The average cost of employer-sponsored health insurance is expected to surpass $18,500 per US worker in 2026, according to a Mercer survey released this week. That would represent a 6.7% jump from 2025—the largest increase in 15 years. Employers must conduct due diligence of vendors that offer healthcare cost-containment solutions to ensure the products are effective and deliver actual savings. Companies will also want to thoroughly evaluate their contracts with pharmacy benefit managers to better understand their prescription drug benefits, while limits on GLP-1 coverage, especially as upcoming oral versions and new condition approvals drive up demand.

Citi mandated AI prompt training for most of its employees, per the American Banker. Citi’s head of technology noted that so far this year, Citi employees have input more than 6.5 million prompts and reduced time spent on some tasks by orders of magnitude. Fourteen percent of financial services companies worldwide have already benefited from their investments in generative AI, per Broadridge, and another 54% expect payback in no more than 1-2 years. The banking industry’s pivot over the past three years from fear of the unknown to seeking benefits will pay dividends in the long run.

We examine rebranding best practices that bring customers along on the journey.

Insider Intelligence spoke with Tom Kochan, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and author of “Shaping the Future of Work: A Handbook for Action and a New Social Contract,” about unionization and its implications for retailers.

The US labor market is a tale of two halves: While retailers with a strong brick-and-mortar presence are intensifying their hiring efforts, startups are taking a more cautious approach to recruitment as VC funding dries up.

Cost-cutting and layoffs could hurt employer branding: Companies risk losing their employer reputations as they scale back to protect profitability.

Rounding up news from the last days of 2021: The news cycle didn’t stop over the holidays. These are some of the most notable stories from the last two weeks.

Many companies feel good about the progress they’ve made in digital transformation, but is that confidence stalling them from achieving true results? In this presentation, we pair qualitative insights with survey data to help marketers get a pulse check on their progress.