#workforce
OK so somewhat unexpectedly, a local paper ran my article-style press release on #GreenEnergy #Workforce in #Ithaca and Tompkins County without altering it with my byline:
And at the same time, also ran an op-ed I'd written condemning an anti-democratic secret campaign that's been the talk of the town, just ONE PAGE after the press release/ news article.
![Photo of a newspaper an op-ed that reads:
Contempt of Democracy or the Will of the People?
by Aaron Fernando
National news outlets recently reported that during a senate hearing, a U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin attempted to start a physical fight with a union boss. Senator Bernie Sanders, also at the hearing, stepped in and scolded his fellow senator like a schoolchild, reminding him, “You are a United States Senator,” and continued to say, “God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress.”
Contempt indeed; recent polling from Pew has shown that almost three out of every four Americans holds an unfavorable view of Congress, and that the majority of Americans on both sides of the aisle believes that politicians are motivated by selfish reasons. The inability of Congress to serve the American people coupled with the explosion in campaign spending has not helped this public perception.
This deeply cynical belief—that politics is for the power and prestige of individuals who have no regard for the public good—has been internalized by many around the country and even in our community, who refuse to engage in the political process.
It now seems that this cynicism has also been internalized by those who do engage in the political process, but for the sake of attaining personal prestige and power.
[There is more to the op-ed doesn't fit in the alt text]](https://s3.eu-central-2.wasabisys.com/mastodonworld/cache/media_attachments/files/111/501/453/826/149/515/small/1f0a197f821f623f.jpg)
Given the choice between supporting the #care sector, by helping #migrants continue to fill much needed jobs, or pandering to the anti-migrant right of the #Tory party, new home Secretary #JamesCleverly is doing the latter & looks likely to reduce work-related visas & raise salary thresholds.
We might say that reducing the dependence on foreign workers in #socialcare is no bad thing, but without a #workforce plan that's bringing UK #workers into the sector this is just more #Tory wrecking!
Are #employers starting to recognise the value of older #workers?
Modifying the cult of the young, Isabel Berwick (FT) has identified an emerging trend where the idea of 'return on experience' is factored into #workforce decisions.
Recognising the value experience (as opposed to youthful 'innovation') brings, RoE may be helping reduce some aspects of #ageism at work?
Here, focus on well-being, flexibility of working patterns & #workingfromhome are recast as gaining the RoE of older staff
edForce's journey is not just about numbers and financial milestones. It's about the impact it's making in the lives of Indian IT professionals.
#Workforce #edForce #MeteoricRise #ITLandscape
https://www.hindustantimes.com/brand-stories/reshaping-workforce-upskilling-edforces-meteoric-rise-in-the-indian-it-landscape-101698246399028.html
In a groundbreaking study by Penn State and Ohio University (The Myth of Men’s Stable, Continuous Labor Force Attachment: Multitrajectories of U.S. Baby Boomer Men’s Employment by Adrianne Frech, Jane Lankes, Sarah Damaske, and Adrienne Ohler), researchers have unveiled the complex nature of American men’s workforce participation. Contrary to the long-held view of steady employment, only 41% of baby boomer men followed a consistent work trajectory. This finding challenges traditional notions of the male breadwinner role and its impact on men’s health, social status, and economic stability.
Context
The study published in Socius critically reassesses the ‘lockstep progression’ of men’s employment, traditionally seen as stable and uninterrupted until retirement.
Breaking Down the Study
Study’s Methodological Approach
- Data and Analysis: Utilizing group-based multitrajectory models, the research examined employment patterns, unemployment, and time out of the workforce for men aged 27 to 49, based on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort.
In-Depth Findings
- Varied Trajectories: The study identifies diverse employment patterns, including intermittent work and early or mid-career exits, reflecting the complex interplay of structural changes, health, and social factors.
- Low Steady Employment: Only 41% of men experienced steady employment, much lower than societal expectations.
- Increasing Steady Work: 25% of men showed a pattern of early career instability, followed by more stable employment later in life, though with potential long-term financial implications.
- Racial Disparities: The study highlights significant racial disparities, especially among Black men, in experiencing intermittent work patterns.
Broader Implications and Context
- Changing Labor Market: The decline in middle-skill jobs and the rise of precarious work have significantly impacted men’s workforce participation.
- Health and Social Consequences: Inconsistent employment has profound implications on men’s mental health, financial stability, and social status.
Expert Insights and Theoretical Framework
- Sarah Damaske and Adrianne Frech’s Perspectives: The researchers emphasize the gap between the idealized, stable worker norm and the reality of men’s diverse work experiences.
- Life-Course Perspective: The study underscores the importance of a life-course perspective in understanding men’s employment patterns.
Policy Implications and Recommendations
- Addressing Workforce Attachment: Public policy should focus on modifiable factors influencing men’s lower workforce attachment.
