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THESE states just got a minimum wage increase

THESE states just got a minimum wage increase

PLUS: January resignation rush?

January 07, 2025

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Welcome back Office Partiers! We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Time to get back to work and back to reading about the most important stories in the workforce!

PARTY PLAN 🎉

📈 States that got a minimum wage increase

🚪 HR leaders prepping for “resignation rush”

✂️ LATEST in layoffs

And, of course, MEMES!

MEME OF THE DAY

“I’m valuable to my employer, my company needs me!”
— The Random Recruiter (@randomrecruiter)
4:59 PM • Jan 7, 2025

Minimum Wage

Workers in THESE states just got a raise

New year, new minimum wages! Pop the champagne (in 21 states at least). State minimum wage increases ranged from 18 cents to $1.75 (Delaware) and are expected to affect more than 9 million workers. The full list of states and municipalities can be found at CNN Business.

The increases will net workers an estimated extra $5.7 billion per year. The federal minimum wage remains at $7.25 and hasn’t budged since 2009. 20 states still have a minimum wage at or below the federal standard (how is that that legal?). Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Mississippi don’t have any minimum wage at all!

Congressional efforts to raise the federal minimum wage have stalled out year after year, but this year did see the largest-ever minimum wage increase on a state level. Last year, California even increased the minimum wage for fast-food workers from $16 to $20 per hour. And they still can never give out the right amount of Chick-fil-A sauce!

HR

HR leaders are bracing for “resignation rush” in January

HR departments are preparing for the wave of resignations that typically marks the start of each new year, with research by Glassdoor indicating that job applications surge 22% above average in the month of January, according to WorkLife.

“Many employees view the new year as a fresh start, prompting them to reevaluate their career paths and seek new opportunities,” she said. “Additionally, the holiday season can exacerbate feelings of dissatisfaction or burnout, leading to increased turnover.”

-Mary Jenson, director of people and culture at Barbarian.

The replacement of leaders and managers costs companies around 200% of their salary, professionals in technical roles 80%, and frontline workers 40%, according to HR experts. Because of the great financial burden of turnover, employees have the edge when evaluating their options. Companies are already stepping up their game in terms of incentives to retain talent in the new year.

Layoffs

Latest in layoffs

Here are the latest in layoffs, according to MacroEdge. The list is pretty short so far this year! Good news!!

Washington Post to axe additional 4% of its workforce.
Bridgewater Associates dismissed 7% of its workforce Monday as the world’s biggest hedge fund seeks to remain lean.
SolarEdge is preparing for another wave of layoffs expected to take place in the coming month.
Samsung’s EV battery headquarters in Michigan is laying off nearly 200 workers.
Party City is closing down all of its stores, ending nearly 40 years in business, and impacting 16,300 employees.
Big Lots to begin closing all remaining 963 locations after failing to find a buyer, impacting nearly 30,000 employees.
Over 1,800 CEOs resigned in 2024, making this the highest year of CEO exits on record.
Not too bad so far this year! Hopefully there will be less bloodshed in 2025 than 2024.

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