Workspan Daily News Bytes for Feb. 27, 2026

Trump Pitches New Retirement Plan for Workers Without 401(k)s

Private-sector workers who do not have employer-sponsored retirement plans could be able to enroll in a new plan modeled after one offered to federal workers starting next year, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday, Feb. 24, during his State of the Union address.

Starting next year, the federal government would match individual contributions of up to $1,000 annually, Trump stated. While details were not immediately disclosed, reports theorize Trump may consider reviving the MyRA (or “My Retirement Account”) program first introduced by then-President Barack Obama in 2014. Billed as “starter” accounts with tax advantages similar to a Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA), MyRAs were aimed at helping workers begin saving for retirement. The program was discontinued in 2017 during Trump’s first term over cost concerns. A revamped version could potentially be paired with the Saver’s Match — a federal matching contribution set to debut in 2027 for low- to moderate-income workers established under SECURE 2.0 Act.

Following the address, several industry entities and representatives released statements about Trump’s pledge:

The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI): “IRI is eager to learn more details of President Trump’s proposal and discuss it with our members. The proposal offers an opportunity to continue advancing bipartisan dialogue with Congress and to build on the success of the SECURE Act, which President Trump signed into law, and the SECURE 2.0 Act. Both laws made significant progress to enhance retirement security.”
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) president Christopher L. Gandy: “Expanding access to retirement savings opportunities through both employer-sponsored plans and individual savings solutions is critical to addressing Americans’ growing concerns about their long-term financial futures. NAIFA looks forward to learning more about the administration’s proposed retirement savings initiative and working with policymakers to strengthen awareness, understanding, and use of the retirement plans and financial tools already available to workers and families.”
AARP senior vice president of government affairs Bill Sweeney: “AARP has always supported bipartisan policy that helps more people save, and we look forward to seeing details as plans and proposals move forward.”
Wealth Equity Lab director Teresa Ghilarducci: “Expanding access is a meaningful step. For decades, Congress has tolerated a system in which nearly half of full-time workers and most part-time and gig workers lack access to a workplace retirement plan.”

Research Identifies Three Cracks in Global Labor Market

According to a new research report from Lightcast, a global labor market intelligence firm, traditional workforce strategies are being designed for a world that no longer exists. Aptly titled “Fault Lines,” the report states there are three compounding factors — geopolitics, artificial intelligence (AI) and labor shortages — reshaping the talent landscape, accelerating disruption, and permanently altering the balance between labor supply and demand.

Other key takeaways from the report include:

Worldwide, 66% of job postings require a university degree, but only 31% of the workforce possesses one.
Only 11% of degrees held by AI engineers are AI-related, signaling that degree-based hiring is failing to identify top technical talent.
Immigration into advanced economies in North America, Europe and Oceania will drop by more than 20% over the next two decades.
Global heavyweights including China and the Philippines have seen a decrease in their share of manufacturing employment, while smaller markets (e.g., Vietnam and Midwestern U.S. states such as Iowa and Kansas) are increasing their share.
International undergraduate enrollment in the U.S. has fallen more than 22% from its 2017 peak, constricting a key source of young, highly skilled workers.

“The biggest headlines today, from immigration policy and wars to tariffs and reshoring, are about the exact same issues that drive talent decisions,” said Cole Napper, Lightcast’s vice president of research and innovation. “Even if you’re prepared to handle one of these fault lines, you aren’t prepared for the others. Organizations need to realize how these problems are interconnected, and the disruption is accelerating.”

Employers See Need for Enhanced Benefits That Address Major Life Events

Eighty-four percent of employers plan to expand bereavement support in the coming year, according to a 2026 Workplace Benefits Report by Empathy, a technology company offering practical and emotional support with a focus on bereavement, estate settlement and caregiving.

Despite that finding, the report found benefit strategies often struggle to deliver measurable impact, with current benefits underperforming, driving low utilization, and displaying misalignment between employees and HR leaders.

Other key findings suggest a benefits alignment gap in several areas:

80% of surveyed employers expect benefits budgets to increase in 2026, but most increases are modest, driving greater selectivity and focus on outcomes.
60% of employers and 52% of polled employees believe existing benefits are only somewhat or not at all aligned with current needs, highlighting a clear gap between investment and potential impact.
Utilization and understanding of benefits remain a challenge, with employees citing difficulty understanding benefits (27%), accessing information (23%) and navigating complexity (23%), highlighting why benefits often fail at the moment of need.
46% of employees expect formal employer support during major disruptions. At the same time, nearly 1 in 3 employers say supporting employees through major life events is a top challenge.

