POLITICAL:

Many businesses are hopeful that the expiration of federal pandemic unemployment benefits will lead to an increase in job applicants that would ease the worker shortage. However, the historical trend is a large reduction in spending with only a slight increase in people looking for work.

ECONOMIC:

According to a recent survey, worker confidence in receiving job offers is up along with salary offer figures. The job market is fluctuating with skilled workers in demand. It appears that job applicants are aware of this and of their value.

TECHNOLOGY:

Hiring and retention can both be aided by an unlikely innovation: virtual reality. Some companies are relying on VR to train new employees and invest in existing ones to build confidence and skills in a safe, low-stakes environment.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

Employees are leaving or planning on leaving in swarms, with reasons ranging from burnout to return-to-work conflicts. Inc. has more.

LEGAL:

The 5th Circuit court in Texas found that a company that terminated an employee while on leave was in violation of FMLA. Even though the employee had a bad performance review, the timing of the termination indicated that the company’s decision wasn’t unrelated to his FMLA leave.

ENVIRONMENTAL:

The pandemic and other stressors like climate change have expanded the role of HR and cemented its value in handling complicated people-centric challenges in the workplace. Understanding workers’ human experience is key to offering support.

SOCIAL:

As technology becomes the expectation, not the exception or the innovation, it is time for organizations to consider the employee digital experience. This includes tech savvy, but also knowledge of how to use tech to communicate, build relationships and what we do with our technology.