Trade schools see student boom for offering careers ‘within grasp’

With the number of U.S. job openings rising to 11.5 million at the end of March, trade schools are finding a growing demand for their low-cost, low-time commitment programs that produce big payouts.

Student enrollment among agriculture, construction and transportation schools has increased up to 40%, according to new data from National Student Clearinghouse. Many programs require just one year of training, and typically cost less than $16,000, while a traditional four-year collegiate institution costs on average $100,000. READ MORE

Biden admin wants to ‘blame business’ for its ‘bad economy'

Speaking from the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, U.S. Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Suzanne Clark called out President Biden for putting inflation blame on business owners. READ MORE

How a billionaires boys’ club came to dominate the public square

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, attacked a publication owned by the world’s third-richest man, Jeff Bezos, last month for reprinting a column published by the world’s 13th-richest man, Mike Bloomberg.

The Bloomberg opinion article, posted by The Washington Post, asked whether Musk’s recent investment in Twitter would endanger freedom of speech. “WaPo always good for a laugh,” Musk wrote in a tweet, with smiling and crying emoji. READ MORE

Apple employees refuse office return because it will make company ‘whiter, more male-dominated’

Employees of the tech giant Apple are revolting against a plan to get staff back into the office for three days a week, claiming it will make the company “younger, whiter and more male-dominated”.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has said his proposed “hybrid working pilot” for US, Europe and UK employees is an attempt to balance the corporate benefits of in-office working with the personal advantages that working from home gives staff members. READ MORE

Has inflation reached a peak? Three signs that prices could soon come down

Inflation is at a 40-year high, and Americans are feeling it.

A gallon of gas costs about double what it cost in January 2021. Home prices were up a whopping 19.8% year-over-year in February. And, in March, groceries cost 10% more than they did a year earlier. READ MORE

America will recover all jobs lost during Covid by this summer, Fitch says

The United States is rapidly approaching a major jobs milestone that highlights the historically strong economic recovery from Covid-19.

By the end of August, the labor market will have fully recaptured all jobs lost during the pandemic, Fitch Ratings projects in a new report shared first with CNN. READ MORE

US economy won’t fall into recession, market strategist says

LPL Financial chief market strategist Ryan Detrick joined "Mornings with Maria" Friday and said that the U.S. economy won’t fall into a recession. Detrick made these comments ahead of the release of the March core personal consumption expenditures report. READ MORE

Wall Street reluctantly embraces crypto

Wall Street has a message for its many clients that have been eager to invest in cryptocurrencies: OK, OK, we hear you.

The largest U.S. banks, securities firms and custodians, many of whom once greeted the emergence of digital assets with skepticism, are now showcasing their forays into the market. READ MORE

How can the 4-day work week be a true game-changer for employers?

The events of the last two years have transformed long-utilized work models—accelerating the rise of hybrid and remote work and reframing how many employers think of the traditional office. Now, while still far from the norm, the concept of a four-day work week is also gaining traction. READ MORE

What Elon Musk Can Learn From Mastodon—and What He Can’t

Freedom never comes for free. In Twitter’s case, the price was $44 billion, which Elon Musk will pay to liberate the platform from its responsibilities as a public company and transform it into a free speech Xanadu. Musk wants to open source the platform’s algorithms, exile spam bots, and allow people to tweet whatever they please “within the bounds of the law.” To him, the stakes are nothing short of existential. “My strong intuitive sense,” he said in an interview at TED last week, “is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.” READ MORE

Present your China contingency plan at the next board meeting

But for a far broader set of companies, there’s a much more dangerous threat looming on the horizon: Russia’s totalitarian twin and closest military and economic ally–China.

It does not take a Ph.D. in international affairs to understand the common threads that underpin the China-Russia partnership. Both governments are known for lawless behavior, duplicity, bullying, domestic oppression, coercive economic practices, and grave human rights abuses. READ MORE

MIT Engineers Created a Portable Device that Zaps Seawater to Make Drinking Water

A team of scientists at MIT have created a device that transforms brackish seawater into clean drinking water at the push of a button—and can be especially helpful for people living in seaside places like California who are dealing with climate change-fueled droughts. READ MORE

Why Elon Musk Bought Twitter

On Monday, Elon Musk bought Twitter for forty-four billion dollars. Musk, the C.E.O. of Tesla and the richest man on earth, plans to take the social-media company private, and has said that he wants Twitter to adhere more closely to the principles of free speech, which, in a statement, Musk called “the bedrock of a functioning democracy.” (In the same statement, he described Twitter as the “digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”) Musk himself is a frequent tweeter, and it is assumed that he will continue to use the platform, and potentially reinstate the account of former President Donald Trump. He is also thought to be less likely to ban people for violations of the platform’s policies, which themselves may change. READ MORE

A neuroscientist explains how to get more done in less time

There are all sorts of productivity myths out there – but are there any that actually work?

Open social media and you'll find countless posts from people claiming to have the secret to improving your productivity, whether that's by waking up at 4am, taking certain supplements or packing your day full of activities. READ MORE

We have the potential to get happier (and more successful) as we get older. Here’s how

Arthur C. Brooks is an American social scientist, the William Henry Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. He has authored eleven books, including the bestsellers Love Your Enemies and The Conservative Heart, and writes the popular “How to Build a Life” column at The Atlantic. READ MORE

Sales Quotas: Friend or Foe?

Sales quotas power sales compensation formulas. Getting them right is crucial for a well-functioning incentive plan. But it’s a painful process for first-line managers. They face the same challenges each year: an unreasonable number and a small window of time to allocate the quota. 

Is there a better approach? READ MORE

The cost of Zoom

All those Zoom meetings could be stunting innovation at work.

Why it matters: A new study offers data for employers grappling with how to balance the benefits of in-person work with its costs. READ MORE

US economy shrinking at start of 2022 is 'shocking': Harvard economist

Harvard University professor Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, told "Mornings with Maria" on Thursday that a contraction in the U.S. economy in the first quarter is "shocking." READ MORE

Elon Musk won’t have a board to watch him when he takes Twitter private—does that matter?

It appears Twitter’s board of directors finally warmed to Elon Musk’s hostile bid and agreed to a sale—but not before it took a severe beating from the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and other prominent users on their own social network. READ MORE

Half of US Employees Would Leave Their Job for This One Reason, But Will Stay for These Benefits

As the Great Resignation continues across the U.S., employees are gaining clarity as to what they want out of a job, what would entice them to stay, and what “dealbreakers” would force them to leave. READ MORE