Canadian online estate planning company Willful is making its remote-working policy permanent and allowing employees to work from anywhere they choose. The employer reopened its Toronto office earlier this year, inviting staff to go in on a voluntary basis. However, the space was under-utilized and wasn’t worth the cost of keeping it open, says Erin Bury, […]
Just 19 per cent of Canada’s investment managers say they’ve adopted a fully remote working model as of September 2022, according to a survey by the Portfolio Management Association of Canada. The survey, which polled more than 100 investment managers among the PMAC’s membership, also found more than a quarter (26 per cent) said they’re […]
Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of U.S. employees would choose better work-life balance over better pay, compared to 31 per cent who said the opposite or six per cent who were unsure, according to a new survey by FlexJobs. The survey, which polled 4,000 workers from generation Z, millennials, generation X, baby boomers and the […]
The Royal Bank of Canada is asking employees to return to in-office working to foster more in-person collaboration and creativity, reports Bloomberg. The bank’s hybrid arrangements will involve working in person two to three days a week for most office jobs, according to an email from Rafael Ruffolo, a spokesperson for the bank, who noted these practices are already in […]
The percentage of Canadians working from home increased slightly amid a seventh wave of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by Statistics Canada. In July, the percentage of workers aged 15 to 69 who worked most of their hours at home edged up 0.4 per cent to 24.2 per cent. Alongside short-term shifts in work location, many […]
With more data emerging showing vaping can lead to lung injuries and other adverse health issues, many employers have concerns about the potential cost of providing extended health-care benefits to employees who vape, says Julie Stich, vice-president of content at the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. “We’re seeing more and more evidence coming forth […]
Amazon.com Inc is pausing the construction of six new U.S. office buildings to re-evaluate the designs to better suit hybrid work. A report by Reuters noted that, despite the construction delays of office buildings in Bellevue, Wash. and Nashville, the company’s hiring plans for each city — 25,000 and 5,000 jobs, respectively — remain on […]
More than two-thirds (70 per cent) of large U.S. employers are planning to beef up their benefits plans in 2023 to enhance their attraction and retention efforts, according to a new survey by Mercer. The survey, which polled more than 700 employers, found a third (32 per cent) of large employers already offer inclusive family-building […]
The Netherlands is making remote working a legal right for its citizens. On July 5, the Dutch bicameral parliament’s lower house passed legislation that forces employers to consider employee requests to work from home as long as their professions allow for it, according to a report by Bloomberg. If the legislation, which is set to go […]
The shift to remote working is tamping down wage growth by two per cent over two years, shrinking — by more than half — employees’ expectations of real-wage catchup amid rising inflation, according to a report by the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago. It found while U.S. consumer prices rose 8.6 per cent […]