🎉 Would you take this pay cut?

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Good Afternoon Party People! 🎉

As the Olympics come to a close this weekend, the Office Olympics are gearing up next week. Events include:

• Break room visits

• Ping pong

• Best lunch

• Slack comedy

PARTY PLAN 🎉

❓ Would you take this pay cut?!

🤨 The latest in layoffs

✖️ Unemployment up, vibes down

And, of course, MEMES!

MEME OF THE DAY

PAY

50% of Workers Would Take This Pay Cut

Since the rise of remote and hybrid work, employers have turned to surveillance tools to measure workers’ “productivity.”

The tools usually track keystrokes, mouse movements, and online activity.

New black mirror episode just dropped.

Safe to say that the tools are not popular among employees subject to them, because many have gotten caught finding ways to circumvent the increased scrutiny.

A new survey of 3,000 U.S. workers found that nearly half of them would consider taking a pay cut just to avoid their employer tracking their online activity. 

Let’s be real, it is kinda creepy…

Younger workers found the new technology especially burdensome, with 54% of Gen Z respondents saying they agreed or were on the fence about taking pay cuts.

Hard to make TikToks with the boss watching you all day! 

47% of millennials, 44% of Gen Xers, and 45% of Baby Boomers also said they’d strongly consider it.

56% of all respondents said they believed their employer was monitoring their activity during the workday, meaning the majority of people subject to the increased scrutiny would take a pay cut just to avoid it.

The majority of all workers felt that monitoring their activity was a breach of privacy and 84% had concerns about the security of the data provided to their employers.

Critics of tracking software also argue that it promotes performative productivity rather than true productivity. They also argue that it can be a reputational risk for companies trying to hire and retain talent.

Seems like a good argument considering workers are willing to give up part of their paycheck to avoid it!

LAYOFFS

The Latest in Layoffs

Oh boy…there’s a LOT.

• Intel will undergo massive restructuring, laying off up to 19,650 employees by the end of 2024.

• Infineon, a global chipmaker, has announced it will cut 1,400 jobs, globally, and relocate a further 1,400 to countries with lower labor costs.

• Steward Healthcare is laying off 1,250 employees in Massachusetts.

• Big Lots’ to undergo a 10% reduction in store count - closures will result in about 3,200 job cuts.

• Michelin has begun layoffs of over 1,400 employees at its Ardmore tire production plant.

• ABC News staffers are bracing for major cuts as the network slashes budgets — with even those at top-rated “Good Morning America” on the chopping block.

• Disney to cut hundreds of jobs in its television division. Gotta pay for the Disneyland wage increases somehow!

• Match(dot)com which operates Tinder, Hinge, and other dating websites is eliminating 6% of its global workforce.

• Stellantis to offer broad buyouts to thousands of U.S. salaried workers, warns of possible layoffs.

• The University of New Orleans will lay off around 10% of its workforce due to steeply declining enrollment & a 25% cut to its athletic budget.

• FedEx to cut daytime domestic flight activity by 60% resulting in the likely termination of 500+ pilots.

• Pfizer will lay off hundreds of employees in North Carolina and close its facility in Sanford.

• Nationwide will lay off 5% of its workforce, or around 1,250 employees. They were indeed on the side of the 95%.

• Conn’s HomePlus now plans to wind down its business, including shuttering its entire fleet of stores, resulting in nearly 4,000 job cuts.

• Rite Aid is closing 50 more stores in Ohio and Michigan, resulting in about 1,500 job cuts.

• MOD Pizza is conducting corporate layoffs today after being acquired by Elite Restaurant Group.

• Goodyear is expected to cut around 1,200 jobs later this summer and relocate jobs from Ohio to Costa Rica.

Layoff data from MacroEdge.

JOBS REPORT

Unemployment Up, Vibes Down

Here are the key points from last week’s Labor Report:

• Nonfarm payrolls grew by 114,000 in July, below the Dow Jones estimate of 185,000, and well below the average of 215,000 over the last 12 months.

• The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, its highest since October 2021, triggering an economic rule on recessions. The “Sahm Rule” states that the economy is in recession when the three-month average of the jobless level is half a percentage point higher than the 12-month low. In this case, the unemployment rate was 3.5% in July 2023 before it began its gradual ascent. The three-month unemployment rate average moved up to 4.13%. Translation: very bad.

• Average hourly earnings increased 0.2% for the month and 3.6% from a year ago. Both figures were below respective forecasts of 0.3% and 3.7%, respectively.

• The healthcare sector led the way, adding 55,000 to payrolls. Just in time for another pre-election pandemic! IT services were at the bottom, posting a loss of 20,000.

• Employees working part-time for economic reasons jumped to 4.57 million, an increase of 346,000 to the highest level since June 2021.

• Long-term unemployment (being out of work for 27 weeks or more) totaled 1.54 million, the most since February 2022.

• This report, combined with instability around the world, led to the worst day for the stock market since the pandemic crash four years ago.

Crazy stuff.

STAT OF THE DAY

Chapter 11 corporate bankruptcy filings hit their highest level in over a decade last month, according to Macro Edge Research.

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