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šŸŽ‰ Minimum wage just went UP šŸ”¼

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Good Afternoon Party People! šŸŽ‰

Weā€™re back from the 3-day weekend and ready to Party!!

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šŸ”¼ Minimum wage just went UP

šŸ‘“šŸ» 2.4 million set to retire

šŸ¤« Silent sacking

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BIG Minimum Wage Increases

This month, nearly half the states raised the minimum wage. 

Economists are saying itā€™s bad news for the job market. Some companies are already proving them right.

In California, Pizza Hut cut 1,200 jobs which wouldā€™ve been $20/hour. Shipt, a same-day delivery service, shut down all operations in Seattle, resulting in layoffs.

Both companies cited the minimum wage increases.

While pay increases are great, it comes at a time when AI and automation have already begun replacing jobsā€¦And companies are continuing to look for ways to cut costs.

In one study, 80 percent of economists point to negative employment effects of raising the minimum wage

ā€œArtificially hiking wages also means firms offer smaller pay increases, require better attendance or impose additional tasks on workers to try and make up for the loss.ā€

Another choice businesses have is to offset the costs to the consumer by raising prices. According to one study, a 10% increase in minimum wage raises food prices by 4%.

Chipotle and McDonaldā€™s have already announced price increases in California to offset the minimum wage increase.

Not the $15 Big Macā€¦

20 states will still keep the minimum wage at $7.25.

WORKFORCE

2,400,000 May Retire Soonā€¦

2.4 million workers over 50 in the U.S. may be forced to retire early because they canā€™t keep up with the technology changes and new skills required in their careers.

However, 41% say theyā€™d be willing to stay if they received the right training.

This trend should be of interest to companies looking to retain workers during the unprecedented labor shortages that have plagued the workforce for the last few years.

According to the report by Multiverse, 57% of workers over 50 feel that younger workers are prioritized for learning and development opportunities. However, this sentiment may not be in line with reality as 60% of hiring managers said theyā€™d prefer to hire older workers for entry-level positions.

Yeah, of course, companies would want to hire experienced workers for cheapā€¦

Gary Eimerman, Chief Learning Officer of Multiverse, says companies may even be able to tempt workers out of retirement by offering training to close critical skill gaps.

Although the lightning-fast advancements in AI and other technology could be bad news for workers over 50, younger workers could see a clearer path to the top with over 2 million soon-to-be open roles.

Lesson: Train your employees. And never stop learning.

LAYOFFS

New Form of Layoffs - ā€œSilent Sackingā€

According to an Amazon employee, the company has come up with a cost-effective way to shrink its headcount and avoid negative press.

According to the employee, Amazon has been ā€œsilent sackingā€ or ā€œsilent firingā€ its employees by creating unbearable work environments that force the employees to resign.

This way, there are no headlines about mass layoffs, and they also arenā€™t obligated to pay severance packages. 

Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.

A senior developer at Amazon Web Services wrote in a blog post that the company is making employees ā€œmiserableā€ at the company.

ā€œThe negative press associated with layoffs wasnā€™t good. But the most effective way to reduce operational expenses was to get rid of all the expensive people. How could they force people to leave without severance packages or en masse? Making them miserable and silently sacking them.ā€

Justin Garrison, Senior Developer, Amazon

Sounds like they wonā€™t be making the list of Top 100 Places to Workā€¦

The way Amazon is allegedly ā€œsilent sackingā€ people is overworking employees, stalling promotions, and intentionally providing little support from management.

Amazon isnā€™t the only company engaged in this new trend. Some people are calling RTO mandates a form of ā€œsilent sackingā€ if they know that employees donā€™t have the means or desire to come back to the office.

(Many companies such as Amazon, Google, and others have been doing this)

If this trend grows, it could be more bad news for the labor market.

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