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News from Worker Development, Industry, the Economy, Education, Science, and much more! |
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Economic Development Opportunities – An Important Incentive in Attracting Companies to Your Region |
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
When organizations try to create new jobs in their area – working with companies that are considering moving to, expanding to or expanding within their areas – skilled labor availability for many regional economic development strategies may include an offering that consists of one part skills assessment, one part general skill classes and a sprinkling of worker tax credits or grants. That seems to be what most incentive packages include, but is that because: A) that is what the other offers look like; b) it has been like that for decades; C) it is assumed that is all that is available; or D) all of the above?
"Whether attracting new companies and helping them thrive and expand, or helping existing business to do the same, this approach is an important component of any economic development strategy."
It is important to understand that the types of skills that employers are most concerned with - especially employer-specific task-based skills - most likely have not been in the local workforce, nor have any programs been available in local institutions to develop them, simply because these new jobs, with new skill requirements, have never been in the area. The types of skills needed for most modern manufacturing and advanced manufacturing have never been developed because the need was not present nor the data on these jobs available. Even if the need was present, by the time the skill is recognized, a program developed and a worker completed the learning, manufacturers either moved on or moved out. Read More
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Assessing Employees With Past Drug Addictions for Work Tricky |
by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
A prevalent challenge faced by many employers is what to do with job applicants with a record of past drug use. Current drug use detected during screening is more cut and dry, but candidates that are going through, or went through, treatment and have maintained a clean life-style since need more care to avoid running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The Americans with Disabilities Act protects employees and job applicants from discrimination based on past drug addiction in most cases. In a article for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website by Roy Maurer, “The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects employees and job applicants from discrimination based on past drug addiction. These individuals qualify as having a disability if they successfully completed a supervised drug rehabilitation program or are currently participating in such a program and are no longer using prohibited drugs.”
One expert he interviewed, Rayford Irvin, the Houston district director for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), said "Opioid addiction is a disability that is affecting millions across the United States, yet many are regaining control over their lives by participating in supervised rehabilitation programs." "When a worker has a record of such a disability and is performing his job proficiently, an employer cannot lawfully preclude the worker from employment because he is receiving treatment for his addiction." Read More
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Worker Development Is an Ongoing Commitment, Not a “One and Done” Event |
by Frank Gibson, Workforce Development Advisor, retired from The Ohio State University – Alber Enterprise Center
I have spent many years of my life working in manufacturing and providing consulting services to manufacturers and workforce development groups. While employers like to showcase there ISO, IATF or AS certification symbolizing their commitment to quality, imbedded throughout those certification program requirements are the need to demonstrate a system to develop workers, to maintain records that workers are trained to the company’s processes, show the continuous improvement of the training programs and updating of workers, and the protection of “legacy knowledge” and “tribal wisdom” to ensure sustainability.
Unfortunately, one common thread I find is the employer’s weak focus and commitment to the development of workers. Sure, some employers rise above the rest and there are a lot of core skill and industry-general training programs hosted by community colleges and technical training providers (some seem to make the effort to be relevant with changes in technology and the trajectory of industry). However, too often management rarely stays focused on worker development as they do on other parts of the organization. I don’t often see a “commitment to quality” and “continuous improvement” principles being applied to what the organizations fondly call “training.”
Typically, the conversation changes to classes that are offered before the realization that accounting will see it as a "cost" and veto the idea before it gets off the ground. Or, the manager hands it off to someone...knowing it will probably see the same fate. Even though most states have grant funds available to help employers pay the cost of classes provided locally and specialty training provided elsewhere, states are willing to provide funding to offset most, if not all, of the employer's investment to implement a true, documented structured on-the-job training program, as well.
Worker training – the “transfer of expertise” – goes on every day, with every worker in every organization. How many companies would you say harness the existence of this phenomenon that grew out of the non-existence of anything formal to “make the best of it?” Informal, unstructured and undocumented on-the-job training (“OJT”) is rampant; the employer’s support and commitment usually isn’t. Worker development seems to be the last thing on the minds of management when things are going well but the first thing to be cut during turbulent times; be it cutting training budgets, severely limiting time devoted to informal OJT, or inadvertently laying off individuals who served as ad hoc, informal OJT trainers because someone had to do it. Read More
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Proactive Technologies' Turnkey Package Offers for Prospective and Returning Clients - Discount Window Now Open, Closing Soon! |
Proactive Technologies, Inc. - Staff
The world has been through a lot in the last few decades. Employers finding themselves making decisions and changing their mind for the most unexpected reasons. Proactive Technologies, Inc.® wants to accommodate and support those workforce development decisions in the best way it knows how. This introduction for new and returning clients of its turnkey worker development package is one example. The current discount window is open from January 1st - March 15, 2024!
Value comes in many forms. Sometimes value stares us in the face but we may not realize it…or fully realize it. Like a software we purchase but only use 10% of its functions, a car that we seldom drive, or the treadmill that sits in its original packaging. Underutilized value not only represents a minimal return on an investment, it is a lost opportunity to maximize its potential and an inefficient use of capital.
Undeveloped or under-developed worker capacity is a lost opportunity to increase return on worker investment and reduce labor costs. Multiply this experience by the number of employees you have and the loss can be substantial! This is a fact that should be obvious and continually frustrates many a CEO or Operations Manager. It doesn’t have to be that way. Read More
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Apprenticeships That Make Money? Not As Impossible as it Seems-Part 1 of 2 |
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Part 1 of 2: The European Difference
I had dinner with a friend of many years, Günther Hauser, in his hometown of Neckarsulm Germany. I met Günther several years ago when Proactive Technologies, Inc. ("PTI") was working on a project in South Carolina that required PTI staff to travel to the LÄPPLE manufacturing plant in Heilbronn, Germany where Günther was the manager of the apprenticeship program. During that dinner, our conversation naturally drifted to an area of shared interest; worker training and apprenticeships and the differences in the United States and European systems of workforce development.
LÄPPLE is a worldwide supplier of press parts, autobody shell components, standard parts and rotary tables as well as automation solutions. They employ over 2000 people and provide exclusive, sophisticated solutions in forming and car body technology as well as the engineering and design of automation systems, machines and tools. Some of their customers include many of the automobile manufacturing companies such as Audi, BMW and Volkswagen.
While working on the Heilbronn project, PTI staff performed job/task analysis on several job classifications that were being duplicated at a new joint venture in Union, South Carolina including Press Operator, Press Technician, Maintenance, Quality Control, Assembly Operator and Assembly Technician. Günther was kind enough to take me on a tour of the apprenticeship center at the plant. The center had around 100 apprentices at any one time at various stages of progression. Modeled after the manufacturing plant where it was established, the group of young workers were processing in each of their disciplines of choice; CAD-CAM Engineering, Tool & Die, Quality Control, Machining. It was like a mini-manufacturing facility with the LÄPPLE factory. Read More
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Proactive Technologies, Inc. Worker Development News
Industry News
Financial News
Economic News
International News
International Trade News
Education and Workforce Development News
Training and Organizational Development News
Quality News
Science
Cyber and IT News
Human Resources Management News
Environmental, Health & Safety News
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Proactive Technologies, Inc.® -
capturing worker expertise to build and support job specific, task-based worker development programs (with metric-based solutions) since 1986.
Experience the power of the
Develop all the expert workers you need in a fraction of the time, with a fraction of the investment! Increased worker capacity, work quality and quantity, and worker compliance (ISO9001:2015, AS9100D, IATF16949, engineering and quality specifications, and safety requirements)."
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Free - Live Online Presentation Schedule
If interested in attending one of the presentations below, click on the title, then select a date/time and press "Send." An online presentation invitation and link will be sent to you. On the date and time of the event, just click on link in email invitation and it will connect you to the presentation. No special equipment required.
Click here for descriptions of all of the available presentations. Click on a specific title for that specific description and schedule or to schedule a date and time that works for you.
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Onsite and group presentations
are being scheduled for the following states, and a representative will be in your area, in the month of:
March, 2024
Proactive Technologies is currently scheduling stops in the following areas:
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FLORIDA
ILLINOIS – South
INDIANA
KANSAS – Central and Wichita
MISSOURI - Central
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SOUTH CAROLINA
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ONLINE VIDEO PRESENTATIONS - If you are interested in attending one of our regularly scheduled videoconferences, select from the schedule above or visit our website and select a videoconference from the calendar. An email invitation will be sent to you confirming your selection. This videoconference will be to your computer and no other equipment is required. This can be followed by an onsite presentation, at your request.
Contact Us to express your interest in an onsite or group presentation.
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of Economic Analysis
Gross Domestic Product, Fourth Quarter and Year 2023 (Second Estimate)
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the "second" estimate. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 4.9 percent. The increase in the fourth quarter primarily reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, as well as state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. Read Report
Personal Income and Outlays, January 2024
Personal income increased $233.7 billion (1.0 percent at a monthly rate) in January. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $67.6 billion (0.3 percent). Personal outlays—the sum of personal consumption expenditures (PCE), personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $54.3 billion (0.3 percent) and consumer spending increased $43.9 billion (0.2 percent). Personal saving was $779.3 billion and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 3.8 percent in January. Read Report
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census |
Advanced Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
New orders for manufactured durable goods in January, down three of the last four months, decreased $18.0 billion or 6.1 percent to $276.7 billion. January 2024: -6.1° % Change; December 2023 (r): -0.3° % Change. Read Report
Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
New orders for manufactured goods in December, up four of the last five months, increased $1.2 billion or 0.2 percent to $594.3 billion. December 2023: +0.2° % Change; November 2023 (r): +2.6° % Change. Read Report
Manufacturing and Trade Inventory and Sales
U.S. total business end-of-month inventories for December 2023 were $2,556.0 billion, up 0.4 percent (+/- 0.1 percent) from last month. U.S. total business sales were $1,863.6 billion, up 0.4 percent (+/- 0.2 percent) from last month. December 2023: +0.4 % Change in Inventories; November 2023 (r): -0.1* % Change in Inventories. Read Report
Household Pulse Survey
What is the Household Pulse Survey?
The U.S. Census Bureau, in collaboration with multiple federal agencies, is in a unique position to produce data on the social and economic effects of coronavirus on American households. The Household Pulse Survey is designed to deploy quickly and efficiently, collecting data to measure household experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. Data will be disseminated in near real-time to inform federal and state response and recovery planning. Read Data
Small Business Pulse Survey
The Small Business Pulse Survey (Business Pulse) measures the effect of changing business conditions during the Coronavirus pandemic on our nation's small businesses. Business Pulse complements existing U.S. Census Bureau data collections by providing high-frequency, detailed information on the challenges small businesses are facing during the Coronavirus pandemic as well as their participation in federal programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program. Read Report
Monthly State Retail Sales
The Monthly State Retail Sales (MSRS) is the Census Bureau's new experimental data product featuring modeled state-level retail sales. This is a blended data product using Monthly Retail Trade Survey data, administrative data, and third-party data. Year-over-year percent changes are available for Total Retail Sales excluding Nonstore Retailers as well as 11 retail North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) retail subsectors. These data are provided by state and NAICS codes beginning with January 2019. The Census Bureau plans to continue to improve the methodology to be able to publish more data in the future. Access Tables
Economic Indicators
A composite of many of the requested domestic facts and figures. Visit Table
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U. S. Department of Labor Statistics |
Consumer Price Index
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.2 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.1 percent before seasonal adjustment.
The index for shelter continued to rise in January, increasing 0.6 percent and contributing over two thirds of the monthly all items increase. The food index increased 0.4 percent in January, as the food at home index increased 0.4 percent and the food away from home index rose 0.5 percent over the month.In contrast, the energy index fell 0.9 percent over the month due in large part to the decline in the gasoline index.
The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent in January. Indexes which increased in January include shelter, motor vehicle insurance, and medical care. The index for used cars and trucks and the index for apparel were among those that decreased over the month. Read Report
Producer Price Index
The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.3 percent in January, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices declined 0.1 percent in December 2023 and advanced 0.1 percent in November. (See table A.) On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand rose 0.9 percent for the 12 months ended January 2024.
In January, the advance in the index for final demand can be traced to a 0.6-percent rise in prices for final demand services. In contrast, the index for final demand goods decreased 0.2 percent.
The index for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services rose 0.6 percent in January 2024, the largest advance since moving up 0.6 percent in January 2023. For the 12 months ended January 2024, prices for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services increased 2.6 percent. Read Report
Job Openings and Labor Turnover
Job Openings
In December, job openings rates decreased in 4 states, increased in 3 states, and were little changed in 43 states and the District of Columbia. The decreases in job openings rates occurred in Maine (-1.1 percentage points) and North Dakota (-0.8 point), as well as in Illinois and Wisconsin (-0.6 point each). The increases occurred in Michigan (+1.2 points), Louisiana (+0.7 point), and California (+0.4 point). Over the month, the national job openings rate was unchanged. (See table 1.)
The number of job openings decreased in 7 states, increased in 4 states, and was little changed in 39 states and the District of Columbia in December. The largest decreases in the job openings level occurred in Illinois (-42,000), Arizona (-21,000), and Wisconsin (-20,000). The largest increases occurred in California (+79,000), Michigan (+63,000), and Louisiana (+15,000). Nationally, the number of job openings changed little. (See table 1.)
