TOTAL REWARDS

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If HR leaders are holding onto any notion that only full-time, salaried workers are interested in contributing to a 401(k) plan, it’s safe to say they can retire that belief.

New research from payroll and benefits platform Gusto finds that the share of small businesses offering a retirement plan has grown steadily over the last seven years, with a notable pickup among those in sectors with high shares of hourly workers.

Some 31% of small businesses now offer a retirement plan to their employees, up from 19% in 2019, according to Gusto. Industries where retirement plans were rare prior to the pandemic, such as hospitality, recreation, and agriculture, saw adoption grow by more than 100% during this time period (hospitality alone saw a 200% increase). Unsurprisingly, more hourly workers now have access to a retirement plan as well, with the share of employees in this category rising to 38%, up from 21% in 2019.

What’s more, “most of that growth has been happening at very smallest employers,” with fewer than five or 10 employees, Nich Tremper, head of Gusto Insights and a senior economist with the company, told HR Brew.

For more on how SECURE 2.0 legislation has encouraged small employers to offer retirement plans, keep reading here.—CV

      

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DEI

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will limit its enforcement of certain gender-identity discrimination claims against the Christian Employers Alliance (CEA) and its members following a settlement agreement last month.

The settlement agreement ends a lawsuit that the CEA filed against the EEOC in January 2025.

The group of Christian employers argued that the EEOC “improperly applied Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to force employers to affirm and accommodate” transgender employees with mandated guidance on pronoun use, gender-affirming care, and access to sex-specific facilities, and that following the EEOC guidance could conflict with the religious beliefs of its member organizations.

The agency’s Biden-era guidance of Title VII’s ban on sex discrimination included discrimination based on gender identity and transgender status, following the landmark Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. The agency last year—under the current administration—began upending policies aligned with “the Biden administration’s gender identity agenda.”

For more on the settlement and what it means for EEOC enforcement of gender-identity discrimination, keep reading here.—AD

      

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RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photos: Adobe Stock

A stronger-than-expected jobs market in August didn’t translate into an employment boom for the tech sector, but the news is a little more complicated than simply “good” or “bad,” with AI continuing to impact the industry’s dynamics.

According to a CompTIA analysis of Bureau of Labor and Statistics data, companies across all industry sectors added 86,000 tech jobs in August, even as tech companies reduced headcount by 14,700 positions.

There were 600,000 technology occupation postings in August, 42% of which were for new positions, and—importantly—320,000 open AI positions, marking a 4.5% increase from July’s AI job count. That’s a sign of the continued strength of the AI subsector.

For more on how AI jobs are driving the employment market, keep reading on IT Brew.—EH

      

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Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: The majority (95%) of employers said they use, or plan to use, AI in HR functions. (PNC Bank)

Quote: “Relationships aren’t built through networking. They’re built through repeated evidence that you care, that you understand someone, and that you can be trusted, and that takes time.”—Lindsey Coleman, head of fixed income client coverage for the Americas at Morgan Stanley, shares her perspective on building relationships in business (Business Insider)

Read: Parents are getting involved in their teenagers’ first jobs; employers say it can cause problems. (CNBC)

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