Latest news with #employers
Bloomberg
4 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
The Era of Ghosting Job Candidates Is Slowly Ending
Even after a job interview, many candidates never hear back about whether they got the job. Now, lawmakers in Ontario, Canada, are stepping in to stop that. Starting Jan. 1, companies in Ontario with at least 25 employees will have to inform candidates about their status within 45 days of a job interview. Employers also will have to disclose whether a vacancy is actively being filled and whether artificial intelligence is being used to screen and select candidates.
Al Arabiya
9 hours ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
US applications for jobless benefits inch up for the first time in 7 weeks, but layoffs remain low
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits inched up modestly last week as business continue to retain staff despite economic uncertainty around US trade policy. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims for the week ending July 26 ticked up by 1000 to 218000 less than the 225000 new applications analysts forecast. It was the first time in seven weeks that benefit applications rose although layoffs remain at historically low levels. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as representative of US layoffs and have mostly settled in a historically healthy range between 200000 and 250000 since COVID-19 throttled the economy in the spring of 2020 wiping out millions of jobs. Earlier in July the Labor Department reported that US employers added a surprisingly strong 147000 jobs in June adding to evidence that the American labor market continues to show resilience despite uncertainty over President Donald Trump's economic policies. The job gains were much more than expected and the unemployment rate ticked down 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent in May. The government issues its July jobs report on Friday. Though the top line numbers reflect a broadly healthy labor market by historical standards some weakness has surfaced as employers contend with fallout from Trump's policies especially his aggressive tariffs which raise prices for businesses and consumers. If consumers continue to pull back on spending a decline in demand could push businesses to freeze hiring or cut staff. This week government data showed that employers posted 7.4 million job vacancies in June down from 7.7 million in May. The number of people quitting their jobs – a sign of confidence in their prospects elsewhere – fell in June to the lowest level since December. Hiring also fell from May. The deadline on most of Trump's stiff proposed taxes on imports were extended again until Friday though some deals have been made and other deadlines to negotiate have been extended. Unless Trump reaches deals with countries to lower the tariffs economists fear they could act as a drag on the economy and spark another rise in inflation. Companies that have announced job cuts this year include Procter & Gamble Dow CNN Starbucks Southwest Airlines Microsoft Google and Facebook parent company Meta. Most recently Intel and The Walt Disney Co. announced staff reductions. The Labor Department's report Thursday also said that the four-week average of claims which evens out some of the week-to-week fluctuations fell by 3500 to 221000. The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the previous week of July 19 was unchanged at 1.95 million.
CBC
a day ago
- Business
- CBC
CNE gets 54,000 job applications as youth unemployment soars
The Canadian National Exhibition says it received a record 54,000 online applications to work at the fair this summer, more than 10 times the available openings. With the highest youth unemployment rate since the mid-1990s, hiring coach Jermaine L. Murray says the job market is wholly 'in favour of the employers.'
