According to a new survey of economists published by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), professional forecasters are increasing their expectations for the U.S. economy.
The U.S. economy is "set to grow 2.2% this year after adjusting for inflation," an increase from the 1.3% growth economists predicted in the prior NABE survey conducted in November 2023.
The U.S. labor market has "remained remarkably resilient," despite "high interest rates meant to get inflation under control."
According to Ellen Zentner, NABE President (and chief U.S. economist for Morgan Stanley), a "wide range of factors are behind the 2024 upgrade, including spending by both the government and households."
41% of NABE survey respondents "cited high rates as the most significant risk to the economy."
Read more via Associated Press
Women working in the healthcare sector are reporting "significantly higher levels of stress and burnout" than their male colleagues, according to a new study published last month.
Highlights from the study published in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health:
Researchers found that "gender inequity and a lack of autonomy at work are correlated with women’s burnout."
The study showed that, "over the past four decades," women working in healthcare have "reported significantly higher levels of stress and burnout than their male counterparts worldwide."
A number of factors contribute to the outsized burnout experienced by women.
Women experience a lack of autonomy at work as well as "poor work-life integration," including "being encouraged to prioritize caregiving over professional development."
Women working in the healthcare sector were "more likely than men to feel powerless and constricted by time pressures."
Women were also more likely to "spend more emotional energy on complex patients than their male colleagues."
Researchers said some factors can insulate women in the healthcare sector from burnout. Women were less likely to experience burnout if they "worked in supportive environments that offered flexible schedules and employee recognition." On the personal side, women with “strong relationships inside and outside of the workplace … reported higher levels of well-being.”
Read more via HR Dive, Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health
Workers increasingly want "moral leadership" from both their managers and from CEOs, according to a report published by The HOW Institute for Society, a leadership development firm.
Demand by employees for "moral leadership from CEOs and managers" is increasing, according to a new survey of "2,500 U.S.-based employees."
93% of workers surveyed said the need for moral leadership is "more urgent than ever," up from just 86% in 2020.
The Institute defined moral leadership as "putting principles and values before self-interest, extending trust to colleagues rather than micromanaging them, [and] listening and learning from perspectives that challenge one’s views and assumptions."
Moral leadership, or a lack thereof, can impact "everything from team trust to employee loyalty to the bottom line."
The survey found that just 11% of respondents who report to "leaders ranking high on the moral leadership scale" are "looking for a new job."
In contrast, close to a third of workers who report to leaders who comprise the "bottom tier" of the moral leadership scale are looking for a new job.
Only 10% of CEOs and 13% of managers "consistently demonstrate behaviors associated with moral leadership," according to respondents.
"Moral leadership has evolved from a worthy pursuit to a critical survival skill … People are seeking leadership that works to forge shared truths and engender an abundance of trust, and that scales deep human moral values at all levels."
Read more via HR Dive, The How Institute for Society
According to new guidance issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), employers "must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for women going through menopause."
The EHRC issued new guidance, stating employers could be the targets of disability discrimination lawsuits "if they fail to make reasonable adjustments for women going through menopause."
Two-thirds of women who experience menopause symptoms say those symptoms have a "negative impact" on their "work life."
Symptoms from menopause can be "long-term" and can have a "substantial impact on a woman’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities," therefore they "may be considered a disability," according to the EHRC.
Employers have a "legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments and to not discriminate against workers" under the Equality Act 2010.
“An employer understanding their legal duties is the foundation of equality in the workplace. But it is clear that many may not fully understand their responsibility to protect their staff going through the menopause. Our new guidance sets out these legal obligations for employers and provides advice on how they can best support their staff. We hope that this guidance helps ensure every woman going through the menopause is treated fairly and can work in a supportive and safe environment.”
Read more via The Guardian, Equality & Human Rights Commission
A widespread AT&T wireless outage turned the start of the US workday "into the apocalypse," disrupting commuters and "providing ammunition" for those who advocate remote work.
On February 22, an AT&T wireless outage "knocked out cellphone service for thousands of its users across the U.S." The outage was ultimately blamed on "an error in coding."
Service was out for many users for up to 10 hours.
