1. Make flexibility real — and manageable. This isn’t a perk. It’s about survival. For family caregivers, control over their schedule (remote work, shift swaps) can mean the difference between staying employed and walking away. In a war for talent, employers should listen to what truly matters to their employees.
2. Go beyond stipends: Offer real care. A stipend doesn’t solve the problem. Caregivers don’t need more things to figure out; they need actual help. Give them access to real care networks, like the one we’ve built through Home Instead. We’ve supported millions of hours of care. What matters most is giving people fast, reliable access to trusted professionals — without unnecessary complexity.
3. Equip managers to lead with empathy. Caregiver stress is often invisible — and too often overlooked. Managers need tools to recognize burnout and offer meaningful support. That’s why we provide a dedicated support line and mental health resources for our caregiving workforce, whom we call Care Pros, because we believe in caring for the caregiver.
Caregiver support isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s infrastructure. As caregiving becomes more common, so does burnout. Companies that build real systems of support will keep their teams intact. Those that don’t? They’ll lose them to competitors.
Seth Sternberg is co-founder and CEO of Honor Technology and CEO of Home Instead.
[This is Part II of “The Workforce Crisis No One Is Talking About: Why Employers Must Rethink Caregiving Support.”]
