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Source: https://hr-trends.co.uk/feed/

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<title>The AI Disparity: UK Leaders Surging Ahead While Workers Are Left Behind</title>
<link>https://hr-trends.co.uk/the-ai-disparity-uk-leaders-surging-ahead-while-workers-are-left-behind/</link>
<comments>https://hr-trends.co.uk/the-ai-disparity-uk-leaders-surging-ahead-while-workers-are-left-behind/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2025 13:40:42 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Global]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hr-trends.co.uk/?p=7867</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Workplace AI adoption favours senior staff, leaving junior employees without key tools 73% of managers use AI each month, but uptake among entry-level roles is just 32% Millennials, not Gen Z, are the most active users of AI technology at work Poor rollout of AI systems is linked to a 50% fall in staff productivity […]
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hr-trends.co.uk/the-ai-disparity-uk-leaders-surging-ahead-while-workers-are-left-behind/">The AI Disparity: UK Leaders Surging Ahead While Workers Are Left Behind</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hr-trends.co.uk">HR Trends</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<ul>
<li> Workplace AI adoption favours senior staff, leaving junior employees without key tools</li>
<li> 73% of managers use AI each month, but uptake among entry-level roles is just 32%</li>
<li> Millennials, not Gen Z, are the most active users of AI technology at work</li>
<li> Poor rollout of AI systems is linked to a 50% fall in staff productivity</li>
</ul>
New findings from global workforce platform Employment Hero reveal a deepening divide in how AI is used across UK businesses—one that places senior leaders firmly ahead while leaving many workers out of the equation.
The <a href="https://employmenthero.com/uk/resources/business-productivity-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Work that Works</a> report identifies a stark difference in access to and benefit from AI technology in the workplace. While 73% of senior leaders report using AI monthly, only a third of entry-level staff are doing the same.
Despite common narratives, it is not Gen Z but millennials who are the heaviest users of AI, taking the lead in integrating digital tools into their daily workflows.
This disparity is having measurable consequences. While decision-makers and seasoned professionals are benefiting from enhanced productivity, younger or lower-tier employees are often excluded due to a lack of training, guidance, or relevant tools.
One business leader commented on the challenge: “The installation of AI and making employees aware about how to use it, is the biggest challenge for our business nowadays,” said the Head of People at a company of 50–99 staff.
The report highlights that ineffective or poorly managed AI rollouts can negatively impact business performance. Workers who are sidelined from AI developments report a dramatic 50% decline in their personal productivity.
This challenge is especially acute for small businesses. Firms with fewer than 50 staff are adopting AI at much lower rates—despite technology being recognised as the top driver of output growth.
Compared with larger businesses, SMEs are:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">28% less likely to invest in emerging technologies
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Far less likely to recruit for digital or technical skill sets
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">More frequently caught in “survival mode” operations
</li>
</ul>
The risk for these organisations is not just losing out on efficiency—it’s falling further behind in a competitive marketplace.
Beyond dispelling myths, the research shows that regular AI usage has a largely positive effect on workplace wellbeing. Of those who use AI tools consistently, 40% report feeling less stressed, and 38% feel their work quality has improved.
Kevin Fitzgerald, UK Managing Director at Employment Hero, says broader, inclusive AI adoption is urgently needed:
“AI is only delivering productivity gains for some, and that’s a huge problem.”
“For technology to drive meaningful change, it needs to be in the hands of everyone. That means investing not just in access to tools, but in the training, support and confidence people need to actually use them.”
“We need a trickle-down, human-centred approach to AI adoption. One that starts with leadership, but quickly and intentionally reaches every corner of the business.”
“Closing the AI advantage gap is essential – not just for the success of individual companies, but for improving productivity across the UK economy.”
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hr-trends.co.uk/the-ai-disparity-uk-leaders-surging-ahead-while-workers-are-left-behind/">The AI Disparity: UK Leaders Surging Ahead While Workers Are Left Behind</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hr-trends.co.uk">HR Trends</a>.
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<item>
<title>Is a 6-figure paycheck needed for financial security? More than a quarter of adults say yes.</title>
<link>https://hr-trends.co.uk/is-a-6-figure-paycheck-needed-for-financial-security-more-than-a-quarter-of-adults-say-yes/</link>
<comments>https://hr-trends.co.uk/is-a-6-figure-paycheck-needed-for-financial-security-more-than-a-quarter-of-adults-say-yes/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 22:51:34 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Benefits]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hr-trends.co.uk/is-a-6-figure-paycheck-needed-for-financial-security-more-than-a-quarter-of-adults-say-yes/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A large majority of U.S. adults in a May survey by Bankrate, 77%, said they aren’t financially secure, signaling a steady increase going back to 2023 and spelling potential complications for employers’ pay strategies. Additionally, more than one-quarter of the 2,260 respondents said they’d need to earn $150,000 or more per year to feel financially secure […]
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]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
A large majority of U.S. adults in a May survey by Bankrate, 77%, said they aren’t financially secure, signaling a steady increase going back to 2023 and spelling potential complications for employers’ pay strategies.
