Companies Keep Slashing Employees' Benefits for the Worst Reasons

"A Texas tech consulting firm with a forgettable name-TTEC-suddenly became a lot more memorable when it suspended its discretionary 401(k) match program for 16,000 employees through at least the end of 2026. According to Business Insider, which viewed an internal TTEC memo, the company plans to invest in AI certifications, AI tools and training, and automation, among other things."

"The auditing and consulting giant Deloitte is also reportedly slashing benefits for some workers starting next year. This includes reducing PTO, halving parental leave, and eliminating a $50,000 reimbursement for family planning services such as adoption, surrogacy, and IVF. San Francisco-based Zoom, meanwhile, has made a smaller-scale change and reduced its parental leave for employees from 22 weeks to 18 weeks for birthing parents."

"“What Deloitte did is completely unconscionable,'” says Joan C. Williams, a professor at UC Law San Francisco, the author of several books on work culture and class dynamics, and an oft-cited scholar on these topics. The consulting firm is cutting the benefits of a specific class of internal workers-in admin, IT support, and finance-while leaving intact benefits for people in client-facing roles. An affected worker will see their parental leave cut from 16 weeks to just eight weeks."

"“It treats people differently based on the type of job they're in, and cutting any mother down to eight weeks of paid leave is just outlandish,” Williams says. “When labor is tight, employers are more generous. But once the power shifts, the benefits contract.”"

TTEC suspended its discretionary 401(k) match for 16,000 employees through at least the end of 2026 and plans to invest in AI certifications, AI tools, training, and automation. Deloitte is reducing benefits for some internal workers starting next year by cutting PTO, halving parental leave, and eliminating a $50,000 reimbursement for family planning services such as adoption, surrogacy, and IVF. Zoom reduced parental leave for birthing parents from 22 weeks to 18 weeks. The changes target specific job categories, with Deloitte cutting benefits for admin, IT support, and finance while keeping benefits for client-facing roles. The rationale is tied to shifting employer priorities and changing bargaining power.

Read at WIRED