Hires
In December, hires rates increased in 2 states, decreased in 1 state, and were little changed in 47 states and the District of Columbia. The increases in the hires rate occurred in Nevada (+0.9 percentage point) and in California (+0.5 point). The decrease occurred in Georgia (-0.7 point). The national hires rate changed little over the month. (See table 2.)
The number of hires increased in 4 states, decreased in 1 state, and was little changed in 45 states and the District of Columbia in December. The largest increases in the hires level occurred in California (+81,000), Arizona (+20,000), and Nevada (+15,000). The decrease occurred in Georgia (-36,000). Nationally, the number of hires changed little over the month. Read Report
Unemployment Rate for States
Unemployment Rates for States, Seasonally Adjusted. Read Report
Civilian Labor Participation Rate
For a 20 year chart of the U.S. Civilian Labor Participation Rate. Read Report
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U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index |
University of Buffalo - School of Management
The U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index (JQI) assesses job quality in the United States by measuring desirable higher-wage/higher-hour jobs versus lower-wage/lower-hour jobs. The JQI results also may serve as a proxy for the overall health of the U.S. jobs market, since the index enables month-by-month tracking of the direction and degree of change in high-to-low job composition.
By tracking this information, policymakers and financial market participants can be more fully informed of past developments, current trends, and likely future developments in the absence of policy intervention. Economists and international organizations have in recent years developed other, complementary conceptions of job quality such as those addressing the emotional satisfaction employees derive from their jobs.
For the purposes of this JQI, “job quality” means the weekly dollar-income a job generates for an employee. Payment, after all, is a primary reason why people work: the income generated by a job being necessary to maintain a standard of living, to provide for the essentials of life and, hopefully, to save for retirement, among other things. Read Report
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Realtime Inequality - Who Benefits from Income and Wealth Growth in the United States? |
University of California, Berkeley - Thomas Blanchet, Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman; Department of Economics
Realtime Inequality provides the first timely statistics on how economic growth is distributed across groups. When new growth numbers come out each quarter, we show how each income and wealth group benefits.
Controlling for price inflation, average national income per adult in the United States increased at an annualized rate of 2.2% in the first quarter of 2023, and average income for the bottom 50% grew by 1.5%. National income is similar to GDP and a better indicator of income earned by US residents. Visit the Methodology page for complete methodological details. Review Data
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Updated Annual Industry Economic Account Statistics for 2017-2022 Now Available |
US Census Bureau
The Bureau of Economic Analysis published the following annual Industry Economic Account statistics for 2017 through 2022, reflecting the 2023 comprehensive update of the National Economic Accounts:
- Make tables, use tables, and import matrices, Annual, 2017-2022
- otal and domestic requirements tables, Annual, 2017-2022
- PCE and PEQ bridge tables, Annual, 2017-2022
- Margin tables, Benchmark, 2017
- Revised supply tables for 2017-2022 to correct the allocation of imports between the “Imports” column and the “CIF/FOB Adjustments on Imports” column for certain transportation commodities. All other elements of the supply tables are unaffected by this update.
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Nucor Executives Ramp Capex With Economic Winds at Their Backs |
IndustryWeek – Geert De Lombaerde
The steel maker is still ‘firmly committed’ to growing via M&A as well.
Steel manufacturer Nucor Corp. will devote about $3.5 billion to capital projects this year, a jump of nearly 60% from 2023, as its executives seek to capitalize on the investment sprees reshaping the infrastructure, semiconductor and energy sectors.
Among the projects underway or on tap for Charlotte-based Nucor are a sheet mill in West Virginia, two plants making utility towers and a rebar micro mill in North Carolina. Those projects and others will look to meet some of the incremental 5 million to 8 million tons of annual demand for steel that Nucor Chairman, President and CEO Leon Topalian and his team expect federal spending programs will generate in the next several years. Read Article
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Australia-Based Fortescue Establishes Detroit, Michigan, Operations |
Area Development – News Desk
Australia-based Fortescue, a provider of zero emission resources for the production of renewable energy, plans to establish its U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Center in Detroit, Michigan. The $35 million project is expected to create up to 600 jobs.
The investment will include the rehabilitation of an existing facility on Piquette Avenue which will become a major hub for the production of automotive and heavy industry batteries, hydrogen generators, fast chargers, and electrolyzers. Production is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2025. Read Article
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Fire Truck Boom Highlights Divide in US Manufacturing |
Area Development – Reuters, Timothy Aeppel
Anyone looking around Oshkosh’s cavernous fire truck factory in Appleton, Wisconsin, for evidence of the longest U.S. manufacturing slump in two decades could be forgiven for coming away scratching their heads.
The delivery backlog for the company’s most sought-after fire-fighting rigs now stretches into 2026, part of a record $16 billion backlog for all types of the company’s trucks, which range from waste haulers and cement mixers to tow trucks and airport rescue vehicles. Oshkosh’s total revenues in 2022 equaled about half that amount. Read Article
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GM-Honda Joint Venture Begins Assembling Fuel Cells |
Assembly Magazine – Austin Weber
BROWNSTOWN, MI—Fuel Cell System Manufacturing LLC (FCSM), a joint venture between General Motors and Honda Motor Co., has begun assembling products at its 70,000-square-foot facility here.
The focus of the initiative is to lower development and manufacturing costs by leveraging economies of scale, advancing cell designs, simplifying supporting auxiliary equipment, utilizing common sourcing and reducing the use of costly precious metals. Through this collaboration, the new fuel cell systems will be one-third less expensive to make when compared to the cost of the system used in the 2019 Honda Clarity. Read Article
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ISM Report: Manufacturing PMI Registers Highest Reading Since October 2022 |
IndustryWeek – Anna Smith
Despite the improving PMI figure, manufacturing remains in contraction territory.
Manufacturing economic activity continued to contract at a slower rate last month, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s January 2024 report. The Purchasing Manager’s Index registered 49.1%, up 2 percentage points from December and the highest reading in over a year. The PMI also indicates overall economic expansion.
“Three out of five subindexes that directly factor into the Manufacturing PMI are in contraction territory, down from four in December,” said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM’s manufacturing business survey committee. Read Article
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Productivity Rebound Buoys Profits, Blunts Inflation, Validates Streamlining |
CFO Dive - Jim Tyson, Senior Reporter
A leap in productivity may reflect a post-pandemic readjustment rather than a lasting trend in higher efficiency, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said.
Dive Brief:
- U.S. labor productivity rebounded last year from a record downturn in 2022, reinforcing profit margins, slowing inflation and validating CFO efforts to boost efficiency.
- Nonfarm employee output per hour increased 3.2% on an annualized basis during the fourth quarter after surging 4.9% during Q3, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday. Still, the economy-wide efficiency gains may not last, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday during a press conference.
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“My guess is we may shake out and be back where we were” before the pandemic, Powell said, noting that productivity data has whipsawed since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020. The work-from-home trend may do little to improve productivity, and efficiency gains from generative artificial intelligence may only appear “in the longer run,” he said. Read Article
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What Does a Lower PPI Mean for Pricing? |
IndustryWeek - Dan Cakora
Customers who endured price hikes may now expect reductions, but the data tells its own story.
In December 2023, the Producer Price monthly index fell slightly, continuing the trend of modest and historically typical price fluctuations observed since mid-2022. This stands in stark contrast to the frequent and substantial increases experienced from May 2020 to March 2022, a period marked by high inflation that allowed many manufacturers and distributors to push through frequent, large price hikes during the pandemic.
As inflation subsides, will the need for price reductions emerge? Could lower inflation translate to diminished gross margin dollars (GM$)? Read Article
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'Made in USA' Works Well for Us |
IndustryWeek - Patrick Reagan
More manufacturers could benefit, if they put the effort into calculating the deeper competitive advantages and savings.
Employment in U.S. manufacturing currently stands at just under 13 million workers. Manufacturing’s peak of 19.5 million jobs occurred in June 1979.
While some of this 40-year decline resulted from the change in skills manufacturers needed from workers over time, another catalyst is the ruthless race to find cheaper labor, parts and production in other countries.
In his book “Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing,” author Vaclav Smil points out that “an excessive dependence on imports, and the systematic outsourcing of entire industries, will eventually weaken the strongest economies.” Read Article
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27% of Organizations Ban GenAI |
CFO.com - Adam Zaki, Reporter
As GenAI rapidly evolves, organizations are looking to harness its power without risking the unauthorized sharing of confidential or personal information.
How artificial intelligence will operate within workflows continues to be a much-discussed topic among finance leaders looking to upgrade their tech stacks and navigate a digital transformation. However, the use of AI comes with its risks, as highlighted at CFO networking events last year.
These risks, like leaking proprietary information or having employees pass off GenAI work as their own, can be detrimental. Many companies have begun limiting autonomy around the usage of GenAI tools. So much so that Cisco’s 2024 Data Privacy Benchmark Report, an annual survey of 2,600 privacy and security professionals, found that 27% of organizations surveyed banned GenAI use altogether. Read and Hear Article
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Full-Year 2023 Jobs Report Shows Slow Year-Over-Year Manufacturing Growth |
IndustryWeek - Ryan Secard
The U.S. manufacturing sector added 23,000 jobs last month, mainly in chemical manufacturing and printing.
The first employment report of 2024 from the Department of Labor shows that employment in manufacturing is increasing to new post-Recession heights. Preliminary data released February 2 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows manufacturing employment increased by 23,000 — a slight gain that nevertheless put the number of manufacturing workers at 12,979,000, the most employed in the U.S. since November 2008.
In the rest of the economy, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7% as employment rose by 353,000 overall. Read Article
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Elon Musk Cannot Keep Tesla Pay Package Worth More Than $55 billion, Judge Rules |
NPR - The Associated Press
DOVER, Del. — Elon Musk is not entitled to landmark compensation package awarded by Tesla's board of directors that is potentially worth more than $55 billion, a Delaware judge ruled Tuesday.
The ruling by Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick comes more than five years after a shareholder lawsuit targeted Tesla CEO Musk and directors of the company. They were accused of breaching their duties to the maker of electric vehicles and solar panels, resulting in a waste of corporate assets and unjust enrichment for Musk. Read Article
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Seeing Deeper into Supply Chain Data |
IndustryWeek - Kris Kraft
There are ways to improve visibility even as planning, forecasting and logistics become more complex.
Supply chain challenges are expected to continue through this year, and businesses must continue to adapt. However, gaining end-to-end visibility continues to be a challenge with suppliers dispersed geographically and operating on systems that may not be digitally compatible—or digital at all.
In this article, we’ll discuss the visibility hurdles in the current landscape as well as short-term and organizational solutions to help improve supply-chain visibility.
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Industry Book Reviews For Our Time |
Optimal Illusions: The False Promise of Optimization
by Author Coco Krumme
How optimization took over the world and the urgent case for a new approach
Optimization is the driving principle of our modern world. We now can manufacture, transport, and organize things more cheaply and faster than ever. Optimized models underlie everything from airline schedules to dating site matches. We strive for efficiency in our daily lives, obsessed with productivity and optimal performance. How did a mathematical concept take on such outsize cultural shape? And what is lost when efficiency is gained?
Optimal Illusions traces the fascinating history of optimization from its roots in America’s founding principles to its modern manifestations, found in colorful stories of oil tycoons, wildlife ecologists, Silicon Valley technologists, lifestyle gurus, sugar beet farmers, and poker players. Optimization is now deeply embedded in the technologies and assumptions that have come to comprise not only our material reality but what we make of it.
Coco Krumme’s work in mathematical modeling has made her acutely aware of optimization’s overreach.
Streamlined systems are less resilient and more at risk of failure. They limit our options and narrow our perspectives. The malaise of living in an optimized society can feel profoundly inhumane. Optimal Illusions exposes the sizable bargains we have made in the name of optimization and asks us to consider what comes next. Read Review
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Proactive Technologies' Project Partners |
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Proven Solutions for Employers and Education
- Apprenticeship Program Design and Technical Implementation Support
- Employer - Educational Institution - Community Partnership Program Development and Support
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about K & D Consulting, LLC
Copyright © 2019-24 K & D Consulting, LLC
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Classes alone will not close the "skills gap," but structured on-the-job training can...every time! |
Under-capacity of workers is an enormous source of untapped value and unrealized return on worker investment. In addition, standardizing expert task performance -between workers and shifts - can add to worker ROI through lower scrap and rework.
- Increased worker capacity, productivity, work quantity, work quality and compliance (specifications, ISO/AS/IATF programs and safety mandates);
- Decreased internal costs of training
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Higher return on worker investment! You would be surprised how small of an investment is needed to unlock enormous returns.
If budgets are tight, Proactive Technologies, Inc. can be an extension to your training department, with our technical implementation support - included with every project!
There's nothing to lose by taking a minute to contact us to learn more.
Copyright © 2019-24 Proactive Technologies, Inc.®
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Core Skill Development and Enhancement |
- Skill, Knowledge and Behavioral Assessments
- Intro and Advanced Blueprint Reading Courses Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing
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If your institution is interested in becoming a Proactive Technologies, Inc. project partner, contact a representative for more information. |
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The Bankers’ Front Groups Fighting Tougher Capital Rules |
The American Prospect – Robert Kuttner
It’s understandable that Wall Street wants weak rules. Why are so many community groups serving as the banks’ echo chamber?