Additionally, more than one-quarter of the 2,260 respondents said they’d need to earn $150,000 or more per year to feel financially secure and comfortable. That’s nearly double the average full-time salary in the U.S. for 2023, which stood at $81,515 according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics cited by Bankrate. 
The company said that inflation has affected purchasing power, citing consumer price index data from BLS that showed a $100,000 salary in January 2020 had the same buying power as $124,353 in April of this year.
“Getting rich may have once been what many Americans fantasized about, but now, simply living comfortably feels like the new aspiration, as economic challenges make financial stability a rare luxury,” Sarah Foster, Bankrate’s U.S. economy reporter, said in the firm’s analysis.
Bankrate’s survey found a fair amount of pessimism on the part of respondents about their financial futures, too. Nearly one-third said they were not financially secure and likely never would be, which represented an increase from prior years. Only 29% said their version of the “American Dream” seemed likely for them based on today’s economy.
By generation, Generation X workers were most likely to say they aren’t financially secure, followed by Generation Z, millennials and baby boomers. Thirty-five percent of women said they aren’t financially secure and never would be, compared to 29% of men. The percentage of women who said they were secure fell more quickly going back to 2023 compared to the share of men who said the same.
“Though many Americans hold onto the idea of returning to a 1950s-era ‘Golden’ America age, the days when a single, non-college educated breadwinner could sustain an entire family seem like they may be confined forever to the past,” Foster said.
Overall, 3 in 5 U.S. workers say they live paycheck to paycheck, according to a 2024 PNC Bank survey, and nearly a third said they would like early access to their pay. The firm’s survey of employers, meanwhile, found that 78% said their workers were financially stressed.
Benefit plan participants likewise have reported mixed feelings on financial security, according to a Bank of America report on client benefit programs in the second quarter of last year. BofA said that a gender gap persists when it comes to feelings of financial wellness; men in the report reported higher average financial security scores than women.
Base pay is only part of the talent attraction equation, however. Employers also rate access to benefits, work-life balance, training, equity and job security as being among their most desirable components in a job offer, according to a 2024 Randstad report. Compensation remained the most desired trait in the same report, though equity and financial security have moved to the “forefront” of employees’ priorities, a Randstad executive said in a press release.
</div>
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<title>Agentic AI deployment accelerates despite risks: KPMG</title>
<link>https://hr-trends.co.uk/agentic-ai-deployment-accelerates-despite-risks-kpmg/</link>
<comments>https://hr-trends.co.uk/agentic-ai-deployment-accelerates-despite-risks-kpmg/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 21:14:15 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Tech & Analysis]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hr-trends.co.uk/agentic-ai-deployment-accelerates-despite-risks-kpmg/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Dive Brief: About one-third of organizations have advanced to full-scale deployment of agentic artificial intelligence technology, up three-fold after two consecutive quarters at 11%, according to a KPMG study released Thursday. Fifty-seven percent of surveyed organizations are piloting agents, down from 65%, and 10% are exploring the possibility of using them, compared to 25% last […]
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]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
<h3>Dive Brief:</h3>
<ul>
<li>About one-third of organizations have advanced to full-scale deployment of agentic artificial intelligence technology, up three-fold after two consecutive quarters at 11%, according to a KPMG study released Thursday.</li>
<li>Fifty-seven percent of surveyed organizations are piloting agents, down from 65%, and 10% are exploring the possibility of using them, compared to 25% last quarter, the Big Four accounting firm found.</li>
<li>“The data shows just how quickly AI agents are moving out of pilots and into production — and that momentum will only accelerate,” Steve Chase, KPMG’s vice chair of AI and digital innovation, said in a press release. “What makes this moment unique is that leaders increasingly see agents not just as a way to cut costs, but as a way to rethink growth and create new value.”</li>
</ul>
<h3>Dive Insight:</h3>
The still nascent technology continues to pose implementation challenges, KPMG said. The primary obstacles to agent deployment include technical skills gaps, workforce resistance to change and system complexity, according to a report on the findings.
Gartner predicts that more than 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by the end of 2027, due to escalating costs, unclear business value or inadequate risk controls.
“Most agentic AI projects right now are early stage experiments or proof of concepts that are mostly driven by hype and are often misapplied,” Anushree Verma, a senior director analyst at Gartner, said in a Wednesday press release. “This can blind organizations to the real cost and complexity of deploying AI agents at scale, stalling projects from moving into production. They need to cut through the hype to make careful, strategic decisions about where and how they apply this emerging technology.”
Many vendors are contributing to the hype by engaging in “agent washing” — the rebranding of existing products, such as AI assistants, robotic process automation and chatbots, “without substantial agentic capabilities,” according to the release. 
Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, SAP and Workday are among tech giants that began launching agents last year, promising the next stage of enterprise automation.
Big Four accounting firms such as KPMG and Deloitte have quickly jumped on the band wagon as well, offering their own agentic AI solutions for customers.
Among the enterprises now using agentic AI, many are taking a balanced, strategic approach, according to the results of the KPMG survey.