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
What Employees Want: Benefits, AI, And The Multigenerational Workforce
For decades, employers, benefits providers, and retirement plan sponsors worked on a shared assumption: there was such a thing as an 'average worker.' Generally, employees could be described as full-time, with a linear career, married with children. That profile provided a predictable, nearly linear life course with equally predictable needs and wants for compensation and benefits. Many employees have been offered what might best be described as a standard benefits plate: health insurance, a 401(k) match, maybe some disability coverage, and a flexible spending account. That was the entrée approach to employee benefits. But in 2025, the average is over. The entrée model no longer fits. Employees need and want a buffet selection. Today's workforce is more diverse in age, life stage, lifestyle, and career trajectory than at any point in history. We're managing 25-year-olds with side hustles and living solo, 30-somethings with student debt and less likely than previous generations to have children, 40- and 50-somethings juggling caregiving of aging parents, and 60- and 70-somethings transitioning into retirement but still wanting to work in some other capacity. Yet most benefits systems are still designed to serve that historical average. A prix fixe plate, served with good intentions but poorly aligned with reality. Employees Want Personalization. Most Aren't Getting It. Only 15% of U.S. workers have access to cafeteria-style or flexible benefits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the private sector, it's just 11%. Meanwhile, a Mercer survey found 41% of employees say their benefits don't reflect their real needs. Among workers who say they're satisfied, many consider their package 'good enough' but not ideal. And nearly 70% say that the ability to personalize benefits is important to them. This isn't just a mismatch. It's a missed opportunity. In today's competition for talent, benefits are no longer only about compensation; they are part of a larger conversation. They are a conversation between the employer and employee where the benefits offered signal if your employer 'gets you' or 'cares about you.' Multigenerational Workforce, Different Generations, Different Needs For the first time in modern workforce history, five, sometimes six, generations are working side by side. Similar to medieval alchemists who sought ways to turn different metals into gold, employers must now perform a generational alchemy, transforming multiple generations into an engaged and productive workforce. Think about it. Gen Z may be interning and onboarding. Gen X and younger Boomers might be leading departments while caring for both kids and aging parents. Millennials are moving into management while paying off student loans and hoping to purchase a home. Older Boomers and some Silent Generation workers are rethinking retirement as more of a transition than an exit. Many older workers either don't want to leave the workforce entirely or can't afford to do so. However, most employer benefits systems still treat retirement like a switch: you're either in or out. That all-or-nothing approach is leading to loss of talent, knowledge, and trust. Employer Benefits Moving From An Entrée To A Buffet Model Some employers are flipping the model. Instead of one-size-fits-all, they're creating buffet-style benefits: modular, flexible, and personalized. Benefits that adapt to where people are. Not just a calculation of how old they are and what the 'average' employee of similar age years ago needed or wanted. This isn't about being generous. It's about being responsive. A 28-year-old engineer may want pet care. A 35-year-old designer may want fertility benefits. A 45-year-old shift supervisor may need skills training. A 60-year-old marketing director might seek phased retirement planning or Medicare navigation. A 72-year-old contractor might only want telehealth and wellness benefits. When everyone is served the same prix fixe plate, someone walks away hungry or walks away entirely. Real-World Signals: A Benefits Model Is Emerging Some companies aren't waiting for a demographic wake-up call, they're already rewriting the benefits playbook to match the lives of a multigenerational workforce better. But, in a workforce defined by complexity and generational overlap, 'some' is no longer enough. At Microsoft, employees who move into phased or part-time roles don't lose their benefits. Instead, the company treats it like a lane change, not an exit ramp. It's a subtle but powerful shift: contribution matters more than classification. That approach allows flexibility without sacrificing institutional knowledge. AIS Inc., a manufacturer with nearly 40% of its workforce over age 50, made a similar move. When a 73-year-old technician asked to reduce his hours, the company allowed him to keep full benefits. The decision not only retained valuable expertise on the factory floor, it sent a broader message of loyalty and inclusion to workers of all ages. Travelers Insurance has gone beyond the traditional model of dependent care by partnering with Wellthy to support employees caring for aging parents and relatives. Recognizing that caregiving isn't just for young families, they've built a benefit that aligns with the real pressures many midlife and older workers face. Other employers are adopting platforms like Virgin Pulse and Foodsmart to give employees greater autonomy offering mental health coaching, nutrition support, and lifestyle stipends tailored to individual needs. These benefits don't just check boxes. They reflect the real-life needs and wants of today's employees. The Multigenerational Workforce's Health, Wealth, And Missing Middle Personalized benefits have long been the dream but rarely the reality. This isn't because employers did not care, but because the cost, complexity, and compliance risks were too high. Traditional systems offered by benefits providers and retirement administrators were built to serve