Commuting workers who rely on the ability to get work done while en route to the office were simply out of luck, resulting in a "productivity catastrophe."
On trains in major cities, commuters were "just staring out the window," unable to get any work done without cell service, according to news reports.
Workers traveling to or from meetings found themselves without access to Waze or Google Maps, not a paper map to be found.
Some called the outage a “remote work triumph.”
Remote workers who rely on AT&T as their wireless provider were not interrupted, thanks to the fact that the outage did not disrupt Wi-Fi service.
Experts say the outage "underlined how commutes generally drain worker productivity — even when phones are working."
The outage was a "nice reminder of why work-from-home grew popular in the first place."
Read more via Bloomberg, Associated Press, Axios
Last month, Alabama's Supreme Court ruled that "frozen embryos are children and those who destroy them can be held liable for wrongful death." It remains unclear if other states will follow Alabama's lead.
Because employers are increasingly offering fertility benefits, the ruling "could have an even greater impact on would-be parents in the state … than it would have just a few years ago," according to experts.
Some patients have already begun searching for "alternative care in other states," after "several Alabama clinics have paused certain in vitro fertilization procedures in the wake of the ruling."
Experts say it is "too soon to tell how the court decision will affect employer benefits," but that "it’s possible that some companies will have to cover more travel expenses to enable their workers to get treatment in other states."
45% of large employers covered in vitro fertilization in 2023, an increase from just 22% in 2019, according to Mercer.
Experts say employers are "not likely to drop their fertility benefits" as a result of the Alabama ruling, given that such benefits are "important for talent acquisition and retention."
Employers that offer such benefits, and the employees who are reliant on such benefits, are largely in a "wait and see mode," experts say.
Read more about fertility benefits in the Need to Know Briefing's September 2023 Spotlight section.
Read more via CNN, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
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According to a draft of the closing statement by G-20 finance chiefs, the "global economy has a growing chance of pulling off a soft landing."
Leaders attributed the "growing chance of pulling off a soft landing" for the global economy to "faster-than-expected disinflation," at least in part.
According to Bloomberg News, a draft of the communique by finance chiefs reads: "We note that the likelihood of a soft landing in the global economy has increased. Risks to the global economic outlook are more balanced. Upside risks include faster-than expected disinflation.”
Bloomberg notes that the "text isn’t final and wording is subject to intensive negotiations" when G-20 leaders meet in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The draft also references topics on which leaders remain divided, including geopolitical conflicts in both Ukraine and Gaza, and “geoeconomic tensions.”
Read more via Bloomberg
Argentina: Argentina's economy "contracted more than expected in December," after the country's President instituted "austerity measures" aimed at curbing inflation. Economic activity declined 3.1% in December, down 4.5% year over year. (Bloomberg)
Finland: Finland is implementing new restrictions around the "right to strike". The new law will "introduce a 200 euro ($217) fine for employees who participate in illegal political industrial action." Since the beginning of the year, workers have staged "widespread strikes" in Finland. Employment minister Arto Satonen now says the government will "restrict the length of political strikes to 24 hours and introduce a personal fine of 200 euros for employees attending a strike that had been declared illegal by a court." (US News)
Italy: Italy is slashing tax incentives that had been "designed to lure talented expatriates back home." Half a million young Italians have "left the country since 2011". Some of those young workers, who had been planning to return, are now finding they will "no longer qualify for a tax break." Italy's government decided the "benefits" of the tax incentive "did not justify the cost of around 1.3 billion euros a year in lost tax revenue." Italy's "brain drain" is said to be "second only to Japan among the G7 economies," and experts fear the "exodus of talented youngsters is exacerbated by one of the lowest proportions of university graduates among advanced countries, a combination that is straining the highly-indebted country's economic fabric." (Reuters)
Japan: The Japanese economy ended 2023 on a weak note, with gross GPD down in the fourth quarter as a result of "sluggishness" in both "domestic private consumption and capital spending." Germany has now surpassed Japan as the world's third-largest economy. The International Monetary Fund is projecting that "India’s GDP will overtake Japan’s (in dollar terms) in 2026." (Wall Street Journal, TheAsset.com)
