Employers that are considering cuts to paid time off and other workplace benefits risk damaging employee trust and retention if they don’t understand which supports workers value most, says Catherine Connelly, professor of human resources and management at McMaster University.

According to a report by Business Insider, companies including Zoom Communications Inc. and Deloitte LLP have recently scaled back parental leave, paid time off and other workplace benefits, raising questions about whether the pandemic-era race to enhance employee perks is beginning to reverse.

During the pandemic and immediate post-pandemic period, employers expanded compensation, flexibility and workplace benefits as they competed for talent. “We saw better compensation, a better variety in options that were presented to employees and better quality,” notes Connelly. “But the labour market has shifted.”

Read: Six in 10 workers feel anxious when taking paid time off: survey

With Canada’s unemployment rate nearing seven per cent, employers are facing less pressure to aggressively recruit workers than they were several years ago. At the same time, benefits costs are rising as utilization increases........

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