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Fire fast, even in an employee market
Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementPay is up. Jobs are increasing. And the opportunities of the gig economy continue to unsettle traditional job paths. None of this changes the fact that it is better for culture, retention and the bottom line to fire fast. But how do we balance the imperative to fire fast with the more basic need to have staff? Here are a few tips on how to fire fast, even in an employee market.
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Manufacturing growth slows to end 2018. What’s next?
Michelle R. Matisons ManufacturingWhile President Trump and others extol manufacturing sector growth, the year ended with the standard manufacturing production number dropping from 59.3 percent in November to 54.1 percent in December. Some say the decline is caused by the ongoing trade war with China, and others suggest that the new NAFTA — the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA) — is challenging private-sector organizations. So is Brexit. But policy developments that challenge traditional manufacturing culture are not enough to explain this rapid month-to-month change.
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Labor unions ring in new year with lawsuits, strikes, and more
Michelle R. Matisons Civil & GovernmentIt’s 2019 and the year is so new that everyone wonders what it has in store. One thing is for certain. U.S. labor unions are starting off the new year swinging. Whether they are opposing GM plant closures, contesting the no pay provision of the current government shutdown, or planning a large urban teachers strike, 2019 has already started off as a year filled with strong labor voices amidst record-setting partisan rancor.
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U.S. payrolls add 312,000 jobs as unemployment rises to 3.9 percent
Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementNonfarm employers added 312,000 new hires in December, and the number of jobless workers increased 276,000 to 6.3 million, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The December rate of unemployment rising to 3.9 percent from 3.7 percent in November "happened for the ‘right’ reasons as more workers entered the labor force — the labor force participation rate ticked up 0.2 percentage points," according to Elise Gould, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
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How is the ‘new NAFTA’ different?
Michelle R. Matisons ManufacturingThe idea of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was very controversial when first proposed during the Clinton administration and signed in 1994. It was the first North American trilateral trade bloc representing Mexico, Canada and the United States. NAFTA’s successor, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), was signed by all three participating countries’ leaders at the G20 Summit on Nov. 30. The legislatures of all three countries must ratify the agreement before it goes into effect. We know USMCA is intended to make up for NAFTA’s shortcomings. But will it?
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Is last month’s manufacturing job increase a trend or a blip?
Michelle R. Matisons ManufacturingWhile the glory days of manufacturing jobs are gone, and globalization has fundamentally shifted the production terrain abroad, November’s job numbers show U.S. manufacturing jobs are on the rise. Is this a trend? Since November 2016, manufacturing jobs have increased by 189,000. Generally, 228,000 new jobs appeared in November 2018, with 27,000 in manufacturing. These productive statistics conflict with the tone set two weeks ago when 14,700 GM employees heard they might be relocated or laid off from GM facilities in the U.S. and Canada.
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U.S. payrolls grow by 155,000 jobs as unemployment holds at 3.7 percent
Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementNonfarm payroll jobs rose 155,000 in November, down from 250,000 in October, while the rate of unemployment remained at 3.7 percent for the third straight month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. In November, the number of jobless workers was 6.0 million workers versus 6.1 million in October. November’s jobs report could be a harbinger of slower growth due to the U.S. and China imposing retaliatory import tariffs. That conflict is on pause now, though existing tariff impacts on businesses and consumers continue.
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5 surefire ways to kill your company’s innovation
Steven L. Blue Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementInnovation is difficult to come by. It is a fleeting concept that eludes most companies. In fact, the odds of a new product idea reaching full commercialization are less than 4 percent. And that is the best case. But, there are five surefire ways you can make certain innovation never sees the light of day at your company.
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Uncertainty reigns in latest Brexit developments
Seth Sandronsky Civil & GovernmentHeavy is the task for British Prime Minister Theresa May of the Conservative Party. She is trying to helm Brexit, a June 23, 2016, referendum that voters approved for the U.K. to exit the 28-member European Union, an economic and political partnership. "The draft was the best that could be negotiated," May said of the brokered exit agreement draft struck with the EU. Dissidents disagreed with her assessment of the draft, which is hundreds of pages long, including many in her own party.
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If you hit a wrong note, hit it again
Patrick Gleeson Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementOn my first night on the bandstand in Herbie Hancock’s band, I was somewhere between panicked and terrified. As we began the first song, I made the mistake of looking out at the audience. A few rows away sat famed jazz arranger Gil Evans with his best buddy… Miles Davis. At that point I left merely panicked far behind and advanced well into terrified. One horrible mistake would brand me an incompetent newbie, not only in the eyes of my fellow band members, but in the presence of Gil and Miles, both of whom I idolized. It would have helped if I’d known what Miles regularly told his band members: If you hit a wrong note, hit it again!
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