The children of Manulife Financial Corp. employees can take a virtual visit to the International Space Station, create their own ice cream in a bag and design a toy boat during a virtual summer camp put on by the insurer. Camp Manulife is running for four weeks in late July and early August, with the […]
Four in five (80 per cent) Canadian employers believe they have the appropriate programs and practices in place to support employees’ mental, physical, emotional and financial well-being as they return to the workplace and settle into a new normal, according to a new survey by Mercer Canada. The survey, which examined Canadian organizations’ preparedness for returning to […]
Several prominent players in Canada’s pensions and benefits industries have signed onto the BlackNorth Initiative, pledging to take specific actions within their organizations to tackle anti-Black racism. “The persistent inequities across our country underscore our urgent, national need to address and alleviate racial, ethnic and other tensions and to promote the elimination of anti-Black systemic […]
As lockdown restrictions begin to lift and companies co-ordinate their return-to-work processes, more than half (55 per cent) of Canadian employees said they’d prefer to work from home more frequently, while 41 per cent agreed the era of the 9-to-5 workday is now over, according to a new survey by multinational software company Citrix Systems […]
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. employers were beefing up their financial well-being offerings and starting to see positive results, according to a new survey by Buck. The survey, which polled more than 150 U.S. organizations, found employees’ financial stress is a top motivator for companies to invest in financial well-being programs. As well, 40 […]
Over the past few months, we’ve all had to deal with the challenges of social distancing and self-isolation. Some people have faced the extra pressure of continuing to work without interruption to earn a living, while also providing daily childcare. Others have dealt with the challenges of social isolation and living alone. For those of […]
In this unprecedented time, it’s more evident the physical, psychological and financial components of health are all interconnected, said Charmaine Alexander, senior disability management advisor at Desjardins Insurance, during a webinar hosted by Benefits Canada. Prior to the pandemic, in May 2018, Desjardins conducted a survey to measure these interactions to better understand how they […]
The pandemic changed our world and our jobs overnight and stretched compassion, empathy and flexibility to the limit. There has never been a better time to reconsider everything about employee benefits. For me as a benefits consultant, the crisis has highlighted how unprepared the typical benefits plan is to truly support the needs of employees in […]
Industrial conglomerate Siemens is allowing more than 100,000 of its employees to work away from the office for two or three days a week on a permanent basis. The Munich-based company said the coronavirus crisis has “shown that working independently of a fixed location offers many advantages and is possible on a much wider scale […]
Fujitsu Ltd. is introducing permanent remote working for 80,000 global employees in a bid to boost innovation and work-life balance. The Japanese multinational’s campaign, which it calls ‘Work-Life Shift,’ relies on three core principles: smart working, borderless offices and culture change, marking “the end of the conventional notion of commuting to and from fixed offices, […]