In the 1910s, US cities began enacting policies that would shape neighborhoods and, unintentionally, lay the roots for the severe housing shortage today: single-family zoning laws. Zoning laws, at their most basic, follow a simple concept. In one part of town, only factories can be built. In another section of town, only apartment buildings can be built. And in a different part of town, only single-family houses can be built. Single-family zoning laws are unknown to most Americans, but they were instrumental to the expansion of urban areas and the suburban ideal of owning a home with a front porch and backyard on a half-acre plot of land post-World War II. But that dream always had a threat implicit, for those who viewed it that way. Your house could be your dream home, but could that dream come to an end if someone built a factory right next door? And if you tried to sell your house, who would buy it? Any pollution or noise could easily drift over to your house, and selling and moving someplace new could seem nearly impossible. Read more...
A majority of Americans prefer a community with big houses
A majority of Americans (57%) say they would prefer to live in a community where “houses are larger and farther apart, but schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away,” according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted March 27-April 2, 2023.
About four-in-ten (42%) would prefer a community where “houses are smaller and closer to each other, but schools, stores and restaurants are within walking distance.” The share of the public that prefers more spread-out communities is roughly similar to two years ago, when six-in-ten Americans said this. Public preferences were more evenly divided on this question in fall 2019, a few months before the coronavirus outbreak. As in the past, there are differences in these preferences by party, age, education, race and ethnicity, and community type.
The Best U.S. States for Jobs by Worker Availability
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the main driver of the current labor shortage was the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing more than 100,000 businesses to close temporarily and resulting in millions losing their jobs. Subsequent government support for those who lost work and other subsidies made it easier for people to stay home and out of the workforce. A Chamber of Commerce survey found that 1-in-5 people have changed their work style since the pandemic, with 17% having retired, 19% having transitioned to a homemaker role, and another 14% working only part time. The industries with the highest unemployment rates are also those that have added the most jobs, with leisure and hospitality experiencing the highest rates (5.1%) just ahead of wholesale and retail trade (4.4%). Overall, though the job marker has started to cool somewhat, hiring is still outpacing quit rates. The national quit rate in July 2023 was 3.8%, compared to a hiring rate of 4%. And with 9.8 million job openings in the U.S., there should be ample opportunities for job seekers. Read more...
More Americans say they can never retire
A growing share of working Americans don’t think they will ever retire, recent surveys suggest.
Retirement is a time-honored life stage and a near-universal expectation in working America. Yet, a comfortable retirement requires savings, and many workers fear they don’t have enough. In a July poll conducted jointly by Axios and Ipsos, 29 percent of workers under 55 answered a retirement query with, “I don’t think I will ever retire.” Asked why not, three-quarters of the never-retire group said they could not afford to stop working. A smaller share said they didn’t want to. “How to make the dollars and cents of retirement work is a constant balancing act for those who are retired and Americans hoping to reach that milestone one day,” said Clifford Young, president of Ipsos Public Affairs. Another survey, from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), found that one-third of workers now expect to retire at 70 or later, or never. Read more...
Preparing New Employees
Induction Programme
An induction programme is the process used within many businesses to welcome new employees to the company and prepare them for their new role. It helps in the integration of employees into the organization. Induction training should, according to TPI-theory, include development of theoretical and practical skills, but also meet interaction needs that exist among the new employees. An Induction Programme can also include the safety training delivered to contractors before they are permitted to enter a site or begin their work. It is usually focused on the particular safety issues of an organisation but will often include much of the general company information delivered to employees.
Benefits
An induction programme is an important process for bringing staff into an organisation. It provides an introduction to the working environment and the set-up of the employee within the organisation. The process will cover the employer and employee rights and the terms requirements for working at the company and pay attention to the health and safety of the new employee. An induction programme is part of an organisations knowledge management process and is intended to enable the new starter to become a useful, integrated member of the team, rather than being "thrown in at the deep end" without understanding how to do their job, or how their role fits in with the rest of the company. Good induction programmes can increase productivity and reduce short-term turnover of staff. These programs can also play a critical role under the socialization to the organization in terms of performance, attitudes and organizational commitment. In addition, well designed induction programmes can significantly increase the speed to competency of new employees, thus meaning they are more productive in a shorter period of time.
NYC law will force businesses to reveal salary ranges on job postings
A New York City law that will go into effect this spring will require companies to reveal the salary ranges on job postings.
Supporters say it’s a measure that could help close the gender wage gap. The law, which will be enforced beginning on May 15, applies to companies with more than four employees. Companies that post job openings will be required to note the minimum and maximum salaries based on a “good faith” determination at the time of the posting. It’s unclear how or if the law will be applied to companies that hire remote workers. Firms that refuse to comply could be hit with fines of up to $125,000 or other civil penalties. Supporters of the measure say that the law is needed to shrink the pay inequality gap, but pro-business advocates have argued that it is another example of government. Read more...
Amazon accused of anti-union tactics in New York
US labor authorities have filed a complaint accusing e-commerce giant Amazon of using threats and surveillance against its workers trying to organize a union at a New York City warehouse.
Amazon allegedly grilled workers about union activities at the Staten Island site, promising to address grievances in exchange for voting against representation, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) argued in its complaint filed on Thursday. At stake is whether the workers might be the first to unionize an Amazon warehouse in the United States. NLRB's complaint alleges the company "repeatedly broke the law by threatening, surveilling, and interrogating their Staten Island warehouse workers who are engaged in a union organizing campaign." The board asked a judge, with a hearing set for April 5, to order Amazon to educate workers as well as managers about employee rights when it comes to unionizing. Amazon rejected the allegations, saying they "are false and we look forward to showing that through this process." Read more...