Workspan Daily News Bytes for Aug. 28, 2026

More Employees Want Financial Security in Rewards Offerings

When it comes to their rewards preferences, more employees are prioritizing financial stability and security over work-life balance and career growth, according to survey findings released Wednesday, Aug. 26, by Gartner, a business and technology insights company.

A May survey of 10,055 workers revealed that the 15 most valued rewards offerings across categories were dominated by those that provide financial stability and protection against future unanticipated costs. Paid time off, work-life balance and individual pay differentiation were less important than in the past.

Among the findings:

Workers are focused on pay growth and wealth creation, highly valuing future base pay increases, long-term incentive (LTI) target amount and LTI vesting period. They do not value merit pay differentiation or short-term incentives (STIs) to the same extent. Instead, they want spot bonuses and increased bonus frequency.
Wellness levels continue to be a cause for concern, with fewer than 35% of surveyed workers reporting high levels of overall wellness.
Workers are focused on two aspects of medical benefits: aversion to financial risk when accessing care and managing recurring healthcare costs.

“As workforce needs shift and become more fragmented, medical benefits, long-term incentives and flexible financial benefits have become more important,” said Augustus Vickery, the director analyst in the Gartner HR practice. “In today’s uncertain business environment, organizations must reset their [rewards] strategies to attract and retain critical talent while optimizing costs.”

Report Shows Extent That AI Is Shaking Up Recruiting Process

Seventy-seven percent of U.S. HR leaders plan to expand their use of artificial intelligence (AI) in recruitment over the next 12 months, according to a State of Employee Recruitment Report by HR software platform Paylocity.

The company surveyed more than 1,000 U.S.-based HR and recruitment leaders and found nearly all of them (91%) said AI has become essential to managing their current application volume, and 89% say it has helped them find better candidates in the process.

When asked where they are using AI in their process, HR leaders said during:

Resume screening (67%)
Interview scheduling (59%)
Job description writing (57%)
Scoring and ranking (48%)
Sourcing (44%)
Candidate engagement (35%)
Candidate interviews (35%)

When asked about their biggest challenge with AI in recruitment, HR leaders pointed to:

Missing qualified candidates that AI screens out (26%)
Bias concerns (16%)
Compliance and regulatory risks (16%)
Loss of control and transparency (11%)
Candidate trust and dropoffs (11%).

Only 21% reported no major challenges.

When asked how much time AI is saving recruiters per week, HR leaders said:

3 to 5 hours (35%)
6 to 10 hours (26%)
More than 10 hours (17%)
1 to 2 hours (17%)
Less than 1 hour/don’t use AI (5%)

43% of Workers Think They’ve Fallen Behind in AI Skills

According to a national survey of more than 1,000 employed U.S. workers conducted by career website Resume Now, 43% said their current AI skill level is behind what they believe is needed to stay competitive.

When asked how they would rate their current AI skill level, workers reported:

Far behind (20%)
Slightly behind (23%)
Adequate (45%)
More advanced than needed (12%)

When asked how they would rate their AI skills compared to their coworkers, respondents said:

Far behind (11%)
Somewhat behind (13%)
About the same as their coworkers (43%)
Somewhat more advanced than their coworkers (23%)
Much more advanced than their coworkers (10%)

When asked how worried they are about their lack of AI skills negatively affecting their job security, respondents said they were:

Very worried (10%)
Somewhat worried (25%)
Not very worried (31%)
Not worried at all (34%)

Deloitte Settles DEI Lawsuit for $21.5 Million

Deloitte LLP and four affiliated entities have agreed to pay $21.5 million to resolve allegations that the consulting firm violated the False Claims Act (FCA), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday, Aug. 25.

According to the DOJ, Deloitte allegedly falsely certified compliance with the equal opportunity requirements in its federal contracts while simultaneously engaging in race- and sex-based employment decisions. The government alleges that Deloitte took race or sex into account when making hiring, promotion and staffing decisions to achieve progress toward non-public race and sex-based workforce composition goals. It also alleges that these diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals were intended to impact Deloitte’s promotion decisions, as business units were assigned goals for the racial and sex makeup of their yearly partners, principals and managing directors (PPMDs) classes.

“Government contractors cannot reward or penalize employees based on race or sex — and labeling the practice DEI does not make it lawful,” U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the announcement.

BoA Bans Employees From Working Back-to-Back Remote Days

Starting in mid-September, Bank of America (BoA) hybrid employees will no longer be able to work remotely on two consecutive days, including Friday to Monday.

According to news reports, the financial services giant is not requiring eligible employees to be in the office more than three days a week, a standard held since 2022. Client-facing employees are unaffected by September’s shift, as they are already working in the office five days a week.

A BoA spokesperson said the company is spreading out remote days to support in-person collaboration and make better use of its real estate. The approach is shaped by employee feedback and takes into account the nature of their work, as well as the needs of customers and clients, the spokesperson said.

Figures and Facts of the Week

126,000: The number of U.S. workers who have lost their jobs between January 2025 and June 2026 due to AI-related factors, according to specialist website jobloss.ai, which tracks AI-enabled layoffs.
788: The average U.S. dollar amount workers paid for their own career development, according to a recent survey by global workforce solutions provider CareerMinds.
73: The percentage of American workers who don’t trust leadership to be fully honest and transparent during periods of financial difficulty, according to a Trust Under Pressure Report by career website LiveCareer.
63: The percentage of senior job seekers spending most of their job search on roles they’re overqualified for, according to data analyzed by employment website JobLeads.
60: The percentage of focus efficiency among employees in a 2026 State of the Workplace report by employee monitoring software company ActivTrak. The figure is a three-year low, as collaboration surged 34% and multitasking rose 12%.
53: The percentage of laid-off American workers who believed AI or automation played a role in their job loss, according to a 2026 AI Layoffs Report by career website Resume Genius. Generation Z respondents were the most likely group to believe AI played a role (66%), compared with millennials (52%) and Gen X workers (46%)
45: The percentage of U.S. workers who believe employers and job seekers are equally guilty of exaggerating to land the hire or the job, according to a Resume Confessions Report by employment website Monster.
31: The percentage of organizations that have not deployed any AI tech inside their HR department, according to the 2026 State of Workforce Transformation study conducted by AI-powered people intelligence platform Surface by Paradigm.
26: The percentage of women in new U.S. AI-focused job hires in 2025, according to new research from employment website LinkedIn. Women’s representation was even lower in top AI roles: Across 27 countries, women held only 13% of C-suite AI leadership roles at AI companies.

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