- Support for Nonsteady Workers: Recognizing the prevalence of nonsteady work, policies should aim to mitigate its social and health consequences.
- Reassessing Employment Norms: The study calls for a reevaluation of the breadwinner ideology, highlighting the need to understand and support American men’s diverse and often precarious employment experiences.
Limitations and Future Research
- Model Limitations: The study acknowledges the limits of its group-based trajectory models and the need for future research to explore the heterogeneity of workforce experiences further.
Our Thoughts
This study sheds a lot of insight into many social norms, especially the decline of marriage rates after the 1979s, despite reported economic rebounds. We have seen other studies, like the one from Finland, showcasing increasing economic insecurity in a fantastic way to reducing marriage and family formation rates.
https://stoppopulationdecline.org/mens-employment-crisis-only-41-experienced-steady-careers/
Japan’s health ministry panel has recommended a significant enhancement to the country’s paternity leave benefits to encourage parents, especially fathers, to take more paid leave and spend more time with early child care. The proposed plan, announced Monday, is set to increase paternity leave allowances to full income coverage, up from the current rate of approximately 80%.
Key Points:
- Enhanced Leave Benefits: Parents on paternity leave, who currently receive 67% of their income through employment insurance, could see a jump to 100% income coverage. This full allowance, however, is capped at 28 days, reverting to around 80% for extended leave.
- Inclusive Approach: The program extends to single-parent households and families with a non-working or freelance parent, ensuring broader eligibility.
- Current Paternity Leave Uptake: Despite existing benefits, only 17.13% of new fathers took leave in fiscal 2022, a slight increase from 7.48% in 2019.
Government Goals:
- The Japanese government has set ambitious targets, aiming for 50% of new fathers to take childcare leave by 2025 and 85% by 2030.
Cultural Shifts:
- Corporate Incentives: Companies like Daiwa Lease started offering substantial incentives for extended paternity leave.
- Potential Policy Expansion: The panel also discusses benefits for parents working reduced hours after a child is born. However, this has sparked debate regarding potential career limitations and workplace dynamics.
Broader Context:
- These initiatives are part of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s strategy to combat Japan’s declining birth rate. The administration plans to allocate ¥3.5 trillion annually for the next three years for child-rearing support. However, funding sources are yet to be determined.
This development marks another step in Japan’s effort to balance work and family life, aiming to address the country’s demographic challenges.
https://stoppopulationdecline.org/japan-health-ministry-paternity-leave/
A new report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies explores the hollowing out of the #workforce (the decline in middle-income #jobs) and how that plays out in an increasingly centralised (on #London) skills economy.
But also, the report has a worrying conclusion on #socialmobility:
'the group most negatively affected by patterns of occupational change in recent decades may not be low-skilled workers outside London, but rather graduates from poorer family backgrounds'!
The impoverishment of Britain continues with the #costoflivingcrisis causing families to take drastic measures to try to balance their budget;
if you're thinking this is an unfortunate accident, you may be missing the key underlying strategy of the #Tories: to maintain a low-pay #workforce, #workers need to be forced into desperate straights to take any work on offer.
This isn't what a lot of #business wants but the #Tories are viscous ideologues not economic planners!
#Virgin #Galactic Will Pause #Space Flights in 2024, Cut 18% of Its #Workforce
#today I looked at my calendar and realised I have a #workforce workshop to attend. I totally forgot I signed up for it. woops?
ISC2 Cyber Workforce Study Says AI, Cloud Skills Are Needed – Source: www.govinfosecurity.com https://ciso2ciso.com/isc2-cyber-workforce-study-says-ai-cloud-skills-are-needed-source-www-govinfosecurity-com/ #rssfeedpostgeneratorecho #govinfosecuritycom #CyberSecurityNews #Workforce #cyber
Warfront Reporting: The Risks and Responsibilities of Cybersecurity Journalism https://thecyberexpress.com/role-cybersecurity-journalism-during-wartime/ #Cyberwarbyhacktivistgroups #Cybercrimesrelatedtowar #Cyberattacksduringwar #Reportingcybercrimes #TheCyberExpressNews #TheCyberExpress #cyberespionage #Warcybercrimes #FirewallDaily #Workforce
That there is a tribe of people like this is leading indicator of a bunch of #entrepreneurial, #sensemaking talent and energy.
It smells like the leading edge of a horizontal market opportunity to commercialize and productize: #workforce development, #education, and #entertainment.
#ProductManagement https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aliciamckaynz_7-unpopular-things-self-employed-professionals-activity-7125936886765809664-76cR?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios
While the share of the #workforce who have degrees in US & UK is broadly similar, the 'graduate premium" in UK (outside #London) is much lower than across US.
Is this a demand or supply issue?
