In this issue of HR News Roundup, we feature news on what HR leaders need to know about GenZ, a new federal pregnancy law, AI at the workplace, leadership, and the impact of return-to-the-office mandates. Don’t miss our quick link list and our selection of HR-related items “from the lighter side.”
Gen Z is taking over the workplace: 5 things HR leaders need to know
Robin Erickson, Human Resource Executive
Today, 9.8 million US jobs remain unfilled—a near-record high. As companies work to fill their open roles, attracting workers from Generation Z will be key to winning the talent war. After all, this generation will soon represent a third of the workforce. Companies that ignore them do so at their peril.
However, to earn the loyalty of this generation, born in 1997 or later, HR leaders need to first understand what makes Gen Z unique.
Related: Gen Z values education — but doesn’t think a four-year degree is the only option – (HR Dive)
Employees demand new skills to use – and compete with – AI
Tony Case, Worklife
In a survey of more than 3,000 people in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Germany, the people analytics firm Visier found that 86% of employees say their companies should take at least some role in reskilling to ensure they aren’t so easily replaced by machines — with more than half believing it is entirely the employer’s responsibility to do so.
Nearly one-third of employees expressed concern that the skills they currently have could eventually be replaced by AI.
A new federal pregnancy law is now in effect; what HR needs to know
Tom Starner, Human Resource Executive
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act went into effect on June 27, requiring that employers provide “reasonable accommodations” to pregnant workers from pregnancy through the postpartum period, including time off to recover—unless such accommodations would lead to an “undue hardship” on the part of the employer.
According to Leslie Silva, a partner in the Albany, N.Y., office of Tully Rinckey who practices family/matrimonial and education law, the biggest change is that the new law undoes a previous requirement that employees must prove they should be accommodated. Instead, the onus now is on employers to work in good faith with workers to provide those accommodations.
Silva offers insights on how employers are affected by the PWFA, along with some basic ways HR leaders can help their organizations meet the law’s requirements.
Why hair discrimination should be the next focus for DEI progress
Dawn Kawamoto, Human Resource Executive
In the last four years, 22 states have adopted versions of the Crown Act, first passed in California in 2019 to prohibit employers from discriminating based on hair style and texture that is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin. While legislative support for the anti-discrimination measure moves swiftly, however, employers have been slower to respond, experts say.
“I would say over 90% of employers do not have relevant language and policies in place to stop this kind of discrimination,” Michelle De Leon, founder and CEO of the organization World Afro Day, told HRE.
We’re Now Finding Out The Damaging Results of The Mandated Return to Office — And It’s Worse Than We Thought.
Gleb Tsipursky, Entrepreneur
We’re now finding out the damaging consequences of the mandated return to office. And it’s not a pretty picture.
A trio of compelling reports — the Greenhouse Candidate Experience Report, the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), and Unispace’s “Returning for Good” report — collectively paint a stark picture of this brewing storm.
How the Best Leadership Teams Navigate Uncertain Times
Tim Ryan, Harvard Business Review
While we don’t know what the rest of the year will bring, it’s reasonable to assume that the headwinds we’re experiencing will continue. This is an environment that will demand — and reward — high-performing leadership teams. Based on his conversations with more than 100 clients across industries, PWC U.S. Chair and Senior Partner Tim Ryan has identified seven factors that set these teams apart.
HR News Roundup: Quick Takes
- Women are held back at work due to 30 biases out of their control, says new study: ‘They were never quite right’
- U.S. Supreme Court “Clarifies” Religious Accommodation Standard After Nearly Half a Century
- New York employers must now tell applicants when they encounter AI
- 10 new trends in hiring: Insight from research, data (and maybe a little fear!)
- New Report Illustrates Trends in Recruitment
- The formula you need to manage stress
- How does extreme heat affect mental health?
- HR’s role in changing the conversation about alcohol use
- 988 mental health crisis line gets 5 million calls, texts and chats in first year
- Benefits buyer’s remorse: 4 mistakes to avoid
- Are you overlooking top talent? Rethinking the interview process for neurodivergent candidates
- Don’t Become a Ransomware Statistic: Protect Your Business from BEC Scams Today
- AI is already linked to layoffs in the industry that created it
- Charts Related to the Latest BLS News Releases
- Workers say surveillance makes them less productive — if they even know about it
HR News Roundup: From the Lighter Side …
- The Summer Jobs of 14 Future U.S. Presidents – Before landing our nation’s top job, some presidents held less-than-glamorous gigs.
- Quiet quitting? Damp drinking? Why we coin new terms for old feelings.– We’re not having new emotions, linguists say. We’re just creatively renaming them. That’s why you’re ‘intuitive eating’ at meals and ‘rage applying’ for jobs.
- The Apple TV show “Ted Lasso,” is premised on a Midwestern US football coach being hired to coach a UK soccer team without knowing a thing about the sport. Ted’s a winsome and compelling character who earns trust and respect. Here are some articles that focus on what we can learn from Ted about managing and leading people.
–The leadership devotion of Ted Lasso
–Management lessons from Ted Lasso: the importance of clear goals and positive feedback
–12 Ted Lasso Leadership Lessons That Will Transform Your Workplace - The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders – A short video clip about an unusual Japanese pop-up restaurant that serves a lesson along with food.
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