The chief executives have spoken, and they want their people practices running at peak efficiency when cutting back on hiring and unnecessary spending. That has sparked one of my favorite questions to ask HR heads as of late: How are you doing more with less? This week I spoke to Allison Rutledge-Parisi, senior vice president of people at HR technology platform Justworks, to find out how she’s doing just that. 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Fortune: What shifts have you observed in the types of support and benefits your employees want? 

Allison Rutledge-Parisi: It’s not that folks are asking for anything new, but they’re worried about losing what they’ve got. They’re worried about reduced benefits, compensation, and general overall support for their wellness and professional advancement. There’s anxiety in the air—I can feel it. They’re worried about layoffs, and then they’re worried about the erosion of our [work] environment.

We’re definitely pushing back on hiring, but we’re not pulling back on our commitment to those here because we have a clear view regarding investing in employees during a downturn.

People always have options, even in a down market. You want to keep them and create a brand of trust and the ability to work through tough times by maintaining those investments. 

How has your talent strategy changed over the past six to 12 months?

Hiring at a high volume and rapid growth scale is like flying a plane while building it. Our focus is shifting from external talent sourcing to internal talent development. It allows us to ensure that we are thoughtfully setting up an environment where people develop their skill sets, understand their career paths, and are supported financially and otherwise. 

So the talent strategy hasn’t changed, but we have time to go deeper and bring more to bear than in the last crazy couple of years.

When it comes to cutting back from a people perspective, what’s a nonnegotiable you refuse to pull back on?

Manager training is nonnegotiable. Managers carry it all on their shoulders. They’re asked to do so much: execute decisions they may not have made, create an inclusive culture, deliver feedback with radical candor to the low performers, and find opportunities for high performers. Support for managers includes everything from sharing information where they can come together to really structured skills enhancement and super clear policies so they know what the guardrails are and how to answer employee questions.

What’s keeping you up at night regarding the future of work?

Across industries, we have not yet figured out how to live comfortably in the hybrid work world. We’ve spent so much time debating things like returning to the office and what number of days employees will come in, but hybrid work looks different for different business functions. We haven’t learned enough yet about how to ensure that when we’re doing the kind of work optimized by in-person presence, we’ve made sure that happens. I won’t say it keeps me up at night, but I don’t think we have mastery yet.

Amber Burton
amber.burton@fortune.com
@amberbburton

Reporter's Notebook

The most compelling data, quotes, and insights from the field.

Graduating college seniors are entering an uncertain job market as companies slow hiring. 

“Nearly all—97%—of the 1,000 college seniors surveyed by recruiting-software firm iCIMS in March said they have considered alternative options in the uncertain job market, weighing graduate school, gig work or taking a job outside their major.” Wall Street Journal

Around the Table

A round-up of the most important HR headlines, studies, podcasts, and long-reads.

- Only a quarter of eligible workers filed for unemployment benefits in 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bloomberg

- Recent data about remote work still leaves many questioning just how prevalent it is. New York Times

- The tight labor market is the product of trends that predate the pandemic, a new study finds. Reuters

- U.S. jobless claims remain historically low, though they rose to 198,000 last week. ABC News

- Older office buildings are at risk of remote-work-related demise. Insider

Watercooler

Everything you need to know from Fortune.

A confession. Are layoffs a confession of poor management? Many adamantly say yes because, contrary to popular belief, they're not inevitable.

Starbucks’ benefits. Starbucks doesn't live up to its claim of being a “different kind of company,” a barista writes in a commentary for Fortune. “How can a company claim to be progressive and tout these wonderful benefits while also controlling whether you get to keep them while on the job?” —Jasmine Leli 

Health is wealth. A first-of-its-kind law makes gig workers in Seattle eligible for paid sick days. —Gene Johnson

Minimum wage rises. Twenty-six states plan to increase the minimum wage in 2023. There could be a ripple effect for all employees, regardless of pay. —Paige McGlauflin