Given US & UK have relatively similar economies, we come back to the UK's #investment problem:
too little investment produces too few #graduate jobs, so many graduates work in jobs with no real degree requirement.
The UK needs to capitalise on its graduate much better.
h/t John Burn-Murdoch (FT)
Being an #old person in the #infosec #workforce is interesting. Just about the time you’re not surprised by much anymore, and can anticipate the developments of most events, is also around when people stop asking your opinion on things.
Unless, of course, you are in a position to _make_ people listen. But that’s cheating in this context.
We’re all #neophiles to a degree here, and it transfers to things outside the subject matter of #security.
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, John Lee Ka-chiu, has announced a range of new measures to try to counter the city’s declining birth rate. Notably, a HK$20,000 (US$2,556) cash incentive will be given to parents holding permanent residency in Hong Kong for every newborn.
At A Glance:
- The Birth Rate Crisis: The average number of children per woman in Hong Kong has sharply fallen from 1.3 in 2017 to just 0.9 in the previous year.
- Cash Incentive: Starting Wednesday, parents with permanent residency will receive a HK$20,000 bonus for every child born for the next three years. The policy’s effectiveness will be reviewed after this period.
Housing & Tax Reliefs:
- Mortgage and Rent Relief: Parents of newborns can expect a 20% rise in tax deductions on domestic rents or home loan interest, increasing the ceiling from HK$100,000 to HK$120,000. This benefit will be available until the child reaches 18.
- Faster Access to Housing: Families with babies born from Wednesday onwards will get accelerated access to public housing. They can also expect priority in the balloting system for subsidized flats, with 10% reserved. Additionally, these families can enjoy the perks when their child turns three.
Health and Childcare Boosts:
- Support for Fertility Treatments: To aid couples facing fertility challenges, the government will up the assisted reproductive service quota by over 60% in the next five years. Expenses related to these services can be deducted from the taxable income.
- Expanded Childcare Services: The working family allowance increased by 15%, 900 additional day child care spots, and an extended after-school program for pre-primary students have been introduced. Home-based child carers will now earn between HK$40 and HK$60 per hour, a notable rise from the previous HK$25.
To put things in perspective
Mainland China, which has a lower birth rate than Hong Kong, still face similar economic pressures when raising children. A report by the YuWa Population Research indicates that the cost of bringing up a child between ages 6-14 is a significant 210,000 yuan ($31,021), accounting for nearly 45% of the entire child-rearing expense up to age 18. Peking University’s Liang Jianzhang emphasizes that China needs to channel 10% of its GDP to raise its fertility rate from 1.3 to the replacement rate of 2.1. Hong Kong, in comparison, needs HK$284,000 ($36,323.60) a year, let alone the cost of raising a child to the age of 14. This highlights the scale of support required to boost fertility rates effectively and how little the measures are in the face of the problem.
Bottomline
Hong Kong’s recent measures are being met with calls for even more robust initiatives. The overarching goal remains: reversing the declining birth trend.
https://stoppopulationdecline.org/hong-kong-new-incentives-to-counter-falling-birth-rates/
Record-high elderly #employment in #SouthKorea due to low #pensions, with over half of pension beneficiaries aged 55 to 79 now in the #workforce. Calls are made for pension system reforms and #labor changes to support elderly workers.
https://pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?sc=30800025&year=2023&no=821118
A recent NBER working paper (The Effects of Mandatory Profit-Sharing on Workers and Firms: Evidence from France by Elio Nimier-David, David Sraer & David Thesmar) examines France’s mandated profit-sharing scheme. This scheme obligates large firms to share excess profits with employees. But a few questions arises: are companies finding loopholes? who actually benefits from profit-sharing?
The big picture
The profit-sharing mandate was designed to redistribute earnings among employees. It targets firms that exceed certain employment thresholds. A significant change occurred in 1991. During that year, the threshold was reduced from 100 to 50 employees.
Firm-level Responses
- Ducking under the limit: Some firms hover around the 50-employee threshold. These firms appear to modify their employment numbers to sidestep the rule. The data indicates a trend. Firms with 46 to 56 employees tend to stay below the 50-employee mark, primarily when the law is enforced.
- Other evasion methods: The research sheds light on income manipulation. It suggests minimal evidence that firms adjust their income to show reduced or zero excess profits. Thus, changing employment remains the main evasion tactic.
- Impact on Profit Sharing: The scheme offers tax benefits. However, it also introduces a financial challenge for firm owners. This challenge is evident. Before the 1991 change, many firms grouped just under the 100-employee threshold.
- Business Impact: Owners face a cost. It amounts to around 10.5% of pre-tax income in firms with positive excess profits. Yet, this doesn’t impact a firm’s productivity or investment decisions.
