💼 Back to the Office... and Back to Dating?

Hey HR Pros!

As Gen Z returns to the office, they're bringing unexpected energy with them: a desire for real-world connection, including romance. While dating app fatigue grows, the workplace is emerging as a new (or maybe old) frontier for finding love — and that puts HR in a uniquely tricky position.

Are your relationship policies ready for this shift?

Upcoming In This Issue:

• 📉 New Data by Gallup | Is DEI Still a Business Priority? The Public Is Losing Faith

• 🤔 Latest HR Trend | Short Bursts, Big Impact? Inside the Microshifting Trend

• 💼 Back to the Office… and Back to Dating? Gen Z Is Bringing Romance Back to the Office

• 🎙️ Featured HR Podcast | How AI is Making HR More Human with Daniel Strode

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 📰 Latest in HR News

• Target to cut up to 8% of corporate roles as retailer streamlines operations

• Introducing the CHRO Association, the new HR Policy Association

• Why employees don’t negotiate compensation, according to researchers

• Rumors Suggest Amazon Will Replace 600,000 Workers with Robots by 2033

📉 New Data by Gallup | Is DEI Still a Business Priority? The Public Is Losing Faith

While the majority still believe diversity, equity, and inclusion should be part of a company’s mission, far fewer see it as a top business priority — and confidence in corporate follow-through is slipping to new lows.

As HR leaders navigate internal and external expectations, the latest data offers a revealing snapshot of public sentiment: fractured, polarized, and increasingly rigid.

Data Insights for HR Leaders

• 📉 DEI Approval Hits a New Low: Just 35% of Americans say companies are doing a good or excellent job promoting DEI — down from previous years.

• 🟥 Sharp Partisan Divide: Support for DEI among Republicans fell from 49% to 33% in a single year. Democrats (96%) and independents (67%) remain more supportive.

• 📊 Demographic Gaps Remain Clear: Black (88%), Asian (78%), and Hispanic (75%) adults are far more likely to value DEI than White adults (63%).

• ⚠️ Concerns Growing About Internal Impact: Among Republicans, belief that diversity leads to conflict rose 13 points, from 44% in 2024 to 57% in 2025.

read the full 681-word article here

🤔 Latest HR Trend | Short Bursts, Big Impact? Inside the Microshifting Trend

One emerging concept is “microshifting,” where employees break their day into short, high-focus blocks of work interspersed with breaks, personal tasks, or energy resets.

This is gaining traction. And it’s raising complex questions about productivity, coordination, and whether traditional 9-to-5 structures still serve today’s workforce.

For HR, the challenge is figuring out how to enable freedom without sacrificing structure — or outcomes.

Key Insights for HR Teams

• 📈 65% of employees are interested in microshifting, with managers three times more likely to already be using this approach in their day-to-day.

• 👶 Caregivers and parents are 3x more likely to favor microshifting, citing its value in managing both professional and personal demands effectively.

• 💸 Employees would give up 9% of pay for flexible hours, and 8% for a four-day workweek — signaling how deeply flexibility factors into retention.

• ⚠️ Major HR concern: microshifting makes tracking output and coordinating teams harder, especially when expectations aren’t clearly defined or formalized.

read the full 974-word article here

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💼 Back to the Office… and Back to Dating? Gen Z Is Bringing Romance Back to the Office

Returning to the office hasn’t just revived in-person collaboration — it’s also revived something HR didn’t exactly plan for: romance.

This shift brings up a complex challenge for HR: how to balance psychological safety, professionalism, and personal autonomy, especially when over half of employees have flirted with or dated a colleague.

Key Insights for HR Leaders 💡

• 💬 79% of Gen Z report burnout from dating apps, with many turning to the workplace as a more authentic way to connect.

• 💘 21% of Gen Z have applied for jobs hoping to meet someone, and 15% choose companies based on their social appeal.

• 📈 Nearly half of Gen Z disclose office romances to managers, with 2 in 5 believing a partner at work would improve performance.

• ⚠️ Only half of workers say their org has a workplace romance policy, while 41% don’t even know if one exists.

read the full 970-word article here

🎙️ Featured HR Podcast | How AI is Making HR More Human with Daniel Strode