Employees in the US are using their vacation time at higher rates than they have in more than 10 years, and some employers are urging or even requiring them to take time off. The number of working adults using vacation days rose by 20% from June 2021 to June 2023, and over the past year, the amount of time they took off increased by 5% to an average of 32 hours.

The pandemic helped make remote work more of a reality and that's not going away, says Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who notes that companies "are never going back to they way it was." With artificial intelligence, "we are going to move into something that is maybe more multisensory, where these agents are going to be more aware of us and we are going to be more aware of them," Benioff says.

The trend of "bed rotting," or spending the day in bed, binge watching TV and scrolling through social media, has gained steam on social media as a form of self-care, and the term can help people feel less alone as they see other people can related to it, experts say. But the practice can also cause people to withdraw from social interaction and lead to a cycle of harmful habits, says licensed clinical social worker Ashley Pena, who adds that support from loved ones or a therapist can help with finding healthier ways to cope.

A 65-year-old entering retirement this year can expect to incur an average of $157,500 -- or about $315,000 per couple -- in retirement health care costs, and the figures are basically unchanged from last year but represent a significant increase over the 2002 estimate of $80,000 per person. Fidelity Investments executive Hope Manion, whose firm outlined the data in its 2023 Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate report, said it is the first time in almost 10 years that the trend has remained flat.

Layoffs in the shadow of a recession can affect profits negatively in ways many executives don't consider: poor morale and engagement in those who remain, loss of institutional knowledge or key skills and reduced innovation. Instead, leaders can use employees more strategically to improve growth, keeping short- and long-term strategies in mind, Joe Raymond of RVR Consulting Group writes.