Worker-Level Insights
- Compensation Dynamics: The mandate’s influence is curious. It doesn’t affect the average wages of employees. But it does uplift total compensations. Why is this? Firms find it difficult to swap wages for profit-sharing. This is particularly true for low-skilled workers. Their wages are rigid at the bottom of the skill range.
- Skill Level Disparities: Professionals with higher skills face a change. Roles like managers and executives see a decrease in wages. This decrease aligns with their profit-sharing amounts. On the other hand, low-skilled workers remain unaffected by their basic wages because of wage rigidity. Low-skilled workers benefit entirely from the profit-sharing scheme.
The bottom line
Mandated profit-sharing has a clear role. It serves as a mechanism for wage redistribution, which may be helpful with other policies to ensure growing real wages. It moves wealth from firm owners to their lower-skilled workers. And it does this without altering firms’ operational behaviors.
https://stoppopulationdecline.org/profit-sharing-in-france-a-boost-for-low-skilled-workers/
I wanted a Zoom meeting with #HR recorded. They said no and it would be illegal if I did so. What despicable thing are they going to do that's so bad they don't want an accurate record?
#HumanResources reduce people to just another resource to be exploited. #personnel #employees #workforce #laborforce #workers
#Seoul Metro's #laborunion announced a #walkout starting on Nov. 9, demanding the withdrawal of plans to lay off workers. The union insists on hiring 771 more employees for #safety concerns amid Seoul Metro's efforts to cut 13.5% of its #workforce by 2026.
How to Build a Superstar #Workforce for Your #Startup
https://www.noobpreneur.com/2023/10/16/how-to-build-a-superstar-workforce-for-your-startup/
Interestingly, given discussion yesterday of the problems with #management in the UK (see posts on the 'accidental managers' & my piece for @NWBylines - reposted yesterday)...
#RollsRoyce's new CEO is making major cuts in its non-#engineering #workforce ('white-collar jobs), which would seem to imply there is a recognition that it is a bloated management structure that has been causing the firm problems.
With cuts of around 6% of staff there's going to be a few bullies looking for new victims
»#AI and #theMetaverse #Workforce: Automation and Job Creation.« https://www.analyticsinsight.net/ai-and-the-metaverse-workforce-automation-and-job-creation/?Metaver.se #Metaverse #VirtualWorlds #VR #AR #MR
... General Motors and Stellantis at the end of the day on Sept. 14. Dive Insight: The strike affects production of refuse vehicles just as truck ...
The 3,900-member strike includes a plant in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley where Class 8 refuse trucks are assembled, including the company’s CNG and electric models.#Workforce #labor #Collections&Transfer #Collections #Collection
UAW strike at Mack Trucks affects key refuse vehicle manufacturing facility
The numbers declaring themselves #LongTermSick & unable to work continues to rise. This is likely to be a combination of #longcovid, work-related stress and other conditions.
The solution is not just trying to force these people back to work by cutting working age benefits, but to try & understand what is actually happening in the #workforce... as so often the #Tories reach for the stick without actually appreciating what is actually happening to #workers!
Also notice reduction in retirees!
“Brave eliminated some positions as part of our cost management in this challenging economic environment. Several departments were affected, amounting to 9% of our staff.”
Brave lays off 9% of its workforce
🔗 https://tchlp.com/45lYaOv
#brave #browser #workforce #staff #layoffs
“Brave eliminated some positions as part of our cost management in this challenging economic environment. Several departments were affected, amounting to 9% of our staff.”
Brave lays off 9% of its workforce
🔗 https://tchlp.com/45lYaOv
#brave #browser #workforce #staff #layoffs
"#Chipotle's new #digital makeline built by #Hyphen embodies our commitment to leveraging #robotics to unlock the #human potential of our #workforce, ensuring an elevated #dining experience for our guests"
"Sure, Jan"
Translated: Chipotle is relentlessly testing technologies designed explicitly to replace as many human workers as possible, and to terrorize our remaining workforce into obedience and fear of unionizing, or complaining about pay, benefits, or conditions.
https://www.foodandwine.com/chipotle-robot-makes-burrito-bowls-8348029
#RobertJenrick thinks people should have more children to provide carers for their old age... and presumably for the Right this also has the advantage of increasing the #workforce thereby (potentially) putting downwards pressure on wages?
However, given the #universalcredit cap on claims for over two children, Jenrick seems unaware of the policies of his own government, which seems to want to contain the birth rate of the poor not expand it?
More #Tory policy incoherence!
UAW strike forces GM, Ford to furlough additional 500 workers | Mint
Note that the value is #calculated according to the official method defined in the #CPP #legislation. #Alberta didn't #invent this out of whole cloth.
Alberta's share is large because they have always had a younger-than-average #workforce, meaning fewer #payouts from CPP, and higher average #pay and lower #unemployment, meaning higher contributions to CPP.
The numbers actually stand up if you look at them.
