- Employee Confidence Index Sees Slight Uptick
- Report: Health Savings Accounts Maintain ‘Robust Growth’
- Global M&A Research Shows Strong Performances
- California Launches ‘Career Passports’
- Netherlands Releases Pay Transparency Draft
Employee Confidence Index Sees Slight Uptick
Employee confidence rose to 45.2% in March, up from a record low 44.7% in February, according to the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index, released April 8.
The research report also showed mentions of “layoffs” in Glassdoor reviews fell 7% in March compared to February but are still up 4% year-over-year. By contrast, mentions of “recession” in Glassdoor reviews rose 16% in March month-over-month but is still 7% below March 2024. “Inflation” is one area where concern is fading, with 9% fewer mentions month-over-month and 22% fewer mentions year-over-year.
The industries with the largest drops in employee confidence over the past year included:
- Aerospace and defense (-11 percentage points)
- Government and public administration (-6.6 percentage points)
- Nonprofit and nongovernmental organization (-4.6 percentage points)
- Manufacturing (-3.5 percentage points)
- Energy, mining and utilities (-3.4 percentage points)
- Construction, repair and maintenance services (-1.7 percentage points)
Report: Health Savings Accounts Maintain ‘Robust Growth’
Health savings assets grew to nearly $147 billion at the end of 2024, according to a new report by Devenir, an investment solutions provider. The health savings accounts (HSAs) data was collected earlier this year across more than 39 million accounts.
Key findings from the report showed:
- Consistent strong asset growth. Aided by favorable stock market conditions, HSA assets expanded significantly during 2024. Account growth continued at a steady pace. By year-end, HSA assets reached nearly $147 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 19% for assets and 5% for accounts.
- Robust growth in HSA investment assets. HSA investment assets maintained strong growth, supported by positive market returns and growing recognition of HSAs’ long-term benefits. During 2024, HSA investment assets increased by 38%, reaching $64 billion by the end of the year.
- Gradual investment adoption. The number of HSA holders choosing to invest continued to rise. Approximately 3.5 million HSAs, representing about 9% of all accounts, had invested a portion of their HSA dollars.
- Balanced contribution and withdrawal activity. Account holders contributed almost $56 billion to their accounts in 2024 (up 11% from the previous year) and withdrew $42 billion during the same period (up 10% from the prior year).
“The sustained growth in both assets and participation demonstrates a growing awareness among consumers and employers of HSAs’ long-term value in managing healthcare costs,” said Jon Robb, the senior vice president of research and technology at Devenir.
Devenir forecasted more than 45 million accounts and approximately $199 billion in total assets by the end of 2027.
Global M&A Research Shows Strong Performances
Companies making merger and acquisition (M&A) deals outclassed the wider market by 1.5 percentage points for acquisitions valued over $100 million completed between January and March, according to research on completed deals from WTW’s Quarterly Deal Performance Monitor.
WTW reported this was the first positive period since the final three months of 2022, following seven consecutive quarters of negative performance for acquirers.
The data revealed that all regional acquirers, except for North America, outperformed their respective regional index for the first three months of 2025. During this period, North American dealmakers were 2.2 percentage points below their regional index with 81 deals completed, marking nine successive quarters of negative performance in the region over the past two years.
In contrast, European buyers significantly outperformed their regional index by 16 percentage points during the first three months of 2025, although with fewer completed deals compared with the previous quarter (29 versus 42). U.K. dealmakers also outperformed the index, reflecting the wider European trend. Asia Pacific acquirers are 5.8 percentage points above their regional index, with 44 deals completed in the past three months, down from 61 deals in the final quarter of 2024.
The strongest-performing industries during the first quarter of 2025 were:
- Materials (+39.8 percentage points)
- Telecommunications (+29.2 percentage points)
- Consumer products and services (+13.2 percentage points)
California Launches ‘Career Passports’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday, April 2, the release of the Master Plan for Career Education, a statewide strategy to connect state residents to jobs, with or without a college degree.
“Every Californian deserves the opportunity to build real-life skills and pursue a fulfilling career — including those that don’t require college degrees,” Newsom said in a statement.
The plan includes three new budget proposals for this year:
- A digital career passport that combines academic records with verified experience from work, military service and training programs.
- More money to community colleges so they can offer college credit for students’ work experiences, a process known as “credit for prior learning.”
- A new state body that will bring together education and workforce leaders to create statewide goals and help coordinate the distribution of state and federal grants.
Netherlands Releases Pay Transparency Draft
To comply with the EU Pay Transparency Directive, the Netherlands recently announced proposed amendments to its Equal Treatment of Men and Women Act. Some of the key provisions include:
- Pay gap reporting deadlines. Employers with at least 150 employees must submit pay gap reports by June 7, 2027. Employers with 100 to 149 employees have until June 7, 2031, to comply.
- Expanded definitions. The law provides additional clarity on terms such as “additional or variable components,” which include holiday pay, bonuses, overtime compensation, training allowances and other variable wage elements.
- Salary information disclosure. Employees can request salary information broken down by gender and category of employees, with employers required to provide the data within two months.
- Salary progression criteria. Employers with at least 50 employees must provide transparency into the criteria used to determine an employee’s salary progression, ensuring workers understand how pay decisions are made.
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