Three years after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, employer benefits related to the procedure are broadly popular, according to a new report.

But offering benefits such as travel reimbursements for abortion can carry certain privacy-related and legal risks if not designed properly, warns Reproductive and Maternal Health (RMH) Compass, the organization that published the report.

Some 92% of employers surveyed by RMH Compass cover elective abortions through their medical plan, while 85% reimburse travel for employees that need to go out of state to seek the procedure.

Among companies that reimburse travel expenses related to abortion, though, just 22% use a third-party platform—such as an employer-sponsored health plan—to administer the benefit, the survey found. Should HR teams administer such a benefit themselves, it could put their companies at risk of violating the law, said Flory Wilson, RMH Compass CEO and co-founder.

For more on travel reimbursement benefits for abortion and what they mean for employers, keep reading here.—CV

Talent is a critical, yet often overlooked, factor to successfully leading a transformation.

Isabel Cruz joined PayPal as its chief people officer in November 2023, when the financial tech giant was in the midst of a major transition. Its CEO, Alex Chriss, joined in September that year, leading a turnaround evolving the company from processing digital payments into a commerce platform with a focus on offering expanded paid services to merchants. (The company also laid off some 2,500 workers as part of its restructuring.) Cruz was part of a majority-new C-suite team that Chriss recruited.

For Cruz, who had worked at NBCUniversal during its transition into digital and most recently at Walmart during its push into ecommerce retailing, guiding a workforce through a major transformation wasn’t entirely foreign.

“When Alex Chriss called me and talked to me about the opportunity to really transform PayPal…I could not resist,” Cruz told HR Brew. “I felt like it was both in my wheelhouse and created some unique opportunities to drive impactful change.”

For more leadership development insights from PayPal’s CPO, keep reading here.—PM

New skills research from HR advisory firm the Josh Bersin Company reveals that skills velocity, how fast employees acquire new skills, affects business performance more than skill depth.

The report examined top-performing companies across six industries over four years and showcases how top-performing companies are outpacing their peers, especially as it relates to AI transformation.

“Technical skills are changing quickly, but then also human skills and interpersonal skills, all of those skills are actually changing pretty rapidly,” said Kathi Enderes, global HR industry analyst and SVP of research at the Josh Bersin Company.

For more on how companies can employ an effective skills strategy in the AI age, keep reading here.—AD

Founded in 2011, Zoom made virtual meetings personal and simple. Its use exploded during the pandemic, transforming remote work globally. Zoom also brought authenticity by showing real-life moments on calls. As hybrid work evolves, HR leaders shape guidelines for when to meet virtually, by email, or in person, balancing connection and productivity.