Bosses mean it this time: Return to the office or get a new job!
Employers have new leverage as the labor market has cooled, leaving workers less room to be choosy.
Workplace Issues
Articles
Is the tech recession over? Maybe.
After peaking early this year, the number of tech industry layoffs—and the number of companies cutting those jobs—appears to have slowed in recent months.
Worker shortage leads firms to hire more ex-offenders
More than ever, Indianapolis-area companies are becoming so-called “second-chance employers” willing to hire people with arrest records and providing additional services to ex-offenders needing first jobs.
Most employers aware of staff mental health struggles, survey says
An overwhelming 93% of respondents at least somewhat agreed that it “makes good business sense” to recognize and respond to mental health dilemmas, but far fewer said they were prepared.
Pregnant workers get federal protections after Indiana lawmakers pull up short on similar steps
Pregnant workers employed in Indiana now have access to guaranteed accommodations after the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a federal law that went into effect Tuesday.
Re-examining the annual performance review
Large companies from Adobe to IBM to Deloitte have dropped the yearly evaluations in favor of more frequent, informal check-ins.
Four-day workweek becoming common at small businesses
As larger companies continue to harden their return-to-office mandates, the flexibility uniquely offered by small businesses might become increasingly attractive to job seekers.
Wave of retirements leaving some U.S. industries desperate to hire
Since 2019, the proportion of retirees in the U.S. population has risen from 18% to nearly 20%—equivalent to about 3.5 million fewer workers. And the trend seems sure to accelerate.
Indiana executive-branch employee misreported work hours, report finds
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office declined to file criminal charges in the case because the state employee paid back the full amount of $7,617.50 in restitution.
Meat plant cleaning service fined $1.5M for hiring minors
The 13 plants where violations were found were in Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Tennessee and Texas.
Tale of two downtowns: $9B set to be invested in projects, even as business district struggles with recovery
Many parts of downtown are thriving—particularly neighborhoods, where rents are rising, people have to stand in line for a lunch table, and investments are flowing. Other parts—especially downtown’s central core, where many workers might come to the office only once or twice a week—are limping along, pockmarked by vacant storefronts, panhandlers and crumbling sidewalks.
Worker burnout even worse than at peak of pandemic
The pain is particularly acute outside the U.S., where the burnout rate has been rising enough to offset slight improvements seen by American workers.
Pay-transparency trend reaches Indiana as push for equity gains momentum
Compensation has long been a taboo topic around most watercoolers, but that’s changing as more states are forcing companies to open up about their salaries.
FTC proposes rule that would ban noncompete clauses
The FTC proposal is based on a preliminary finding that noncompete clauses quash competition in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Section 5 bans unfair methods of competition.
COVID continues to create child care disruptions
For working parents of young children, it seems the rest of the world has moved on from the pandemic. But unending illness and child care disruptions have upended these families’ lives.
Congress expands protections for pregnant and nursing workers
Experts say the provisions will help close the gender wage gap and improve conditions for pregnant workers, especially in physically demanding jobs.
Study: Incentives can lead employees to cheat or lie at work
Leaders usually deploy incentives with the aim of boosting their organization’s performance, but the focus on rewards can “open you up to overlooking other important values,” the lead author of the study said.
The great mismatch: Remote jobs in demand, but positions drying up
The scaling back of remote-work policies is among the first and most visible signs of a changing job market.
Vet industry challenged by employee shortage, stressful conditions
Shorthanded veterinary clinics are being slammed by the high number of pets acquired during the pandemic and a worsening shortage of workers, from support staff to veterinarians themselves.
Experts perplexed as U.S. workers get way less productive
In the first half of 2022, productivity—the measure of how much output in goods and services an employee can produce in an hour—plunged by the sharpest rate on record going back to 1947, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.