Nearly half of leaders (46%) said they were focused on efficiency and revenue growth as it relates to their AI agent strategies, according to KPMG’s report. Meanwhile, leader concerns about data privacy, regulatory issues and data quality are at their highest in three quarters, the report said.
KPMG polled 130 U.S.-based business leaders representing organizations with an annual revenue of $1 billion or more.
</div>
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<title>How recruiters can move past taking hiring managers’ orders — and become trusted advisors</title>
<link>https://hr-trends.co.uk/how-recruiters-can-move-past-taking-hiring-managers-orders-and-become-trusted-advisors/</link>
<comments>https://hr-trends.co.uk/how-recruiters-can-move-past-taking-hiring-managers-orders-and-become-trusted-advisors/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:54:15 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Talent]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hr-trends.co.uk/how-recruiters-can-move-past-taking-hiring-managers-orders-and-become-trusted-advisors/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[SAN DIEGO — Despite all the hype, artificial intelligence likely won’t take recruiters’ jobs, Jeremy Eskenazi, managing principal at Riviera Advisors, Inc., told a SHRM 2025 audience Tuesday. Why’s that? “Nothing will ever replace the power of relationships,” he said. “And at some point somebody has got to pick up the damn phone.” But to […]
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]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
SAN DIEGO — Despite all the hype, artificial intelligence likely won’t take recruiters’ jobs, Jeremy Eskenazi, managing principal at Riviera Advisors, Inc., told a SHRM 2025 audience Tuesday.
Why’s that? “Nothing will ever replace the power of relationships,” he said. “And at some point somebody has got to pick up the damn phone.”
But to keep themselves crucial to an organization’s strategic function, recruiters need to move beyond thinking of themselves as administrators and servers, Eskenazi said, and evolve into consultants that partner with hiring managers.
Traditional recruiters work reactively, he noted, waiting for requisitions to come in, scheduling interviews and focusing on filling positions. Too often, they feel they work for hiring managers instead of alongside them.
On the other hand, recruiters that prove themselves invaluable are trusted advisors, focusing more of their time on high-value, strategic work like developing proactive sourcing methods, building diverse talent pipelines, becoming industry experts and partnering with leadership on long-term talent needs.
To develop their potential and shift away from low-value, administrative work, recruiters should automate whenever possible tasks like writing job descriptions, scheduling interviews and responding to generic emails, Eskenazi said.
They should learn to say “no” when necessary and establish boundaries with hiring managers who demand 24/7 access; “If you say ‘yes’ to everything you’re asked for, you’re just like the Chili’s server,” he said.
The strategic role also involves learning to manage expectations. If a hiring manager wants to secure a Harvard-educated professional with 10 years of experience for a position in California and only pay them $60,000, for example, that person may need a reality check, Eskenazi said — and a strategic recruiter should not be afraid to provide that.
Partnering with a hiring manager includes knowing when to say “no,” although the approach can be more diplomatic. “We never say ‘no’ directly, we say ‘Hm, that’s interesting … let me get back to you,’” he said; further research can help provide convincing evidence that a request is unreasonable.
Approaching requests with curiosity and thoughtful questions can help hiring managers reframe their expectations as well. For example, Eskenazi said, if a hiring manager asks for someone exactly like the last hire, a recruiter might say, “What made that person successful? Could another skill set work just as well?” If they ask for 15 years of experience and 10 credentials, a recruiter might counter by asking them to prioritize just three must-have skills.
An intake meeting sets the right foundation, he said. Recruiters should use them to ask: “What is the real business problem this hire needs to solve? What has worked (or failed) in previous hiring efforts for this role? If we can’t find a perfect match, what are the 2-3 core skills that matter most?”
Then they should follow up with an email or a checklist both parties agree on.
But while strategic recruiters can and should take on a more active role, they need to know when to step back.
“Hiring is very emotional,” Eskenazi said, which is why recruiters should try to steer hiring managers toward the right candidate, but never insist on a final selection or say “I told you so.” If they don’t pick the right person, “you have to be OK with it.”
</div>
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<title>Offering student loan payment assistance a ‘no brainer,’ benefits manager says</title>
<link>https://hr-trends.co.uk/offering-student-loan-payment-assistance-a-no-brainer-benefits-manager-says/</link>
<comments>https://hr-trends.co.uk/offering-student-loan-payment-assistance-a-no-brainer-benefits-manager-says/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:45:05 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Benefits]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hr-trends.co.uk/offering-student-loan-payment-assistance-a-no-brainer-benefits-manager-says/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[SAN DIEGO — Applied Materials’ student loan repayment program for employees reaped such rewards that the company more than doubled its annual contribution after the first year, Tes Fernandez, director of U.S. benefits for the company said Monday during a panel discussion at SHRM 2025. In year one, the manufacturing company contributed $2,000 per employee […]
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]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
SAN DIEGO — Applied Materials’ student loan repayment program for employees reaped such rewards that the company more than doubled its annual contribution after the first year, Tes Fernandez, director of U.S. benefits for the company said Monday during a panel discussion at SHRM 2025.
