Why is Trump threatening defense firms?

President Donald Trump giveth to defense contractors and he also taketh away. Trump says he wants a major boost in defense spending, which contractors undoubtedly welcome. But he has also ordered a crackdown on executive pay and stock buybacks at the companies that make armaments for the United States.

Trump’s financial threat against defense firms came just “hours before saying he’s decided to substantially increase the defense budget” to $1.5 trillion, said CNN. The U.S. makes the “best military equipment in the world,” the president said in a Truth Social post. But the taxpayer cash that ends up going to defense company stock buybacks comes at the “expense and detriment of investing in plants and equipment.” No executive at those firms should make more than $5 million a year, he said. READ MORE

Front-line workers say pay and flexibility are top 2026 priorities

Front-line workers — meaning employees who need to do their jobs in person, as well as workers who build products and serve customers, patients, students and residents — comprise almost 80% of the global workforce, according to the UKG, which cited Statista and research firm Gartner.

In the U.S., front-line workers make up 70% of the workforce, according to a 2025 study by HR advisory firm The Josh Bersin Co. in collaboration with UKG. That same study found that these workers are increasingly difficult to find, train and retain. READ MORE

Top 10 AI skills that can boost salaries by up to 75%

Research from Resume.ai indicates that mastering certain AI skills can lead to salaries of up to $180,630 annually. Competency in these in-demand skills, such as deep learning, machine learning and TensorFlow, can boost potential earnings by 60 to 75%.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly accessible, allowing ambitious professionals across various fields to adapt and thrive in the evolving job market. Despite nearly all human resources leaders stating that AI training is available within their organizations, only about one-third of employees have actually received such training. READ MORE

Workers Are Afraid to Ask for a Raise. Is This Good News or Bad News?

Your employees are likely afraid to ask for a pay raise — and that should be concerning.

A recent surveyOpen in a new tab by career advising platform Zety found 3 in 5 workers are willing to accept a smaller pay raise, or no increase at all, because they’re worried about job security and layoffs. Additionally, 66% of the respondents said they simply aren’t willing to ask for a raise right now — a significantly higherOpen in a new tab proportion than those expressing the same sentiment in a B2B Reviews survey in 2023. READ MORE

Top 10 Best-Paid Cybersecurity Jobs in 2026 (Highest Salary Roles Ranked)Top 10 Best-Paid Cybersecurity Jobs in 2026 (Highest Salary Roles Ranked)

CISOs and principal cybersecurity engineers top the 2026 pay charts: CISOs commonly command base salaries of roughly $220,000 to $420,000 and total compensation that often reaches $420,000 to $500,000 or more, while principal engineers typically earn base pay around $160,000 to $208,000 with total packages frequently above $225,000. They stand out because CISOs carry organization-wide accountability and executive pay premiums, while principal engineers earn top dollars for deep, hands-on technical problem solving; beginners can start toward these lanes with structured, affordable training such as Nucamp’s 15-week Cybersecurity Fundamentals Bootcamp, which costs about $2,124 and prepares students for entry-level roles. READ MORE

Trump calls for capping executive pay at defense contractors

President Donald Trump put defense contractors on notice today. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said his administration is capping executive compensation at $5 million and prohibiting companies from doing stock buybacks and paying out dividends to shareholders.

President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday evening putting these restrictions in place at a policy level. READ MORE

Compensation For AI Employees Is Skyrocketing

Over the past decade, compensation for artificial intelligence (AI) professionals has surged at an unprecedented pace, reshaping the talent market and redefining what employers must offer to attract and retain top-tier technical talent. As companies across nearly every sector race to integrate machine learning, automation, and generative AI into their operations, the demand for skilled AI engineers, researchers, and product leaders has vastly outstripped supply. The result is a compensation environment that is not only highly competitive, but increasingly aggressive. READ MORE

Trump's EEOC Chair Suggests White Men Face Job Bias, Deserve Compensation

The Trump administration is facing backlash after the head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suggested white men are the true victims of workplace discrimination and should seek compensation under civil rights laws.

