Eighty-four percent of employees intend to continue working beyond their normal retirement age, according to a survey from Mercer’s Global Talent Trends, revealing that most workers aren’t confident in their financial preparation for later life. Despite many barriers to working in your later years, such as health issues and a lack of appropriate roles, workers have come to realize that they’ll need to rely on more than just a traditional pension. 

On a global scale, pension systems are mostly ill-equipped to sufficiently support aging populations: The Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index shows that a combination of pension inadequacy, weak employee financial security, and a lack of employer attention to pension risks all contribute to the fragility of retirement savings and income. Several countries — Canada, Japan, Italy, the U.S., to name a few — registered medium or high risks in all three areas, and Mexico registered high in all three. 

With people living longer, and birth rates across the globe declining, pension systems are under pressure to evolve. Additionally, without increased action from companies and better education on the subject, more workers could be supporting two generations in retirement.

Community colleges in the U.S. are continuing to see steep declines in academic staffing, according to the latest report from the American Association of University Professors. It’s the lowest point in two decades, with some of the sharpest declines occurring in the last two years, beginning with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Primarily offering two-year degree programs, community colleges serve a vital role in training the next generation of workers for in-demand fields, such as health care, IT, and construction. But in a tight labor market, would-be professors can find more lucrative work elsewhere.  

“When there’s a labor market shortage, the premiums for professionals in those fields is also higher,” Josh Wyner of the Aspen Institute told Marketplace. 

Although overall enrollment in community colleges has been sharply declining since the pandemic, hands-on training courses in the skilled trades are on the rise. Construction led the way with a 19.3% enrollment increase in spring 2022, compared to the previous year. Mechanic and repair programs saw an 11.5% increase, according to a report from the National Student Clearinghouse.

The four-day work week has been a success for both businesses and workers, the results of a new international experiment reveal. The 33 participating companies — located in the U.S., Ireland and Australia — saw their revenue jump by more than 37% over the course of 6 months. 

Meanwhile, resignation rates and sick days fell. Employees benefited, too, with workers involved in the experiment reporting better mental health and lower risk of exhaustion. More than half of participating firms intend to implement the program full-time by reducing the work week with no reduction in pay. 

Calls to shorten the working week have been gathering momentum, driven by rising concerns around workers’ health, a tight labor market, and a pandemic-triggered reappraisal of ways of working. Delivering on employee well-being strategies is a top priority for C-suite leaders faced with persistent reports of employee burnout. 

Nevertheless, negative perceptions of a four-day week remain. A survey of U.S. employers found that a large number of managers feared that employees would “slack off” under the arrangement, while 45% of employees in the U.K. feared being perceived as lazy. Further, more thoughtful implementation is required for certain sectors and workforces, such as retail and health care.