In year one, the manufacturing company contributed $2,000 per employee in direct repayment of workers’ student loans. In the years that have followed, Applied Materials now pays out $4,800 per employee and uses the benefit as both a way to support generally newer hires, recent graduates and some underrepresented groups and as a recruiting tool.
“They had to go up to the CFO and ask for extra millions of dollars to add this benefit. A year later, they more than doubled the benefit amount, not because the CFO got generous, but because they were seeing the results of the benefits,” Chris Rinko, VP and student debt and health and wellness benefits administration account executive at Fidelity Investments, said during the panel, which he moderated.
When it comes to student loan debt assistance, employers have two choices, Rinko explained. They can either provide a direct payment to student loan servicers to help pay down employees’ loans, or they can elect to offer matching contributions in the 401(k) plans of workers who demonstrate they are making student loan payments.
The direct payment method can be targeted to only apply to certain groups — those who earn less or those in a specific job, for example — and can have a set end date, Rinko said, while matching contributions are tied to a company’s overall 401(k) plan offering and can’t exclude any workers.
Tracey Gannon, a senior benefits manager at eBay, said it was “kind of a no-brainer” for the e-commerce company to offer matching funds after the passage of the SECURE 2.0 Act. The law gave employers the ability to match employee contributions to certain student loan payments.
“We felt that this was just such an easy first step,” Gannon said.
The company already budgets for all employees to get the full matching contribution in their retirement plans and has a 96% participation rate, Gannon said. That meant the new offering wasn’t a big budget item for the company but could provide support to some employees in need.
Similarly, offering a matching contribution seemed like “an easy win” for The Walt Disney Co. and its workers, said Marianne Lynch, a senior manager of executive benefits and hypercare for the company.
“It’s a huge, huge benefit to reduce that burden” of student loan debt, Lynch said. At Disney, 97% of employees already receive the full 401(k) match, but for those who don’t, it’s a way not to miss out on the matching funds to which they’re already entitled, she added.
“The only change here is you’re giving them another way to earn that match by paying their student debt,” Rinko said.
At companies where most employees already receive the full matching contribution, some leaders may ask, “Why bother?” with a student loan repayment match, Rinko said.
“The reason is, if it’s just 1% or 2%, if you can find a path for that small number, for those people who are usually in the greatest need to earn the match, why not?” Rinko said.
</div>
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<title>Biden tells HR professionals that real leadership is all about getting personal</title>
<link>https://hr-trends.co.uk/biden-tells-hr-professionals-that-real-leadership-is-all-about-getting-personal/</link>
<comments>https://hr-trends.co.uk/biden-tells-hr-professionals-that-real-leadership-is-all-about-getting-personal/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:41:20 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[HR Management]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hr-trends.co.uk/biden-tells-hr-professionals-that-real-leadership-is-all-about-getting-personal/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[SAN DIEGO — Remember their birthdays. President Joe Biden told a packed room of human resources professionals on the final day of SHRM 2025 that being a great leader means getting to know workers and colleagues. “You know better than anyone, the strength of a team comes down to the individual people on that team, […]
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]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
SAN DIEGO — Remember their birthdays.
President Joe Biden told a packed room of human resources professionals on the final day of SHRM 2025 that being a great leader means getting to know workers and colleagues. 
“You know better than anyone, the strength of a team comes down to the individual people on that team, whether they feel valued, whether they feel supported,” said Biden, who quipped that being the country’s chief executive is essentially being the ultimate chief people officer. 
He urged the HR leaders in attendance to make time for human connections and to lead by example. 
“Too often we try to separate people into categories: They’re work, or they’re family. We say it’s business; it’s not personal,” Biden said. “Real leadership is all about getting personal… It’s about connecting. It means having empathy.”
It means remembering their birthdays, he said.
<figure class="inside_story">
<div class="figure_content">
<div></div>
</div><figcaption class="inside_story_caption">
Former President Joe Biden speaks to SHRM25 attendees July 2, 2025, in San Diego, Calif.
Ginger Christ/HR Dive
 
</figcaption></figure>
An unwritten rule during his time in office was that any member of his family would be put through immediately when they called — unless they specified that it wasn’t important. 
On the day of an important vote in Congress that he couldn’t miss, Biden took the train back home to Delaware, watched his daughter blow out candles on the platform for her eighth birthday and jumped back on a train southbound to the nation’s capitol.
“We tell ourselves, ‘I have to be at that meeting, have to get that report done. I have to take that trip.’ Then, we tell ourselves, ‘My wife will understand, my kids will understand. We can make it up later,’” Biden said. “But deep down, we know we’re killing ourselves. It does matter for moments you’ll never get back. You might never know how much it mattered to your loved one.” 
Efforts like that, or commuting two hours home every day showed his staff that he wanted them to put their life, their family first, he said. 
After becoming vice president, Biden sent a memo to his team that said: “I do not want you to miss important family obligations for work. These include, but are not limited to birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, religious ceremonies, graduations, times of need, such as illness and loss. This is very important to me. In fact, I’ll go so far as I say, ‘If I find out you are working with me while missing an important family responsibility, it will disappoint me greatly.’”
