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TOTAL REWARDS

Leave requests

Francis Scialabba

Employee leave requests rose for the third consecutive year, with 57% of organizations reporting that more workers asked for extended time off in 2024, according to a survey released earlier this month by AbsenseSoft.

The pace of the requests is slowing, however. Requests increased by 62% in 2023, after swelling by 96% in 2022. An AbsenseSoft spokesperson speculated that the 2022 jump may have stemmed from the “tail-end of Covid impacts”, while the increase in 2023 may have resulted from the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which went into effect that year and gave more workers the ability to request leave.

Employees’ desire to care for their mental health seems to have been a cause of the jump, said Seth Turner, co-founder and chief strategy officer of AbsenseSoft. Nearly half (47%) of employees cited mental health as a reason for needing the leave, making it the second most-named justification, the survey found. Turner said that employees are more comfortable discussing their mental health needs than they were even five years ago.

For more on what’s causing the continued spike in leave requests, keep reading here.—TA

Presented By Hibob

How to speak finance for humans

Perhaps it’s overly optimistic to think companies would inherently value people-first initiatives HR rolls out, but in the world of KPIs, the proof is in the data pudding.

That’s why Hibob released their latest guide. It offers practical tips and real-world examples to help HR teams connect their work to business outcomes, speak the language of finance, and build stronger influence at the leadership table.

The guide covers:

how to measure and communicate the ROI of HR initiatives using metrics that resonate with C-suite stakeholders
strategies for aligning HR goals with business objectives to showcase HR as a strategic growth partner
real-world examples and practical frameworks to help quantify HR’s impact on retention, engagement, productivity, and performance

Learn to put your money where your people are when you download the guide here.

HR STRATEGY

Got hope?

People on an origami boat rowing across water with a person in the front looking through binoculars

Nuthawut Somsuk/Getty Images

It seems people around the world are feeling pretty hopeless, and they’re looking to their leaders for help.

Hope ranks as the top need that people have of their leaders—including their workplace leaders—according to a recent Gallup report. Some 64% of global adults want leaders who instill in them a sense of hope, followed by trust (27%), compassion (5%), and stability (5%).

“When people can see their future in the midst of a crisis, they can get through that crisis a lot easier. They can see their way through it, and it takes a leader to help people with that,” Jim Harter, chief workplace scientist at Gallup, told HR Brew. Amid times of uncertainty, he said employees need leaders who can help them focus on what’s next for them and their organization.

For more on the hullabaloo over hope and what HR can do to help, keep reading here.—MC

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Sky-high layoffs

Dragon Claws/Getty Images

If you want to build a booming china shop, you don’t unleash a bull. And if you want to build a booming labor market, you don’t lay off thousands of federal workers.

Employer layoffs surged to 275,240 in March, according to new data from job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That’s a 60% increase from last month, when 172,017 cuts were made, and a 205% jump from March 2024, the month with the most layoffs last year.

Last month’s layoffs marked the third-highest monthly total ever recorded by the firm, following April and May 2020, when 671,129 and 397,016 cuts were recorded following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only is March an atypical month for high-volume layoffs, but these cuts weren’t widespread.

For more on these DOGE-led layoffs and their impact on talent acquisition, keep reading.—PM

Together With OperationsInc

Tip-top talent. Every team has its stars, but what is your team doing to retain them? Instead of cursing turnover woes, check out OperationsInc, a Gallagher Company’s Employee Retention Checklist. This free resource helps employers cultivate and maintain an environment where employees wanna stay to thrive. Give it a look.

WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Roughly four in 10 (39%) of workers have quit a job to help their mental wellbeing, according to an anonymous international online survey. (KickResume)

Quote: “It can affect the bottom line of companies if their employees are not being productive because they are being drained and distracted by the music they hear all day. Their performance suffers.”—Kathleen Keeler, assistant professor of management and HR at the Ohio State University, on how office background music can negatively impact workers (the Ohio State University)

Read: Ending remote work could roll back years of progress for disabled workers and threaten accessibility. (Mashable)

HR’s North Star: Hibob’s latest guide is full of practical tips to help HR teams connect their work to business outcomes, speak the language of finance, and more. Get it here.*

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JOBS

Looking for a job where your values and skills are understood? CollabWORK links you with roles curated within trusted communities, from niche Slack workspaces to industry newsletters like HR Brew. Discover new opportunities without the job-board fatigue—join CollabWORK today, or click here to browse jobs chosen for HR Brew readers.

Talent Development Consultant at AEBetancourt (hybrid)
Recruitment Consultant at a recruitment agency (in person)
Senior Payroll Manager at an undisclosed organization (hybrid)

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Written by Theresa Agovino, Mikaela Cohen, Paige McGlauflin, and Kristen Parisi

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