Managers Now Spend Less Than 10% of Their Time Developing Their People
Gallup, Microsoft, and Gartner all point to the same problem: managers are buried in meetings and admin. The people they’re supposed to develop are paying for it.
Series
One Number
Single figures from the labor data, taken apart.
57 pieces
Three in Ten Workers Are AI Power Users
The conventional worry about AI and workplace isolation has the causality exactly backward.
The Average Manager Now Oversees 12.1 People
The average manager now oversees 12.1 people, up 11% in a single year. The de-layering math has inverted, and most orgs haven't noticed yet.
Manager Engagement Drops to a 12-Year Low
Global manager engagement fell five points in a single year.
The Labor Force Shrank by 396,000 Workers in March
Payrolls look fine. But the pool of available workers is quietly contracting — and the sectors still growing are not the ones most managers hire from.
One in Three U.S. Workers Is Now Gig or Contract
SHRM named workforce fragmentation its top HR trend for 2026. Most managers are running mixed teams with full-time assumptions. That gap is getting expensive.
Job Openings Fall Below 7 Million as Quits Rate Hits Five-Year Low
The labor market is freezing in both directions. Workers aren't quitting; employers aren't hiring. That combination is more complicated than it looks.
Unit Labor Costs Jumped 4.4% in Q4
Wage growth is outpacing productivity and the revised BLS data shows the margin squeeze is worse than first thought.
4 in 5 Organizations Can't Find Workers With the Right Skills
The skills gap isn't a pipeline problem. It's a speed problem, and your internal talent strategy is falling further behind every quarter.
One in Five U.S. Workers Logs 16+ Unpaid Hours Weekly
High engagement and high turnover intent are living in the same employee. Unpaid hours explain why.
The Job-Switching Pay Premium Just Hit a Record Low
Changing employers used to guarantee a raise. In 2026, it barely does. The lever workers relied on for three years is nearly gone.
91% of Employers Believe Workers Feel Fairly Rewarded
There's a 26-point gap between what managers believe about recognition and what employees actually experience. AI is making it wider.