A little over three years ago, in the first weeks of March 2020, a national emergency was declared in the US over Covid-19, and states began implementing shutdown measures in an attempt to slow its spread. Since that time, the country has lost at least 1.1 million people to the disease, and the entire world is still grappling with ongoing effects.

According to a paper published in Nature Reviews Microbiology, at least 10% of people who have had Covid end up with long Covid, making the pandemic a “mass disabling event.” Many of those people have left the workforce, while others have struggled to be productive at work. However, there are ways that HR leaders can accommodate this portion of the workforce and retain them.

The basics. Long Covid is a chronic illness with symptoms that can vary from extreme fatigue and brain fog to difficulty breathing and heart complications. An estimated 18.8 million adults in the US have long Covid, according to a December report in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services jointly issued guidance in 2021 on how the condition can be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA stipulates that organizations with 15 or more employees must provide accommodations to workers with disabilities, so long as the accommodation won’t cause an “undue hardship” for the company, and the EEOC, which enforces provisions of the ADA, has addressed some questions around long Covid and the ADA. Employers can request documentation of the disability to confirm the employee’s claim.

Doctors and economists have warned that Covid-19 could impact the workforce for years to come. Keep reading.—KP

Here’s another installment of our 1:1 with HR Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Denver Ritz is willing to admit that they suffer from imposter syndrome. Whenever someone tells them they can’t do something, “I’m going to do it twice, and then I’m going to show you how I did it.” This has served Ritz well over their career as a trainer and later performance management coach and talent development pro. They’ve been with Hormel for nearly two years, joining the food processing company to overhaul its talent development approach as a pair of “outside eyes” making sense of a new system.

What’s the best change you’ve made at a place you’ve worked?

[In] 2022, we completely overhauled our performance management approach. We made things smoother…and eliminated about seven weeks of administrative time. There was a lot of administrative wasted time that didn’t really produce any results. And so we cut a lot of that, and then we streamlined the approach.

What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job?

That HR is bad. I always say that I am the “fun” part of HR. I get to help our people grow towards their aspirations while strengthening our organization’s talent [base].

What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job?

I absolutely love facilitating 360 insight sessions. This is where I get to collect data from a leader’s peers, team members, their leader, and others they frequently collaborate with. I assess the info, and present it back to them in a conversation that inspires insights to increase their leadership perceptions and abilities. I also geek out on coaching and mentoring, especially from the neuropsychology perspective.

Keep reading.—AD

Layoffs in white-collar jobs have dominated headlines, but frontline retail also has a problem.

The quit rate among retail workers reached 4.1% in January, above pre-pandemic highs for the first time in the industry since April 2022, according to a survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This persists despite companies like Walmart, Kroger, and Target heavily investing in their workforces by offering higher compensation.

But better wages often aren’t enough. It may seem counterintuitive, but offering career development and upskilling programs in other fields can reinvigorate workers and increase employee satisfaction and retention.

• A 2021 Pew Research survey of retail workers found that 63% of those who quit their job did so due to a lack of opportunities for advancement.

In an effort to address these challenges, and the shortage in skilled trade workers, Lowe’s and its philanthropic arm, The Lowe’s Foundation, are offering its own employees and students outside the company career development training through grant programs with technical colleges and community-based nonprofits.

At the start of the month, the foundation announced a $50 million commitment over the next five years to prepare 50,000 people for skilled trades careers like carpentry, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, or appliance repair careers.

Keep reading on Retail Brew.—KM

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: 90% of employees in over a dozen countries said they would accept a short-term international assignment if necessary. (EY)

Quote: “Based on my own experience, altering the colors in your office can be one of the most cost-effective strategies to improve your work environment…Your team’s performance may be greatly improved…just by using the right colors.”—Sukhy Dhillon, brand director at E-Careers, a London-based ed-tech institution (WorkLife)

Read: An interesting take on a possible solution for burnout: better-designed jobs. (Harvard Business Review)

What workers want: 70% of workers would like to see more holistic benefit options. Want more stats? Franklin Templeton’s Voice of the American Worker Survey has ’em all. Give your workers what they want.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}