Travelers Institute Launches Forces at Work℠ Initiative to Address Evolving Labor Market and Workplace Trends

By: Travelers Institute via Business Wire

January 13, 2025 at 09:00 AM EST

Program will kick off with in-person symposium and white paper focused on employee mental health

The Travelers Institute, the public policy division of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV), today announced a new initiative called Forces at Work, which will provide actionable insights and strategies to help business leaders navigate the modern workplace.

“From labor market fluctuations to shifting employee expectations, today’s workforce is evolving at an unprecedented pace,” said Joan Woodward, President of the Travelers Institute and Executive Vice President of Public Policy at Travelers. “Forces at Work will explore the challenges and opportunities brought on by these changes and offer business leaders the resources they need to build more resilient organizations in an increasingly complex environment.”

The Forces at Work initiative will feature in-person events, webinars, a series of white papers and other educational resources focused on five key areas:

Risk Management and Insurance: Offering risk management strategies on topics such as workers compensation insurance, and insights to help protect employees and businesses.
Labor Market: Analyzing demographic shifts, hiring trends and other macro-level economic changes influencing the workforce.
Leadership and Management: Highlighting stories and strategies of effective leadership in times of rapid change.
Talent and Development: Providing strategies to attract, retain and develop talent across generations.
Employee Well-Being: Promoting mental health, stress management and other aspects of holistic employee care.

The initiative will kick off with a live symposium on Tuesday, Jan. 14, in Phoenix, Arizona. The event, “Leading Your Business in 2025: Navigating the Economy, Public Policy and Worker Mental Health,” is a half-day educational session open to business, nonprofit and public sector professionals.

The program will cover economic and public policy trends and include a keynote presentation and panel moderated by Woodward that focuses on employee mental health, wellness and workers compensation insurance. Panelists will include Dr. Les Kertay, Clinical Psychologist, Chief Medical Officer at Ascellus; Rich Ives, Senior Vice President, Business Insurance Claim at Travelers; and Sarah Grace, Managing Director, Workers Compensation Product at Travelers.

To mark the launch of Forces at Work, the Travelers Institute released the first of several white papers that will be published as part of the initiative. “Investing in Mental Well-Being: A Guide for Employers” highlights statistics on the mental health crisis in the U.S. and provides practical strategies to help managers better support employees.

“Prioritizing mental health in the workplace isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s essential for business success,” said Dr. Marcos Iglesias, Chief Medical Director, Vice President at Travelers, and author of the white paper. “This white paper reinforces how dedicating resources to employee well-being builds stronger teams, enhances productivity and helps companies thrive.”

For more information about Forces at Work and to access the white paper, visit here.

All Travelers Institute events are free and open to the public – anyone interested in joining can register on the Travelers Institute website.

About the Travelers Institute

The Travelers Institute, the public policy division of The Travelers Companies, Inc., engages in discussion and analysis of public policy topics of importance to the insurance marketplace and to the financial services industry more broadly. The Travelers Institute draws upon the industry expertise of Travelers’ senior management as well as the technical expertise of many of Travelers’ underwriters, risk managers and other experts to provide information, analysis and solutions to public policymakers and regulators. Travelers is a leading provider of property casualty insurance for auto, home and business. For more information, visit Travelers.com.