In December, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched an investigation against Wells Fargo for pricing mortgages less favorably for Black homebuyers.
Last July, the Federal Reserve and other financial regulators proposed rules on bank capital standards that have been more than a decade in the making. The rules require banks to hold more capital against loan losses, as a way of discouraging the kind of high-profit/high-risk banking practices that crashed the economy in 2008.
The rules, once finalized, will also carry out an agreement that the U.S. made with other major nations to tighten bank regulation, known as Basel III. The proposed U.S. rules go a bit beyond the minimal standards of Basel III.
Requiring banks to hold slightly more capital will depress their appetite for high-risk activities and slightly restrain exorbitant bank profits. Predictably, the big banks have mounted an all-out war against these rules, using community organizations, small businesses, and civil rights groups as fronts. Read Article
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Building a Model-Based Enterprise — and Knowing Why |
American Machinist – Derek Neiding
Too many organizations lack a strategy for shifting from document-centered development, a shift that allows them to build out a digital information thread, and drive more innovative activities and products.
There is no question that the model-based enterprise (MBE) is the preferred track for organizations aiming for best-in-class development practices and, ultimately, more innovative products. Yet too many businesses lack a clear vision for effectively transitioning away from long-standing, document-centric practices to a model-based orientation – and lacking that vision impedes their ability to fully capitalize on digital transformation.
Terms like model-based engineering, model-based definition, and the model-based enterprise have infiltrated engineering circles with recognition that an enterprise-wide shift can drive efficiencies and lower costs all while accelerating product innovation. Increasing product complexity, combined with abbreviated product delivery cycles, are putting stress on traditional document-centric engineering processes. This is giving rise to the need for a more holistic, digitized approach that promotes agility across the product lifecycle. Read Article
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SPACs Will Survive New SEC Regs |
CFO.com – Vincent Ryan, Senior Reporter-at-Large
But a change in the liability for disclosures and the requirements for financial projections will make early-stage companies think twice about going public via SPAC.
The new rules for special-purpose acquisitions companies (SPACs) approved last week may further slow down the market for such vehicles and limit their use but SPACs will survive, said Timothy FitzSimons, a partner at King & Spalding.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s final rules guidance on SPACs and shell companies, approved on Jan. 24, “will make the use of such vehicles more difficult,” but those “committed to this asset class will find a way to operate within the new disclosure regime,” said FitzSimons. Read Article
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36% of Companies Plan to Raise Pay in 2024 Amid Tight Labor Market: BDO |
CFO Dive – Jim Tyson, Senior Reporter
Although the job market has shown signs of cooling in recent quarters, CFOs aim to increase compensation this year to attract and retain employees.
Dive Brief:
- Thirty-six percent of CFOs at middle-market companies plan this year to boost pay, a 13 percentage point surge compared with last year, BDO found in a survey. They seek to stay competitive in a tight labor market by buffering the harm to employees from inflation, BDO said.
- Among CFOs, 29% plan to increase non-monetary employee benefits, BDO said in a report on a survey of 600 CFOs. Thirty-six percent of the top financial executives intend to strengthen up-skillling or reskilling programs, while 32% will invest more in remote and hybrid technology.
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The workforce investments “reveal CFOs’ push to not only attract and retain top talent but also boost employee morale and productivity,” BDO said. Read Article
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Archer Daniels Midland investor Sues Firm, CEO, CFO, ex-CFO |
CFO Dive – Maura Webber Sadovi, Senior Editor
The proposed class action alleges ADM and top executives concealed the true financial picture of the agricultural giant’s nutrition business.
Archer Daniels Midland and top executives concealed “adverse facts” related to its nutrition business, instead painting a misleading positive picture of the segment as a profit-driver “with the ability to capitalize on healthier eating trends and rising consumer demand for natural ingredients and flavoring,” alleges a lawsuit filed against the company Wednesday.
The proposed class action complaint is seeking unspecified damages for the agribusiness’s investors between April 30, 2020 through Jan. 22. Read Article
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Walmart Announces 3-for-1 Stock Split |
CFO Dive - Nate Delesline III, Reporter
The retailer said the move, the 12th in its history, will keep share purchase prices within reach for associates.
Dive Brief:
- Walmart plans to conduct a three-for-one stock split, the company announced Tuesday. The move, the company said, is in part intended to keep stock purchase prices accessible for store-level employees.
- Shareholders will receive two additional shares of common stock for each share held. The shares will be payable after the market closes on Feb. 23. The company’s stock will begin trading on a post-split basis when the market opens on Feb. 26.
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As a result of the split, Walmart said it expects the number of shares of outstanding stock to grow from 2.7 billion to about 8.1 billion shares. Walmart’s stock opened at $167.80 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, just below a recent high of $169.94 in November. Read Article
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Healthcare CFOs Explore M&A, Automation and Service Line Cuts in 2024 |
CFO Dive - Susanna Vogel, Staff Reporter
Companies grappling with liquidity concerns are looking to cut costs and streamline operations, according to a new survey.
Dive Brief:
- Over three-quarters of healthcare chief financial officers expect to see profitability increases in 2024, according to a recent survey from advisory firm BDO USA. However, to become profitable, many organizations say they will have to reduce investments in underperforming service lines, or pursue mergers and acquisitions.
- More than 40% of respondents said they will decrease investments in primary care and behavioral health services in 2024, citing disruptions from retail players. They will shift funds to home care, ambulatory services and telehealth that provide higher returns, according to the report.
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Nearly three-quarters of healthcare CFOs plan to pursue some type of M&A deal in the year ahead, despite possible regulatory threats. Read Article
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Finance Employee Defrauded for $25M by Deepfake CFO |
CFO.com - Andy Burt, Managing Director, Head of Content
The Hong Kong-based worker was tricked by a multi-person video conference where everyone else was fake.
During a company video call, a Hong Kong-based finance employee at an unnamed multinational firm was defrauded into paying out over $200 million Hong Kong dollars — approximately $25.6 million USD — through the use of “deepfake” technology.
As originally reported by CNN, the fraudster created a digitally manipulated impression of the company’s CFO as well as several other staff members. Convinced they were his coworkers, the employee followed the fake CFO’s instructions and remitted the funds to multiple bank accounts across 15 transfers, according to Techspot. Read Article
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What is Private Credit? Does it Pose Financial Stability Risks? |
Sam Boocker and David Wessel
Private credit (also known as direct lending) is generally defined as lending by non-bank financial institutions—including private equity firms and alternative asset managers—most often to small and mid-sized businesses, who are often highly leveraged and generally cannot borrow in corporate bond markets. For borrowers, it is an alternative to traditional bank loans. Although private credit is a small slice of overall business financing, it has been growing very fast, raising concerns among some banks about the competition and among some regulators about risks to financial stability. This post describes the recent evolution of private credit and the issues that it raises.
How does private credit differ from traditional bank lending and private equity? Read Article
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SEC Accountant Calls on Auditors to Exercise More Skepticism |
CFO.com - Vincent Ryan, Senior Reporter-at-Large
“The issues and trends identified in PCAOB inspections in recent years demand the attention and renewed commitment of the entire profession,” said Paul Munter.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s top accountant, Paul Munter, on Monday called on auditors to reverse the “troubling trendline” in audit deficiency rates by exercising “objective, impartial judgment and rigorous professional skepticism” during this year’s public company audits.
Munter also urged auditing firms to be aware of potential fraud by management, as some “may be under pressure to meet earnings expectations in the face of declining revenue or increased costs.” He also reminded audit committees of “their role as critical gatekeepers for investor protection through oversight of a high-quality audit.” Read Article
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Johnson & Johnson Employee Sues Over ‘Massive Overpayment’ for Prescription Meds |
HR Dive - Emilie Shumway, Editor
According to the lawsuit, J&J and its pharmacy benefits manager agreed to charge more than $10,000 for a drug regularly available for under $80. The company denies the allegations.
The Johnson & Johnson logo is displayed at company offices on Oct. 17, 2023, in Irvine, California. The company is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit for allegedly violating ERISA. Mario Tama via Getty Images
An employee of Johnson & Johnson filed a lawsuit against the company Monday, asserting that it violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by mismanaging workers’ prescription drug benefits, resulting in unnecessarily steep costs.
The lawsuit, Lewandowski v. Johnson and Johnson, et. al., drew particular attention to J&J’s pharmacy benefits manager. According to the proposed class action, J&J agreed to pay the PBM significantly higher prices for generic prescription drugs than could be easily obtained elsewhere. Read Article
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HPE Seeks to Recoup $4B in Long-running Fraud Case |
CFO Dive - Maura Webber Sadovi, Senior Editor
Hewlett Packard Enterprise attorneys want the founder and ex-CFO of Autonomy to pay for the steep losses HPE faced after acquiring their firm.
Dive Brief:
- Spring, Texas-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise is seeking to recoup as much as $4 billion from the former UK-based software firm Autonomy founder Mike Lynch and his ex-CFO after a London judge found the executives “fraudulently boosted” the company’s value before its 2011 sale to HP, Bloomberg reported Monday.
- HP lawyers told a London court Monday that HPE lost more than $4 billion stemming from its acquisition of the firm as a result of the fraud perpetrated by Lynch, who faces a criminal trial in the U.S. after being extradited, and his former finance chief, Sushovan Hussain, according to a Reuters report.
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The recent matter before the court stemmed form a civil case at the U.K. High Court that was filed in 2015 but wasn’t heard until 2019, an HPE spokesperson told CFO Dive. In January 2022, HPE won its fraud case over the Autonomy sale, BBC reported. Now the court will hear “arguments from both sides on what damages would be awarded to HPE,” the spokesperson said. Read Article
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Whistleblowers Need Not Prove ‘Retaliatory Intent,’ SCOTUS Holds |
HR Dive - Ryan Golden, Senior Reporter
The decision in favor of a former UBS employee could lead to more whistleblower retaliation claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, an attorney told HR Dive.
Dive Brief:
- Employees who invoke the whistleblower protections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the event of an unfavorable personnel action need not prove that their employer acted with retaliatory intent, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held Thursday.
- In the decision, Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals erred when it held a former research strategist for financial services firm UBS had to prove retaliatory intent to show that his firing violated the law. The former employee alleged that he was fired after reporting that he was pressured to change his reports to be more supportive of UBS’ business strategies.
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The Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s statute “does not reference or include a ‘retaliatory intent’ requirement,” Sotomayor said, “and the provision’s mandatory burden-shifting framework cannot be squared with such a requirement.” The high court reversed and remanded the case for further proceedings. Read Article
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The Lawsuit That Could Shake Up the Rental Market |
NPR Planet Money – Adrian Ma, Wailin Wong, Corey Bridges, Kate Concannon
9-Minute Listen
A number of lawsuits against Texas-based company RealPage are putting increased attention on how algorithms can interact with the rental market. In the lawsuit, RealPage is accused of facilitating a cartel between major property managers that results in higher prices for renters and increased profits for landlords who use RealPage’s software. RealPage, however, denies any wrongdoing.
Today on the show, we dive into the details of the lawsuit and explain why this case challenges typical notions of cartel behavior. Hear Podcast
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What’s the Fate of Social Security in a Brutally Unequal America? |
Institute for New Economic Thinking – Lynn Parramore
White House contenders ignore root causes threatening the program, potentially worsened by cuts. Is it due to reliance on wealthy donors?
After the New Hampshire primary, Donald Trump and Nikki Haley emerge as the final two Republican contenders for the presidency. What impact would their victories have on Social Security, a crucial federal program widely supported by voters? Will those vying for the White House, including President Biden, address the economic inequality that is the real threat to the program?
GOP Promises: Depends on Who’s Listening
On the campaign trail, Trump pledges to safeguard Social Security without cuts, proposing to fund it through expanded fossil fuel drilling—an odd claim debunked by Eric Laursen, author of The People’s Pension. The former president vows to “always protect” the program, a position distinctly at odds with that of challenger Nikki Haley, criticized by Trump for committing to raise the retirement age for younger Americans if elected. (Haley’s wealthy donors have praised her attacks on Social Security). Read Article
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Monetary Policy, Illiquidity, and the Inflation Debates |
Institute for New Economic Thinking – Jan Toporowski
The key issue is the regulation of the liquidity of all financial markets, and not just that of the banking system
The end of Quantitative Easing, and the rise in inflation since 2022 has focused attention once more on the effectiveness of monetary policy in controlling inflation. This question is framed in a way that brooks no contrary evidence: If inflation continues above target, or rises, then this is taken to mean that monetary policy is still too loose, and interest rates may need to be raised further; if inflation falls below the target level then monetary ‘tightening’ has been excessive, and may need to be loosened by a reduction in policy rates of interest. Read Article
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Institute for New Economic Thinking - Alessandro Roncaglia
It was a mistake to accept a ‘reference price’-determination process for basic commodities led by finance
There are strong interrelations between economic policy, culture, and power relations in society. This is quite evident in the restrictive monetary policies undertaken by central banks the world over when confronted with the recent inflationary outbursts.