In a video posted to X earlier this month, EEOC Chair Andrea R. Lucas, a Trump appointee, addressed white men directly, saying they may have a claim to compensation due to workplace discrimination.

“Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination at work based on your race and sex?” Lucas asked. “You may have a claim to recover money under civil rights laws.” READ MORE

OpenAI's employee compensation dwarfs every major tech IPO of the past 25 years

OpenAI's financial model reflects the intense pressure to retain the people driving its breakthroughs. The company's willingness to spend aggressively on equity has redefined what competitive pay looks like in artificial intelligence – and raised the stakes for every firm vying to shape the field's future.

Internal financial disclosures show that OpenAI is distributing more equity per employee than any major technology startup on record. Its stock-based compensation – averaging roughly $1.5 million per worker across a staff of about 4,000 – far exceeds the benchmarks set by historical peers, according to data the company shared with investors. READ MORE

Long Commutes Widen Gender Wage Gap

In the early hours of a weekday morning, millions of American workers embark on their daily commutes, a ritual that shapes not just their days but their careers and family lives. For mothers, this journey often carries an outsized cost, exacerbating the gender wage gap in ways that extend far beyond simple pay disparities. Recent research highlights how longer travel times disproportionately hinder women’s professional advancement, particularly after childbirth, forcing tough choices between family responsibilities and career opportunities. As remote work options fluctuate in a post-pandemic world, the commute emerges as a critical factor in understanding why women, especially mothers, continue to earn less than their male counterparts. READ MORE

CEO and Executive Compensation Practices in the Russell 3000 and S&P 500

CEO and executive compensation—covering the CEO and other NEOs—is disclosed annually by US public companies in proxy statements. Reported figures reflect “total compensation” which, as defined by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), records the grant-date fair value or accounting expense value of pay packages rather than realized income. Since much of CEO pay takes the form of equity awards whose value depends on stock performance and other corporate metrics, these disclosures do not indicate what executives ultimately take home.

Against this backdrop, the data provide critical insight into how boards respond to market conditions, design incentives, and benchmark against peers. Year-over-year shifts signal changes in award levels, which largely reflect stock market cycles, competitive labor dynamics, and investor expectations. READ MORE

Inside OpenAI's $1.5 million compensation packages

OpenAI is paying its employees at levels that have little precedent in Silicon Valley history — $1.5 million in stock-based compensation per employee in 2025. That’s according to financial projections shared with investors and first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Such compensation dwarfs what earlier generations of tech giants paid their workforces before going public. Adjusted for inflation, OpenAI's equity payouts are multiples above the norm for large tech firms over the past two decades, and even several times higher than what Alphabet or Meta disclosed ahead of their IPOs. READ MORE

How HR leaders tackled compensation chaos this year

From pay transparency mandates to economic anxiety, 2025 tested HR leaders’ ability to navigate compensation in a year marked by uncertainty. Tech giants shuffled their value, employees demanded faster access to earned wages and global forces from AI to tariffs complicated every pay decision. These stories captured the toughest compensation conversations and the strategies that helped HR leaders address them. READ MORE

OpenAI Is Prepared to Pay Someone $555,000 — Plus Equity — for This ‘Stressful Job’

OpenAI is offering more than half a million dollars in salary to fill what could be one of the most stressful jobs in tech — a new Head of Preparedness tasked with anticipating the ways powerful AI systems could go wrong. 

In a post on X on Saturday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman advertised the position, which he called a “critical role at an important time” as well as a “stressful job.” The role reflects how seriously the company takes the potential for harm from its own technologies.  READ MORE

New York State Minimum Wage and Exempt Salary Updates for 2026

As we approach the new year, New York employers should be aware of increases to the state exempt status salary thresholds and minimum wage that will take effect on January 1, 2026.

Exempt Salary Threshold Increases

Under New York State wage law, employees working in an executive or administrative capacity must receive a minimum weekly salary (as well as meet certain duties requirements) to be exempt from the state’s overtime pay requirements.  Beginning January 1, 2026, the thresholds for these exemptions will be as follows: READ MORE