Employers pare back parental leave and PTO as worker leverage weakens in the U.S.

Traders Union
All News
Financial News
Employers pare back parental leave and PTO

Highlights

Zoom reduced paid parental leave to 18 weeks for birthing parents and 10 weeks for non-birthing parents in 2024, down from 22–24 and 16 weeks respectively.
Deloitte will reduce parental leave, annual PTO, pension plans, and IVF funding for support roles starting January 2025, affecting administrative, IT, and finance employees.
U.S. quit rate fell to 1.9% in February from 2.0% in January, signaling weaker worker leverage and enabling benefit cuts by major employers.

Benefit cuts extend to core compensation

As first reported by Business Insider, Zoom has reduced paid parental leave this year, while Deloitte plans to scale back parental leave and other benefits for some employee groups starting in January.

At Zoom, birthing parents now receive 18 weeks of paid parental leave, down from 22 to 24 weeks, and non-birthing parents receive 10 weeks, down from 16, the company confirmed. Deloitte's changes mainly affect support roles such as administrative services, information technology and finance, and include planned reductions to annual PTO, a pension plan and IVF funding for some workers.

The changes stand out because paid parental leave, vacation time and disability leave remain among the most valued workplace benefits. A 2026 MetLife survey of 2,550 full-time U.S. workers shows more than three-quarters of respondents view paid leave in general as a must-have benefit.

Bobbi Thomason, a professor of applied behavioral science at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, says the companies could become precedent-setters if other employers decide similar cuts are acceptable. Former Google human resources chief Laszlo Bock also says moves by marquee employers can legitimize similar action across the market.

Weaker job mobility shifts leverage to employers

Employers are making these decisions while emphasizing measurable performance, raising expectations and keeping a closer watch on workplace productivity, including AI use. Pandemic-era perks are fading, office-return mandates remain widespread and layoffs continue across sectors.

At the same time, job growth is stagnant and workers are changing jobs less often. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show the U.S. quit rate edged down to 1.9% in February from 2.0% in January, indicating employees have less room to push back when companies cut benefits.

Joshua Lavine, chief executive of insurance advisory firm Capitol Benefits, says workers no longer hold the leverage they had a few years ago. Human resources analyst Josh Bersin says companies may judge benefit reductions as a faster way to improve profitability and contain costs than resorting to layoffs.

That strategy also carries risks. Christopher Myers, director of the Center for Innovative Leadership at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, says workers may respond by reducing effort rather than quitting, hurting productivity, while a tighter future labor market could make retention and recruitment harder if company reputations weaken.

Our earlier report on 2025 proxy filings tracked how median employee pay varies widely across major U.S. retailers, from roughly $10,000 at Ross Stores to about $49,000 at Costco. It also explained that these disclosures aren’t directly comparable because company medians are heavily influenced by part-time, seasonal, and global workforce mixes, with examples such as Amazon’s separate U.S. full-time median and Costco’s higher full-time figures.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.