Restrictive monetary policies are a standard answer to inflation. But they are not costless, exerting a downward pressure on output and employment. Thus, two questions arise: are they the correct answer in general? And are they, in this specific situation? Read Article
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New Manufacturing Increasingly Going To Lower Income Towns. This Is A Good Thing. |
Coalition for a Prosperous America - Kenneth Rapoza
The U.S. manufacturing boom, which started slowly since the implementation of tariffs on steel, aluminum, some China imports, and sped along by new laws favoring domestic supply chains, has had a positive impact on lower income counties nationwide. This is good news. More often than not, these were the old factory towns that were decimated by what some academics have referred to as “the China shock.”
According to a study by the Brookings Institution and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, since 2021, a group of counties with low employment rates for prime-age workers and a median household income of less than $75,000 have accounted for 16% of the $525 billion in announced investments.
The report mainly credits three laws signed by President Biden: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act for bringing in new investments and does not discuss the Section 301 and 232 tariffs which also led to new investments. Read Article
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It’s Time to Revisit the ‘Arsenal of Democracy.’ Including Smaller Manufacturers Is Key. |
IndustryWeek - Thorsten Wuest, Michael Morford
How can the U.S. best surge its industrial production capacity with the Industry 4.0 divide between haves and have nots?
The war in Ukraine has changed Western military doctrine. This is noteworthy as the Department of Defense embraces phrases like “near-peer competition,” “pacing challenge” and “great power competition” as a way to address growing concerns about the actions of China and Russia. Unfortunately, the stark reality is the U.S. and its Western allies have not shifted away fast enough from decades of focus on regional conflicts and counterterrorism operations. Like our pre-World War II forefathers, we are now scrambling to prepare for the real potential of a protracted global conflict.
Since the end of the Cold War, many Western powers have reduced their standing military personnel, paused or stopped their conscript services, and reduced munition stockpiles as well as defense manufacturing capacity. These major decisions are not easily reversible even with the necessary political will. A startling example of this can be seen in the 40% decline in the past decade of U.S. small manufacturers engaged in defense work. Read Article
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Mexico, Latin America, South America and the Caribbean |
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Trade Trends Estimates: Latin America and the Caribbean – 2024 Edition |
InterAmerican Development Bank
This report provides estimates of Latin America and the Caribbeans international trade flows for 2023. It was prepared by the Integration and Trade Sector (INT) at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in partnership with its Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL). Download Report
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Forest Fires Raging in Central Chile Have Killed More Than 100 People |
NPR – The Associated Press
SANTIAGO, Chile — Firefighters wrestled Sunday with massive forest fires that broke out in central Chile two days earlier, as officials extended curfews in cities most heavily affected by the blazes and said at least 112 people had been killed.
The fires burned with the highest intensity around the city of Viña del Mar, where a famous botanical garden founded in 1931 was destroyed by the flames Sunday. At least 1,600 people were left without homes.
Several neighborhoods on the eastern edge of Viña del Mar were devoured by flames and smoke, trapping some people in their homes. Officials said 200 people were reported missing in Viña del Mar and the surrounding area. The city of 300,000 people is a popular beach resort and also hosts a well-known music festival during the southern hemisphere’s summer. Read Article
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Canada, Europe and Great Britain |
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German Economy Shrinks in Final Quarter of 2023 |
DeutscheWelle
Europe’s biggest economy has continued to shrink amid crises, inflation and lacking investment. Economists have warned the outlook for 2024 does not look much better.
Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3% in the last quarter of 2023, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on Tuesday, confirming their previous estimates.
Facing high inflation, high interest rates, a low demand for German exports and a series of strikes, Europe’s largest economy saw its GDP also fall 0.3% for the entire year of 2023, according to the preliminary government data.
Germany is also expected to face a rough 2024, with economists predicting further shrinking in the first quarter of this year. Read Article
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Germany’s Trade Unions: What’s Behind the Wave of Strikes? |
DeutscheWelle – Ben Knight
The walkout by Lufthansa’s ground staff in Germany is the latest transport strike to hit the country. Germany’s trade unions are reporting rising membership and engagement after years of decline.
Young German workers are showing renewed interest in unionizing and industrial action, as the country’s winter of industrial disruption continues.
In the latest action, Lufthansa ground crews are striking Wednesday with major disruptions to Frankfurt and Munich airports. After a train driver’s union called a major strike at the end of January, security workers at most of Germany’s major airports walked off the job last week, while many local transport services were also out of action last Friday. Read Article
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Protests by Farmers Block Highways to Paris and Elsewhere in France |
NPR All Things Considered – Rebecca Rosman
CHENNEVIERES-LES-LOUVRES, France — For the second day in a row, thousands of angry French farmers have blocked major highways leading in and out of the French capital. They’re calling it the “siege” of Paris.
The protests are part of an intensifying standoff between farmers and the French government. Farmers have slapped the government with a long list of grievances, including complaints about low wages and what they deem to be unfair foreign competition and over-regulation.
To put pressure on French authorities, farmers from across the country have surrounded the outskirts of the capital, blocking at least seven highways with dozens of tractors. Read and Hear Article
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Tractors Flood Brussels Asking for Change in EU Policy |
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH – Euractiv, Maria Simon Arboleas
Several farming groups gathered in the European district of Brussels on Thursday (1 February) to protest against EU agricultural policy, but with very different demands and amid reports of infiltrators causing clashes with police.
Police estimated that around a thousand tractors blocked traffic in Brussels on Thursday as EU leaders met for a summit and farmers continued to protest in several EU countries.
The horns of the convoy could be heard from early morning. Tractors pulled up around the European Parliament and protesters gathered in Luxembourg Square, some lighting fires, burning tyres and throwing objects at police cordoning off EU buildings. Read Article
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Here’s What to Know About the Collapse of China’s Evergrande Property Developer |
NPR – Scott Neuman
At a partially operating Evergrande commercial complex in Beijing on Monday, a man walks past a map of China that shows Evergrande’s commercial complexes throughout the country. Evergrande was once listed as the world’s most valuable real estate company, but on Monday, a Hong Kong court ordered it to be liquidated.
A Hong Kong court has ordered the liquidation of the Evergrande Group, China’s giant and massively indebted real estate developer, after the company was unable to restructure the $300 billion it owed investors.
Just six years ago, Evergrande was riding high, preselling apartments to middle- and upper-income Chinese. In 2018, it was listed as the world’s most valuable real estate company. But just three years later, it was on the financial ropes. Massively overleveraged and unable to complete some existing projects, Evergrande has become symbolic of a Chinese economy that faces some major near-term obstacles: slowing growth, increasing debt and a shrinking workforce. Read Article
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Russia Arms Deal Revives North Korea’s Struggling Economy |
DeutscheWelle- Nik Martin
North Korea’s economy benefits from an arms deal with Russia, providing a much-needed boost amid sanctions. The agreement includes the transfer of shells and ballistic missiles, enhancing Pyongyang’s financial stability.
North Korea, the world’s most isolated state, is this year expected to return to economic growth for the first time since before the pandemic, as weapons deliveries to sustain Russia’s invasion of Ukraine boost state coffers.
Since August, North Korea has made 10 weapons transfers of an estimated one million shells in Russia, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service. Other reports suggest Pyongyang has also delivered ballistic missiles to Russia’s military, citing US satellite images.
Both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied the transfers have taken place. Read Article
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China Faces Debt Meltdown. A Shift To Domestic Chinese Consumption Is The Solution |
Coalition for a Prosperous America – Jeff Ferry
Key Points
- China needs to shift its economy away from investment and exports and towards domestic consumption. This would address its growing debt and overcapacity problems.
- China’s provincial and municipal governments face intense financial pressure. Some are having trouble meeting their bills.
- If it continues to rely on overinvestment, excessive imports, and financial repression, a debt meltdown is inevitable.
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The U.S., can help move China in this direction by continuing to reduce imports from China. This will put momentum behind a shift to domestic-led growth. Read Article
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China’s Overseas Police Stations: An Imminent Security Threat? |
Brookings Institution - Emile Dirks and Diana Fu
Editor's note: This piece is part of a series titled “Nonstate armed actors and illicit economies in 2024” from Brookings’s Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors.
Between 2016 and 2022, four local Chinese public security bureaus reportedly established 102 overseas police service stations in 53 countries across North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Citing reports on these stations released by human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders, authorities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and 10 other countries all launched investigations into these outposts. Concerns about these overseas police stations were amplified by evidence of China’s foreign interference operations and intimidation of overseas critics.
Are fears of these stations warranted? What are the stations’ origins and operations and their links to transnational repression? In responding to these stations, democratic governments need to confront the broader problem of transnational repression. This will require earning the trust of diaspora communities, training law enforcement, and providing support to victims of Chinese state transnational repression. Read Article
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Asia, India and Australia |
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Armed Resistance Tests Myanmar Junta’s Grip on Power |
DeutscheWelle -Tommy Walker
Myanmar’s military junta, ruling since 2021, now faces escalating armed resistance. As the conflict intensifies, the junta’s future is in doubt amid calls for democracy.
Myanmar has been in chaos ever since General Min Aung Hlaing and his military forces overthrew the democratically elected government on February 1, 2021.
The coup sparked an armed conflict between the civilian-led National Unity Government, people’s defense forces and ethnic armed groups.
On the eve of the coup anniversary, the junta extended by six months the state of emergency it declared on February 1, 2021.
Three years after seizing control, Myanmar’s junta is still struggling to control the country. Read Article
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Is Modi’s India Really a Friend to the World? |
DeutscheWelle – Mahima Kapoor in New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described India’s Hindu-nationalist government as a Vishwamitra, or “friend of the world.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has on several occasions referred to his country as a “Vishwamitra,” — which translated from Sankrit and Hindi means “friend of the world” — a term that he has used in recent speeches and at rallies across India.
“It is a matter of pride for all that India has carved a place for itself as ‘Vishwamitra’ and the entire world is seeing a friend in India,” he told Parliament in September.
The campaign is a reflection of the Modi government’s intent to become the leading voice of the Global South, Sreeram Chaulia, the director-general of the Jindal India Institute at O.P. Jindal Global University, told DW. Read Article
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Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe and Russia |
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After the Coups, West Africa’s Brexit Moment |
NPR – Emmanuel Akinwotu
LAGOS, Nigeria – Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three countries ruled by military juntas, overwhelmed by jihadist insurgencies and a series of coups in recent years, have severed ties with regional West African countries this week, and quit the regional bloc called ECOWAS.
It was announced on Sunday before it was communicated through official diplomatic channels, catching neighbouring leaders unaware, escalating a regional crisis. For several months, the three countries remained defiant, faced by a siege of sanctions and diplomatic pressure from ECOWAS, backed by France and the US, to transition back to democracy.
But the tensions have now led to a split that some experts have compared to “Brexit”, when the United Kingdom left the European Union, because of the profound implications for millions of people across the region. Read and Hear Article
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Wagner in Africa: How the Russian Mercenary Group Has Rebranded |
BBC News - Joe Inwood & Jake Tacchi
Russia is offering governments in Africa a "regime survival package" in exchange for access to strategically important natural resources, a major new report has found.
Internal Russian government documents, seen by the BBC, also detail how it is working to change mining laws in West Africa, with the ambition of dislodging Western companies from an area of strategic importance.
This is part of the process of the Russian government taking over the businesses of the Wagner mercenary group, broken up after a failed coup in June 2023. Read Article
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Proactive Technologies' Project Partners |
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Frank J. Gibson Consulting |
"One thing is certain... nothing is certain!"
The rate of change affecting work, the worker, management and the educational institutions that service all three has been accelerating - made worse by the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic. The economy, the consumer, supply chains and operational strategies have all been disrupted in the short-term, casting doubt on the long-term.
Rapid adaptation is the key to survivability, sustainability and growth. Sometimes an experienced outside advisor can help facilitate needed improvements to take the worry out of change and the fear out of growth.
Frank J. Gibson Management and Workforce Excellence Advisor
- Business Development & Growth
- Workforce Development and Optimization
- Training and Cross-Training
- Local,/Regional Workforce Development Projects and Community Development
- Facilitated Problem Solving
- Process Improvement Cross-Functional Leadership Coaching and Mentoring
- Internship and Apprenticeship Projects
- Strategic Doing/Strategic Planning
Copyright © 2024 Frank J. Gibson
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Affiliated with Proactive Technologies, Inc®. for projects outside the United States;
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PTI Systems® International sets-up complete worker development and performance management systems, and provides technical implementation support;
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Don't complain about a "skills gap," deliberately develop every worker to full job mastery!
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"The main difference between service and manufacturing is the service department doesn't know that they have a product."
American engineer, statistician,
professor, author, lecturer, and
management consultant
1900 - 1993
“Drug companies spend more on advertising and marketing than on research, more on research on lifestyle drugs than on life saving drugs, and almost nothing on diseases that affect developing countries only. This is not surprising. Poor people cannot afford drugs, and drug companies make investments that yield the highest returns.”
American New Keynesian economist, public policy analyst, professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and the John Bates Clark Medal.
1943 –
"When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you."
Ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher
6th-5th Century BC
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of Economic Analysis |
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services
The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in December 2023 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit increased from $61.9 billion in November (revised) to $62.2 billion in December, as imports increased more than exports. The goods deficit increased $0.7 billion in December to $89.1 billion. The services surplus increased $0.4 billion in December to $26.9 billion. Read Report
U.S. International Transactions, Q3 2023
The U.S. current-account deficit narrowed by $16.5 billion, or 7.6 percent, to $200.3 billion in the third quarter of 2023, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The revised second-quarter deficit was $216.8 billion. The third-quarter deficit was 2.9 percent of current-dollar gross domestic product, down from 3.2 percent in the second quarter. Read Report
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, December and Annual 2023
The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in December 2023 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit increased from $61.9 billion in November (revised) to $62.2 billion in December, as imports increased more than exports. The goods deficit increased $0.7 billion in December to $89.1 billion. The services surplus increased $0.4 billion in December to $26.9 billion. Read Report
New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States
The statistics on new foreign direct investment in the United States provide information on the acquisition, establishment, and expansion of U.S. business enterprises by foreign direct investors. Read Reports
BEA International Trade and Investment Country Facts
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census |
Monthly Wholesale Trade
December 2023 sales of merchant wholesalers were $670.9 billion, up 0.7 percent (+/- 0.5 percent) from last month. End-of-month inventories were $897.2 billion, up 0.4 percent (+/- 0.4 percent)* from last month. December 2023: +0.4* % Change in Inventories; November 2023 I: -0.4* % Change in Inventories. Read Report
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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
U.S. Data versus the World
Find, compare and share the latest OECD data: charts, maps, tables and related publications. Access Data
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International Trade in Services
Trade in services records the value of services exchanged between residents and non-residents of an economy, including services provided through foreign affiliates established abroad. This indicator is measured in million USD and percentage of GDP for exports, imports and net trade. Services include transport (both freight and passengers), travel, communications services (postal, telephone, satellite, etc.), construction services, insurance and financial services, computer and information services, royalties and license fees, other business services (merchanting, operational leasing, technical and professional services, etc.), cultural and recreational services, and government services not included in the list above. Trade in services drives the exchange of ideas, know-how and technology, although it is often restricted by barriers such as domestic regulations. All OECD countries compile their data according to the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA). Access Data and Tables
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INTEGRA, the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) new platform specializing in integration, trade and investment data from Latin America and the Caribbean.
INTEGRA offers:
Data Consultation and Visualization: Access to constantly updated data, with the ability to customize searches.
Professional Support: Tools designed to support professionals in the public and private sectors, academia, and other fields, facilitating research, analysis, and decision-making processes. This enhances strategic planning regarding integration and trade.
You will be able to delve into:
Trade in goods and services: Recent estimates of the region’s total trade, including the evolution of exports, imports, and trade balance; trade analysis by partner, product, and categories; and data segmented by customs and transportation.
Capital movement: Detailed insights into Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), both total and by sectors and partners.
Regulations: A comprehensive map of trade and integration agreements, preferential market access, tariff reduction schedule of the Mercosur-EU agreement, and non-tariff measures. Indicators: Prices and volumes of exports and imports, commodity price index, main indicators of goods and services.
Country profile: A summary of the primary platform data for IDB borrowing countries. Access INTEGRA
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The Rural Ski Slope Caught Up in an International Scam |
The New Yorker – Sheelah Kolhatkar
A federal program promised to bring foreign investment to remote parts of the country. It soon became rife with fraud.
As the general manager of the Jay Peak ski resort, Bill Stenger rose most days around 6 a.m. and arrived at the slopes before seven. He’d check in with his head snowmaker and the ski-patrol staff, visit the two hotels on the property, and chat with the maintenance workers, the lift operators, the food-and-beverage manager, and the ski-school instructors—a kind of management through constant motion. Stenger is seventy-five, with white hair, wire-rimmed reading glasses, and a sturdy physique that makes him look built for fuzzy sweaters. He told me recently, of skiing, “I love the sport. It’s a dynamic sport, and, if it’s properly taught, it is life-changing.” On April 13, 2016, he had finished his morning rounds and was drinking coffee with the head of the snow-grooming department when his assistant called. “You need to come over to the office right away,” she said, sounding nervous. “Some folks from the S.E.C. are here.”
Stenger shows an ability to cling to optimism even when the facts don’t warrant it. He didn’t panic at first. “For all I knew, they were coming to take a tour of the place,” he told me. He drove down to the cluster of trailers that served as the resort’s administrative hub and noticed five or six black S.U.V.s in the parking lot. Inside the office, his staff was standing around awkwardly. A lawyer named Jeffrey Schneider told Stenger that the Securities and Exchange Commission was seizing the resort from Stenger’s business partner, Ariel Quiros. It was also seizing Burke Mountain, another ski hill owned by Quiros, an hour away. At that moment, Quiros’s office in Miami was being raided by S.E.C. agents. Schneider handed Stenger an eighty-one-page document alleging that Stenger and Quiros had committed fraud. Read and Hear Article
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Is the World Economy Deglobalizing? |
J.P. Morgan – Joe Seydl, Senior Markets Economist; Zidong (Jerry) Gao, Global Investment Strategist
Despite dire predictions, global economic integration is not unraveling. But for a few critical imports affecting national security, changes are on the way.
Since the U.S.-China trade war began in 2018, and with increasing intensity during COVID-19, investors have expressed concerns about deglobalization. That’s the idea that the world is becoming less interconnected through trade, which has the potential to hurt financial markets, gross domestic product (GDP) growth and corporate profits.
The good news first: As of late 2023, the world’s economies were not rapidly deglobalizing. Economic integration, and its benefits to corporate profit margins, remain intact. That’s despite two serious hits: the tariffs the United States put on many Chinese imports, and the unprecedented sanctions placed on Russia for invading Ukraine that produced an even more extreme trade shock.
Our analysis of the trade data shows supply chains proving flexible and resilient, and production shifting elsewhere. Supply chains are mostly diversifying – what might be called a slow-moving maturation away from excessive concentration in China. This is positive for economic growth in a variety of countries, and bodes well for resiliency of the global trading system against future economic shocks. Read Article
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US Trade Gap Narrows in 2023 to Smallest in Three Years |
IndustryWeek – Agence France-Presse
United States bought more goods from Mexico than China in 2023.
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in 2023 to the smallest in three years, government data showed Wednesday, while the country imported more goods from Mexico than China for the first time in about two decades.
The latest figures add to a series of positive economic news for President Joe Biden, who has been working to boost sentiment on his handling of the economy as his November reelection campaign picks up pace.
For all of 2023, the overall trade gap was $773.4 billion, down 18.7% from the $951.2 billion figure in the prior year, U.S. Commerce Department figures showed. Read Article
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US Department of Labor, Office of the Trade Representative, Announce Successful Remediation of Denial of Worker’s Rights at Goodyear Tire Plant in Mexico |
U.S. Department of Labor
WASHINGTON – The United States government today announced the successful resolution of a U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Rapid Response Labor Mechanism matter at the Goodyear rubber tire facility in San Luis Potosí.
After the U.S. requested Mexico’s review of the matter under the Rapid Response Mechanism of the USMCA, the two governments negotiated a course of remediation in July 2023 to help workers who were receiving fewer wages and benefits than they were legally owed. Mexico and Goodyear took several actions to address denials of rights that the U.S. found during its investigation into the failure by the company to apply a sector-wide agreement.
This course of remediation has thus far delivered approximately $4 million in back pay to more than 1,300 workers, including about 150 former workers. Additional actions taken by Goodyear to provide the wages and benefits they owe to workers include applying a sector-wide agreement to reclassify job categories, which resulted in immediate wage gains for most workers at the plant. The company will also increase payments into an employee savings program and contribute to a social welfare account that workers can use to fund unexpected layoffs and absences, additional vacation days and a larger end-of-year bonus. Read Release
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How China Beat the U.S. At Its Own EV Game |
Coalition for a Prosperous America - Kenneth Rapoza
Western governments love EVs. The European Union and the U.S. do everything possible to promote them to consumers. But you know who loves EVs even more? China.
China is the planet’s EV power center. Because China is the world’s leading auto market and the government is pushing EVs there too, BYD beat Tesla to become the No. 1 EV car maker in 2023.
Henry Ford invented the automobile and Elon Musk popularized battery-powered cars, but the Chinese will come to dominate the post-gas automotive market the West created. The support China gives to this segment of the auto market means domestic manufacturers there have the incentives to flood the zone with product. Read Article
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World Trade Organization In “Serious Trouble” Ahead of UAE Meeting; Might Not Be Salvageable |
Coalition for a Prosperous America - Kenneth Rapoza
The World Trade Organization (WTO) may be on its last legs heading into its 13th Ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi later this month. Despite its importance, and usefulness as a gathering place for 164 (soon to be 166) nations to discuss global commerce, the surprising takeaway from a House Ways and Means Subcommittee hearing on trade this week suggests the organization’s influence has peaked. The WTO is in decline. It may not even be salvageable, key witnesses told the Subcommittee on Feb. 7.
“The WTO is completely divorced from what’s actually happening on the ground and what’s impacting everyday Americans. And so from that perspective, we need an ambitious negotiating agenda. And that’s not going to happen among 164, soon to be 166 members,” said witness Kelly Ann Shaw, a partner at Hogan Lovells and former Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economics in the Trump administration. [Testimony] “While I wish it were, that’s not possible in a consensus-based system. So we need to find like-minded allies who want to undertake that exercise with us.” Read Article
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Recession in Japan Makes Germany Third Largest Economy |
DeutscheWelle
Japan's official economic data shows the country has slipped into a technical recession and slipped behind Germany as the fourth largest economy in the world.
Germany overtook Japan as the world's third-biggest economy, official data showed on Thursday, as fresh figures from Tokyo showed Japan's economy slipping into a recession.
Japan's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) for 2023 stood at $4.2 trillion in dollar terms, government data showed, compared to Germany's $4.5 trillion, according to the latest figures.
The yen slumped more than 18% against the dollar in 2022 and 2023. This includes a 7% depreciation last year, partly because the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has maintained negative interest rates.
Meanwhile, the euro used in Germany has been more or less stable against the dollar overall in the same period. Read Article
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Mexico Replaces China For Imports. What’s Happening? |
Coalition for a Prosperous America - Kenneth Rapoza
Last year, the U.S. imported more goods from Mexico than it did from China. It was a first. Although the trade deficit with China is still the biggest out of every country, and more than the trade deficit with Mexico and Canada combined, Mexican imports totaled $475.6 billion in 2023 versus China’s $427.2 billion. U.S. imports from China fell by over $110 billion, but U.S. imports from Mexico rose by around $20 billion.
What’s happening? Surely the 2018 Section 301 tariffs against China has led to a remapping of supply chains out of mainland China. A portion has moved to Vietnam. And a lot of it has gone to Mexico. Read Article
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Education And Workforce Development News |
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The Department of Education’s Budget Tug of War: Congress vs. Presidents |
Brookings Institution - Rosalia Dalton, Former Intern - The Brookings Institution, Governance Studies, Brown Center on Education Policy; Nicolas Zerbino, Senior Research Analyst; and Katharine Meyer, Fellow - Governance Studies, Brown Center on Education Policy
Each year, schools rely on billions of dollars provided by the federal government to supplement their operating costs.
Since the inception of the U.S. Department of Education, the president and Congress have disagreed, to varying extents, on the appropriate amount of federal K-12 funding each year.
As national attention continues to focus on the 2024 presidential race, it’s important to remember that presidents are important actors in setting the federal budget, but they are far from being unilateral actors. Read Article
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Gov. Shapiro Proposes Overhaul of Pa. Higher Education with Combined Systems, Reduced Student Costs |
Community College Daily News - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ford Turner
HARRISBURG — A proposed structural overhaul of Pennsylvania higher education laid out by Gov. Josh Shapiro on Friday would put state system schools and community colleges in a single organization, and many students at state-owned universities or community colleges would pay no more than $1,000 in tuition and fees per semester.
Mr. Shapiro revealed some details of the plan in a press release that summarized the work of the Higher Education Working Group his administration convened last year. It grappled with multiple longstanding problems tied to financing, cost and stability in the state’s higher education scene. Read Article
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Dartmouth Reinstates The SAT, Striking A Blow For Fairness And Merit |
Forbes - Frederick Hess, Senior Contributor
Dartmouth College announced this week that it’ll be reinstating its SAT requirement, starting with students applying for fall 2025 admission. That makes it the first Ivy League institution to do so after all eight dropped their requirements in response to the pandemic and concerns about equity. Those institutions were in good company, with most of the nation’s selective colleges either waiving admissions tests or going “test-optional” in recent years.
Against that backdrop, Dartmouth’s decision (which follows a similar move by MIT last year) is a heartening development. Especially amidst rampant high school grade inflation, suspect campus practices, and the flagrant abuse of letters and essays by those who know how the game works, tests like the SAT or ACT can operate as a much-needed reality check. As Dartmouth president Sian Beilock explained in an email to the campus community, the decision reflected a faculty study which concluded that “standardized test scores are an important predictor of a student’s success in Dartmouth’s curriculum” whatever the “student’s background or family income.” Read Article
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Almost Half of Stopped-out Community College Students Cite Work as Major Reason for Leaving |
HigherEd Dive - Natalie Schwartz, Senior Editor
Other top reasons include program unaffordability, lost ambition and child care concerns, according to a New America survey.
Dive Brief:
- Nearly half of students who left community college without earning a degree or credential cited work as a major reason why they’re no longer enrolled, according to recent survey data from New America, a left-leaning think tank.
