Going Pro Talent Fund Application Period Closes Next Week: If your company is applying for 2023 Michigan Going Pro Talent Funds the application deadline is next week – December 12, 2022. Employers are advised to work with their local Michigan Works office to get some of the $55 million of funds to put toward training current and newly hired employees. ASE’s Principles and Practices of Supervision classes qualify.

Remote work becoming a thing of the past: Nearly three years into a pandemic that reshaped workplace norms and put the balance of power squarely in the hands of employees, the tides are shifting again. The job market — although still hot — is slowing, and many Americans who had been working from home are being called back into the office. Wage increases are plateauing, signing bonuses are cooling off, and fewer companies are allowing people to work from home than they did even a few months ago.  Demand for remote jobs remains near all-time highs, even as companies roll back telework positions. 50% of job applications submitted on LinkedIn are for work-from-home positions, which make up just 15% of listings, according to a recent report from the jobs site. Although there are nearly two job openings for each applicant when it comes to on-site work, the opposite is true for remote jobs: There are two active applicants for each available work-from-home job on LinkedIn.  Even so, Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, said it will be difficult for many employers to achieve pre-pandemic office attendance rates, even if they want to do so.  See what Michigan employers are doing in ASE’s recent remote work survey. Source:  Washington Post 11/27/22

An MBA course on how to conduct a layoff? As MBA programs train the next generation of bosses, lessons in improving interpersonal skills, emotional awareness, and even happiness have become core parts of the curriculum. Some of these offerings teach how to wield greater influence or hone better negotiating skills, part of the schools’ aims to turn out better people managers. Few, though, have focused so squarely on how to deliver difficult feedback or navigate a work clash. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business introduced its “Difficult Conversations: Conflict Lab” course this fall with 30 enrollees and a wait list. It is a timely offering as some company leaders take heat for their delivery of bad news—from Elon Musk’s ultimatums at Twitter Inc. to Better.com’s mass firings over Zoom last year.  Over the term, students have practiced navigating office politics between warring managers, responding to a harsh review from a boss, and saying no to unwanted workplace assignments. Many students described themselves as conflict-avoidant and said they took the class to overcome their discomfort. Much of that happens through constant role-playing, as the students experience what a conflict feels like from both sides. Many leadership trainings outside of MBA programs teach this, so maybe it’s the MBA programs catching up to reality.  Source:  Wall Street Journal 11/28/22

Have a college degree, you can still apply: The tight labor market is prompting more employers to eliminate one of the biggest requirements for many higher-paying jobs: the need for a college degree. Companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Delta Air Lines Inc., and International Business Machines Corp. have reduced educational requirements for certain positions and shifted hiring to focus more on skills and experience. Maryland this year cut college-degree requirements for many state jobs—leading to a surge in hiring—and incoming Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro campaigned on a similar initiative.  U.S. job postings requiring at least a bachelor’s degree were 41% in November, down from 46% at the start of 2019 ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by the Burning Glass Institute, a think tank that studies the future of work. Degree requirements dropped even more early in the pandemic. They have grown since then but remain below prepandemic levels.  Certain fields still require it, e.g. lawyers and doctors, but many have considered alternatives to tertiary degrees.  Source:  Wall Street Journal 11/26/22

High schoolers intimidated by career choices:  A startling three-quarters of high school grads say they do not feel prepared to make these important choices about their futures, according to a survey of 500 students from the classes of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 conducted by YouScience, an integrated college and career readiness platform. Based on the survey:

• 62% say college and career readiness is one of their school’s responsibilities.
• 41% felt unprepared to make a career choice or declare a college major at graduation.
• 42% lacked confidence or were only slightly confident in their chosen career or education; 33% felt only moderately confident.
• 37% of the graduates—regardless of their current education or career—are still not sure they are where they want to be.
• 30% were not following any planned educational or career path.

Another key finding is that more than half of the graduates said that their family and friends had the greatest impact on their decision-making. “We need to showcase career opportunities beyond the obvious,” Edson Barton, founder and CEO of YouScience added. “If students rely on family and friends for direction, they can be limited in their dreams and fail to fulfill their potential. In large part, our talent gap is also a career exposure gap.”  Source:  District Administration 11/28/22

With economic downturn, young workers are hit the worst: U.S. labor markets are starting to erode for groups such as young adults who are typically most vulnerable to an economic downturn, according to new research by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.  Since the Fed began raising interest rates early this year, there's been a drop in employment-to-population ratios for Americans in the 20-24 age group who aren't enrolled in school, according to analysis by William Rodgers, director of the St. Louis Fed's Institute for Economic Equity. In the period between February and August, the decline was about 1.8 percentage points for that group overall, Rodgers wrote. Among Black and Latino people in the cohort, the drop was roughly three times bigger.   By the end of next year, the unemployment rate among out-of-school young adults could reach almost 12%, while for Black Americans in that group it could exceed 18%, according to projections by the St. Louis Fed.  If your organization is serious with DEI initiatives, this situation is an opportunity to develop employment eligible training or apprenticeship programs to create a pipeline when work is overflowing.  Source:  EBN 11/29/22

12 days of Christmas now costing $45,523.27:  Every year, for the past 38, PNC Bank has taken a lighthearted look at how much your true love will need to spend on the 12 Days of Christmas.  The 2022 Christmas Price Index is up 10.5% over last year, which is the third highest jump in the history of the index.  Amanda Agati, chief investment officer for PNC Asset Management Group stated that the 12 Days of Christmas will cost $45,523.27. The index, which began in 1984, has risen in part due to “pandemic-related supply chain disruptions and elevated energy and commodity prices” which continue to impact the cost of goods and services. The price of 5 Golden Rings have jumped the most this year but here is a break-down of all of the items:

• A Partridge in a Pear Tree: $280.18. An increase of 25.8%.
• Two Turtle Doves: $600. An increase of 33.3%.
• Three French Hens: $318.75. An increase of 25%.
• Four Calling Birds: $599.96. This remained flat.
• Five Golden Rings: $1245. An increase of 39.1%.
• Six Geese-A-Laying: $720. An increase of 9.1%.
• Seven Swans-A-Swimming: $13,124. This remained flat.
• Eight Maids-A-Milking: $58. This remained flat.
• Nine Ladies Dancing: $8,308.12. An increase of 10%.
• Ten Lords-A-Leaping: $13,980.  An increase of 24.2%.
• Eleven Pipers Piping: $3,021.40. An increase of 2.6%
• Twelve Drummers Drumming: $3,266.93. An increase of 2.6%.

Eight Maids-A-Milking unfortunately hasn’t had a raise from minimum wage since 2008.  Also, unfortunately, tech-savvy True Loves will not save by going the e-commerce route. Buying all 12 gifts virtually is “just” 8.9% higher this year, at $49,663.73. Free shipping on livestock purchases is still not an option. Source: WIBC 11/26/22