Employers are clear about the problems they want benefits to address, with 34% wanting to improve employee well-being and 30% wanting to provide competitive benefits packages. The good news is employers and employees are aligned on where benefits should expand in 2026: mental health, financial wellness, flexibility and life-event support.

“From this research, it’s clear that employers have a unique opportunity to create benefit programs that meaningfully support employees during life’s most disruptive moments,” said Empathy cofounder and CEO Ron Gura. “Bereavement stands out as the clearest, most urgent entry point, not just as a fringe benefit but as a core example of how employers can move beyond more generic offerings toward more relevant yet comprehensive support.”

In fact, the report showed 95% of employees value bereavement-related benefits, with those who experienced a major life event or disruption in the past two years (such as the death of a loved one, serious illness, caregiving, or pregnancy loss) more than 1.5 times more likely to identify bereavement and grief support as one of their biggest unmet benefits needs.

Michigan Bill Aims to Install AI Guidelines for Employers

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, Michigan State Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) introduced a new bill that would place guardrails on employers’ use of AI. Supported by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the Michigan Nurses Association, and the Communication Workers of America, the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Security for Employees (RAISE) Act would work to protect workers from invasive workplace surveillance from AI.

The RAISE Act would define what automated decision and electronic monitoring tools are and lay out guidelines and restrictions on how employers can use them. In addition, the legislation provides key protections for workers when they disagree with an AI tool’s assessment, so workers aren’t tied to an algorithm or computer system. The RAISE Act would ensure no worker is punished for ignoring or disagreeing with an AI model. This provision is particularly critical to protect doctors, nurses and other first responders when they are acting on instinct and experience, rather than relying on an algorithm.

“While there may be justifiable areas where monitoring can be useful, the main concern is that these AI models and algorithms may be biased or discriminatory in nature,” Tsernoglou said. “For instance, if a company uses facial recognition technology, they may make decisions based on an employee’s facial expression or movements. Not only is this a massive invasion of privacy, but the algorithms can often be flawed, resulting in discrimination. The RAISE Act is essential to protect workers from AI surveillance and potential discrimination.”

Novo Nordisk to Lower Costs of its GLP-1 Medications

Novo Nordisk announced Tuesday, Feb. 24, that it will lower the list price, or wholesale acquisition cost, of several of its glucagon-like peptide-1 (or GLP-1) drugs — namely Wegovy, Rybelsus and Ozempic — by 35% to 50% from the current list price. The changes, effective Jan. 1, 2027, apply to all doses of these medicines and is meant to address access barriers, especially for patients whose out-of-pocket costs are linked to list price — including individuals with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) or coinsurance benefit designs.

“Lowering the list price ... is the best approach to address the unprecedented opportunity to help more than 100 million people living with obesity and over 35 million people with Type 2 diabetes in the United States,” said Jamey Millar, Novo Nordisk's executive vice president of U.S. operations. “Private and public payers, as well as patients, want access and have been calling for lower list prices. Our actions today answer that call and remove cost barriers.”

Largest New York City Nurse Strikes Ends After 41 Days

Members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) at NewYork-Presbyterian voted Saturday, Feb. 21, to ratify a new three-year agreement, ending a 41-day strike, the largest nurse strike in New York City history. Almost 15,000 NYSNA nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore Medical Center, and NewYork-Presbyterian started picketing on Jan. 12.

Under the new agreement, more than 20,000 NYSNA nurses at 12 private-sector hospitals will see their salaries increase by more than 12% over the life of the three-year contract. Other enhancements include improved safe staffing standards, protection from workplace violence and safeguards against AI.

The NYSNA represents more than 42,000 members in New York State.

Figures and Facts of the Week

55: The percentage of U.S. workers who want employers to pay more for their unique or in-demand skills, according to a 2026 Global Trends Report by consulting firm Mercer. Despite this finding, only 25% of surveyed HR leaders said their organization has any form of skills-based pay in place, even though 76% recognized it would lead to higher retention.
93: The percentage of U.S. workers who say they’ve stayed in a job they didn’t love because of the stability it provided, according to a community poll by employment website Glassdoor.
223: The average time, in hours, that U.S. workers spend commuting each year, which constitutes nearly six unpaid 40-hour workweeks, according to a new report by career website MyPerfectResume. Based on the national average hourly wage ($36.53), the time value of that commute equals $8,146.
306,800: The number of American workers who were involved in 30 work stoppages in 2025, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The figure is a 13% increase from 2024, but it is likely an undercount of strike activity given data limitations, noted the Economic Policy Institute.

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