--- title: Stayconomics Brief - Edition 9 description: This edition of Stayconomics Brief covers why benefits, career progression and AI all hinge on giving employees more visibility and control, plus the latest US and UK workplace policy news. image: https://hi.sideup.com/hubfs/ChatGPT%20Image%20Sep%2018%2c%202026%2c%2009_07_22%20PM-1.png --- [![logo](https://hi.sideup.com/hubfs/Brand/logo.svg)](https://hi.sideup.com/) - Solutions Pre-tax Benefits IRS-compliant, pre-tax benefits for core needs. - [Student Loan & Tuition Smarter education funding](https://hi.sideup.com/student-loan-repayment-benefits) - [Commuter Pre-tax transit & parking](https://hi.sideup.com/commuting) - [HRA Health Reimbursement Arrangement](https://hi.sideup.com/hra) - [Family Care Real support for caregivers](https://hi.sideup.com/family-care) Lifestyle Spending Accounts Flexible, post-tax benefits for modern life. - [Wellness & Fitness Gym, mental health & wellbeing](https://hi.sideup.com/wellness-fitness) - [Work From Home Home office & remote setup](https://hi.sideup.com/work-from-home) - [Food Meals, groceries & nutrition](https://hi.sideup.com/food) - [Utilities & Essential Bills Internet, phone & household bills](https://hi.sideup.com/utilities-essentials-bills) ENPS Measure and improve employee satisfaction in real time. - [ENPS Employee Net Promoter Score](https://hi.sideup.com/enps) Recognition Celebrate your team and build a culture of appreciation. - [Recognition Peer to peer & manager recognition](https://hi.sideup.com/recognition) - Platform For Employers - [Manage Benefits Streamline your benefits administration](https://hi.sideup.com/how-to-manage-benefits) - [Integrations Connect with your favourite tools](https://hi.sideup.com/integrations) - [Security & Compliance Enterprise-grade security standards](https://hi.sideup.com/security-compliance) For Employees - [How to spend benefits Discover how to use your SideUp card](https://hi.sideup.com/how-to-spend-your-benefits) - [Stayconomics](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics) Learn with Stayconomics Explore the ideas, research, and strategies behind workplaces people choose to stay in. [Blog Data-backed, no-fluff articles on retention, benefits, and the future of work.](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics) [Podcast On Youtube and Spotify with the leaders who are actually figuring it out.](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/podcast) [Newsletter The best of what's happening in HR and employee retention, curated, concise, and worth your Monday morning.](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/tag/newsletter) [Events & Webinars Real experts, real questions, real takeaways you can use before the week is over.](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/events-webinars) [Explore by Topics Retention, benefits, HR tech, financial wellness, and more, organized by what you need.](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/topics-1) - Log in - [Employee](https://app.sideup.com) - [Business Platform](https://admin.sideup.com) [Book a demo](https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/lana-leles/demo) - Solutions - Pre-tax Benefits - [Student Loan & Tuition](https://hi.sideup.com/student-loan-repayment-benefits) - [Commuter](https://hi.sideup.com/commuting) - [HRA](https://hi.sideup.com/hra) - [Family Care](https://hi.sideup.com/family-care) - Lifestyle Spending Accounts - [Wellness & Fitness](https://hi.sideup.com/wellness-fitness) - [Work From Home](https://hi.sideup.com/work-from-home) - [Food](https://hi.sideup.com/food) - [Utilities & Essential Bills](https://hi.sideup.com/utilities-essentials-bills) - ENPS - [ENPS](https://hi.sideup.com/enps) - Recognition - [Recognition](https://hi.sideup.com/recognition) - Platform - For Employers - [Manage Benefits](https://hi.sideup.com/how-to-manage-benefits) - [Integrations](https://hi.sideup.com/integrations) - [Security & Compliance](https://hi.sideup.com/security-compliance) - For Employees - [How to spend benefits](https://hi.sideup.com/how-to-spend-your-benefits) - [Stayconomics](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics) - Learn with Stayconomics - [Blog](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics) - [Podcast](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/podcast) - [Newsletter](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/tag/newsletter) - [Events & Webinars](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/events-webinars) - [Explore by Topics](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/topics-1) - Log in - [Employee](https://app.sideup.com) - [Business Platform](https://admin.sideup.com) - [Book a demo](https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/lana-leles/demo) [โ† Stayconomics](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics) # Stayconomics Brief - Edition 9 ![](https://hi.sideup.com/hubfs/ChatGPT%20Image%20Sep%2018%2c%202026%2c%2009_07_22%20PM-1.png) ## ๐Ÿ‘‹ Welcome This week, one idea connects benefits, career progression and AI: **employees need more control over the changes shaping their working lives.