- Almost a third, 31%, said they could no longer afford their programs, while 27% said they had lost self-motivation or ambition. Other top reasons included child care responsibilities, the impact of inflation and personal health issues.
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Stopped-out community college students faced greater economic hardships in 2023 than they did the prior year, the survey suggests. Sixty percent said they had missed paying important bills, up from 49% in 2022. And 58% said they applied for public benefits in 2023, compared to 49% the year before. Read Article
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Community College Daily News - Staff
The total number of community colleges that are American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) member-eligible has decreased from 1,038 to 1,026, according to the just-released AACC Fast Facts 2024. The college count can change for a variety of reasons, including consolidation, the granting of more bachelor’s degrees or college closures.
AACC analysis of federal data also shows that the number of associate degrees granted fell by about 28,000, while the number of certificates awarded rose slightly.
Also of note are the funding sources for community colleges. For the reporting year of 2021-2022, federal investments in community college rose more than $5 billion, largely due to the influx of federal Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund grants provided during the Covid pandemic. Read Article
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Republicans Say Proposed Rule Would Disincentivize Apprenticeships |
HR Dive - Kathryn Moody, Senior Editor
The lawmakers’ complaints focus on administrative requirements, including mandatory disclosures and required adoption of a time-based model.
Republican lawmakers told the U.S. Department of Labor in a Feb. 15 letter that a proposed rule would disincentivize small businesses from participating in the government’s registered apprenticeship program.
“This rule places an especially high burden on small businesses by imposing difficult administrative requirements ranging from mandatory disclosures for training program sponsors to providing details about the operation, performance, and advancement of the training program,” the letter, signed by Roger Williams, R-Texas, chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, and Congressman Aaron Bean, R-Fla., said. Read Article
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Training And Organizational Development News |
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Most HR Leaders Say Half of Workers Will Need Reskilling in Coming Years |
HR Dive – Carolyn Crist
The clock is ticking as leaders try to tackle the skills gap, emphasizing a need for skills-based talent strategies, a new report says.
About 90% of HR leaders believe up to half of their workforce will need to be reskilled in the next five years, according to a Jan. 23 report from PeopleScout and Spotted Zebra.
However, only 7% noted an active investment in their reskilling programs, and 45% said they had no plans to undertake a workforce transformation initiative to prepare for the changing skills landscape.
“Skills-based talent strategies are essential, and the clock is ticking for employers across all regions and industries,” Nick Shaw, founder and chief customer officer of Spotted Zebra, an HR tech company, said in a statement. Read and Hear Article
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The Firefighter, the Blamer, the Ignorer and 7 Other Types of Bad Bosses |
HR Dive – Ginger Christ
While managers may not realize they’re bad bosses, it’s important to catch their mistakes before they ruin someone’s life, an HR consultant and author said.
If you’ve ever woken up day after day with a knot in your stomach, dreading going into work or logging onto your computer, terrified to face a callous or just plain cruel manager, you might know a thing or two about bad bosses.
I remember clearly a moment when my parents had come to visit and saw me wipe a tear from my face as I headed out the door in the morning. My dad, a longtime advocate of being loyal to your company and always being grateful to have a job, said, “Ging, it’s time to leave.” The company, not my house. It was one of the best professional decisions I’ve made. Read Article
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The Lazybones, the Jerk and the Badgerer: 6 Types of Managerial FMLA, ADA Offenders |
HR Dive – Ginger Christ
Training managers on compliance sometimes can be harder than meeting accommodation requirements, according to a DMEC study.
When it comes to compliance, sometimes a lack of manager training can be to blame for violations, Matt Morris, VP of FMLASource, ComPsych Corp., told attendees of a virtual session hosted Jan. 17 by the Disability Management Employer Coalition.
“We don’t hire managers to be FMLA experts,” Morris said. “We hire them because they are good people managers. They are good subject matter experts.”
But sometimes, managers’ “blindness or inaction” to the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act can lead to charges and large payouts, Morris explained. Read Article
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Trust, ‘Human Sustainability’ Remain Key to Boosting Performance, Deloitte Says |
HR Dive – Carolyn Crist
Organization should put humans back at the center of work, a leader at the firm said.
If companies want to improve their business and human performance, they must focus on a “human sustainability” approach that prioritizes outcomes among workers, customers and society at large, according to a Feb. 6 report from Deloitte.
Although 89% of executives responding to a survey said their organization advances human sustainability in some way, only 41% of workers agreed.
“While organizations grapple with a myriad of challenges, a fundamental shift they should embrace is putting humans back at the center of work — after all, it is humans, more than any physical assets, that drive business performance,” Art Mazor, global human capital practice leader and principal of Deloitte Consulting LLP, said in a statement. Read and Hear Article
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HR Dive – Carolyn Crist
L&D teams should establish the purpose of measurement and incorporate key players, according to a McLean & Co. report.
Despite growing interest in learning and development programs, L&D teams often struggle to demonstrate return on investment and the importance of measuring learning efficacy, according to a Feb. 7 report from McLean & Co.
In particular, a lack of clarity around appropriate learning models, metrics and assessments creates barriers for L&D teams when trying to show the value of learning programs. Read Article
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46% of Employees Say They Lack Career Support from Managers |
CFO.com – Adam Zaki, Reporter
And 25% of employees say they’ll likely quit within the next six months due to a lack of career development support from their company.
CFOs and finance teams continue to grapple with talent retention and labor shortages in 2024. These two facets collide when it comes to equipping new talent for career growth. And many employees, especially Gen Z, (born between 1997 and 2012) look to leadership to build out their careers.
In a new survey from INTOO and Workplace Intelligence, 1,600 full-time workers were asked about the opportunities and tools at their disposal to promote their career growth. But, nearly half (46%) say their manager doesn’t know how to help them with career development. And 59% said their company rarely or never helps them explore opportunities for growth outside of their current department. Read Article
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Employees Concerned About Layoffs Seek Ways to Prove Their Worth |
Tribune Content Agency Careers Now
DEAR READERS: Layoffs have been getting a lot of attention lately. How can employees who are afraid they’ll be next show their worth to their employer in a way that could help the employer realize the value they’re bringing not only to their position but to the company overall?
“As difficult as it is, being afraid that you will be next to get laid off is not a good strategy unless that fear makes you show up in your full glory to create energy and maximum value towards the success of your organization,” says former IBM Vice President Shelmina Babai Abji, author of “Show Your Worth: 8 Intentional Strategies for Women to Emerge As Leaders at Work.”
“For most people, when they are afraid, their energy gets depleted, they hunker down and try to remain off their leader’s radar screen. And that will work against you,” she says. Read Article
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Access Proactive Technologies' Recent "Proactive Technologies Workforce News" Article Quicklinks |
Located on the left panel below, this includes articles on structured worker development, achieving worker "full job mastery," engineering/quality/safety compliance, ISO/TS/AS quality program support and compliance, and many other contemporary worker development and management topics. |
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Recent Proactive Technologies News Article Quicklinks |
February
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Proactive Technologies, Inc. - Staff
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
January
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Proactive Technologies, Inc. - Staff
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
December
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations – Eastern U.S. – Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Frank Gibson, Workforce Development Advisor, retired from The Ohio State University – Alber Enterprise Center
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
November
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Frank Gibson, Workforce Development Advisor, retired from The Ohio State University – Alber Enterprise Center
by Proactive Technologies, Inc. Staff
October
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Proactive Technologies, Inc. - Staff
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
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Proactive Technologies, Inc.® Partners With Educational Institutions, Workforce/Economic
Development Groups, Government Agencies
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Structured on-the-job training attracts and engages employers in workforce development partnerships...some projects sustainable for more than 18 years!
This creates a steady need for your related technical instruction, services and a pathway for employment.
These partnerships:
- enhance your institution's opportunity to market your products and services to incumbent workers;
- allow your organization to include structured on-the-job training as a capstone to preemployment preparation;
- document a trainee-to worker's increasing value to the employer - the key to retention - rather than leaving it to chance;
- properly aligns workforce development resources and maximizes the impact and results; allows you to engage an employer's facility, equipment and staff in the training process;
- provides the best, sustainable infrastructure for apprenticeships and internships that last!
- is a win for the trainee, win for the worker, win for the employer, win for the institution and win for the community!
This approach has continued to prove itself since 1988, and does not compete with your school's or agency's products and services; it adds to your efforts the clear, tangible, measurable advantage that employers seek.
Proactive Technologies has continued to partner with community colleges, universities, workforce development agencies and training providers with its " hybrid approach" to worker training. Introduce the power of the PROTECH® system of managed human resource development to your clients!
Copyright © 2015 - 2024
Proactive Technologies, Inc.®
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Tri-Rivers Career Center - Adult Education provides lifelong, continuous learning for a diverse adult population. We utilize practical skills with an eye toward technological advancement.
We partner with state agencies and employers to provide targeted skill development to future and incumbent workers.
Our RAMTEC (Robotic and Advanced Manufacturing Technology Education Collaborative) facility - one of many throughout the state - offers advanced technical training in specialized areas such as robotics, robotic welding, and engineering technology.
Copyright © 2022 Tri-Rivers Career Center - Adult Education - RAMTEC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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PROACTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.® CLIENT SERVICES
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To supplement onsite PROTECH® system of managed human resource development classes, these regularly scheduled webinars are available to the registered staff of clients:
- Structured On-The-Job Training Instructor Certification
- Structured On-The Job Training Checklist Administrator Certification
- Management Structured On-The-Job Training Project Support Briefing
- Integrating Support for Plant-Wide ISO/AS/IATF Quality and Safety Systems with PROTECH Workforce Development System
- Supporting "Pay-For-Value" Systems
- Promoting Continuous Process Improvement While Implementing the PROTECH System for the Accelerated Transfer of Expertise™
- PROTECH Onsite Lead Trainer and System Administrator Certification
Contact US t o attend one of these seminars and we will send you an e-reservation. Include your client ID, name and user ID number and which webinar you would like to attend.
Copyright © 2019-24
Proactive Technologies, Inc.®
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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When Part Gaging is a Bottleneck |
Quality Magazine – Scott Wisotzke
Automatic manual gauging improves process control, yield, and capacity.
Defined processes are critical to continuous improvement in manufacturing. Key measurement points are identified and metrics are put in place to measure processes. The resulting data is meant to be used for process improvement. It is in the evaluation of the data that bottlenecks can be discovered. In manufacturing, manual gaging is often responsible for bottlenecks.
Bottlenecks in manufacturing can be caused by labor shortages, which force employees to split time between processes. The resulting throughput irregularities negatively impact downstream processes. Technology can also cause bottlenecks if it is antiquated and slow, or improperly selected for the desired purpose. Read Article
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New Problem Found on Boeing 737 Max Planes |
CNN – Chris Isidore Gregory Wallace Pete Muntean
A new problem has been found during the production of 737 Max jets that will force Boeing to rework about 50 planes that have not yet been delivered.
The problem was disclosed in a memo sent to Boeing (BA) employees Sunday by Stan Deal, the head of the company’s commercial aircraft unit. An employee at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselages of the 737 Max jets, notified the plane maker that two holes may not have been drilled exactly to Boeing’s requirements, according to Deal’s memo.
“While this potential condition is not an immediate flight safety issue and all 737’s can continue operating safely, we currently believe we will have to perform rework on about 50 undelivered airplanes,” it said. Read Article
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Honda Recalls 750,000 Vehicles Over Air Bag Flaw |
NPR – James Doubek
Honda is recalling more than 750,000 cars, SUVs, minivans and pickups over a defect that causes air bags to deploy when they should not.
The recall includes models of the Honda Civic, Accord, CR-V, Fit, HR-V, Insight, Odyssey, Pilot, Passport, Ridgeline, as well as the Acura MDX, RDX and TLX, from model years between 2020 and 2022.
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Boeing’s Organizational Problems Date Back Two Decades |
IndustryWeek – Christopher S. Tang
The aerospace giant began outsourcing 70% of its design, engineering and manufacturing in the early 2000s.
Boeing has been a beacon of American aviation leadership for over a century, weathering numerous storms. Following a Jan. 5 incident where a fuselage panel of its 737 Max 9 detached during an Alaskan Airlines flight, Boeing’s stock price only dipped by 10%. But there have been more incidents since, including the discovery of missing bolts and mis-drilled holes on some fuselages of its 737 Max jets in late January.
In the commercial aircraft industry, Boeing and Airbus are the primary competitors. Unless significant sanctions are imposed due to Boeing’s design and production-quality issues, it is likely that business will continue as usual. This is because the current crisis is not unprecedented. Read Article
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FAA Tightening Control of Aerospace Manufacturing |
IndustryWeek – Robert Brooks
The head of the U.S. agency charged with oversight of the civil aerospace sector describes a data-focused program, but with “a surveillance component, … where inspectors are actually on the ground, talking to people, looking at the work that’s being done.”
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is preparing to institute a new oversight of the civil aviation sector, focusing particularly on the manufacturing process. In testimony to the U.S. House aviation subcommittee recently, FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker described the shift from an audit-based oversight to one that emphasizes inspections.