the 'bookends' of work life: health and wealth. Health across careers, wealth for retirement years. But in between health and wealth are life stages and lifestyles that this approach misses. In today's multigenerational workforce, the middle matters more than ever. Employees aren't just joining and leaving or saving and retiring. They're caregiving, reprioritizing, upskilling, downshifting, and re-entering. Addressing this dynamic middle is essential not just to recruiting talent, but to retaining talent, and reengaging professionals across the career lifecycle. AI Meets HR: Is Personalized Benefits the Next Competitive Advantage? The convergence of AI and the multigenerational workforce holds the power and promise to break the personalization barrier. AI has long promised personalization, but only recently have we begun to see it take root in the workplace. In a study conducted by the MIT AgeLab in collaboration with Bank of America, human resource leaders across industries shared how artificial intelligence is reshaping their work today—and how they expect it to evolve. Far from fearing a robotic takeover, these HR professionals view AI as a trusted assistant: a tool to save time, reduce administrative burden, and enhance the quality of their decisions. The study found that AI is already widely used in recruitment, but its potential reaches far beyond hiring. HR leaders anticipate using AI to personalize onboarding experiences, deliver targeted training, and, equally critical, to customize benefits and compensation in ways that better align with employees' diverse life stages and needs. For a workforce that spans college interns to professionals in phased retirement, AI could be the key to unlocking modular, relevant, and timely support across the entire career lifecycle. The direction is clear: personalization at scale is no longer an aspiration. It's an expectation. And in a multigenerational workforce, using AI to deliver the right benefit at the right time may be the next competitive edge. For employers and plan administrators, AI could automate compliance, reduce administrative overhead, and enable data-driven decisions at scale. Moreover, plan administrators that offer tools that truly personalize employee experience provide a competitive advantage to compete based on how well they partner with employers to support employees across the lifecycle, not just on measures of clicks and costs. The result? Personalization becomes not only possible but practical. If Amazon Can Do It, Why Can't Employers? Most benefit systems are still optimized for an average world that no longer exists, one with nuclear families, linear careers, and a hard stop at 65. If the workforce has changed, the workplace must change with it. Call it the Amazon-effect. In a world where Amazon can anticipate your next purchase and make personalized suggestions in real-time, employees are expecting personalization that reflects similar empathy and engagement from their employers, who are invested in recruiting the best talent, retaining star employees, and re-engaging with those who may be retirement age but remain contributors to the enterprise. Let's stop serving a one-size-fits-all plate; it's time to serve up a buffet. We now have the tools, technology, insight, and demand to build a better model: a modular, buffet-style benefits AI-enabled ecosystem that reflects real people in real life.
Gulf Business
3 days ago
- Business
- Gulf Business
UAE fines 40 domestic worker recruitment offices for violations in H1
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has taken administrative and financial measures against 40 domestic worker recruitment offices in the UAE during H1 2025. This follows the confirmation of approximately 140 The ministry said it would not show leniency toward any recruitment office found to have committed legal or administrative violations. MoHRE warned that repeated non-compliance with regulations could lead to tougher penalties, including the potential cancellation of operating licences. In a statement on social media platform, X, MoHRE said the action comes as part of ongoing efforts to regulate the domestic labour market, boost the competitiveness and performance of recruitment offices, and respond promptly to complaints from employers and families. As part of our ongoing efforts to monitor the performance of domestic worker recruitment offices, ensure their compliance with applicable regulations and legislation, and respond swiftly to complaints from employers and families regarding the operation of these offices, 40… — وزارة الموارد البشرية والتوطين (@MOHRE_UAE) 'Continuous monitoring is carried out using both field-based and digital systems to detect and address violations, and to ensure offices are adhering strictly to applicable legislation,' the ministry said. The majority of violations were related to failure to refund full or partial recruitment fees within the legally mandated two-week period. This refund should be issued when a domestic worker is returned to the recruitment office or is reported to have stopped working. Other infringements included failure to clearly display ministry-approved service package prices to customers. MoHRE says its equipped to deal with violations MoHRE affirmed that its inspection and monitoring systems were fully equipped to deal with violations seriously and transparently, and reiterated its commitment to hearing complaints from employers. The ministry encouraged the public to report any negative practices through its digital platforms or by calling the Labour Claims and Advisory Call Centre at 80084. It also urged customers to work only with licenced recruitment offices to avoid the risk of fraudulent or unprofessional conduct. Compliant domestic worker recruitment offices praised Despite the violations, MoHRE praised the majority of domestic worker recruitment offices for complying with regulations and providing competitive services at reasonable prices. These practices, it said, support the growth and leadership of the domestic worker services sector in the UAE.
