Workspan Daily News Bytes for March 20, 2026

Companies Throttling Employee Comp to Fund AI Investments

A new survey of 866 U.S. business leaders by career website ResumeBuilder.com showed 54% of organizations have reduced or will reduce the amount of money they have set aside in 2026 for employee compensation in order to free up capital for funding artificial intelligence (AI) projects.

By the end of the year, more than half of the surveyed leaders’ organizations (58%) will have cut employee compensation (54%) or laid off workers (26%) to help fund these tech investments.

The types of compensation affected by cuts include:

Bonuses (61%)
Equity or stock awards (60%)
Raises (59%)
Benefits (53%)
Base salaries (43%)

According to the report, many organizations that are cutting compensation or using layoffs to fund AI are planning to take a flat, across-the-board approach to raises in 2026, sometimes referred to as “peanut butter raises,” rather than tying compensation to individual performance.

The report found:

71% of the survey respondents will give performance-based raises tied to individual results.
14% will give uniform raises applied across the board, regardless of performance.
11% will give below-inflation raises across the board.
4% will give no raises at all.

Report: CHROs Now Among Highest-Paid Execs at Public Companies

Chief human resources officers (CHROs) and chief technology officers (CTOs) are appearing more frequently among named executive officers (NEOs) — the five highest-paid executives at public companies, according to a new report by nonprofit think tank The Conference Board.

From 2021 to 2025, the number of CHROs named as NEOs in the Russell 3000 increased by 55%, while CTO NEOs rose 61%. Report findings were based on proxy statements by Russell 3000 and S&P 500 companies filed through Dec. 3, 2025.

The report points to the AI boom and the talent war as reasons behind the increases.

“Growth in CHRO and CTO roles signals that talent, culture and digital capability are now viewed as enterprise risks, not support functions,” said Andrew Jones, a co-author of the report and a principal researcher at The Conference Board. “Boards are prioritizing leaders who shape resilience and transformation across the organization.”

Virginia Lawmakers Pass Paid Leave Bill

On Friday, March 13, the Virginia state legislature passed legislation to create a statewide paid family and medical leave program as well as legislation to create a statewide right to paid sick time. With the governor’s expected signature, Virginia would become the 14th state, along with Washington, D.C., to establish a statewide paid family and medical leave program.

According to a Center for American Progress analysis, if the bill is finalized into law, workers could begin taking leave and receiving benefits on Dec. 1, 2028. Workers and employers would begin contributing to the program on April 1, 2028.

The law would cover nearly all Virginia employees, regardless of employer size, including both private-sector and local government employees, and full-time and part-time workers.

It would provide:

Medical leave to address workers’ own serious health conditions, including pregnancy.
Caregiving leave to allow workers to care for a loved one with a serious health condition.
Parental leave to provide workers the time to bond with a new child.
Safe leave for certain needs when workers or their loved ones experience sexual assault, stalking, harassment or domestic violence.
Deployment-related leave for military family needs in connection with a loved one’s military deployment.

Workers would be able to take leave for up to 12 weeks per year for any combination of covered needs.

Poll of Managers Points to Need of Mental Health Training

Only about 1 in 4 U.S. surveyed managers has adequate training to support mental health conversations in the workplace, according to a new poll by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

“We see a growing trend of increased stress among American workers, but we also see how the right mental health supports can make a difference,” said NAMI chief executive officer Daniel H. Gillison Jr. “By prioritizing mental health at work — through resources, training and open conversation — employers have the opportunity to build a culture that breaks down stigma and enhances well-being throughout the organization.”

Poll respondents said it would be helpful to receive training in the following categories:

Mental health resources offered by their employer (81%)
Stress or burnout management (81%)
Identifying and responding to a mental health crisis (80%)
Mental health conditions (79%)

The data showed mental health training does make a difference. Employees at companies that offer mental health training report feeling more supported by their manager (86% versus 70%) and their leadership (58% versus 43%). They also are less likely to be concerned about the impacts of mental health stigma at work (43% versus 52%).

Managers who have adequate workplace mental health resources are more likely to feel prepared to support their teams (90% versus 61%). They also are less likely to feel burned out (45% versus 73%) and much less likely to have considered quitting their job for mental health reasons (18% versus 41%).

Job Candidates Vanish When Process Seen as Negative or Unfair

Twenty-five percent of job seekers have ghosted an employer at some point during the hiring process, according to a new survey of more than 1,000 U.S. workers.

The Vanishing Candidate Report, conducted by career website LiveCareer, found job seekers stop responding for several reasons:

51% accepted another job.
32% lost interest in the role or company.
23% cited a negative interview experience or poor communication.
23% said pay or benefits were not competitive.
19% said the job differed from how it was described or seemed misleading.
12% said the process felt overly automated or impersonal.

“The modern job search can be exhausting, with candidates often applying to hundreds of roles before landing an offer,” LiveCareer career expert Jasmine Escalera wrote in her analysis. “When hiring processes create too much friction, candidates naturally turn to employers who communicate clearly and set transparent expectations. With so many active job applications in the pipeline, it only takes one competing offer for a candidate to vanish, making thoughtful, responsive hiring more important than ever.”

Figures and Facts of the Week

93: The percentage of time U.S. desk workers spend of their waking hours looking at screens on weekdays, according to a Workplace Vision Health Report survey by vision insurance provider VSP Vision. The study found 71% of respondents experience performance impacts due to screen-related visual discomfort, reporting nearly a full workday of lost productivity each week.
71: The percentage of U.S. hiring managers who are screening job applications using applicant tracking software (ATS), according to a 2026 Hiring Insights Report by career website Resume Genesis. Their top reasons for using ATS software: helped review applications faster (60%), managed large volumes of applications (50%) and identified candidates who didn’t meet basic requirements (49%).
66: The percentage of American workers who spend up to six hours or more each week correcting errors caused by AI “workslop,” according to a new report by career website Zety.
47: The percentage of U.S. workers who reported they need to acquire new skills due to AI’s impact, according to a survey report released by national nonprofit Jobs for the Future. Of that percentage, 29% said they needed to acquire new skills within the next year.
40: The percentage of American workers who have quit or seriously considered quitting their job to pursue a side hustle full-time, according to a 2026 Financial Flexibility Report by employment website Remote.co. Millennial workers lead in side hustle participation, with 30% currently working one. Gen X followed closely, with 26% reporting a side hustle.

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