Workers will give their all, he said, when they know you care not just about them but about their families, too.
</div>
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<title>‘Very mid-90s’: HR professionals offer mixed reactions to SHRM swapping ‘Inclusion’ for ‘Blueprint’</title>
<link>https://hr-trends.co.uk/very-mid-90s-hr-professionals-offer-mixed-reactions-to-shrm-swapping-inclusion-for-blueprint/</link>
<comments>https://hr-trends.co.uk/very-mid-90s-hr-professionals-offer-mixed-reactions-to-shrm-swapping-inclusion-for-blueprint/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[News Room]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 18:45:14 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Talent]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hr-trends.co.uk/very-mid-90s-hr-professionals-offer-mixed-reactions-to-shrm-swapping-inclusion-for-blueprint/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[SHRM’s Inclusion conference is no longer, with SHRM Blueprint taking its late October slot in Louisville, Kentucky, and HR professionals have expressed mixed reactions. The rebranding extended beyond the conference’s name: the previous hot pink color palette was replaced with sketches in cool blue. “Draft the future of work,” the new front page now invites, […]
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
SHRM’s Inclusion conference is no longer, with SHRM Blueprint taking its late October slot in Louisville, Kentucky, and HR professionals have expressed mixed reactions.
The rebranding extended beyond the conference’s name: the previous hot pink color palette was replaced with sketches in cool blue. “Draft the future of work,” the new front page now invites, offering the tagline: “Compliant. Connected. Competitive.”
While a spokesperson previously told HR Dive SHRM “remains deeply committed to advancing inclusion and diversity,” a number of HR practitioners discussing the change on LinkedIn said the rebrand indicated just the opposite.
“Do we lead with ‘compliant’ when we are talking about the future of work? No. We shouldn’t. To me, that feels very mid-90s HR, when I started my career,” wrote HR consulting firm founder Tracie Sponenberg.
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A snapshot of the previous SHRM Inclusion 2025 splashpage, taken May 18, 2025 by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine
<div class="source_text">Retrieved from Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine</div>
 
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“This latest change or ‘rebranding’ doesn’t sit well with me for a lot of reasons,” Sponenberg told HR Dive. “Mainly because, if you’re referring to the future of work — and you lead with the future of work being compliant — that doesn’t lead with humanity,” she said. “That doesn’t lead with people.”
From Sponenberg’s perspective, she said, “it reads like step in line and get behind everybody else,” although she acknowledged that she doesn’t think that was SHRM leadership’s intention.
“I think what SHRM is doing is playing it safe, and I don’t think you can do that when it comes to people and organizations and people who are hurting, who are having their rights threatened or eliminated,” she added.
Among the commenters on Sponenberg’s LinkedIn post was Bryan Howard, founder and CEO of HR firm Peoplyst. Where many HR professionals expressed outrage, he wrote, “I love the saying, ‘Creativity loves constraint.’ It fits here, too.”
“I think the response to it has been very emotional, and I certainly understand that,” Howard told HR Dive, but “I feel like I think SHRM is going in a good direction.”
Howard acknowledged that SHRM removing the “E” from of its DEI policy platform last summer, coupled with this year’s conference rebrand, has made HR practitioners feel like SHRM is moving away from DEI.
“Although, I don’t feel that way at all,” Howard said of SHRM. “I think that what they came up with is actually a very balanced approach.”
<h3 class="standard-heading">The undeniably changed legal landscape</h3>
The conference’s tagline starting with “compliant” makes sense to Howard, too. “If you’re not compliant, then the other two don’t really matter. I think that’s where most people are getting a little bit out of shape — just because they feel like something is being robbed from them,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I think it’s the exact opposite of it. They’re really focused more on inclusion now than they were before.”
Howard pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services. The high court held that plaintiffs in majority groups — in this case, a straight woman alleging adverse employment actions based on her sexual orientation — do not have to meet a higher bar for bias claims than those in minority groups.
“Inclusion was really only about the minority and the Supreme Court ruling makes it clear that inclusion is for everybody. It’s not zero sum,” Howard said. “If you include the majority, it’s not taking away from the minority.”
“That’s a little different approach than probably what was taken during the DEI days,” he added.
Howard pushed back on the idea of some companies just needing to clarify that they don’t intend to exclude anyone — as in the case of companies with affinity groups, for example, following the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice’s joint technical assistance on “unlawful” DEI.
“I’m not saying that people intend to exclude anyone, but if you think about some of the messages of DEI in the past, they’ve been really targeted specifically towards people who may not feel included and that’s a subjective idea,” Howard said. “Sometimes, the majority doesn’t feel included either.”
Howard said, like other HR professionals, that he gets emotional, too. But when he steps back, he can look at the situation “more thoughtfully.”
Ultimately, Howard said he hopes people attend SHRM Blueprint with an open mind. Those who boycott SHRM’s conference “won’t have a chance to be in the conversation. That makes me a little sad,” he said.
<h3 class="standard-heading">Divestment from SHRM</h3>
Laura Hamilton, an HR director and DEIB lead, had been a SHRM member for about 12 years when she decided not to renew her membership. “My initial response and reaction to SHRM came after they changed their priorities last year related to equity and removed equity as one of the primary pillars,” she told HR Dive.
