JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are taking measures to limit and closely monitor young bankers' work hours after a Wall Street Journal investigation uncovered a culture of overwork, including the death of a 35-year-old Bank of America associate who had been working multiple 100-hour weeks. JPMorgan will cap junior bankers' hours at 80 per week, while Bank of America introduces a new timekeeping tool.

Paycor deposits several hundred dollars annually into each employee's Thrive Pack account, which can be used to buy technological tools and other items to help them as they work remotely, says Chief HR Officer Paaras Parker, who also emphasizes the importance of providing employee resource groups, scheduling virtual annual events that combine learning and fun, meeting with senior team leaders quarterly to talk about strategies and revising benefits based on people's needs and preferences. "We help our own employees learn about the implications of diversity of thought," Parker adds.

The Conference Board's survey of 300 compensation leaders projects 3.9% salary increase budgets for 2025, a marginal uptick from 3.8% in 2024. This comes as employers focus on retaining workers amid a shrinking labor supply. Alongside high salary budgets, HR leaders are adapting to economic pressures by scaling back on new sign-on and retention bonuses and increasing investments in recognition programs and equity compensation.

Companies such as Adidas, Cisco and Navistar are using AI tools to monitor employees' sentiment and help improve their well-being, executives say. Navistar is testing Rapport, which asks employees to rate their workloads and energy levels, while Cisco uses an employee survey bot and Adidas uses Qualtrics Assist to examine employee survey data and public reviews.

Starting her career in operations, Tanya Milbrath of 1Path moved into learning and development to bridge knowledge gaps in customer service. She has focused L&D initiatives on real-time learning needs, adopting AI for personalized training and aligning programs with business metrics to demonstrate value beyond being a cost center.