Employers are giving workers the WFH days they want

More than two years after the start of the covid-19 pandemic, US workers are closer than ever to getting the remote-work arrangements they want.

In late 2020, the gap between how many work-from-home days workers wanted and how many remote days hybrid employers were planning was 1.38 days, according to a monthly online survey from WFH Research, a project that has been tracking workplace attitudes and worker arrangements each month since May 2020. By June 2022, that gap had narrowed to 0.44 days. READ MORE

Are You Too Responsible?

Taking responsibility is an essential element of strong leadership. As we are often reminded, “The buck stops here” and “Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.” READ MORE

Where to live if your company is sticking to remote work

The way we work has shifted significantly, and there are some terrific new options for how we work, when we work, and even where we work. Digital nomads are embracing these new options. They are landing jobs which are all-remote or remote-friendly and taking their work on the road—choosing to work wherever they please—because they can. READ MORE

How Fair Is Your Workplace?

Under pressure from activist investors, the public, and their own employees, many companies are expanding their commitments to corporate social responsibility with an emphasis on equity and justice for disadvantaged communities. Nearly nine in 10 of Fortune 100 companies list equity as one of their corporate values, according to our analysis of value statements of Fortune 100 companies. Mentions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on S&P 500 earnings calls have increased 658% just since 2018, according to our analysis of earnings calls transcripts for S&P Global 500 for 1Q18 and 1Q21. READ MORE

Why Are Tech Companies Being Hit So Hard By The Downturn?

The last couple months have been rough for both public and private tech companies.

More than 28,000 employees of U.S.-based tech companies have been laid off so far this year, with layoffs accelerating in June, the end of the second quarter. And while late-stage startups have been hit the hardest by layoffs, according to a Crunchbase News analysis, it seems like public tech companies are starting to ramp up layoffs as well. READ MORE

The US Is Slowly Transitioning From The Great Resignation To The Great Return

The Great Resignation describes how employees have been taking ownership of their careers and aspirations by reassessing their company’s culture and mission. This has led to many people leaving well-paying, secure jobs to pursue more social ventures that are better aligned with their personal values. READ MORE

Here's what the supply chain will look like for the rest of the summer

When you’re on vacation in Hawaii, a little uncertainty doesn’t kink things up too much. When you’re still trying to navigate a pandemic, though, sufficient predictability translates to survival. 

That’s true right now for both customers and business owners alike, with both groups looking at the supply chain and wondering what will be affordable and available.  READ MORE

Inflation rises to 11.3% in producer index for June, near highest on record

Inflation as measured by producer wholesale prices ticked up to a red-hot 11.3% for the year ending in June, according to a report Thursday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, near the highest on record.

Thursday’s report comes a day after headline inflation as measured by the consumer price index exploded to 9.1% for the 12 months ending in June, the highest level since 1981 and a bigger increase than expected. READ MORE

Remote v. in-person employee performance

Nearly half of remote workers say their teams’ performance has improved over the past two years, according to new research from Eagle Hill Consulting. Comparatively, only 34% of in-person workers can say the same. Additionally, the data finds that over the past two years, 50% of remote workers say their personal performance has gotten better, along with 49% of hybrid workers. Forty-five percent of in-person workers said the same. READ MORE

U.S. SEC votes to undo Trump-era curbs on shareholder advisers

The U.S. securities regulator voted on Wednesday to rescind rules introduced under former President Donald Trump that critics said impeded the independence of firms that advise investors on how to vote in corporate elections.

The move is the latest installment in a long-running battle over how to regulate proxy advisers like Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, which advise investors how to cast their ballot on issues including the election of directors, merger transactions and shareholder proposals. READ MORE

Google is controlling user data for its political agenda

To live in America in 2022 is to live twice: once in our daily, analog lives, and again in the digital ether, where our lives leave detailed trails. Every now and again, we are reminded of just how much of our second selves exist outside of our control. READ MORE

The future of cars is a subscription nightmare

As cars get more expensive to make and profit margins dwindle, automakers are coming up with new and loathsome ways to squeeze more money out of their customers. Subscription-based access to vehicle features, like heated seats or remote-start key fobs, are the latest attempt to charge people for things their car already came with. The question is whether customers are going to lay down and take it. READ MORE

Twitter Lawyers Say They Can Prevail Over Musk in Just Four Days

Twitter Inc. wants a lightning-quick trial to resolve its claim that billionaire Elon Musk wrongfully canceled his proposed $44 billion buyout of the social-media platform. READ MORE

Inflation surges 9.1% in June, accelerating more than expected to new 40-year high

Inflation accelerated more than expected to a new four-decade high in June as the price of everyday necessities remains painfully high, exacerbating a financial strain for millions of Americans and worsening a political crisis for President Biden. READ MORE

Hybrid Work Is Doomed

I noticed the shoes first. That I was wearing them. Real shoes, the leather kind, with laces. After a year and a half, I was finally returning to the office, and that meant giving up the puffer slippers and slides that had sustained me for so long. Real shoes, I quickly remembered, are terrible. Likewise pants. Likewise getting to work, and being at work. Whew. READ MORE

Board Members Can No Longer Ignore Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is no longer optional for board members. Today’s boardroom is a perfect target for hackers. It’s home to the most important decision-makers in the company. A data breach involving confidential board information can devastate an organization’s reputation and cost millions in incident response, recovery, ransoms or litigation. READ MORE

LinkedIn sees hiring rate fall 11.9% annually in June

LinkedIn, a unit of Microsoft, saw its hiring rate fall 5.4% month over month in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, the lowest level since December 2021, according to new data released on Friday. On an annual basis, the employment platform's hiring rate tumbled 11.9% in June. READ MORE

Consumer finance bureau ‘out of control’ under Biden's director

After one of the federal government’s most powerful bureaucrats warned he would be "reining in repeat offenders," the nation’s largest business group wants to rein in his powers. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched a six-figure digital ad campaign in late June targeting Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), appointed by President Biden in 2021 and confirmed without a single Republican vote.  READ MORE

Billionaire skewers Biden for 'deep misunderstanding' of basic econ

After President Joe Biden called on companies running gas stations to lower the price of gas, Jeff Bezos accused the U.S. president of misleading the public or said he lacked a "basic" understanding of the forces that actually drive prices. READ MORE

US officials unable to measure 'hiring freeze' impact

The government cannot properly measure the impact of "hiring freezes" in tech and finance companies, but officials remain bullish that current employment opportunities can mitigate any significant, negative effects. READ MORE