Employers put heat on schools
Big U.S. employers, worried about replacing retiring baby boomers, are wading deeper into education and growing bolder about telling educators how to run their business. Wall Street Journal
Industry applauds national attention on manufacturing workforce development Is President Obama's announcement today of expanded efforts to boost U.S. manufacturing workforce skills the answer to the long-discussed skilled workers shortage? Industry Week
Report documents dramatic shift in immigrant workforce's skill level Highly skilled temporary and permanent immigrants in the United States now outnumber lower-skilled ones, marking a dramatic shift in the foreign-born workforce that could have profound political and economic implications in the national debate over immigration. Washington Post Companies spend on equipment, not workers As the economy recovers, companies' capital spending is growing faster than their spending on employees, encouraged by tax breaks and falling prices for equipment. New York Times Are U.S. child-labor laws under threat? The government has not had a lot of ideas for what to do about the nation's anemic job market, but there are troubling signs that one old idea is starting to re-emerge: child labor. Time Keeping older workers in the game Rather than see talent walk out the door, these firms are hanging on to baby boomers by offering life balance, fitness facilities and phased-in retirement. Toronto Globe and Mail What if employers abandon the Affordable Care Act? The Congressional Budget Office predicts that fairly few employers will stop offering health-care coverage in response to the Affordable Care Act. A new survey from McKinsey predicts that lots of employers will stop offering coverage. So who's right? Washington Post Rationing care - or rational care? Strapped for cash in a lagging economy, Americans still aren't going to the doctor as often as health insurers have been expecting. Higher deductibles, co-pays and other rising out-of-pocket expenses have also depressed health-care utilization. Washington Post
Half of Americans fear a depression - CNN Poll A growing number of Americans worry that the U.S. is likely to slip into another Great Depression within the next 12 months. Fortune/CNN
Disclosure law targets CEO pay Under a relatively little-known section of the new Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, companies will be required to calculate how their CEOs' compensation compares to the median pay of their global work forces, including part-time clerks in Peoria and assembly workers in Guangzhou. Atlanta Journal-Constitution The world's most reputable companies These are the businesses that consumers around the globe like the very most. Forbes.com
Cancer Society enlists CEOs in fight Heads of two dozen Minnesota companies, including 3M and General Mills, have joined an effort to reduce cancer's toll. Minneapolis Star Tribune IBM and six strategic reasons to celebrate by serving For the IBM Centennial celebration on June 15 nearly 300,000 IBMers and family members have pledged at least 8 hours of service in 120 countries on 3,500 projects that draw on IBM tools and capabilities. Perhaps IBM's massive mobilization of company talent can inspire many more companies, small and large, to see the strategic value of leading with values and taking every opportunity to show how they make a difference. Harvard Business Review Greenhouse gas emissions hitting record highs Despite 20 years of effort, greenhouse gas emissions are going up instead of down, hitting record highs as climate negotiators gather to debate a new global warming accord. Miami Herald Americans still split on global warming, poll shows In a poll, only 47 percent of American adults say that global warming is caused mostly by human activity. New York Times U.S. is falling behind in the business of 'green' Strong incentives in European and Asian countries have given them the lead in clean energy technologies. New York Times Company rewards employees for being 'earth friendly' One company's workers can get bonuses or rebates for buying hybrid cars or installing home solar panels. Miami Herald
Temperature rising: A warming planet struggles to feed itself As global warming puts stresses on farmers feeding a growing world population, financing to develop new crop varieties and new techniques has been slow to materialize. New York Times
Damaging the Earth to feed its people Humans are cultivating almost 40 percent of the land surface of the Earth, and nearly a third of all the greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet comes from agriculture. New York Times Price chop for vaccines for world's poor Western pharmaceutical companies cut prices after UNICEF publicizes what they charge for life-saving vaccines. NPR Marketplace Government announces new Internet security plan The U.S. Commerce Department announced a plan to combat hacking and fraud on the Internet and urged companies to voluntarily adopt Internet security standards, but stopped short of calling for any specific regulation. Wall Street Journal United Nations declares Internet access a basic human right A lengthy report released by the United Nations Friday argued that disconnecting individuals from the Internet is a violation of human rights and goes against international law. The Atlantic |