I wanted to break out one employee benefit…. Leave.
I didn’t cover it, but the averted railway worker strike included a fight over paid sick leave. Axios covered it, as well as tensions with nurses and mental health care workers over the same. Insider has an entire piece covering how unlimited time off is “basically a sham.”
And while we’re on that, a new Axios/Generation Lab poll shows 82% of Gen Zers say the idea of doing the minimum required to keep their jobs is pretty or extremely appealing. And some 15% of that share are already doing it,
Why do we care?
I broke this out because it’s a particular perk… which reads very well on the headline and is awful in implementation. Companies are finding that employees are putting up with a lot less.
Break down the why. The pandemic was both a break from the norm, and a collective trauma. Individuals are reevaluating what is essential to them, similar to those who experience medical issues like a heart attack and survive. They become less tolerant in areas where it impacts their priorities … many of which are personal, including family and home life.
Savvy leaders are putting their people into larger context… and recognizing this is a marathon, not a sprint. Burning them out is rarely an intelligent choice.