“With manufacturing, there has been an oversight approach that has focused heavily on audits, checking the paperwork to make sure it’s correct and making sure that systems are in place,” Whitaker explained to the committee. “We are migrating to a system that is what I would call ‘audit plus.’ We’re going to have more of a surveillance component, … where inspectors are actually on the ground, talking to people, looking at the work that’s being done. So we’re proposing at this point to expand the oversight approach to include both audit and inspection, which is why we’re moving inspectors into facilities.” Read Article
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Toyota Recalls 280K Pickup Trucks, SUVs Because Transmissions Can Deliver Power Even When in Neutral |
CBS News
Toyota is recalling about 280,000 pickup trucks and SUVs in the U.S. to fix a transmission problem that can let the vehicles creep forward while in neutral.
The recall covers certain Toyota Tundra pickups and Lexus LX 600 SUVs from the 2022 and 2023 model years. Also included are 2023 and 2024 Toyota Sequoia SUVs.
Toyota said Wednesday that certain parts of the vehicles’ automatic transmissions may not immediately disengage when shifted into neutral. That can transfer some engine power to the wheels. The vehicles could creep forward at low speeds on flat surfaces if the brakes aren’t applied, increasing the risk of a crash. Read Article
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Discovery Alert: A ‘Super-Earth’ in the Habitable Zone |
NASA – Pat Brennan
On the right lower foreground, this illustration shows a ‘super-Earth’ – a planet larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune – with a brownish atmosphere flecked with white, horizontal strips of cloud. The planet’s left side is partially lit by its reddish parent star, a red dwarf, smaller and cooler than our Sun, seen in the upper left of the image.
The discovery: A “super-Earth” ripe for further investigation orbits a small, reddish star that is, by astronomical standards, fairly close to us – only 137 light-years away. The same system also might harbor a second, Earth-sized planet.
Key facts: The bigger planet, dubbed TOI-715 b, is about one and a half times as wide as Earth, and orbits within the “conservative” habitable zone around its parent star. That’s the distance from the star that could give the planet the right temperature for liquid water to form on its surface. Several other factors would have to line up, of course, for surface water to be present, especially having a suitable atmosphere. But the conservative habitable zone – a narrower and potentially more robust definition than the broader “optimistic” habitable zone – puts it in prime position, at least by the rough measurements made so far. The smaller planet could be only slightly larger than Earth, and also might dwell just inside the conservative habitable zone. Read Article
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Syphilis Cases Rise to Their Highest Levels Since the 1950s, CDC Says |
NPR – Diba Mohtasham
This 1966 microscope photo made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a tissue sample with the presence of numerous, corkscrew-shaped, darkly-stained, Treponema pallidum spirochetes, the bacterium responsible for causing syphilis.
The number of syphilis cases in the U.S. are on the rise. According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cases increased by nearly 80% to more than 207,000 between 2018 and 2022.
Rates increased among all age groups, including newborns, and in all regions of the country. In 2022, 3,755 cases of babies born with syphilis in the U.S. were reported, which reflects an alarming 937% increase in the past decade, the CDC said. Read Article
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This Thai Island is Powered Almost 100% by Solar |
DeutscheWelle – Pattamon Wongrattna in Koh Jik
Koh Jik, a small island, has successfully transitioned to solar. And has won several awards as one of the most sustainable villages in the region. See Video Story
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Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus Lander Fipped Over on the Moon During ‘Spicy’ Lunar Landing |
Space.com - Mike Wall
But the history-making spacecraft still seems to be in good shape, and its mission continues.
The private Odysseus lander is down on the lunar surface, in more ways than one.
The 14-foot-tall (4.3 meters) Odysseus, which was built by Houston company Intuitive Machines, apparently settled on its side during its historic touchdown yesterday (Feb. 22), mission team members said. But don't panic — the pioneering spacecraft is still very much alive.
"So far, we have quite a bit of operational capability even though we're tipped over," Intuitive Machines CEO and co-founder Steve Altemus said during a press briefing today (Feb. 23). Read Article
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One of the World’s Biggest Cities May be Just Months Away from Running Out of Water |
CNN – Laura Paddison, Jack Guy and Fidel Gutiérrez
Alejandro Gomez has been without proper running water for more than three months. Sometimes it comes on for an hour or two, but only a small trickle, barely enough to fill a couple of buckets. Then nothing for many days.
Gomez, who lives in Mexico City’s Tlalpan district, doesn’t have a big storage tank so can’t get water truck deliveries — there’s simply nowhere to store it. Instead, he and his family eke out what they can buy and store.
When they wash themselves, they capture the runoff to flush the toilet. It’s hard, he told CNN. “We need water, it’s essential for everything.” Read Article
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Cyber Security And IT News |
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Progress Software’s MOVEit Meltdown: Uncovering the Fallout |
Cybersecurity Dive – Matt Kapko
Businesses use the file-transfer service because it checks compliance boxes for keeping data safe. Though initial attacks were targeted, thousands of bystanding businesses were hit indiscriminately.
Colorado State University is among thousands of organizations impacted by attacks against MOVEit environments. The school didn’t directly use the tool, but its data was exposed six times by six different vendors. Retrieved from Colorado State University on January 09, 2024
While most of its students enjoyed summer break, Colorado State University revealed vast and duplicative exposure to a data breach.
CSU was one of thousands of organizations caught in the flurry of zero-day attacks targeting Progress Software’s MOVEit file-transfer service customers. It wasn’t the first victim to come forward, nor would it be the last.
Yet, what makes CSU unique is, though it didn’t directly use the tool, its data was exposed six times by six different vendors. Read Article
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This Top Microsoft Office Alternative Has Been Hijacked by Chinese hackers — and Their Malware is Coming for Your Devices |
Tech Radar - Sead Fadilpašić published about 6 hours ago
WPS Office hit by new adversary-in-the-middle attack
Chinese hackers are hijacking legitimate software updates to deliver backdoors capable of stealing sensitive information from the target endpoints, experts have warned.
A new report from cybersecurity researchers ESET recently observed a previously unknown threat actor which they dubbed Blackwood.
This group, which apparently is on the Chinese government’s payroll, delivers malware through software updates for legitimate tools such as WPS Office, Tencent QQ, and Sogou Pinyin. Read Article
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It's True — Microsoft Teams Group Chat Requests Can Be Bad For You, as Hackers Hijack Them to Spread Malware |
Tech Radar - Sead Fadilpašić
Default Microsoft Teams feature could put organizations at risk
Hackers are abusing a group chat feature in Microsoft Teams video conferencing software to deploy malware on people’s computers, researchers have warned.
Cybersecurity experts from AT&T Cybersecurity said that a threat actor was observed using either a compromised Teams user, or domain, to send more than 1,000 Teams group chat invites.
Anyone who accepts the invitation is served a file titled “Navigating Future Changes October 2023.pdf.msi” - and those with a sharp eye will notice that the file pretends to be a PDF, but is actually an MSI file - a Windows Installer package that delivers the DarkGate malware. Read Article
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Almost a Million WordPress Websites at Risk From This Security Flaw — Here's What You Need to Know to Keep Your Site Safe |
Tech Radar - Sead Fadilpašić published about 20 hours ago
Another vulnerable plugin was found on the WordPress platform
Almost a million WordPress websites were vulnerable to a flaw that allowed hackers to modify content on different pages.
A report from Wordfence noted the vulnerability could lead to hackers altering sensitive data and potentially exploiting the website builder system.
As per the report, the websites were vulnerable through a WordPress plugin called Website Builder, developed by SeedProd which has more than 900,000 active installations. The vulnerability involved a missing capability check in one of the plugin’s functions, allowing hackers to modify content on sites such as “coming soon”, maintenance pages, or 404 pages, created using the plugin. Read Article
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The AI PC Trend Will Push Windows System Requirements Forward |
MSN News – XDA Developers, Brady Snyder
AI PCs require on-device processing and an NPU, increasing system requirements for Windows machines.
Microsoft does not have a clear definition of what an AI PC is, but an NPU is a key component.
The performance demands of on-device AI processing may lead to increased minimum memory requirements for AI PCs, although Microsoft has not yet confirmed this. Read Article
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AI-generated Code Leads to Security Issues for Most Businesses: Report |
Cybersecurity Dive - Lindsey Wilkinson,Reporter
More than three-quarters of developers bypass established protocols to use code completion tools despite potential risks, Snyk’s research found.
Dive Brief:
- More than half of organizations encounter security issues with AI-generated code sometimes or frequently, according to Snyk’s survey of more than 500 technology professionals in late 2023.
- Developers are interested in productivity gains from AI coding assistants, but businesses could run into problems if the growing use goes unchecked. Nearly 9 in 10 developers are concerned about the broader security implications of using AI coding tools, according to the data.
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More than three-quarters of developers bypass established protocols to use code completion tools despite potential risks, according to the report. To compound the security problem, around half of organizations haven’t updated software security practices to adapt to the growing use of AI-powered coding tools. Read Article
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Ex-CIA Computer Engineer Gets 40 Years in Prison for Giving Spy Agency Hacking Secrets to WikiLeaks |
Associated Press – Larry Neumeister
NEW YORK (AP) — A former CIA software engineer was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday after his convictions for what the government described as the biggest theft of classified information in CIA history and for possession of child sexual abuse images and videos.
The bulk of the sentence imposed on Joshua Schulte, 35, in Manhattan federal court came for an embarrassing public release of a trove of CIA secrets by WikiLeaks in 2017. He has been jailed since 2018.
“We will likely never know the full extent of the damage, but I have no doubt it was massive,” Judge Jesse M. Furman said as he announced the sentence.
The so-called Vault 7 leak revealed how the CIA hacked Apple and Android smartphones in overseas spying operations, and efforts to turn internet-connected televisions into listening devices. Prior to his arrest, Schulte had helped create the hacking tools as a coder at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Read Article
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This Devious New Trojan is Exposing a Flaw in Windows SmartScreen to Drain Victims Bank Accounts |
Tech Radar - Sead Fadilpašić
Palo Alto Networks’ cybersecurity research arm Unit 42 recently discovered a new malware variant targeting users via a vulnerability in Windows SmartScreen
Mispadu is an infostealer built on Delphi, looking to extract sensitive information from victim endpoints, including banking details.
Last year Mispadu’s operators harvested roughly 90,000 bank account credentials, The Hacker News claimss, citing Metabase Q reports. Read Article
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Spyware Risks Are Rising Fast, and You Should Definitely Be Worried — Even Google Says So |
Tech Radar - Sead Fadilpašić
Google tracks at least 40 companies building commercial spyware
Companies developing spyware and offering spying services to government agencies and threat actors around the world are growing in number, and to make matters worse, for all of them - business is good.
This is according to a new report from Google, which highlights the growing concern of commercially developed spyware.
Now, according to Google’s latest Buying Spying report, it tracks around 40 Commercial Surveillance Vendors (CSV). Some are more popular than others, but all play an important role in developing spyware, it said. One of their bigger roles is discovering zero-day vulnerabilities. In fact, Google claims CSVs are behind half of known zero-day exploits targeting Google products and the Android ecosystem. Read Article
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OpenAI, Microsoft Warn of State-linked Actors’ AI Use |
Cybersecurity Dive - David Jones, Reporter
Threat groups linked to Russia, China, North Korea and Iran were using AI in preparation for potential early stage hacking campaigns.
Dive Brief:
- OpenAI said it terminated accounts of five state-affiliated threat groups who were using the company’s large language models to lay the groundwork for malicious hacking campaigns. The disruption was done in collaboration with Microsoft threat researchers.
- The threat groups — linked to Russia, Iran, North Korea and the People’s Republic of China — were using OpenAI for a variety of precursor tasks, including open source queries, translation, searching for errors in code and running basic coding tasks, according to OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
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Cybersecurity and AI analysts warn the threat activity uncovered by OpenAI and Microsoft is just a precursor for state-linked and criminal groups to rapidly adopt generative AI to scale their attack capabilities. Read Article
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Human Resource Management News |
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CFO Dive - Jim Tyson, Senior Reporter
Corporate directors and investors differ when identifying the biggest issues this year, with directors focusing more on the economy and capital allocation, EY said.
Dive Brief:
- Institutional investors rank securing talent — including hiring, retention, pay and training — as the top corporate priority for 2024, with 63% identifying it as the most pressing challenge, EY said in a report timed to the start of this year’s proxy season.
- Climate change and environmental stewardship rank second, flagged by 56% of investors, with supply chain and capital allocation both rated a distant third, identified by 31% of respondents, EY said in its Proxy Season Preview.
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A few investors “cited the recent strikes and collective bargaining efforts in various industries and suggested they are a signal that the paradigm of maximizing profits at the expense of worker satisfaction is being significantly challenged,” EY’s Jamie Smith said in the report. Efforts by labor activists “underscore the importance of company leaders being in touch with employee sentiment.” Read Article
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65% of Employees Say They Experienced Burnout in 2023 |
HR Dive – Carolyn Crist
Although employee burnout is decreasing slightly, most workers say it’s still negatively affecting their job performance.
About 65% of employees said they suffered from burnout last year, according to a Dec. 18 report from isolved, a human resource management system.
Employee burnout has decreased somewhat compared to 2022, according to the report, but it’s still heavily affecting productivity. About 72% of employees said burnout impacted their performance.
“Leaders need to keep a close eye on employee experience in 2024,” Celia Fleischaker, chief marketing officer at isolved, said in a statement.