Hamilton said she was among the first cohorts of people who secured their SHRM Certified Professional credential in 2015. She had her HRCI and SPHR credentials already.
“Still, with that, I maintained my SHRM-CP because I held very firmly that HRCI was very much based in knowing and understanding the laws — the compliance indicators, things of that nature,” Hamilton said. “SHRM’s testing was, ‘How do you take all of that and actually apply it strategically in the workplace?’”
As a CHRO of a hospital at the time, Hamilton saw “huge value” in SHRM’s offerings; she was also a part of SHRM’s executive network and said she used a large portion of her personal development budget for it.
“This big shift happened last year when they decided to remove equity as a priority,” Hamilton said. She also pointed to SHRM President Johnny C. Taylor being shortlisted as Trump’s pick for secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor. At the time, November 2024, Taylor told HR Dive that “it would be an honor.”
That news, Hamilton noted, “came on the heels of Trump communicating his intention to dismantle DEI.”
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<div><img decoding="async" data-imagemodel="-1" src="https://imgproxy.divecdn.com/q3rFidh_mkBVbz-Re8yV1WTk7Im26H56LP7adX9CBuo/raw:1/Z3M6Ly9kaXZlc2l0ZS1zdG9yYWdlL2RpdmVpbWFnZS9HZXR0eUltYWdlcy05MjUwOTg4MTYuanBn"></div>
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Johnny C. Taylor Jr. speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump listens during an announcement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Feb. 27, 2018, in Washington, D.C.
Image Source
 
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Now, following SHRM’s rebrand of its Inclusion conference into Blueprint, Hamilton feels affirmed in her decision to not renew her SHRM membership.
“I’ve worked in human resources for 20 years. If people are doing the work of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging correctly, then there should be no fear of these programs, because it in no way elevates individuals who don’t have the skill sets and the desired qualifications for a position,” Hamilton said. “It just gives access to individuals who otherwise would not have access to opportunities. It allows them to at least be considered.”
“I have never in my career hired someone because of a DEI indicator,” she continued. “I’ve hired them because they are the right person for the job, and they meet the requirements of the role.”
Because of her perspective on DEI and her perception that SHRM’s values are out of step with hers, Hamilton has removed her SHRM credentials from her LinkedIn profile even before they expired. And while her team had found value in SHRM’s programming, Hamilton similarly did not allow them to renew their departmental membership with SHRM.
“I will not put money into their organization,” she said.
Sponenberg’s story is similar. “I actually was very deeply involved with SHRM for many years. I spoke at the 2019 conference. I was a blogger and an influencer for SHRM, a special expert who taught a course, et cetera. I was a SHRM member for over 20 years,” Sponenberg said. “My general perspective on SHRM is that it no longer offers what I need.”
“[T]hat started way before dropping the ‘E’ — the missteps that were made, or the progress that was made or wasn’t made, wasn’t going in a direction that was really aligned with my values.”
Sponenberg specifically referenced SHRM’s handling of critiques of its partnership with Koch Industries — namely the #FixItSHRM movement, and Taylor meeting with Trump in 2019. (Trump appointed Taylor to be his first administration’s HBCU liaison in 2018.) Sponenberg has not attended a SHRM conference since 2019.
She did, however, stop by the annual conference’s expo last year, because she had a friend and a client working there. “I went to the expo for a couple of hours and just to see had anything changed,” she said. “It hadn’t.”
<h3 class="standard-heading">The future of HR networking</h3>
Despite her grievances, Sponenberg did make one distinction: “There are a lot of really good local chapters and a lot of really good state chapters,” she said. “They’re in a really difficult spot because it’s helpful to be aligned with a national organization.”
“There are a lot of great people in SHRM as well,” she conceded. “It just isn’t aligned with my values anymore. And I’m hopeful for change.”
Sponenberg said it would take “a change in leadership” to see her values realigned with SHRM. “From what I’ve seen, SHRM is a professional services organization and it very much runs like a professional services organization. Think law firms, tax firms, medical offices, et cetera. I would want to see it be more forward-thinking,” she said. “I would want to see that in the organization itself.”
SHRM did not respond to requests for comment regarding HR practitioners’ reactions to the rebranding before publication.
</div>
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<title>Undocumented workers say Cheesecake Factory recruited them, furnished fake work papers</title>
<link>https://hr-trends.co.uk/undocumented-workers-say-cheesecake-factory-recruited-them-furnished-fake-work-papers/</link>
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<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 15:27:21 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Talent]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hr-trends.co.uk/undocumented-workers-say-cheesecake-factory-recruited-them-furnished-fake-work-papers/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Cheesecake Factory recruited undocumented workers to staff a Pennsylvania restaurant, provided them with false employment authorization documents and subjected them to abusive conditions, a group of five workers alleged in a June 19 lawsuit. In their complaint, Doe A.S.M. v. The Cheesecake Factory, Inc., the plaintiffs alleged they were forced to work unpaid hours, […]
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hr-trends.co.uk/undocumented-workers-say-cheesecake-factory-recruited-them-furnished-fake-work-papers/">Undocumented workers say Cheesecake Factory recruited them, furnished fake work papers</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hr-trends.co.uk">HR Trends</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
The Cheesecake Factory recruited undocumented workers to staff a Pennsylvania restaurant, provided them with false employment authorization documents and subjected them to abusive conditions, a group of five workers alleged in a June 19 lawsuit.
