SHRM Foundation Highlights the Employer Imperative on Caregiving

SHRM Foundation President Wendi Safstrom – President, SHRM Foundation joined leaders at Georgetown University's Family Caregiving and Financial Security Summit in Washington, D.C., for a conversation on how employers can better support working caregivers while strengthening recruitment, retention, and long-term workforce stability.

The panel, "The Employer Imperative: Building a Caregiving-Supportive Workplace and Benefits Toolkit," focused on a challenge affecting workers across industries: Caregiving responsibilities can influence whether employees remain in the workforce, advance in their careers, reduce their hours, or return to work after stepping away.

"The strongest business case is talent," Safstrom said. "Caregiving affects whether people can stay in the workforce, advance in their careers, and build long-term financial security, and that ultimately affects whether employers can retain the people they need."

SHRM research illustrates the connection. Twenty-eight % of working caregivers say they contribute less to retirement because of caregiving, and the same share have reduced their working hours. About three-quarters of organizations where managers effectively support caregivers report strong retention, compared with less than half where managers struggle to provide that support.

But benefits and policies alone do not create a caregiver-supportive workplace. More than one-third of working caregivers are uncomfortable seeking caregiver resources, and nearly half worry that using available benefits could hurt their chances for promotion. At the same time, only about one in four organizations actively educate employees about the caregiving resources available to them.

"If employees are afraid to use a benefit, it is not delivering its full value," Safstrom said. "That is why caregiver support has to be both available and safe to use."

For employers, closing that gap requires turning policies into everyday workplace practices. Managers need the tools to listen, connect employees with available resources, and apply policies consistently, while leaders can help create a culture where asking for flexibility or using a caregiving benefit is not viewed as a lack of commitment.

Through its research and advocacy, and through the work of the SHRM Foundation (the Foundation), SHRM is helping employers better understand the experiences of working caregivers and identify practical approaches to supporting them. That work includes guidance, tools, partnerships, and convenings, as well as Generation Cares and advocacy focused on workplace flexibility, benefits access, caregiving infrastructure, and modernizing the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

As caregiving becomes an increasingly visible workforce issue, the opportunity for employers is to move beyond viewing support solely as an accommodation. Building workplaces where caregivers can remain, contribute, and advance can be part of a broader strategy to attract, retain, and support the talent organizations need.