The impact of coronavirus on business has been devastating for the world as well as the US economy. However, as offices plan to reopen their doors post the COVID era, employees are still reluctant to make a full time come back to the physical office. According to the survey of about 2,000 US workers that were commissioned by software company Citrix, employees were not comfortable to return to work. The workers revealed that the reactivation of the physical offices needs to comply with the strict coronavirus safety measures in place including mandatory protective equipment, coronavirus testing, and contact tracing among others.
In a recent survey carried out by Eagle Hill Consulting, it was found that while employers were investing heavily in new technologies to ensure a smooth transition to remote work, they were forgetting to source employee input. About 13% of employees said they were completely unaware of technology changes in their organization. The report also stated that almost half of employees reported that while their employers invested in new technologies only 29% of them helped employees to do their jobs better.
In a recent development related to COVID-19, as the businesses slowly reopen post the virus scare, the organizations are gearing up for people first strategy to strengthen workforce resilience. According to a statement issued by EY, it was revealed a need for a major overhaul in the business model and transform to survive the post coronavirus era.
According to a union statement released on 14 May 2020, Walt Disney World and unions reached an agreement on safeguards to protect employees from coronavirus. The step would help remove one of the company’s hurdles to reopening its popular theme parks. The statement from the Service Trades Council Union (STCU) – representing about 43,000 workers at Walt Disney World in Orlando – stated the various measures would include social distancing practices, increased cleaning, and mandatory masks for both employees and guests.
The recent report by Federal Reserve, released on Thursday 14 May 2020 revealed some disturbing facts about the coronavirus related job losses. As the deadly pandemic weakened the US economy and dwindled the finances, the report stated lower-income group workers were hit harder by the COVID-19 related job losses. According to the survey, almost one in five all adults either lost their jobs or worked at a reduced number of hours at work in the month of March. Lower-income suffered the most with severe job losses and pay cuts.
A non-union employee of United Airlines filed a class action lawsuit on 13 May 2020. According to the lawsuit, the employee alleged that a compulsory 20 days of unpaid leave for both management and administration employees was a breach of the terms of federal payroll aid. Chicago-based United is one of the US airlines that have accepted the government payroll support under a condition that companies would not cut jobs or slash salaries before 30 September 2020.
In a recent response to coronavirus pandemic, the HR credentialing bodies have offered online testing options to its participants. The participants of HR institutes like SHRM and HRCI would be able to take their online proctored exams to facilitate testing from home. Candidates could log in to their respective institute’s website for more details.
In a recent development amid the reopening of Tesla’s California unit, the HR boss Valerie Workman warned the company’s California employees that if they chose to stay home, even when they are called back to work due to Covid-19 concerns, then they would lose their unemployment benefits. Tesla had resumed its production of vehicles at its Fremont-based car plant in California.
In a company-wide email sent by Jack Dorsey, the chief executive officer of Twitter, it was stated Twitter would allow its employees to work from home as a forever option. The company spokesperson confirmed the decision and revealed while the organization was the first one to opt for work from home option, it would definitely not the first one to return to the office. Twitter has ‘strongly encouraged’ working from home since 2 March and made it mandatory for employees to work from home since 11 March 2020.
In a recent survey done by the Cornerstone Institute for People Development, it was found an exponential increase in the demand for online courses due to pandemic. The report also pointed out the fact about a large number of the workforce working from home has led to this significant increase as employees look ways to stay productive and updated in their field so as to avoid layoffs.
According to IBM, the women leaders through a variety of AI applications have proven that ‘human and machine collaboration can truly help improve how people work.’ The company announced 2020 IBM Women Leaders in AI honorees on 6 May 2020 at its Think Digital Conference. The statement also shared the list that recognized 35 women leaders in business from 12 countries who have been using AI to drive transformation and growth benefitting the company, customers, and even employees.
In a recent COVID-19-related development in the US, the auto industry factory workers started returning to assembly lines in Michigan on 11 May 2020. The move paved the way for reopening the US auto sector, although the fear of the second wave of coronavirus infections remain strong as a strict lockdown situation was eased across the country. The coronavirus had thrown millions of Americans out of job and had brought much of the economy at a virtual standstill. The move is intended to relax the tough restrictions on commerce and social life in the US.
According to an internal announcement made by Hyatt Hotels Corp on late Monday, the hotel chain would be laying off about 1,300 globally in order to fight the pandemic. The move is intended as a step to fight and cope up with the coronavirus crisis that has virtually brought the travel to a standstill as people are staying indoors following the lockdown. The announcement also talked about the pay cuts for its senior management, board members, and all employees as part of a restructuring to fight the crisis. The statement also said that the laid-off employees would receive severance pay.
According to Gusto – the human resource management software company – Gen Z and the new entrants to the workforce experienced greater job loss as a result of COVID-19 related business closures compared to the other age groups. The report that was published on 1 May 2020 found employees with low-wage jobs in low-income areas experienced the brunt of layoffs, as small businesses made the tough decision of letting go of their employees.
A recent overhaul in the personnel department in Japan’s central bank witnessed some extensive changes on Monday. One of the major changes was the appointment of the first female executive director in the male-dominated institution. Tokiko Shimizu, at the age of 55, became the first woman to step into the executive director post. She would be taking up one of the six executive director posts, as announced in government appointments on Monday. With her appointment at BOJ’s top bureaucrat post, the central bank is making efforts to diversify its management.
In an internal announcement by the payments giant Fiserv Inc, it was stated Frank Bisignano would take the organizational reins as the company’s chief executive on 1 July. Bisignano would succeed Yabuki in the role, who would remain as the executive chairman until the end of 2020.
Amazon Inc – the online retail giant – has again come under a scanner for flouting the state guidelines for COVID-19. The workers in southern California’s industrial heartland revealed the organizational policies that were forcing sick workers to report to work. The workers also informed that warehouses refused to comply with a state’s sick leave law that was meant to prevent the spread and protect the public from the COVID-19 pandemic. The workers fear job loss among other things.
According to Bluecrew – a staffing technology platform, hourly and gig workers face severe challenges while filing for unemployment and accessing government assistance. The recent report dated 30 April 2020 was based on a survey of more than 1,650 workers across salaried positions, hourly employees, and gig workers in the US. The report revealed about 45% of hourly and gig workers had filed or plan to file for unemployment and about 47% of them were concerned about accessing unemployment benefits.
British department store Debenhams take a hit due to coronavirus and plans to shut its five stores in Hammerson, as it was not able to agree on rent terms with the mall operator. The stores shut down would lead to about 1,400 job cuts. Amid the lockdown in the UK, retail property owners and tenants have been working together to defer rent payments and find feasible solutions that would allow shops, businesses, and landlords to ride out the rough times.
According to the recent survey by Ipsos for Eagle Hill Consulting, about more than half of the US employees were worried about job exposure to the deadly coronavirus. The survey report was released on 28 April 2020 and revealed employees would be less worried if there are appropriate provisions like protective equipment like gloves, masks, and hand sanitizers are made available. In addition, about 56% of employees felt employers had the right to know whether employees tested positive for the disease or not.
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