Maybe we should be grateful for their #generosity all these years?
Are #queer #women the #future of #tech?
With the advancement of #ChatGPT and other #AI technologies, #LesbiansWhoTech #founder #LeannePittsford says #workforce #diversity is #critical.
#Women #Lesbians #LGBTQ #Business #Technology #Workplace #Inclusion
#BidenHarris administration awards nearly $94M to train, prepare #diverse #workforce for good #jobs created by ‘Investing in #America’ agenda
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20230926
Q. are firms using a demand to reduce #workingfromhome as a way of thinning out their #workforce (even if there might be potential cases for 'constructive dismissal') ahead of a #recession?
Given that it looks like some staff facing spiralling #childcare costs choose to quit if they are unable to #WFH, the use of return-to-office policies to reduce staffing levels doesn't seem implausible, especially if demands to return are applied differently to different staff (?)
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/sep/28/childcare-costs-return-to-office-parents-pebble
The aspect of the #NHScrisis caused by staff shortages will only be resolved when the #workforce planning has an answer for non-completion of training; a new Nuffield Trust study shows:
only 50% of GPs who take up 'trainingships' go on to practice full-time;
In 10 yrs to 2021, the number of #doctors who took a break after first two yrs of training doubled to 70% & nearly 20% don't return;
For #Nurses, 12% drop out during training & a further 20% leave the profession within 2 yrs!
Not good!
Here's a breakdown of land-use in the UK... revealing that two thirds of land is used for farming... this proportion, of course far outweighs the share in the #workforce - at around 1%.
We could certainly be making better use of the land (by transforming #farming), as well as utilising it for #renewableenergy. But the point is that this is a major resource that currently is in turmoil due to the shift (read reduction) in farming support after CAP payments are being phased out.
Rethink needed!
Many #employees now being asked to #workfromoffice
An increasing number of companies want their #workforce to be seen often at the #workplace.
With some #flexibility built into the new arrangement, the challenge to this move is feeble
#Perks attached to work from home are being withdrawn.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/is-the-sun-setting-on-the-home-office/article67341330.ece
Over 10 Lakh Join Organized Workforce in India in July.
#India #IndiaNews #Workforce #Employment #Job #EPF
https://www.ganganews.com/india/over-10-lakh-join-organized-workforce-in-india-in-july/
Q. is the growing number of people over 50 in part-time #work a good thing?
Yes, it makes the shift from full-time work to #retirement less sudden & may aid a less-stressful transition;
No, it reveals the lack of opportunities for continued late career development for many & as they go beyond retirement age, the need for extra cash to supplement the state pension.
Of course, its elements of both but certainly is a shift in #workforce dynamics in the over-50s.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/25/record-number-over-50s-uk-work-part-time-ons-data
Do #CEOs today earn 400 times more than their typical #workers, as #BernieSanders said?
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/sep/21/bernie-sanders/do-ceos-earn-400-times-more-than-their-typical-wor/
#labor #wages #workforce #jobs
The #NHScrisis is being compounded by the failure of the #workforce plan to 'encourage' #nurses into the profession.... I mean why would you apply to be a an underpaid, overstretched nurse who the Govt. has abused & insulted who has to take on a significant student debt for the privilege?
The #Tories plan to wreck public #healthcare continues apace....
You'll notice the problem is actually an English issue, the devolved nations seem to have much less of a problem... hmmm, I wonder why?
Sustainability is about the environment and your workforce. The EU introduces new regulations requiring companies to report on their human capital practices, such as diversity, well-being, and fair pay. Companies must adopt a holistic approach to people sustainability, which can benefit their employees, customers, and society. #sustainability #workforce #EU https://hbr.org/2023/09/sustainability-is-about-your-workforce-too?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=HariTulsidas%2Fmagazine%2FArchetypes
Why Has Science Become an Old Man's Game? http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16365&r=lma
…reason why the scientific #workforce may be #aging: compositional changes arising from a slowdown in hiring over time.
…is not the inevitable result of an aging society or of fundamental forces in the production of knowledge.
Hiring larger numbers of young faculty could increase productivity, potentially shift the direction of research to more novel & relevant directions
#LaborMarkets
Well, #TimGurner certainly derailed my vlog plans this week. My latest instalment of ‘and another thing’ is about our ongoing workforce crisis, the regressive nonsense of employers wanting to punish workers for standing up for their rights, and the one-year anniversary of my #LessIsNecessary campaign. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSLErwQPr/
#ArtsLeadership #RethinkingArtsLeadership #TimGurner #FutureOfWork #Workforce #Burnout #DutyOfCare #SelfCare
Down With #Tipping!
