Are you lonely at work? At least 20% of workers report so: Globally, one in five employees report experiencing loneliness a lot the previous day according to Gallup’s new State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report.  Loneliness is more prevalent among employees younger than age 35 than it is for those aged 35 and older. The same percentages of working men and working women report loneliness: each 20%. Job levels also seemed to have little association with loneliness. Of all the variables Gallup analyzed, work location shows the biggest differences in employees’ experiences with loneliness. Fully remote employees report significantly higher levels of loneliness (25%) than do those who work exclusively on-site (16%) -- hybrid workers fall in between at 21%. In a separate U.S. study, engaged employees were 64% less likely to be lonely than those who are not engaged. Overall engagement has a much stronger effect than any of the 12 individual aspects of engagement that Gallup has studied. For example, employees who say their opinion counts are 39% less likely to be lonely, and those who get to do what they do best every day are 37% less likely to be lonely.  Source:  Gallup 6/12/24

Hiring new graduates and advertising so?  Watch out for age discrimination: Raytheon Technologies Corp., a major aerospace and defense company with nearly 200,000 employees, “intentionally and effectively excludes nearly all older workers from qualifying for, competing for, and obtaining many jobs at Raytheon,” according to a class-action lawsuit.  The lawsuit alleged the company writes targeted job postings that use phrases like “recent college graduates,” “new college graduate,” “new graduate,” and “recent graduate” and requires applicants to have limited work experience, provide a copy of their college transcript, and list their month and year of college graduation. According to the lawsuit, the 67-year-old lead plaintiff has applied for at least seven such positions at Raytheon in the past few years. He “met all the qualifications, except he was not a recent college graduate, and he did not have less than 12 or 24 months of relevant work experience,” the lawsuit said, resulting in the company failing to consider him.  And it should be noted that the EEOC is known to troll job advertisements and send letters to companies warning them that the language may be discriminatory.  Source:  HR Dive 6/14/24

New grad market has meek outlook: Despite the strong labor market, just 13% of entry-level job seekers found work in the past six months, down from a 2022 peak of 20, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis of Commerce Department data. “The class of 2024 may need to buckle in for a bit of a rough ride this summer,” said Becky Frankiewicz, North America president at staffing firm ManpowerGroup. “People aren’t leaving their jobs and employers aren’t laying off. Everyone is staying put - and that’s bad news if you’re trying to get a foot in the door.” As a result, the U.S. unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds has climbed sharply in the past year, from 6.3% to 7.9% as of May - the largest annual increase in 14 years, excluding the early shock of the pandemic. Today’s recent graduates ages 22 to 27 have a higher unemployment rate - 4.7% as of March - than the overall population, according to an analysis by the New York Fed. There is good news.  It’s not as bad as the great recession when unemployment for this group peaked at 17.2% in April 2010, remained above 10% for more than six years. Source:  Washington Post 6/16/24

When looking to assist employees with student debt, don’t forget older workers: According to new research from the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Research which evaluated more than 2.2 million people over age 55 with outstanding student loans, the research found that  those who had not completed their degrees were more likely to be at financial risk since their incomplete education likely did not increase their earning power. That includes about 14.9% of workers aged 55 to 64 and 17.3% of workers aged 65 and over, according to the research.  That includes more than 1.4 million workers and more than 820,000 unemployed people aged 55 and over who had taken student loan balances for themselves or their spouses. The data does not include older Americans who have taken on student loan debt on behalf of their children.  Half of the borrowers over 55 and still working were earning less than $54,600 — a “major financial vulnerability,” the research finds. The bottom 50% of older earners — with incomes less than $54,600 — owe the highest average debt of $58,823.  The middle 40% of earners — with incomes between $54,600 and $192,000 — owe an average debt of $48,174.  The top 10% — earning more than $192,000 — owe an average of $33,000.   Source:  CNBC 5/29/24

Will AI drive increased headcount?   Contrary to fears of AI-driven job losses in the future, a new report has revealed that 55% of employers worldwide are planning to increase headcount over the next two years due to the rapidly developing technology.  ManpowerGroup's survey among 40,374 employers across 42 countries found that only 18% of the respondents believe that they will decrease headcount due to AI, while 24% don't think there will be any impact at all to their workforce numbers.  By industry, more than half of employers across all identified sectors in the report said they plan to increase headcount as a result of AI. The findings come amid projections that AI will put 300 million full-time jobs at risk, triggering massive job insecurities in the workforce that is already concerned about recent layoffs. The findings also come as 48% of employers worldwide said they have already adopted AI, a 13% increase year-over-year, according to the report.  But among the top challenges in its adoption include the workforce, where 31% lack the skills to use AI effectively. According to the report, 69% of senior leadership are optimistic about AI, much higher than 57% of factory floor and frontline workers who are excited about the tech. Optimism is also high for office workers, with 68%, as well as middle managers and supervisors, with 67%.  Source: Human Resources Director 6/13/24