversation with HR during the cloud company’s recent layoffs (Yahoo Finance)

Read: Outside the tech industry, the war for talent remains. (Fortune)

Forget FUD: More than half of employees say financial anxiety makes it difficult to focus at work. Betterment at Work put together a study to help employers better address these concerns. Check it out.*

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