** Benefits may exist, but they lose value when people cannot understand or use them. Career opportunities may be available, but they lose credibility when progression narrows on the way to leadership. AI may improve performance, but it can weaken trust when employees cannot see what it means for their jobs. For employers, the answer is not simply to add more programmes, tools or policies. It is to make support easier to access, decisions easier to understand and opportunity easier to see. That is how an employee proposition becomes credible โ€” not only at recruitment, but in the moments that determine whether people stay. Here is what matters this week. โ€” Emma Olie, Co-founder of SideUp --- ## ๐Ÿ“Š This Week in Workplace Data ย  75% Three-quarters of employees in WTW's 2026 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey say their benefits package meets their needs, up from 59% in 2017. Appreciation is rising, but employers now need to make benefits easier to understand, access and personalise. [Source โ€” WTW, Global Benefits Attitudes Survey 2026](https://www.wtwco.com) 46% โ†’ 23% Across 57 economies analysed in the World Economic Forum's 2026 report, women represent 46% of entry-level roles but only 23% of C-suite positions. Workforce analytics must reveal not only who joins, but who receives the opportunity to progress. [Source โ€” World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2026](https://www.weforum.org) 34 of 37 countries In Pew Research Center's latest international study, people were more likely to expect AI to reduce jobs than create them in 34 of the 37 countries surveyed. AI implementation is therefore also a trust, communication and retention challenge. [Source โ€” Pew Research Center, Globally, More People Expect AI to Cause Job Loss Than Growth](https://www.pewresearch.org) **The takeaway:** Choice builds value only when people can use it. Opportunity builds trust only when people can see it. Technology builds confidence only when leaders can explain it. --- ## ๐ŸŒ Workplace Headlines ### 1. Employees Want Protection and Control From Their Benefits (WTW) WTW's latest analysis captures an important tension. Benefits appreciation is high, yet half of employees are living paycheck to paycheck, half say financial problems negatively affect their lives and more than six in ten say AI is already affecting their jobs โ€” or expect it to do so. The answer is not automatically another programme. WTW argues that employers should simplify choices, make benefits easier to access and measure whether they improve financial security, health and engagement. A relevant benefit that employees can actually use will do more for trust than a long catalogue they cannot navigate. [Read the WTW analysis โ†’](https://www.wtwco.com) ### 2. The Leadership Pipeline Is Losing Talent on the Way Up (World Economic Forum) The World Economic Forum reports that women's share of the workforce across 62 economies rose from 39.9% in 2015 to 42% in 2025, then edged down to 41.8% by June 2026. The sharper warning appears in the career pipeline: women's representation falls by half between entry level and the C-suite across the 57 economies analysed. This is not only a representation issue. It is a people-data and retention issue. Employers need to see who receives access to learning, high-value assignments, sponsorship and internal mobility. Flexible support can help remove practical barriers, but it must be paired with visible pathways and fair talent decisions. [Read the World Economic Forum report โ†’](https://www.weforum.org) ### 3. AI Is Becoming Part of the Employer Brand (Pew Research Center) Pew Research Center surveyed more than 42,000 people across 36 countries, with separate nationally representative surveys in the United States. Across all 37 countries covered, a median of 37% were more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life, while 41% felt equally concerned and excited. This mixed response creates an opening for better leadership. Employers can reduce uncertainty by explaining how roles will change, where human judgment remains essential and how employees will gain access to learning and future opportunities. The strongest AI story for talent is not "we use AI." It is "we will help you succeed as work changes." [Read the Pew Research Center study โ†’](https://www.pewresearch.org) --- ## ๐ŸŒŽ Around the World | ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States | The U.S. Department of Labor has focused its mental-health-parity enforcement on three areas with high potential for employee harm: treatment exclusions that apply only to mental-health or substance-use-disorder benefits, medical-necessity review processes and network-admission or provider-reimbursement practices. This is an enforcement-priority statement rather than a new mandate, and existing comparative-analysis duties remain. Employers should confirm that plan design, vendor operations and employees' real access to care tell the same story. [Read the DOL bulletin