Andy Puzder: Biden is about to drive us off an economic cliff

It is difficult to imagine a worse time for massive increases in taxes and spending, yet that’s exactly what Democrats in Washington, D.C. have in mind. We are all aware that, as Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated this week, President Joe Biden views the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to "make fundamental changes in our economy." But the changes he has in mind are about to drive us over an economic cliff. READ MORE

Tech's big bad morale problem

The rank-and-file runs the tech industry now. If you want to boil down many of the events of the last weeks and months, one thing that unites them all is that employees at tech companies are flexing their individual and collective power more than ever. Even a vocal minority has more ways than ever to make noise and press for change. And instead of worrying about public opinion and business ramifications, bosses are increasingly worried about employee morale above all else.

Facebook is the most obvious example. The company's increasingly aggressive public stance, pushing back on whistleblower testimony and news stories, is less about changing public opinion and more about getting the team back on track. READ MORE

5 Reasons Not to Quit Your Job (Yet)

Has there ever been a better time for employees to quit their jobs?

Whether you call it “The Great WorkQuake,” The Great Resignation,” or “The Great Reset,” up to 41% of employees are thinking about changing careers right now. There are a lot of reasons for them to consider leaving. A strong labor market is pushing up wages and benefits, and companies are offering additional perks to attract new talent. Some workers may be fed up with their existing company’s toxic or unappreciative culture, inflexible work arrangements, or pay inequity. Some may be suffering from burnout or general work/life dissatisfaction. Some are leaving their jobs simply because they can afford to — U.S. personal savings hit a record high of 33% this year. Add in the opportunities to “work from anywhere,” and you can understand why we’re seeing employees quitting in record numbers in 2021. READ MORE

The office is the new offsite

Social media is awash with the cognitive dissonance of how many people are still working from home (it's less than some might think). But those who are going back to the office are also spending a lot less time there. Many of the people with the flexibility to choose what days and how often they go into the office appear to be adopting the "less is more" strategy.

Protocol spoke with OfficeTogether's founder and CEO Amy Yin to learn more about the trends related to the return to work. The desk reservation and team-scheduling startup was born in the age of the pandemic and its software helps companies figure out who is coming to the office and how to complete health checks for those returning. Insights have poured in as workers head back to their respective office spaces. Here are some of the biggest takeaways. READ MORE

Amazon copied products and rigged search results to promote its own brands

Amazon.com Inc has been repeatedly accused of knocking off products it sells on its website and of exploiting its vast trove of internal data to promote its own merchandise at the expense of other sellers. The company has denied the accusations.

But thousands of pages of internal Amazon documents examined by Reuters – including emails, strategy papers and business plans – show the company ran a systematic campaign of creating knockoffs and manipulating search results to boost its own product lines in India, one of the company’s largest growth markets. READ MORE

Few individual investors participate in shareholder voting. Here’s how that may be changing

Despite the high demand for values-driven investing, few individual shareholders participate in corporate decisions. But some companies and funds are making it easier for investors to voice concerns through a proxy voting process.

When someone buys a stock, they become part-owner of the company and may vote on decisions — such as executive compensation or picking the board of directors — at the corporation’s annual meeting. READ MORE

Is Stagflation a Serious Market Risk?

Stagflation: that ghoul from the era of shag carpet and disco balls.

It's something that hasn't been seriously discussed in economics circles since the late 1970s. But today, with inflation pushing multidecade highs and company after company reporting that results might end up being disappointing over the next several quarters due to rising labor and materials costs, stagflation is a real topic of concern again.

The question is: Should it be? READ MORE

‘It’s Not Sustainable’: What America’s Port Crisis Looks Like Up Close

Like toy blocks hurled from the heavens, nearly 80,000 shipping containers are stacked in various configurations at the Port of Savannah — 50 percent more than usual.

The steel boxes are waiting for ships to carry them to their final destination, or for trucks to haul them to warehouses that are themselves stuffed to the rafters. Some 700 containers have been left at the port, on the banks of the Savannah River, by their owners for a month or more. READ MORE

Qualities To Look For When Choosing Board Members For Your Micro- To Mid-Sized Company

The lasting effects of the global pandemic; environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations; political dynamics — today’s business climate is challenging. As the owner of a micro to mid-capitalized company, these pressures can be magnified, and having board members who are aligned with your company’s goals is critical. If you are considering or are already in the process of taking your company public, the selection of board members requires careful consideration. READ MORE

Why Trust Is the Top Requirement for Building and Growing Your Company

What's more important for your company: growth or trust?