In their complaint, Doe A.S.M. v. The Cheesecake Factory, Inc., the plaintiffs alleged they were forced to work unpaid hours, including overtime; denied bathroom and meal breaks; and forced to work during the COVID-19 lockdown under unsafe conditions while U.S.-born co-workers were at home.
The workers also claimed management threatened to deport them if they didn’t work hard or fast enough while forcing them to sign documents in English — even though management knew they could not read, speak or write in the language. They alleged several incidents of harassment on the basis of their national origin and race.
Plaintiffs sued Cheesecake Factory for violations of the federal Trafficking Victim Protection Reauthorization Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as Pennsylvania’s Human Trafficking Act and Human Rights Act.
The company denied the allegations and said that it “follows well-established internal protocols to ensure consistent compliance with all federal employment verification laws,” according to a statement reportedly provided to local media outlet KYW Newsradio.
Recent enforcement actions by the Trump administration increasingly against the employment of noncitizen immigrants have created a risky environment for employers, and businesses should take great care to stay in compliance with work-related immigration regulations, attorneys previously told HR Dive.
In one recent action, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ended temporary protected status for more than half a million workers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela and quickly revoked their employment authorization documents. DHS also said last month that employers should regularly generate E-Verify status reports identifying whether an employee’s authorization documentation has been revoked. If it has, employers must immediately reverify each employee with Form I-9 Supplement B, DHS said.
E-Verify is a web-based system through which employers can electronically confirm an employee’s eligibility to work in the U.S. The system takes information from an employee’s Form I-9 — the mandatory employment eligibility verification document that must be submitted for all employees — and electronically compares that information with records available to DHS and the Social Security Administration, according to DHS.
Government audits of Form I-9s have picked up since President Donald Trump took office, and the trend is expected to continue, attorneys previously told HR Dive. Employers in the restaurant, construction, hospitality, warehousing, light manufacturing and assembly, shipping and receiving industries are expected to be primary targets of enhanced I-9 enforcement, one of the attorneys noted.
</div>
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hr-trends.co.uk/undocumented-workers-say-cheesecake-factory-recruited-them-furnished-fake-work-papers/">Undocumented workers say Cheesecake Factory recruited them, furnished fake work papers</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hr-trends.co.uk">HR Trends</a>.
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<title>What is polyworking? Half of workers do it, survey shows</title>
<link>https://hr-trends.co.uk/what-is-polyworking-half-of-workers-do-it-survey-shows/</link>
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<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 15:20:46 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Benefits]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hr-trends.co.uk/what-is-polyworking-half-of-workers-do-it-survey-shows/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Nearly half of U.S. workers — 47% — said they polywork, or hold multiple jobs or roles at one time rather than depend on a single primary employer for income, according to a June report from Monster. In this survey of more than 700 U.S. workers, 51% say their additional monthly income from polyworking is […]
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]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
Nearly half of U.S. workers — 47% — said they polywork, or hold multiple jobs or roles at one time rather than depend on a single primary employer for income, according to a June report from Monster.
In this survey of more than 700 U.S. workers, 51% say their additional monthly income from polyworking is “absolutely essential,” and they couldn’t cover basic costs without it, Monster found.
Sixty-eight percent of workers said they needed the extra money to cover living expenses, while 47% said it fosters financial independence and flexibility, 46% said it helps pay off debt and more than one-third said it provided a safety net to help guard against insecurity in their primary job.
About half of those who polywork have a full-time time job and one or more part-time jobs. Meanwhile 28% have multiple part-time jobs and 12% have more than one full-time job, with 59% of respondents saying they’d be willing to work more than one full-time job.
<h3 class="standard-heading">The normalization of polyworking</h3>
Workers expressed mixed feelings about the effects of polywork on their productivity and job performance. While 29% said it’s been beneficial, 31% said it’s been detrimental.
Looking ahead to the future, 38% of workers plan to keep working multiple jobs to achieve their career goals. In contrast, 31% consider polywork a temporary solution while they figure out their career path, and 26% said long-term polywork would negatively affect their mental health.
Facing economic anxiety, 64% of workers said they plan to get a second job or start a side hustle in the next year to boost their income, according to a recent American Staffing Association report. The same publication showed that nearly 1 in 5 respondents said their savings could cover less than a month of expenses, while another third said their savings could last for one to five months.
<h3 class="standard-heading">What this means for HR</h3>
Generation Z workers, in particular, are turning to side hustles to create financial cushion and build skills, according to a Quicken report. Only half of those with multiple sources of income have told their full-time employer about their side hustle, per the report.
