A Guardian report says there have been sudden mass layoffs at AT & T, Wells Fargo, and many other U.S firms. This comes after recent promises of more jobs and more investment for the betterment of workers in the light of Trump tax cut bill. Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T, promised to invest $1bn and Wells Fargo pledged to increase investments in workers and raise the minimum wage by $15.
On Tuesday, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, apologized to the company’s LGBTQ employees. Reportedly, YouTube’s decision that Steven Crowder’s YouTube Channel didn’t violate YouTube’s policies created a backlash. CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, also apologized to LGBTQ workers. Sundar Pichai and other Google executives discussed issues affecting the community and the rising need for policy decisions, The Verge reported.
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Mental & physical health and job characteristics have the most direct and indirect impact on productivity, a study from Vitality Group revealed. The study was conducted among 30,000 employees from 173 organizations as part of Vitality’s annual Britain’s healthiest workplace survey. The study evaluated the impact on productivity due to employee’s physical & mental health, well-being, lifestyle, and commuting time.
New Mothers experience fewer health problems and improved mental health after childbirth, if fathers have workplace flexibility, new research from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research has concluded. The research analyzed data based on leave practices in Sweden. The country allows 30-days capped time off for parents to spend together during the first year of childbirth.
New state law and regulation that bans abortions and blocks access to reproductive healthcare has been opposed by more than 150 company heads, a CNBC report said. The letters written in opposition appeared in a full-page ad in the New York Times. According to the report, the executives feel the bill inhibits their ability to build a diverse and inclusive workforce and recruit top talent across the states.
Chegg has announced Equity for Education program to help its employees pay their education loan. The program will apply to staff that has completed two years at the company. USD 3000 and USD 5000 will available annually to VPs and other staff respectively. Chegg already provides USD 1000 to its workers to pay student debt, the company said in a press release.
A new survey conducted by Robert Half found that nearly half of workers believe that automation will not change their job. Among the surveyed workers, about 12 percent feel that artificial intelligence will negatively impact their job, and 40 percent think that it will positively impact their job. Further, the survey found managers to be less enthusiastic about training staff on new tech.
Last month the U.S economy added roughly 75,000 jobs, found a new jobs report. Compared to the previous year, when the economy added around 223000 new jobs a month, the overall unemployment percentage is 3.6 percent. This has raised concerns the numbers may signal recession.
As workplaces become global, proficiency in the English language can be beneficial for employees. Organizations also benefit from it as it improves the overall culture, team building, and productivity. Katie Nielson, Chief Education Officer of Voxy, says English language proficiency helps in attracting and retaining talent and also assists in improving productivity and growth.
Research from learning platform edX says that the workers don’t have the support of their employers to get reskilled. 37% of workers admit they don’t possess certain skills in their current jobs. 39% reported that they lack expertise in data needed for analytics and computer science. Whereas, 25% of workers have sought the help of the outside agencies to master the tech in order to survive the challenges in their company.
Google has come up with a new project for a Social Good program called “Euphonia”. The tech giant is using artificial intelligence to improve speech recognition for deaf or neurologically challenged people with conditions like ALS, stroke, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis or traumatic brain injury. Google has partnered with nonprofit organizations to gather voice samples from people who have a neurodegenerative disease.
A 2015 rule granting work authorization to the spouses of H-1B visa holders has been changed by USCIS as it has decoupled adjudication of the H-1B and H-4 visas. The decision has been challenged in a lawsuit. “Sometime after March 22, 2019 . . . USCIS changed their internal policy of adjudicating H-4 and H-4 EAD applications concurrently with premium processing H-1B petitions and would now begin processing such cases in regular processing separate from the H-1B” the attorneys said.
Steered by volatile markets, global employers are finding it hard to build a compensation plan. A Radford survey says this can be addressed by introducing wages based on local market’s cost of labor; paying employees in the local currency or according to the exchange rate. Many companies in the U.S are also considering hire and transfer to overcome this compensation challenge.
A survey conducted by Zoro revealed that workers want fully paid medical insurance, four-day work week, and fully-paid dental insurance as perks. The survey conducted among 1003 workers, also found that 73 percent want to have an unlimited plan. Paid time off (PTO) bank, 401(k), free coffee and partially medical insurance are the common benefits available to workers.
A new Washington state proposal is mulling eligibility of workers for overtime pay. Workers earning less than $49,000 will be eligible for overtime pay in companies with more than 50 employees. Those earning less than $35,000 would be eligible in companies with less than 50 or fewer workers. The thresholds are calculated based on the state’s minimum wage. The overtime eligibility could extend to more than 250,000 workers.
Following recent US blacklisting, tech companies are shying away from sharing technology and technical standards with the Chinese tech firm, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. Reports say that Chipmakers Intel Corp and Qualcomm Inc., mobile research firm InterDigital Wireless Inc., and South Korean carrier LG Uplus have stopped their employees from engaging in informal conversations with Huawei. These discussions are routine exercises in international meetings.
The unemployment rate of the 55-years-and-older workforce stood at 2.7% in May, down from 7.2% at the peak of the great recession. It was the fourth consecutive month in a row when the employment rate was below 3%. On the other hand, the employment rate of 55-years-and-older was at 38.7% down from its peak of 39.3% in February this year.
A study conducted on 330,000 employees (11,000 of whom identified as LGBTQ) in 28 federal agencies revealed that LGBTQ employees feel less-respected and are less satisfied in their jobs than their non-LGBTQ colleagues. Erin Cech, assistant professor of sociology, said “Of fundamental importance is the passage of basic non-discrimination laws for LGBTQ-identifying workers at the national level. “Though many laws protect LGBTQ community, none of the federal bills have yet been passed as law.
The gender-based disparity is significant as earning power ranges drastically with gender. The pace at which these wages increase differs too. Women’s earnings peak at $66,700 at age 44. For men, earnings peak at $101,200 at age 55.
McMillon, CEO of Walmart, has specifically demanded new legislation as he urges Congress to raise the federal minimum wage. He called the current $7.25 minimum wage “too low,” and said it’s “time for Congress to put a thoughtful plan in place” to increase it. Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate has compelled Walmart to boost starting wages to $15 an hour.
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