If you said the former, you're not alone. Organic growth is overwhelmingly the top goal for business executives, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers's twenty-fourth annual global survey of CEOs. It's what 88 percent of U.S. company heads and 73 percent of global leaders reported as their number-one priority for 2021. READ MORE

Amazon return-to-office plans left up to managers

Amazon's senior leadership is open to mixing it up when it comes to corporate workers' return to the office and has handed the decision down the chain of command as to whether, when and how often employees will make the trek to the workplace once their offices open again in 2022.

In a notice to Amazon employees on Monday, CEO Andy Jassy pointed out that the company first thought they would be back in the office in September 2021, before pushing that date back to Jan. 3 "with the suggestion we should all try to be in the office at least three days a week." READ MORE

Biden's economy is stalled. Here's what he must do now to unfreeze our supply chain

Instead of playing hide-and-seek with the White House press corps, or whining about Republicans blocking his $5 trillion tax-and-spend scheme, President Joe Biden could be doing something useful.

The president could be working to bring down inflation. How? By getting people back on the job, addressing the supply chain challenges that are increasing the cost of nearly all consumer goods and by doing everything possible to increase U.S. oil and gas output, to help put a lid on fast-rising energy prices. READ MORE

Three Key Causes to the Rise in Employee Departures

Much has been said and written about “The Great Resignation.” And for good reason. Various research shows that anywhere between 40% and 50% of knowledge workers in the United States have left a job in the last year, or are considering doing so. 

That’s a huge increase over annualized voluntary attrition benchmarks in the technology industry, which have hovered around 13% to 15% in the past few years. What’s behind it? To find the truth, we must do a little digging. And what we find may surprise us.

In my research, departures generally happen for one of three reasons: READ MORE

Increase chances of startup success by avoiding these 5 common legal mistakes

For over a decade I have worked with thousands of startups and entrepreneurs across a broad spectrum of industries and markets. I’ve seen them succeed. I’ve seen them fail. I’ve seen some overcome adversity, and others come to the realization that they needed to pivot and try something else. Many of these young companies faced similar challenges.

At the Entrepreneurship Law Center at the University at Buffalo School of Law, we strive to prepare and position clients to focus on growth. By being aware of – and avoiding – the following top five legal mistakes startups make, entrepreneurs can increase their chances of building a successful business. READ MORE

Decade after Jobs' death, has Apple traded magic for profit?

Ten years after Apple founder Steve Jobs' death, the firm has grown into a colossus of devices and services that is the world's most valuable company, but the tech legend's diehard fans lament its lost aura of revolution.

"Apple doesn't innovate anymore" or "Steve Jobs is turning in his grave" are the type of disillusioned tweets that pop up especially during product launches led by Tim Cook, who took Apple's reins in August 2011. READ MORE

A Three-Day Work Week? One Startup Experiments to Draw Talent

A shortage of technology talent has Indian companies offering sweeteners like more vacation time and gender-neutral parental leave as they compete for graduates and professionals. One Bangalore startup is trying a more dramatic solution: a three-day work week.Fintech company Slice is offering new hires a three-day week with salary at 80% of the going market rate. This is a win-win approach that frees the workers to pursue other passions or interests -- or other gigs -- while still locking in a steady pay and benefits from Slice, said Rajan Bajaj, the company’s founder. READ MORE

‘A perfect storm’: supply chain crisis could blow world economy off course

It was all going so well. Successful vaccination programmes were driving the post-pandemic recovery of the global economy, stock markets were back at record highs, and prices were rising just enough to make deflation fears a thing of the past.

But a supply crunch that initially put a question mark over the availability of luxury cars or whether there would be enough PlayStations under our Christmas trees is instead morphing into a full-blown crisis featuring a shortage of energy, labour and transport from Liverpool to Los Angeles, and from Qingdao to Queensland. READ MORE

A startup says its software can spot racial bias within companies. Will this surveillance scare employees?

Employees at Telhio Credit Union are already used to having their internal communications monitored to ensure compliance with US financial rules. But Telhio, which is based in Columbus, Ohio, and has over 250 employees, recently began watching for something else, too: indications of unconscious and overt bias in emails, texts, and phone calls. READ MORE