As more employees polywork, some companies are asking employees what they do with their time or using productivity tracking software and email monitoring tools. One expert who previously spoke to HR Dive said employers should set clear productivity goals and make sure workers meet them rather than fire them or try to control employees’ lives outside of work.
</div>
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hr-trends.co.uk/what-is-polyworking-half-of-workers-do-it-survey-shows/">What is polyworking? Half of workers do it, survey shows</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hr-trends.co.uk">HR Trends</a>.
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<title>A deep dive into the future of work</title>
<link>https://hr-trends.co.uk/a-deep-dive-into-the-future-of-work/</link>
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<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2025 22:28:23 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[HR Management]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hr-trends.co.uk/a-deep-dive-into-the-future-of-work/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[By: Ginger Christ • Published March 18, 2024 In the ever-elusive quest for work-life balance for workers, some countries are legislating slamming that laptop shut for the weekend. Increasingly more nations, including France, Argentina, Ireland and recently Australia, have passed what are known as “right to disconnect” laws, giving workers the legal right not to respond […]
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>

By: Ginger Christ
 • Published March 18, 2024
In the ever-elusive quest for work-life balance for workers, some countries are legislating slamming that laptop shut for the weekend. 
Increasingly more nations, including France, Argentina, Ireland and recently Australia, have passed what are known as “right to disconnect” laws, giving workers the legal right not to respond to that email after hours — and not face negative repercussions. 
It’s a shift that’s come on the heels of advancing technology that allows employees to be connected around the clock — and workers’ reprioritization of their personal lives accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
In some cases, like in Chile and Mexico, the laws only apply to remote workers, but in others, they are universal. 
“It’s a double-edged sword. It’s nice to be able to work and not be at your desk, but then people can always reach you,” Tom Spiggle, an employment lawyer and owner of The Spiggle Law Firm, told HR Dive. 
While a few states and at least one city — including Washington, California and New York City — have considered the right to disconnect, the U.S. doesn’t have any such legislation on the books, Spiggle said. 
“It’s interesting [these laws] haven’t passed in some of these states that are worker-friendly,” Spiggle said. “There isn’t the political will. … If I’m a betting man, these don’t pass, but I could be surprised.” 
That doesn’t mean U.S. workers are completely without protections when it comes to their time. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that nonexempt, hourly workers be paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours, and the Family and Medical Leave Act prevents employers from contacting workers, for the most part, while they’re on leave. 
<h3 class="standard-heading">A cultural shift</h3>
A right to disconnect movement in the U.S. likely will be led by individual organizations, followed by states, Alan King, president and CEO of Workplace Options, a global employee well-being company, told HR Dive. The American system of government, with its confluence of state and federal law, makes it more difficult to pass legislation like this than in other countries, King said. 
“We have so much changed into a society that never shuts off; we’re always connected. I think some form of rules that help structure that is a good thing. I say that, in part, because these are rights to disconnect; they are not forced disconnections. They put the onus on the employer and the individual,” King said. 
Workplace Options has employees in every time zone and, as such, is held to right to disconnect laws around the world. But, instead of changing its policies only in those countries, the company is undergoing an overall cultural shift, King said.
“Ultimately, you have a law that is about the culture of an organization. If an employee feels like they’re going to be penalized for not doing something, that’s about that company’s culture,” King said. 
In response, King’s company is changing its approach to meetings. Whereas before, calls were scheduled at times that were favorable to the majority of employees, they are now slotted for windows where everyone is “equally advantaged or disadvantaged,” King said. And the company is reducing its reliance on meetings. 
“We have way the hell more meetings than we need to. Way more things could be an email or an asynchronous chat that delivers on time,” King said. “When we do have to have those conversations together, we do it at a time that’s as convenient for everyone as possible, Or, if it’s inconvenient, we share the burden of time. … It’s not always on the onus of the employees in a different time zone to bend to you.” 
That means having open communication with workers to figure out solutions together, he explained. Ultimately, it’s about adhering to the spirit of the law and asking employees’ boundaries and for their permission to work in certain situations. 
“This is about how people engage with each other and how you engage with them,” King said. 
Anthony Horton, CEO of Corporate Relocation International, a relocation management company, said the issue “really boils down to setting boundaries in our perpetually connected world.”
“I question whether it is a thing that needs to be legislated since, really, it is us, as leaders of corporations, who need to be listening to the evolving needs of employees and ensuring we understand the impacts” of technology, different work arrangements and evolving standards for employee well-being, Horton told HR Dive via email. “I think responsible companies will do this on their own.” 
Ultimately, leaders who make sure employees feel they have the right to disconnect and that their well-being is prioritized will see a positive impact both on their workers and on their business, Laura Lomelí, a principal executive advisory consultant at BetterUp, a coaching and human transformation company, told HR Dive via email. 
But, she cautions to ensure that right to disconnect policies be tailored to a company or an industry. 
“The underlying premise and motive of the policy should be embraced. Yet, a policy like this should not be viewed as a one-size-fits-all and instead should be customized to the industry and company culture,” Lomelí said.
  
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Article top image credit: Hiraman via Getty Images 
 
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