TASA ID: 22108
The unemployment rate is surprisingly low, at 3.7%, shocking economists who expected a slowdown in hiring and rising unemployment rate. Frontline work such as healthcare led job growth. Frontline workers are in high demand, and the competition for their services is fierce. Yet wage growth cooled to .3%, the smallest rise since August 2021. That means employers are offering more jobs, but not offering higher wages to attract staff, likely due to fears of a recession, or at least an economic slowdown.
In this setting, non-wage benefits make a crucial differentiator in recruiting and retaining frontline workers. And there’s a surprising benefit that’s cheap to offer, yet incredibly desirable: remote work. In fact, a survey of 1,500 U.S. workers by benefits provider Unum found that after health insurance, flexible/remote work represented the most highly desired benefit. Having consulted for 22 organizations on hybrid and remote work, I’ve seen these benefits boost retention and recruitment, improve productivity and engagement, and cut costs. You might be surprised to hear that my experience applies to frontline settings as well, such as in two hospitals where I helped establish hybrid work programs for frontline healthcare staff.