The archaic practice is standing in the way of across-the-board reforms that are necessary to end the #exploitation of the industry’s #workforce.
https://newrepublic.com/article/175492/restaurant-industry-destroy-tipping-culture
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/19/dining/tipping-gratuity-restaurants.html
West Midlands Combined Authority: Innovate #UK awards £1.2m to University to grow region’s battery #manufacturing & #innovation #workforce
https://www.wmca.org.uk/news/innovate-uk-awards-1-2m-to-university-to-grow-region-s-battery-manufacturing-innovation-workforce/
Not. Chakotay's. Day. 😆
Let Janeway get her freak on for a while longer. 😂
On #LaborDay I watch a film about #slavery b/c if we’re going to recognize the #workforce, we should acknowledge that the #US achieved great success by forcing #Black bodies to perform free labor. This year’s pick #TheWomanKing was amazing. I ❤️#ViolaDavis
#BlackMastodon
This picture of how the #socialcare system exploits its foreign #workforce and then treats them as disposable, is wrong & immoral on a number of levels - take five minutes to read this & wonder what our county has become?
[and Merit Healthcare's weasily words in their defence, featured at the end of the article, are in my view best discounted]
The #restaurant #industry has long coordinated efforts to suppress labor costs through the #NRA, a multimillion-dollar #lobbying machine funded both by its restaurant members and by the fees #workers pay for required food-safety classes, according to a recent New York Times report.
The group has spent its #war chest on lobbying campaigns to preserve a subminimum #wage for tipped workers — who are disproportionately young, women, and people of color, and far more likely to live in #poverty than regular minimum wage workers — and to help block state and federal sick leave proposals and minimum wage increases.
But now, restaurant executives are on edge. #Union campaigns are suddenly penetrating their industry, which employs about 10 percent of the American #workforce and has one of the lowest #unionization rates of any sector. Over the past few years, baristas have #unionized nearly 280 Starbucks stores in the face of enormous odds, and dozens of other coffee #shops and restaurants have followed suit.
“The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, every newspaper reports on every union win… when an unfair labor practice charge is filed, when there are challenges to elections,” said Felice Ekelman, a principal at Jackson Lewis, one of the oldest and most infamous union avoidance law firms in the country. “When did this become first page #news?”
“And guess who’s reading it?” replied Laura Pierson-Scheinberg, one of Ekelman’s Jackson Lewis colleagues, as the two sat across from each other on the main stage of the summit. “My kids. Literally. I have an 18-year-old, my kids are into it.”
The two lawyers were discussing a new threat for the restaurant industry: the unexpected rise of union campaigns in workplaces that, for decades, have largely been immune from such organizing efforts.
“Before, I used to say… ‘[Unionization] isn’t a problem for you in the restaurant industry,’” said Pierson-Scheinberg. But now, she warned, “Kids do not care about paying union dues. Two percent of pay, are you kidding me? Their Netflix costs more. They think it’s a hell of a deal.”
The “kids,” she added, are #organizing #workplaces which would have previously seemed unreachable.
https://www.levernews.com/fear-and-loathing-among-the-union-busters/
Looking at the NHS #workforce plan, the IFS thinks that in 12 years time it would mean that 1 in 11 #workers is employed by the #NHS; partly driven by the NHS' own assessment of rising needs & partly due to the likely unobtainable #productivity targets the plan uses to keep its numbers down (at the moment).
This will require a major rethink of how we fund the NHS; the Q. is whether our #politicians are up to the leadership required to get us to that point.
A healthy nation will not be cheap!
Well, yes & no... given the requirements to feed the population (and the increasing failings to properly do that) my guess is a future Govt. might ride roughshod over this aspect of the landowner interest (if only to try & forestall food riots and problems in the #workforce).
Our response to the #climatecrisis is being stifled by a lack of staff & financial support on #climate science & its associated professions/jobs.
Of course, we shouldn't be surprised that the general problems in #workforce dynamics & the funding of #research would also pattern & shape our response to #climatechange.
The #Tories have completely f*cked up the country & now we are all going to pay the price.
Submission portal is now open for Labour Economics' Special Issue on "#Economics of the #Healthcare #Workforce." Please share widely!
https://twitter.com/NicolasZiebarth/status/1685355007003045888?t=dJRo55NJgjZH3rgPHc2Z8w&s=09
Yesterday, I had a conversation with a group of people in a professional setting. We were all discussing roles in cybersecurity and someone suggested that people in technical and/or security roles should try to fulfill as many roles as possible so companies get more “bang for their buck.”
I challenged them on statements given the context of the conversation, how that thinking contributes to burnout, and why there is an inherent risk in allowing someone access to a bunch of different aspects of the business. (Separation of duties to prevent fraud, sabotage, theft, and all that jazz.)
This is a huge part in why people who don’t understand the business shouldn’t be making decisions like that. They literally just see people as a means to an end and don’t know what each role requires.
