Gen Z in the workplace: Gen Z workers want their jobs to be more than just a job. According to Deloitte’s 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, 86% of Gen Z workers said having a sense of purpose is important to their overall job satisfaction and well-being. Additionally, 75% of Gen Z and millennial workers said an organization’s community engagement and societal impact is an important factor when considering a potential employer.  Environmental sustainability is also a top concern, with 62% of Gen Z workers reporting feeling anxious about climate change in the previous month. In fact, Deloitte also found that two in 10 Gen Z workers have already changed jobs or industries to better align their work with their environmental values, with another quarter planning to do so in the future.  Another way to help Gen Z find their place at work is to make sure they are onboarded properly — without being rushed through the process. That should be at least 12 to 18 months, said Doug Dennerline, CEO of Betterworks.  The onboarding process should be thorough and can include things like shadowing workers before doing the job on their own and being taught how to develop both soft and hard skills, he said.  Source: HR Dive 3/4/25 

Non-immigration visa eligibility update: On February 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of State superseded and updated its previously issued December 2023 post-COVID guidance on non-immigrant interview waiver applications. Under the revised guidance, Important Update on Waivers of the Interview Requirement for Certain Nonimmigrant Visa Applicants, only applicants who still have a valid visa or previously held a visa in the same category that expired 12 months prior to the new application will be eligible to apply for the interview waiver. This is a substantial change from previous guidance that allowed up to 48 months’ expiration.  The revised criteria also require that applicants apply in their country of nationality and/or residence, have never been refused a visa (unless refusal was overcome or waived), and not be subject to any other ground of ineligibility. This is an apparent restrictive shift from the previous rule, under which nonimmigrant visa applicants were eligible for an interview waiver processing if they held an approved nonimmigrant visa in any category that had expired within the last 48 months.  Source: Littler 2/27/25 

Fertility benefits on the rise:  As more companies make changes to diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and other organizational priorities amid political shifts, many are maintaining and continuing to expand some of their inclusive benefits – like fertility care.  Nearly 70% of employers are planning to expand family health benefits, which include fertility care, in the next two to three years – a 44% increase year over year, according to a report from Maven, an employer- sponsored fertility care provider, including responses from a survey conducted among over 1,500 respondents in the HR and benefits space. Corporate-sponsored fertility care, which can include IVF, egg and sperm freezing, and surrogacy and adoption services, became increasingly common over the past few years. Such services can make the cost of having a child more affordable to all kinds of working parents, including those who are single by choice and LGBTQ+ couples looking to adopt or have a surrogate.  In many cases, traditional healthcare coverage may deny fertility benefits to those who don’t meet the clinical definition of infertile. Employer-sponsored fertility benefits, however, are able to make the process more accessible to everyone.  About a third of employees pursuing fertility treatment incur debt to cover healthcare costs, and 90% of employers said they are concerned about the rising cost of fertility care in Maven’s report.  Source: WorkLife 2/27/25 

FTC to continue focusing on no poaching agreements: A bipartisan effort. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) remains focused on “rooting out and prosecuting unfair labor-market practices that harm American workers.”  The FTC will implement an internal Joint Labor Task Force (Task Force), comprised of representatives from the Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Economics, and Office of Policy Planning to accomplish these goals. The scope of potential unfair practices subject to the Task Force’s scrutiny are broad, including noncompete, no-poach and no-hire agreements, but also alleged harmful occupational licensing requirements and “job scams.” Consistent with this and Chairman Ferguson’s assertions during the Biden administration that the FTC was “wise to focus its resources on protecting competition in labor markets,” he issued a memorandum on February 26, 2025, instructing “the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Economics, and Office of Policy Planning to work together to prioritize rooting out and prosecuting unfair labor-market practices that harm American workers.” The FTC’s Bureaus were directed to form an internal Joint Labor Task Force (Task Force), which will meet “at least monthly” to assess “all ongoing labor matters” and report quarterly to Chaiman Ferguson.  Source: Baker & Hostetler LLP 2/27/25 

Deconstructing jobs and reimagining work: Historically, people’s work has been tied to specific job descriptions. But Philip Rogiers and David G. Collings share a different vision for the working world in their recent HBR article: one that deconstructs jobs and focuses instead on employee skills.  With this approach, people’s skills are matched to projects and tasks across the organization. This allows employees to focus on the challenges they’re best suited to solve rather than limit their work to the confines of their team or department. And this isn’t just a theoretical idea—companies are actually exploring job deconstruction right now. Zappos has completely reimagined work by using temporary functional roles instead of traditional job titles and hierarchies. Companies like DBS Bank and Schneider Electric are exploring using internal mobility programs as a complement to, rather than replacement for traditional roles.  Moving from rigid job descriptions to agile skill matching gives companies the flexibility they need to adapt to change. But for this evolution to succeed, there is a need to put thoughtful guardrails in place to mitigate the tensions associated with such a substantial shift. Source: ATD 2/11/25