“The critical nature of customer experience is often prioritized over the employee’s day-to-day workplace experience, but the reality is the two are very intertwined, and a poor company culture can detrimentally impact an organization’s bottom line and long-term competitiveness,” she said. Read and Hear Article
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In-N-Out Burger, Fidelity Among Best Places to Work Based on Glassdoor Reviews |
HR Dive – Carolyn Crist
Top companies share similar themes such as transparent leadership, flexibility and opportunities for career advancement, according to the review site.
In-N-Out Burger, Fidelity Investments and others earned spots on Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work 2024, published Tuesday.
The tech industry boasted the highest representation, accounting for 31 of the 100 companies; it was followed by 12 in consulting, 11 in finance and 10 in retail.
The list, which is based on employee feedback about the pros and cons of their company, includes 26 newcomers this year and two companies that have ranked on the list for all 16 years. Read Article
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Federal Agency Salary History Ban to Take Effect by October 2024 |
HR Dive - Ryan Golden, Senior Reporter
Separately, a proposal would institute both a pay history ban as well as a pay transparency requirement for federal contractors and subcontractors.
Dive Brief:
- The Biden administration announced three separate initiatives Monday that would prohibit federal agencies, contractors and subcontractors from seeking or considering pay history, including a final rule requiring agencies to comply by Oct. 1, 2024.
- Separately, a Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council proposal would prohibit contractors and subcontractors from seeking pay history and would require them to disclose pay ranges in job postings, according to a White House statement. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs will also issue guidance “clarifying existing protections against discrimination in hiring or pay decisions,” the White House said.
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The Office of Personnel Management previously issued a proposed rule to prohibit salary history in setting pay for agency job offers last May. The proposals are intended, in part, to close wage gaps in the federal workforce, the White House said. Read Article
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Construction Misclassifies Up to 20% of Workers as ‘Cost-saving Mechanism,’ Researcher Says |
HR Dive - Zachary Phillips, Editor
Paying workers off the books robs them of their benefits and hurts contractors who follow the rules by making them less competitive, according to a Century Foundation researcher.
As many as 2.1 million U.S. construction workers were misclassified or paid off the books in 2021, according to a new report from the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank and research group focused on equity in education, healthcare and work.
A Department of Labor rule change, effective March 11, will reverse a Trump-era shift and implement a new test for determining if a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Read Article
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Survey: Middle Market Execs Anticipate Problems Finding Qualified Workers |
HR Dive - Laurel Kalser, Contributor
To adapt, businesses are adopting new tech, upskilling and filling open roles with overlooked talent, the
Dive Brief:
- As the U.S. labor market remains tight, employers are likely to continue facing gaps between their hiring intentions and available workers, according to a Jan. 25 report from professional services consulting firm RSM U.S. Nearly all (97%) of the 403 senior execs from middle market businesses (MMB) who responded to an October 2023 survey said the lack of available qualified workers will be problematic in 2024; 66% anticipate some difficulty staffing open positions, the report found.
- To address these challenges and help sustain productivity amid fluctuating market conditions, businesses need to follow a comprehensive strategy that encompasses “digital transformation, compensation and benefits, and human capital management,” RSM stated in a press release. MMB execs recognize this: The survey revealed they’re deploying the three-pronged approach, starting with technology. Almost 6 in 10 of the respondents said they plan to or are considering investing in automation or IT in the next year, with 85% of those aiming to increase employee efficiency or productivity. Only 12% said they intend to use automation or IT as a substitute for labor, “likely because much of the work that can be replaced by technology already has,” RSM noted.
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MMB execs are also using a variety of recruitment and retention tactics to bolster human capital management, with compensation and benefits topping the list, according to the report, which RSM presented in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Roughly 52% of the survey’s respondents said they increased compensation in Q3 2023, and 68% expect to do so in the next six months. Execs anticipate offering an average wage increase of 5.5%, the survey found. Read Article
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Court Won’t Enforce Arbitration Agreement Because Employee Signed ‘No Refused’ |
HR Dive - Laurel Kalser, Contributor
The employee’s continued employment wasn’t enough to compel arbitration because the agreement expressly required her signature, the 11th Circuit said.
Dive Brief:
- A vocational school in Central Florida can’t compel a former employee to arbitrate her age discrimination claim because she didn’t sign the arbitration agreement, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Jan. 30 in Ragland v. IEC US Holdings, Inc., d/b/s Florida Career College.
- The employee worked as a student finance advisor, according to her complaint. Before she was hired, she signed a job application and a job offer; both referenced an arbitration agreement required as a condition of employment, according to court records. But on the signature line of the arbitration agreement, the employee wrote, “No refused,” court records said. In her lawsuit, she claimed co-workers and her supervisor repeatedly called her “old,” “elderly” and “slow” and that IEC fired her after she complained. She then sued, alleging it violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
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A federal district court found that IEC failed to prove the arbitration agreement was valid and denied its motion to compel arbitration. The 11th Circuit upheld the ruling. “IEC cannot force Ragland to arbitrate after she not only declined to sign the agreement but expressly “[r]efused” the final written agreement,” the 11th Circuit said. The employee’s signature on the application and job offer didn’t bind her to the agreement because the latter clearly specified that it was the “entire agreement” between the parties “regarding dispute resolution, and supersedes any and all prior agreements regarding these issues,” the panel explained. Nor did the employee’s continued employment show acceptance because the agreement expressly required her signature as acceptance, the panel noted. Read Article
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Michigan is No Longer a ‘Right-to-Work’ State |
HR Dive - Emilie Shumway, Editor
The state’s repeal, which took effect Tuesday, is the first such reversal since states began implementing “right-to-work” laws in the 1940s.
Dive Brief:
- Michigan’s repeal of its “right-to-work” law took effect Tuesday, making it the first such reversal since states began passing the laws in 1944.
- Michigan Republicans passed a “right-to-work” law in 2012, and it went into effect in 2013. Last March, the state’s Democratically-controlled legislature rescinded the law.
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According to the right-leaning National Right to Work Committee, 26 states across the U.S. currently have “right-to-work” laws, with Michigan being among the most recent to pass one. Read Article
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Environmental, Health & Safety News |
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Is Lack of Proper Women's PPE Causing Safety Issues? |
EHS Today - Anna Smith
How are companies responding to ill-fitting women's safety gear?
Ana Kraft was frustrated: frustrated that although she kept several pairs of safety boots under her desk, none of them fit; frustrated that she was constantly having to change her shoes at work -- problems which her male colleagues didn’t face.
After finishing her degree, Kraft had found the “perfect job” working on massive manufacturing projects for a consulting company. Part of her job was to lead multimillion-dollar project planning sessions.
“I was typically the only woman in the room with 10 to 20 engineers, and I was required to dress professionally for those meetings,” she says. “Every time the meeting wrapped up, one of the guys would say, ‘Let’s go out on the shop floor to check on the project we just discussed,’ and I had to hold up the whole room and say, ‘Wait, guys! I have to run back to my desk and put on my safety boots.’” Read Article
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Why Happiness Matters at Work |
EHS Today - Sjoerd Nanninga
How EHS professionals can use the power of happiness to transform workplace safety.
Happiness is important to many of us personally, and it can also have an impact on the success of our professional lives.
The emotion happiness is strongly correlated with positive factors, such as increased productivity, more creativity, strong problem-solving skills, and positive connection and collaboration. All these things make a workplace safer, more efficient and more profitable.
More importantly, research suggests that happiness is the cause of these positive factors, not the other way around. If you want to be successful, focus on being happy. It may sound easier said than done, but happiness can impact and improve workplace safety. Let’s start by exploring the concept of happiness and how safety professionals can harness the power of happiness to transform workplaces. Read Article
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5 Ways to Protect Employees from Workplace Violence |
EHS Today - Gen Handley
The workplace is becoming an increasingly dangerous environment for employees, so it’s more important than ever to have a plan to keep them safe.
Workplace violence can appear in a number of different—and harmful—ways. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), workplace violence is defined as “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.”
This can, of course, include physical aggression, verbal threats, verbal abuse and homicide. The National Safety Council reports that violent assaults at work resulted in 20,050 injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work in 2020 and nearly 500 fatalities in 2021.
Workplace violence can hurt and impact a broad swath of the workforce. However, OSHA says people have a greater risk of being affected by workplace violence if they have a job where they: Read Article
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Three Creative Ways Manufacturers Can Accelerate EHS and ESG Programs |
EHS Today - Amanda Smith
An attitude of “think globally, act locally” is critical to successful implementation of ESG agendas.
For professionals operating in the manufacturing industry, today’s globally connected environment translates to unique challenges when it comes to building and implementing effective EHS (environment, health and safety) programs. Specialists in this sector know first-hand that monitoring and reporting on progress is becoming even more difficult given the complexity of regulatory compliance, geographically dispersed operations, and increasingly intricate supply chains. All of these factors introduce potential hurdles that can disrupt the success of an EHS program, and related ESG (environmental, social and governance) goals, even for the most well-resourced and well-intentioned organizations.
As demands for greater social justice and environmental accountability grow from customers, investors and employees alike, EHS and ESG professionals in particular are recognizing the importance of adopting digital solutions to manage and report on programs. Organizations seeking to manage their EHS performance effectively are moving towards comprehensive digital solutions to address transparency and accountability more efficiently. The effective integration of these tools gives manufacturers an opportunity to more quickly identify emerging problems and proactively manage them. Think of it as creating a single, all-encompassing source of information that is no longer restricted to paper processes—a hub that facilitates transparency, insights, enhanced compliance and ultimately improves performance. Read Article
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Survey: Missed Work, Cost Cause Older Workers to Forgo Elective Surgeries |
HR Dive - Ryan Golden, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
- Missed work and out-of-pocket costs are two of the most commonly cited concerns for older U.S. adults considering elective surgery, according to the results of a University of Michigan study published in JAMA Network Open Jan. 30.
- The study of more than 2,000 adults ages 50 to 80 who considered having elective surgery in the past five years found that one-fifth were concerned about out-of-pocket costs. One-fifth were also concerned about the time needed to take off work to receive a procedure. Those with such concerns were less likely to undergo surgery, researchers found.
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Researchers noted that the share of U.S. adults ages 60 and above who are employed doubled between 2000 and 2020, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. “Future studies should seek to clarify the implications of surgery for employment status and job productivity, in addition to identifying workplace policies that facilitate or limit time off for recovery,” the researchers wrote. Read Article
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When End-of-Shift Means End-of-Life |
EHS Today - Dave Blanchard
Millions of people worldwide are dying on the job every year, and it’s only getting worse.
The U.S. Government, whatever else you want to say about it, does a pretty good job keeping track of work-related accidents and fatalities. We know, for instance, that transportation incidents account for more than a third (37.7%) of all occupational fatalities. We also know that year after year after year, the most frequent OSHA violation by U.S. companies is fall protection, and in 2022 the number of work-related fatalities due to slips, trips and falls increased 1.8%.
And we are also aware of another uncomfortable statistic, provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics: A worker died every 96 minutes from a work-related injury in 2022, which is five minutes worse than the average of 101 minutes in 2021. All told, there were 5,486 fatal work injuries in the U.S. in 2022, a 5.7% increase from 5,190 in 2021. Read Article
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Having trouble finding, selecting, training and keeping the skilled workers you need? Are your employee turnover costs a concern?
Let's start with what we already know:
- Classes alone will not train workers to perform your tasks...
- Quality Control policies and Process Documents are not a substitute for task training...
- Putting 2 people together and hoping for the best is not a training strategy...
- Wishing and hoping won't develop the skilled workers you need...
The cost of one worker malperformance or one worker's under-capacity or under-performance - due to lack of proper training - can more than justify the investment to train all your workers properly!
AND, unstructured, uncontrolled, undocumented task training is going on all day, every day. But if you cannot explain the process, you surely cannot measure and improve it.
Proactive Technologies's approach to structured on-the-job training takes place where, and while, the work is performed. You need no additional staff and structured on-the-job training does not interrupt your work schedule like unstructured, haphazard and ad hoc training or classroom learning does.
As part of every project, Proactive Technologies provides the support to set-up, implement, manage, document and revise the worker development system so you can stay focused on business.
Copyright © 2019-24 Proactive Technologies, Inc.® ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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EMPLOYERS!
If your organization sees training as a cost, not as an investment, maybe you should consider another approach!
- Cuts the employer's internal costs of training;
- Lowers the costs associated with turnover;
- Drives new-hires and incumbent workers to "full job mastery;"
- Increases worker capacity, work quality, productivity and compliance (ISO/AS/IATF training and records requirement, engineering specifications and safety mandates);
- Creates framework for cross-training, retraining and worker certification;
- Establishes the framework for employer specific/job-specific apprenticeships and internships - registered or not;
- Builds career development tracks and succession plans for hourly (and salary) workers;
- Ensures the increased and maintained "Return on Worker investment" through any type of change...
ALL OF THIS FROM ONE APPROACH!
This structured on-the-job training is performed where, and while, the work takes place!
You need no additional staff, and this will not disrupt your work schedule or burden your existing staff!
If your firm is partnered with local career and technical educational institutions, use of shared employer's equipment, facilities and paid wages of trainer(s) and trainee(s) are attractive match for potential grant assistance.
for more information.
Copyright © 2019-24 Proactive Technologies, Inc.®
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Copyright © 1988 - 2024 Proactive Technologies, Inc.TM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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