#InformationSecurity #Infosec #Cybersecurity #Cybersec #Technical #Tech #Jobs #Workforce #Leadership #Burnout
Kevin Fong just made a crucial point on Phillip Hammond's R4 show 'How I ruined medicine' (which I caught the end of):
Only when the wellbeing of #NHS staff *and* patients are given equal weight will any NHS #workforce plan really stem the tide of #nurses & #doctors leaving the health service.
The wellbeing of patients is usually privileged in NHS planning but without being attentive to the wellbeing of staff who need to deliver & manage the health service, we will fail!
Absolutely right!
For years I have admired the work of James Timpson, of the eponymous key-cutting/shoe-repair chain, whose #workforce strategy has always included a major element around employing ex-offenders to help rehabilitate them... so its really good to see a report backing his approach (which he supports).
If we are a society that values redemption then Timpson is right to seek to find ways to (re)integrate past criminals.... not everyone can be helped this way, but many can!
I'll be honest, I've not been bothered to read the #NHS #workforce plan - because it'll be #tory spin.
I'll say it again - doctors & nurses do not make a health service.
There's a raft of support services - scientific, therapeutic, engineering, facilities, administrative, IT, management (yes!) and more that make healthcare work.
Unless the politicians are planning that lot as well then it's all bollocks to get Red Bus people to vote for them
Finally, finally the #NHS has a #workforce plan which involves a doubling of the training places for #Doctors & #nurses.
This is (perhaps) a decade late, but welcome nonetheless. However, now the Q. is how to retain them once they've been trained?
Here's an idea:
listen to the #strikers & pay NHS staff properly!
as has been demonstrated conclusively by the #Tories defunding of the #healthservice, you cannot have a world class #publichealth system on the cheap.
#AI Is a Lot of Work. As the technology becomes #ubiquitous, a vast #tasker #underclass is emerging and not going anywhere. #AI #learns by finding #patterns in enormous quantities of #data, but first that data has to be sorted, #tagged by people, a vast #workforce mostly hidden behind machines. It’s difficult and #repetitive work. A several-second blip of footage took eight hours to annotate, for which a college graduate in #Nairobi was paid about $10. https://www.theverge.com/features/23764584/ai-artificial-intelligence-data-notation-labor-scale-surge-remotasks-openai-chatbots?tpcc=NL_Marketing
What next for #Inflation?
For now in the UK, it'll persist, partly because the Govt. & others are blaming a lagging indicator (#wages) rather than the real cause (firms profits).
But as Alan Beattie (FT) argues, long term demographic shifts will likely reduce the #workforce causing #workers wages to rise (already starting to be seen), and the #GreenTransition will likely prompt an initial mismatch in goods & services that will also drive up prices.
So, higher inflation is here to stay?
More myopia from #JeremyHunt:
Hunt has decided that the key to our #economic recovery is (re)building #productivity in the #publicsector; so, yes, more 'reform' is on the cards.
Now, a cynic, might point out that if the #Tories hadn't spent 13 years defunding public services, conducting wars of attrition with the its #workforce & generally degrading most aspects of public provision, then there might be less of a problem.
By as with the #NHS Hunt seems to have a no memory or shame at all!
I agree completely, a #workforce plan that doesn't involve a parasitic relationship with other countries (and their #healthcare training) is job No.1 & yes, FE is key to that
More on #GMB #union's attempts to unionise the #workforce at #Amazon in #Coventry.
To dilute the claim that the union represented over half the #workers, managers 'recruited' extra staff to depress the proportion the GMB could easily claim.
Looking across the Atlantic at the first other anti-union manoeuvres, I think we can safely discount their denials.
Amazon thinks it workers should just be grateful fo a job & workers' rights are an annoying impediment
The #BankofEngland has returned to its rhetoric of a 'wage-price' spiral where falling wage rises are seen as good news (even as these continue to fall short of #inflation thus gradually impoverishing the #workforce).
#JeremyHunt says: 'we support them 150 per cent' in this squeeze on inflation;
so let me get this right; the man who is at the top of the Treasury thinks you can put 150% support behind something; a mathematical nonsense that tells you a lot about #Tories handle on the numbers!
Are #apprenticeships an answer to the #NHS #workforce crisis?
Much depends on why you think there's a labour shortage in the first place.
If #university is a barrier to some aspiring #medical staff (partly due to a lack of funded places), then apprenticeships may (relatively quickly) expand the workforce.
If pay & working conditions are the problem then early exposure to the reality of working in the NHS may be counter-productive? They may just burnout more quickly?
Two charts for context in the current #workforce crisis in the #NHS - unsurprisingly if you dramatically reduce the real pay of your staff, they look elsewhere for work.
The mechanics of the #Tory defunding of the NHS laid bare.
The wreckers have been at work for some time & repairing the NHS will be a generational task - there will be no quick-fixed for Labour to push through, other than starting by restoring funding levels, of course!
