People crave friendship and human connection, and they'll sacrifice part of their paycheck to do it, according to our top story. Also in this issue:

🏥 Bill would prohibit use of credit checks in hiring

A KPMG report finds that 57% of employees would accept salaries 10% below market rates to work with close friends, highlighting the value of workplace friendships amid rising loneliness, according to a KPMG report. The report finds that 45% of employees feel isolated at work, a significant increase from last year.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., have introduced legislation that would prohibit employers from using credit checks in hiring. The lawmakers argue that the practice disproportionately affects minorities and women and lacks correlation with job performance. The bill would revise the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prevent employers from obtaining or using credit information during the hiring process.

Reps. Seth Magaziner and Ron Estes have introduced the Unclaimed Retirement Rescue Act, which aims to help workers recover unclaimed retirement benefits. The legislation would allow retirement plan administrators to transfer unclaimed distributions to state unclaimed property programs and would call for states to update the Labor Department's Retirement Savings Lost and Found database.

The US will face a shortfall of 5.3 million workers with postsecondary education by 2032, primarily in fields such as nursing, teaching and engineering, according to a report from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce. The report highlights the need for colleges to adapt to demographic shifts and for increased investment in education and training to address this gap, and suggests that expanding visa programs could help mitigate the shortage of skilled workers.

IBM's chief human resources officer, Nickle LaMoreaux, shared IBM's journey of integrating artificial intelligence during her keynote presentation at this year's HR Tech conference. Starting in 2017 with Watson Assistant, IBM centralized its AI tools into AskHR, leading to a 40% reduction in HR operating budget and 100% manager adoption. LaMoreaux admitted that though the decade-long transformation had challenging moments, the company's commitment to process improvement, user-centric design and cultural support led to successful outcomes. “It was a rocky road. It was anything but amazing,” LaMoreaux said.

Adopting an ownership mindset means taking initiative, being accountable for results, and thinking beyond one's job description. "The game-changer was when I started showing our cleaning crews exactly how client retention works," said Anna Szczurek, owner of SkyLine Commercial Cleaning. "When they understood that losing just one medical facility client costs us $3,200 monthly, our team began proactively reporting maintenance issues before clients even noticed them."