March 17, 2026

monday.com’s take on the latest work trends - sent on Tuesdays.

Inside this issue

Workplace trends
The AI corner
Helping your team manage their energy
Question of the week
Just for laughs
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Workplace trends

Remote Work

Working from home may be the most affordable fertility policy

Governments have tried cash bonuses, tax breaks, and state-sponsored matchmaking to reverse falling birth rates - but new research suggests the answer may be closer to home. A study drawing on data from 38 countries, funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, found that fertility was 14% higher among couples where both partners worked from home at least once a week. Flexibility over where one works is among the most promising and cost-effective ways to help people have the families they want, according to researchers from King's College London, Stanford, and Princeton. Remote work cuts commuting, makes school pickups manageable, and gives parents control over their day in a way the traditional nine-to-five doesn't allow.

Benefits

Small businesses are finally catching up on retirement plans

The share of small US businesses offering retirement plans has jumped from 19% to 30% in just six years, according to a recent report by payroll platform Gusto. Two things are driving the shift: more than 20 states now require employers to automatically enroll staff in retirement accounts, and a competitive job market pushed smaller businesses to step up their benefits game. The tight labor market of recent years created a real incentive for smaller employers to add perks that were once considered out of reach, and retirement plans rose to the top of that list. There's a strong link between the availability of these plans and employee retention, according to a Gusto economist - making retirement benefits one of the more straightforward investments a small business can make in its workforce.

The AI corner

Research

AI is replacing the people companies used to survey

Companies have spent decades paying consultants and running focus groups to understand their customers - but AI is now offering a faster, cheaper alternative. A new crop of startups is building AI-powered digital replicas of real individuals, trained on their preferences and behaviors, that companies can query instead of running traditional research. The process that once took months can now take minutes, at a fraction of the cost, according to the Wall Street Journal. CVS Health has already put the technology to work, finding its AI-simulated respondents replicated known research findings with up to 95% accuracy. Gallup is also piloting the approach for policy and trend research.

Finance

Millions are turning to AI for retirement advice - with mixed results

Managing a pension has never been straightforward, but a growing number of people are skipping the financial adviser entirely and turning to AI instead, according to the Financial Times. A survey of 5,000 people commissioned by Lloyds Banking Group found that more than half of adults now use AI platforms for financial advice. The appeal is obvious - availability around the clock, no sales pressure, and free. But experts warn the technology has real blind spots: AI tools have been found to give outdated or outright wrong advice on complex tax and pension rules, and the confidence with which they provide answers can make errors hard to spot.

Helping your team manage their energy

By monday.com

Productivity isn’t just about having time. It’s about having mental energy.

When employees juggle a mix of creative and technical responsibilities or constantly jump between meetings and execution, they’re forced to context-switch several times a day. Maybe your team members move from solving complex problems to presenting ideas, navigating shifting priorities, responding to a steady stream of messages, and attending meetings. That kind of mental fragmentation makes it difficult to sustain focus and creative thinking.

Research from the American Psychological Association has found that switching between tasks can cost up to 40% of productive time. Another study published in PMC shows that frequent task switching can lead to cognitive overload, mental fatigue, and increased stress. In other words, even when people are busy all day, constant switching can quietly drain the energy they need to do their best work.

As a leader, one of the most valuable things you can do is help your team manage their energy, not just their time. When work rhythms support both focus and recovery, employees are far more likely to sustain high performance without burning out.

So how can you help your team protect their energy and stay effective?

Look for energy signals

High performers are often the least likely to say they’re overwhelmed; they’ll deliver results and may quietly absorb additional work until their energy is depleted. So try to watch for the signals of cognitive overload. Maybe someone who is normally decisive starts second-guessing small decisions. Maybe a team member who is usually enthusiastic becomes quiet in meetings or takes longer to respond to messages. Regular one-on-one conversations can help uncover these signals before they become bigger problems, so instead of just asking about project status, ask questions about workload, like which parts of your work are requiring the most mental energy right now? Where are you feeling the most friction this week? When you make capacity part of the conversation, employees feel more comfortable sharing what they actually need to stay effective.

Key question: “What signals might tell you that someone on your team is experiencing cognitive overload?”

Create clear priority filters

Uncertainty drains energy fast. When employees are juggling multiple requests, shifting priorities, and receiving constant messages, they can end up spending more energy deciding what to do than actually doing the work. You can help by creating clear priority filters. Define the top two or three outcomes the team is focused on for the quarter, or outline how to evaluate incoming requests. When employees understand the bigger picture, it becomes easier to decide where to invest their effort. You might also encourage team members to periodically review their tasks and ask whether each one contributes directly to the team’s goals. If something doesn’t clearly support those priorities, it may be worth reconsidering or simplifying.

Key question: “What simple priority filters could help your team focus their energy on the work that matters most?”

Design more sustainable work rhythms

Structure is crucial for maximizing energy. Help your employees design work rhythms that protect focus time. Maybe that means clustering meetings into specific blocks of the day, so employees can use that other time to concentrate on deeper work. Even small adjustments like shortening recurring meetings or clarifying agendas can reduce unnecessary mental load. It can also help to normalize the idea that not every moment of the workday needs to be filled. Strategic pauses between projects or meetings give people time to think, process information, and prepare for what’s next. When work rhythms support focus and recovery, employees can sustain their energy and performance far more effectively.

Key question: “How could you structure your team’s week to create more protected time for focused work?”

Use AI to reduce low-value drain

Many of the tasks that consume energy today aren’t the work people find most meaningful. Things like summarizing meetings, organizing notes, drafting routine updates, or sorting through long threads can quietly eat up hours of mental attention. This is where AI can help. Encourage your employees to use tools that summarize conversations, extract action items, or generate first drafts to reduce cognitive friction from the day. Challenge your team to experiment with using AI for these kinds of tasks so they can reserve more of their energy for creative thinking, strategic decisions, and collaboration. For example, someone might use AI to summarize a long project discussion before reviewing it themselves, or to turn a rough outline into a draft they can refine. When AI handles the first layer of routine work, employees can spend their energy where it matters most.

Key question: “Which tasks on your team consume energy but add relatively little strategic value?”

Protect your team’s energy - not just their time

When priorities are clear and work is visible, your team spends less energy figuring out what to do - and more energy doing meaningful work.
monday.com helps teams centralize requests, clarify priorities, automate routine tasks, and reduce context switching. From AI-powered summaries to structured workflows, it’s designed to remove friction so your team can focus where it matters most.

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Water cooler chatter

More women are out-earning their partners, and relationships are feeling the strain. The share of women who are the primary or sole breadwinner in opposite-sex marriages has tripled over 50 years. But research suggests the shift is causing tension between spouses, not regarding who earns more money but revolving around who holds higher professional status according to the Financial Times.

"What matters isn't just income, but occupational prestige."

Kaisa Snellman, Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Insead

Gen Z is bringing the mall back. The generation that grew up online is spending a greater share of their dollars in physical stores than older generations, with 62% of their general merchandise purchases made in person, according to the Wall Street Journal. Malls are responding by redesigning common areas for impromptu photoshoots and courting online-only brands to open physical locations.

"I don't really like online shopping. I'm an instant-gratification girl. I need it now."

Savera Ghorzang, Gen Z Shopper

Question of the week

Last week’s answer: 36%
This week’s question: What percentage of employees have cried at least once in the workplace?

Just for laughs

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Helping your team manage their energy

AI Analysis