Target will now include images of older workers in its online job postings and recruit on sites geared toward seniors. The chain of stores will also avoid asking applicants their age, the date they graduated from college or if they are digital natives. These beautiful inclusive gestures against ageism were not an initiative of Target, but rather were imposed on it by a settlement stemming from a complaint, reports the American magazine Employee Benefit News (EBN). In 2018, the Communications Workers of America union filed complaints with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against dozens of companies that post jobs on Facebook, accusing them of using social media advertising targeting tools to discriminate against older job seekers.
This is the proportion of women who consider menopause still taboo according to the Menopause Foundation of Canada. Sun Life notes that despite many efforts to achieve equity for women, the workplace health gap persists, which can limit career progression for female employees. According to the latest Sun Life report, three out of four women experience menopausal symptoms that affect their daily lives and 10% of women leave the workforce due to their symptoms. Three-quarters of women in the labor market also find that their employer does not help them during this period of their life or doubt this support.
HRD Canada magazine is concerned about the decline in empathy among executives. Only 68% of human resources professionals consider their CEO to be empathetic, a drop of 16 points from 2022. A level that has never been lower. Just over two-thirds (68%) say their organization is empathetic, down 23 points from 2022. For employees, the score is down 16 points but still at 78%. Businessolver’s 2023 State of Empathy in the Workplace report indicates that empathy fatigue is particularly prevalent in helping professions and among people who are overexposed to the emotional needs of others. The magazine cites ways to increase empathy at work: 1. Show a genuine interest in the needs, hopes, and dreams of others. 2. Show your willingness to help an employee with personal problems. 3. Show compassion when others reveal a personal loss.
At British skincare manufacturer Five Squirrels, employees do “deep work” for four hours a day. Four hours of ignoring emails, not answering phone calls, and turning off instant messaging. Since June 2022, the company has thus increased its productivity while reducing the week to four days without reducing the weekly salary. It is one of several four-day work trials that are attracting interest from economists and businesses keen to find a solution to slowing productivity growth in Britain and other Western economies. . Five Squirrels was one of 61 participants in this large pilot project organized by the research group Autonomy. A second trial begins on June 12 with new businesses.
In the United States, as employers announce the end of remote work and others opt for the status quo, Ipsos conducted a national remote work survey of 10,013 employees from April 27 to May 1, 2023. half (47%) of workers say they will consider looking for a new job if their employer reduces the flexibility of remote and hybrid working. According to respondents, work that is best done remotely includes research (55%), deep thinking (55%) and focus time (51%). Employees are split on whether they are more productive spending a full day at the workplace (53%) or only spending part of the day there (47%). The survey was conducted for Eagle Hill Consulting, a Washington-based company that provides unconventional management consulting services.
