Trends
Settling for Less: the Tradeoffs of Job Hopping
More workers have accepted a smaller paycheck when changing jobs — and the trend predates the pandemic.
Trends
From Gratuity to Gravity, the Rising Impact of Tips
An increasing share of restaurant worker income comes from tips (Square Payroll Index, 2024): The restaurant industry is about 10% of the total U.S. workforce, and the majority of its 12.4M workers rely on tips for significant income. These tips are becoming a larger share of restaurant worker income, but they are also more volatile due to changing consumer behavior and economic downturns.
Trends
What’s Behind The Drop in Job Tenures?
Tenure continues to decline since its high in 2012. Research shows that female workers, and younger workers overall, were more likely to be short-tenured employees.
Trends
Dispelling the myth of Silicon Valley’s decline
Despite indications of Silicon Valley’s fall from grace as startup mecca, the reality is that the Bay Area has increased its share of tech startups in recent years.
Trends
Worker sentiment remains low as the economy turns upward
Insights on worker sentiment, from the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index (Daniel Zhao) – Sluggish hiring is likely dampening worker sentiment as laid-off workers and new hires find it difficult to get their foot in the door and even employed workers feel stuck in their jobs.
Trends
Labor productivity surges while Amazon ends WFH
US labor productivity has soared in the last five years, far more than other countries. The U.S.’s comparative advantage in technology likely played a key role. Other factors include a more flexible labor market, stronger investment in innovation, and a robust government stimulus that helped fuel a faster post-pandemic recovery.
Trends
Future of Work digest: back to school edition!
Turnover risk is lower when employees can choose where they work (Great Place To Work Institute) – In the words of luminary thinker Daniel Pink: “Companies instituted mandatory return-to-office measures to boost productivity and deepen employee commitment. Turns out those moves had the *opposite* effect.”
Trends
Funding for startups, from robotics to refugees
Low-Wage Workers as Percent of the Workforce, by State (Visual Capitalist) – For the past 15 years, the federal minimum wage has remained unchanged, with its real value now at its lowest point in 67 years.
Trends
Mary Meeker’s Prompt to Higher Ed
Mary Meeker, famous for her annual Internet Trends reports, has published a new report calling for the tech industry, government, and higher education to work together to advance AI during an inflection point “of epic proportions.”