The #PostOffice & the #CWU seemed to have reached some sort of settlement on pay & conditions, but details have not been released,.
If my local posties are any example (& the #Nurses rejection offers a model), then the CWU may find an alienated & angry #workforce may not accept the POs offer.
The well paid execs at PO/HQ might need to be wary of thinking they've managed to resolve a problem (most of their own making)!
Potentially putting the 'cat among the pigeons' Local Councils have made an offer to a range of lowest paid council #workers that works out at (according to the FT) 'an increase of 9.42 % this year & 22% over the two years since April 2021 for the lowest paid, with a 2023 uplift of 3.88%for top earners'.
This is partly driven by an increasing #workforce crisis in the council/public sector which has seen #TeachingAssistants, #careworkers & others leaving for better paid private sector jobs...
The #costoflivingcrisis in fine detail:
In the first six weeks of this year 14,874 jobs have been lost in the #retail sector; of which 11,689 have been from major/large retailers paring away at their #workforce (after #Christmas); some of this will be restructuring, some of it shedding 'seasonal staff', and as a proportion of the over 3m who work in retail, its a not massive retrenchment... but in every case of a lost job households will be hit hard at a time when no-one can really afford it.
Now #Ebay's planning to lay off 500 #employees, which is about 4% of its #workforce
yet more #tech #joblosses
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/07/ebay-layoffs-500-jobs-cut-.html
Why “Copycat” #Layoffs Won’t Help #Tech #Companies — Or Their #Employees | #StanfordGraduateSchoolOfBusiness
"... the #workforce #reductions that are happening across the #TechIndustry are a result mostly of 'social contagion:' Behavior spreads through a network as companies almost mindlessly copy what others are doing. When a few firms fire staff, others will probably follow suit. Most problematic, it’s a behavior that kills people: For example, research has shown that layoffs can increase the odds of suicide by two times or more.
Moreover, layoffs don’t work to improve company performance, Pfeffer adds. Academic studies have shown that time and time again, workplace reductions don’t do much for paring costs. Severance packages cost money, layoffs increase unemployment insurance rates, and cuts reduce workplace morale and productivity as remaining employees are left wondering, 'Could I be fired too?'"
A difficult decision to set us up for the future
"#Sundar sent the following email to #Google #employees earlier today.
#Googlers,
I have some difficult #news to share. We’ve decided to reduce our #workforce by approximately 12,000 roles. We’ve already sent a separate email to employees in the #US who are affected. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices."
https://blog.google/inside-google/message-ceo/january-update/
Interesting research on workforce and nonprofits in Canada - gloomy scenarios.
https://thephilanthropist.ca/2023/01/the-future-of-non-profit-work-and-workers-post-pandemic/
Exploring a society set up for young motherhood, youths' work being sex and babies and elders' being jobs and careers, takes you to some interesting places...
Read more at my #blog: https://www.adamasnemesis.com/2023/01/09/toward-a-generational-division-of-labor/
This post's featured image is Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach's "Abschied".
#lifestyle #family #society #motherhood #children #childbearing #love #romance #familybusiness #economy #workforce #jobs #careers
#News: By the end of #last year there were close to 2 million fewer working-age #immigrants in the United States than there would have been if pre-pandemic immigration continued unchanged. #workforce #EconomicDevelopment
https://cnn.it/3GdLwrH
@rbreich Even if minimum wage is $100/hour, it doesn't help people like me who are shut out of the #workforce due to age, #disability, or lack of #transportation.
Next was a stellar conversation between Monica McLemore and Michele Bratcher Goodwin at the #HarvardMedicalSchool Center for #Bioethics on ethical and #workforce considerations in abortion care provision. This discussion is pre-Dobbs, but the conversation is prescient and also focuses on how the medical profession should think about #training and #hiring ethical practitioners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DihA3myNlMw (3/7)
#introduction 👋
We are Learning Collider, a social-science research lab & social-impact catalyst. New to the #fediverse and new(ish) to the world. Founded in 2020 by @PeterBergman (the economist, not the soap star 📺).
Our lab partners with tech platforms and data managers to design, evaluate, and scale responsible technology and fair algorithms in:
#Education 🎓 & #EdTech
#Housing 🏘️ & #HousingEquity
#Workforce ⚙️ & #HRTech
& more.
More at LearningCollider.org.
Biden Administration Pushes Mandate Despite Court and OSHA
https://brownstone.org/articles/biden-administration-pushes-mandate-despite-court-and-osha/
"The data have been clear for 20 months: most of the people who are severely harmed by [#COVID] are not in the #workforce. "
"If #OSHA repeals the implementation and enforcement of a major edict, and a court strikes it down, and no one knows about either rebuke – media hardly reported these events – has it really happened? The White House is presuming not."