Workspan Daily News Bytes for June 13, 2025

Report: 38% Have Taken Second Jobs to Help Pay Debts

More U.S. workers are taking side jobs for extra cash to manage their financial obligations, according to a new report by Zety, a career-builder website.

Among more than 1,000 U.S. workers surveyed in April 2025, not a single individual reported living debt-free. In fact, the report found nearly half of Americans carry at least $25,000 in debt, and 1 in 5 owe more than $100,000.

Key findings from the report include:

38% of the surveyed employees have taken extra work, including side hustles or second jobs, to make extra money and keep up with debt.
37% have accepted jobs they weren’t interested in, or that were outside their industry, just to repay debt.
17% say they would start a business, go back to school or freelance if they were debt-free.

Additionally, U.S. tariffs and interest rates are prompting workers to take urgent financial action:

78% of the respondents fear U.S. tariffs will make it harder to repay or avoid debt.
38% have reduced non-essential spending.
25% increased their minimum payments.
Others are transferring balances (13%), delaying repayment (14%), consolidating debt (8%), refinancing (5%), seeking financial counseling (5%) or negotiating with lenders (4%).
34% have taken no specific action, possibly due to limited financial options.

Workers Rank Mental Health Days as Top Well-Being Resource

Mental health days are the best resource to manage stress and anxiety, according to a survey of 2,000 U.S. workers conducted by Wondr Health, a digital weight management solutions provider.

Employees ranked flexible work hours and remote options as the second-most important resource for stress management. Physical activity and emotional well-being resources also ranked high, suggesting a strong demand for holistic behavioral and lifestyle change support.

The breakdown of the most important mental health resources, according to the surveyed employees, included:

Time off or mental health days (21.5%)
Flexible work hours or remote work options (15.4%)
Support for physical activity (14.3%)
Emotional well-being content (13.3%)
Live and on-demand mindfulness sessions (9.8%)
Resources to improve sleep (9.7%)
Access to health coaching (7.3%)
A supportive manager (6%)
An online support community (2.5%)

“The findings show how important time off and flexibility are and signal that employers need to honestly evaluate how their current culture and policies may be impacting PTO [paid time off] hesitancy, burnout, and subsequent impacts on health and wellness,” said Tim Church, the chief medical officer at Wondr Health.

U.S. Jobless Claims Remained at Highest Level in 8 Months

In the week ending June 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims for American workers was 248,000, unchanged from the previous week’s revised level, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday, June 12. That total was above the 244,000 new applications that analysts had forecasted. Back-to-back weeks of 248,000 jobless claims marked the highest total since early October and may be a sign that layoffs are trending higher.

The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 247,000 to 248,000. The four-week moving average was 240,250, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the highest level for this average since August 26, 2023, when it was 245,000. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 235,000 to 235,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.3 percent for the week ending May 31, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 31 was 1,956,000, an increase of 54,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the highest level for insured unemployment since November 13, 2021, when it was 1,970,000. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 1,904,000 to 1,902,000. The four-week moving average was 1,914,500, an increase of 19,750 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the highest level for this average since November 27, 2021, when it was 1,923,500. The previous week’s average was revised down by 500 from 1,895,250 to 1,894,750.

Google Offers Employees Buyouts as Work Shifts Toward AI

As reported by The Associated Press, Google is starting to offer voluntary buyouts to U.S. employees as part of the tech company’s efforts to reduce headcount. Although the number of affected employees is unknown, offers were made to staff in Google’s search, advertising, research and engineering units.

The buyouts will provide employees with a pay and benefits package in exchange for their exit. Some teams also are mandating office returns for remote workers who live within 50 miles of an office.

“Earlier this year, some of our teams introduced a voluntary exit program with severance for U.S.-based Googlers, and several more are now offering the program to support our important work ahead,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. “A number of teams are also asking remote employees who live near an office to return to a hybrid work schedule in order to bring folks more together in-person.”

CNBC reported the buyouts come after Google finance chief Anat Ashkenazi said that one of her top priorities would be to drive more cost-cutting as spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure expands in 2025.

Citi Will Allow Hybrid Employees to Work Remotely for Two Weeks

On Monday, June 9, Citigroup announced two weeks of fully remote work in August for its hybrid employees, the majority of whom are required to be in the office at least three days a week.

The bank currently employs 230,000 people around the globe. According to a BusinessInsider report, the policy doesn’t apply to employees in non-hybrid roles — such as bank branch workers or workers required to be on-site for regulatory reasons. Employees taking up the offer also must choose a location where they have the legal right to work, meaning this isn’t a “work from anywhere” program.

The last time the bank offered this perk was in August 2022.

Sara Wechter, Citi’s chief human resources officer, said the perk was a testament to the success of the bank’s hybrid approach, which was first implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our hybrid work model helps us attract and retain top talent and sets us apart from other companies in our industry — and we remain committed to this model,” the memo said.

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