โ†’](https://www.dol.gov) | | --- | --- | | ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง United Kingdom | The government has confirmed its intention to introduce a statutory process before an employer rejects a flexible-working request, alongside a reasonableness test. The changes are intended for autumn 2027 in England, Scotland and Wales. Employers can prepare now by giving managers a consistent way to explore alternatives, record decisions and protect a fair employee experience. [Read the GOV.UK update โ†’](https://www.gov.uk) | | ๐ŸŒ Global | In WTW's survey of 156 organisations with internationally mobile employees, 97% provide health-insurance coverage for international assignees. The sample is directional rather than globally representative, but the operational lesson is clear: during relocation, travel disruption or healthcare navigation, employees need coherent support โ€” not a fragmented set of policies and providers. [Read the WTW mobility report โ†’](https://www.wtwco.com) | --- ## ๐Ÿ“š Featured Articles ### Featured posts ย  --- ## ๐ŸŽ™ Podcast of the Week The HR Technology Trends 2026: AI is Expanding Jobs, Not Replacing Them This week's episode looks at why AI adoption in HR is correlating with workforce growth rather than cuts, and what that means for how HR teams plan headcount and skills for 2026. [๐ŸŽง Listen on Spotify โ†’](https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/fozLXGaQ35b) ## ๐Ÿ“… Events & Webinars ### Webinars ONLINE ยท 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 ยท 11:00 AM (BST) Sustainable Benefits and Salary Sacrifice SideUp and **The Electric Car Scheme** explore how EV salary sacrifice can make switching to an electric vehicle more accessible โ€” and how a typical EV produces around 66% fewer lifetime greenhouse-gas emissions than an equivalent petrol car. [Register free โ†’](https://hi.sideup.com/sustainablebenefits) ### In-Person Events BRISTOL, UK ยท 1 OCTOBER 2026 (THU) ยท 1:00 PM โ€“ 7:00 PM EGYM Hussle Event, Bristol ๐Ÿ“ Clifton Observatory **Objectives:** - Build relationships with HR and Benefits decision-makers - Strengthen SideUp's presence in the Bristol HR ecosystem - Generate potential business opportunities and partnerships **Audience:** ~40 HR leaders & Benefits Managers. [Get tickets โ†’](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-wellbeing-workout-on-tour-bristol-tickets-1998225026846?aff=oddtdtcreator) MANCHESTER, UK ยท TBD OCTOBER 2026 ยท TIME TBD SideUp Manchester: HR, Culture & Benefits **Objectives:** - Create a local ecosystem and connect with potential clients - Build relationships with HR leaders in Manchester - Event expected to be held in collaboration with Culture Kick, with potential involvement from Pro Manchester and GM Chamber - Replicate the approach used in Bristol **Audience:** HR leaders, potential clients and key stakeholders across the Manchester/Greater Manchester ecosystem. Date, time and registration link to be confirmed. --- ## ๐Ÿ’ก Founders Perspective "People do not experience an employee proposition as a policy. They experience it in the moment they need support, ask for flexibility or try to see a future inside the company." โ€” Emma Olie The strongest organisations do more than offer choice. They make choice usable, opportunity visible and change understandable. That is where trust begins โ€” and where retention becomes something a company earns every day. --- ## ๐Ÿ’œ About SideUp Employees are being asked to navigate financial pressure, changing careers, new technology and different needs at different life stages. Employers, meanwhile, need to attract talent, retain critical skills and manage benefits without adding more administrative complexity. **SideUp brings employee choice, people insight and simpler benefits administration into one flexible platform.** Employers can combine IRS-compliant pre-tax benefits โ€” including student loan and tuition, commuter, HRA and family care programmes โ€” with Lifestyle Spending Accounts for wellness, work from home, food and utilities. eNPS, recognition, integrations and compliance support help HR teams understand what employees value and manage the experience with greater consistency. For candidates, that creates a more relevant reason to join. For employees, it turns the promise of support into something they can choose and use. For HR and Finance, it creates a clearer way to connect investment, employee feedback and administration. The first step is simple: ask whether employees can understand, choose and use their benefits when they need them most. [Discover SideUp โ†’](https://hi.sideup.com) [Book a 15-minute demo โ†’](https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/lana-leles/demo?uuid=aad9033d-b41c-4b5d-8677-d4f92bda4cf0) [Newsletter](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/tag/newsletter) ### Enjoyed this article? Subscribe to Stayconomics for more insights on retention and benefits. Email address Subscribe Please enter a valid email address. You're in! We'll be in touch soon. 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