Employment

Capital Calls: Four-day workweek

19 Sep 2023

Concise views on global finance: US Senator Bernie Sanders joined striking autoworkers in urging a conversation about shortening the workweek. Rising productivity has long enabled labor to win fewer hours. With disruptive new technologies rising, bigger victories make sense.

Capital Calls: Lithium M&A

4 Sep 2023

Concise views on global finance: Albemarle’s $4.3 bln sweetened all-cash offer for lithium miner Liontown has financial merit, as well as offering it a handy hedge against Chile’s plan to nationalise resource assets.

Capital Calls: Temps frayed

1 Sep 2023

Concise views on global finance: Despite adding another 187,000 jobs in August, the number of short-term workers such as event staff kept falling in the United States. It’s a sign of a weakening labor market and, history suggests, a recessionary omen.

Next job-market challenge: the Great Unresignation

4 Aug 2023

Recent labor shortages pushed up hiring costs for US companies. But firms including Wells Fargo and State Street now say fewer staff quit than they expected, so they’re having to give them a push. It’s the kind of wrinkle that makes seemingly healthy jobs data harder to read.

‘Immaculate disinflation’ places Fed in purgatory

25 Jul 2023

Inflation is falling towards the US central bank’s 2% target without a recession or job losses. History and economic theory suggested such a feat was impossible. Doubts over conventional thinking leave policymakers in a bind over the next stage of their fight to rein in prices.

Gig work value is too great to rush a US overhaul

11 May 2023

Biden’s pick for Labor Secretary has moved to classify freelancers like Uber drivers as regular employees. That would give gig workers benefits, but risks discouraging firms from hiring them. With freelancers earning $1.4 trillion, a hiring slump could weaken the broader economy.

American employers deliver bittersweet message

5 May 2023

Joblessness dipped back to a historically low 3.4% in April, while wages jumped to a healthy 4.4% annualized rate. With interest rates jacked up beyond 5%, the labor market’s strength defies convention. Good news for workers now signals higher borrowing costs for longer.

Hollywood writers’ fight previews messy new era

2 May 2023

Screen scribes decided to strike for better pay, just as the media industry enters a new phase of austerity that could shrink its $130 bln in annual content spending. With the streaming boom fading, there will be even more tensions in the leaner, meaner age of Hollywood.

Market nerves tie US rate-setters’ hands

22 Mar 2023

The Federal Reserve's quarter-point rate hike was the best it could do without creating other issues. Higher rates put more stress on banks, but investors expected such a move. Chair Jay Powell might not like following behind markets, but nor can he afford to surprise them.

US jobs data can spare Fed rate ratchet

10 Mar 2023

A larger-than-expected gain of 311,000 jobs might stoke inflation-fighters’ fears, but slowing wage growth and returning workers show a labor market in the sweet spot. That gives policymakers weighing further hikes in borrowing costs the opportunity to take a patient approach.

America’s white-collar shakeout is almost here

16 Feb 2023

The rising number of U.S. layoffs is at odds with the low number of benefit claims. One explanation: Job cuts have been focused on tech and finance workers with severance packages and healthy savings. The question is whether those cushions can outlast the labor-market slowdown.

Capital Calls: U.S. jobs, Crypto data-miners

3 Feb 2023

Concise views on global finance: Rapid hiring in America has bad and worse consequences; blockchain analytics company Chainalysis is cutting staff, but those tracking crypto crimes, including governments, could use more of its services.

Intel points cost-cutting laser in wrong direction

1 Feb 2023

Turning around the embattled $117 bln chipmaker requires capital and an inspired workforce. Slashing managerial pay by 5%-15% will save money, but risks demoralizing staff and losing the best of them. Suspending a $6 bln dividend would conserve cash in a more effective way.

Goldman’s job cuts will be a problem shared

20 Dec 2022

The division that houses Marcus generates little return on its $16 bln of equity. Slashing too much in consumer and wealth would be counterproductive, however. Shareholders mostly subsidize the business; now, unlucky investment banking staff will shoulder some of the burden, too.

Capital Calls: U.S. labor market softens, slowly

8 Dec 2022

Concise views on global finance: Joblessness data suggests Americans are taking longer to find work. That’s good for inflation, but sluggish progress means the Fed will have to keep tightening monetary policy.

Worker scarcity puts pressure on U.S. policymakers

2 Dec 2022

Despite adding more jobs than economists expected in November, the labor participation rate fell again. The shrinking supply available to fill 10.3 mln open roles risks keeping inflation high. Pay hikes have yet to fix the problem. Coordinated congressional and Fed action might.

Big Tech layoffs are dystopian job-market fiction

18 Nov 2022

Twitter, Amazon and Meta Platforms are driving the largest wave of U.S. layoffs since early 2020. Yet tech firms were also quick to hire; other industries are still playing catch-up. With inflation cooling off, the chances of widespread job losses are dwindling fast.

Inflation has gig economy perk: more side hustlers

11 Nov 2022

Uber is seeing more drivers. Airbnb has had strong growth in hosts. As wallets are pinched, people are looking to pick up odd jobs. For those who profit off the shared economy, that should help their businesses. And at least for now, demand is holding up, too.

Tech firms can’t swing the axe equally

8 Nov 2022

Companies from Meta to Twitter are cutting swaths of jobs. But Mark Zuckerberg’s $253 billion outfit was far more efficient – on a per-employee basis – last year than the social media firm now run by Elon Musk. That suggests it has less room to move with layoffs.

Capital Calls: Axing the tweeps

31 Oct 2022

Concise views on global finance: Elon Musk looks set to eliminate jobs en masse at Twitter, which augurs significant downsizing across Silicon Valley.