Companies aim for more ‘strategic’ pay increases: WTW report

With salary budgets projected to increase 3.4% in 2027, employers are moving away from broad-based pay increases in favor of more targeted increases and spot awards.

By Danielle McLean • July 24, 2026

Confidence in HR may hinge on moving beyond task-level AI use

As HR claims more ownership of AI strategy, belief that the technology can “significantly improve how work gets done” has decreased, Culture Amp said.

By Kathryn Moody • July 24, 2026

Explore the Trendline➔

Top trends in employee retention

With employers pulling back on hiring, many HR professionals are squarely focused on retention. But there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.

By HR Dive staff

Employers may underestimate workers’ financial concerns

More than half of employees feel positive about their finances and careers, but three-quarters said the cost of living challenged their sense of security, per a Bank of America report.

By Lara Ewen • July 24, 2026

This week in 5 numbers: Nearly 7 in 10 workers say they question their ability to retire comfortably

Here’s a roundup of numbers from the last week — including how many companies are spending less on new hires and more on artificial intelligence.

By Ginger Christ • July 23, 2026

More than half of workers say they’ve considered accepting a lower offer after a layoff

Glassdoor findings show a potential worsening of the gender pay gap through layoffs.

By Ginger Christ • July 23, 2026

Workers who direct AI agents outperform peers who simply delegate to them

Even when other skill sets were identical, the ability to judge artificial intelligence output made a critical difference in performance, per a study from KPMG and University of Texas at Austin.

By Lara Ewen • July 23, 2026

What 10 leading restaurant companies pay their CEOs — and their hourly workers

Median hourly compensation hovers near, and sometimes below, the poverty line, while leading restaurant CEOs earn tens of millions.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • July 23, 2026

Federal HR office lost more than a third of its workforce during Trump’s second term, GAO reports

The watchdog said the losses hampered “operational capacity” at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and “risk worsening pre-existing skills gaps.”

By Ginger Christ • July 22, 2026

Men use outside job offers to negotiate pay while women do not, per Swedish study

Researchers recommended implementing structured wage-setting practices that reduce the role of bargaining in setting pay.

By Ryan Golden • July 22, 2026

New grads have to compete with AI for entry-level roles, hiring managers say

Nearly half of organizations now ask a senior worker plus AI to do the work of several entry-level grads, per a new report.

By Lara Ewen • July 22, 2026

AI skills gap persists despite widening personal use

Companies assuming employees will bring AI skills into their jobs will set themselves up to fail, according to CompTIA Vice President of Research Seth Robinson. 

By Roberto Torres • July 22, 2026

Peak office use hits 80%, topping pre-pandemic levels, CBRE says

Driving the gains are attendance policies and managers doing a better job matching space with what employees want, the company says.

By Joe Burns • July 21, 2026

Lack of manager support may be a critical development gap

Less than a third of the 1,000 professionals surveyed by the American Management Association said their managers were “highly effective.”

By Kathryn Moody • July 21, 2026

How L&D and workforce readiness are connected

SHRM said “skills strategists” tend to align L&D to business priorities and create learning experiences that are relevant and accessible.

By Caroline Colvin • July 21, 2026

Front-line workers say they don’t mind AI but want transparency

Most employees said their trust in an organization depended on how it explained its AI use.

By Lara Ewen • July 21, 2026

Week in review: Meta’s AI systems ‘disproportionately’ selected certain workers for layoffs

We’re rounding up last week’s stories, including a $2 million sexual harassment settlement.

By Kathryn Moody • July 20, 2026

Work feels like a ‘situationship,’ employees say

Employees responding to a survey said they don’t feel like their employers are committed to retaining them long term.

By Caroline Colvin • July 20, 2026

The human capabilities separating AI leaders from AI followers

What does effective, measurable human-AI collaboration really look like?

July 20, 2026

How AI ‘workslop’ is undermining your organization’s performance

Combatting the workslop paradox is not about stopping employee laziness and does not require technical solutions, writes a Gartner analyst.

By Maggie Schroeder-O’Neal • July 17, 2026

How the right contact center culture can drive measurable ROI

When agents feel like they have a career, not just a job, attrition drops — and lower turnover is a clear source of ROI, Morgan & Morgan’s Angie Flury said.

By Bryan Wassel • Updated July 17, 2026

Employers may soon find it harder to retain workers

Frustrations over compensation and optimism about other opportunities may lead employees to leave their current roles over the next six months, per a new report.

By Lara Ewen • July 17, 2026

This week in 5 numbers: Employees spend nearly a day ‘botsitting’ AI each week

Here’s a roundup of numbers from the last week — including how much more revenue companies that hired more workers saw.

By Ginger Christ • July 16, 2026

Inappropriate touching, unwanted spanking costs Las Vegas restaurant group $2M

The court documents allege that Bouchon and the greater restaurant group failed to take appropriate action to prevent the harassment, even after receiving complaints.

By Caroline Colvin • July 16, 2026

AI may conceal growing ‘learning debt’ for fast-changing roles

Close to 3 in 10 workers surveyed by TalentLMS said they’ve delivered work they couldn’t fully explain if asked how they did it.

By Laurel Kalser • July 16, 2026

Adding talent — not cutting it — leads to better revenue growth, study finds

Companies that hired more employees were more likely to see sustained growth even amid AI implementation and attempts to do “more with less,” Orgvue said.

By Lara Ewen • July 16, 2026