Category: employment

Remote Workers Resign to a Renters Crisis

Posted on by scott.hodges

Pandemic restrictions are lifting and most bosses and companies are accepting that remote work is here to stay. And as employees continue to enjoy the benefits of working from home, they are also looking for homes to work in. The rental market is fierce these days, with prime interest in Florida and across the Northeast region of the U.S.

A review of recent real estate data released in June by RentCafe, a subdivision of Yardi real estate software, indicates that Miami-Dade County, with its 20+ miles of beaches, had the most competitive rental market during the first third of 2022. Orlando and other parts of Southwest Florida are also in the top-ten list of cities, as are Harrisburg, Pa., North and Central Jersey, Grand Rapids, Mich., Rochester, N.Y., and Milwaukee.

What these cities all have in common is their excellent school systems, tranquil lifestyles, and family-friendly communities. The demand for rental properties is driven by high housing prices that have not budged in years and climbing mortgage rates prompting buyers to delay their purchase and seek a rental lease. While some cities are accommodating the increased demand, like Miami-Dade County where additional units were released to the rental market, other cities are not as quick to meet the need: Harrisburg, PA did not add any new apartments in the last four-month period, causing most tenants to renew their leases instead of moving out.

Chattanooga: the newest Hub of Tech, VC talent

Posted on by scott.hodges
Chattanooga at night

Chattanooga, Tennessee is one of the first American cities to have installed fiber optic cables with gigabit speeds across the entire city. While this upgrade was completed a little over 10 years ago, Mayor Tim Kelly says the pandemic brought a surge of new residents all looking for comfortable remote working spaces and quality of life.

Kelly, himself a former businessman and startup founder, credited the 2010 EPB investment in fiber optics as a forward-thinking move by previous leaders. He notes that while Chattanooga doesn’t offer financial incentives for relocation like other places, it does cultivate a vibrant cultural life and family-friendly ethos.

As a result- and specifically since the pandemic- Chattanooga has seen a new balance of tech companies and those working for them; once concentrated in major coastal cities, firms are now widely dispersed in more rural areas across the country. The Brookings Institution found that tech jobs in San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles had slowed or disappeared, while regions like St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and Nashville showed an unprecedented uptick.

Brickyard, for example, is a newly established venture fund based in Chattanooga. Cameron Doody, the co-founder, explains that as workers from traditional tech hubs swamped cities like Atlanta and Austin, residents of those cities moved to places like Chattanooga for quiet, comfort, and quality of life. Brickyard invests in international tech companies. The founders then come to headquarters in Chattanooga to rigorously expand their product and enjoy the benefits of amenities like a sauna, a gym, and a steam room.

Uber and Flywheel Riding Toward a New Partnership

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Flywheel Technologies and Uber are putting the final touches on a partnership agreement to fully transform transportation in San Francisco.

While the cooperation is similar to an agreement Uber penned with taxi companies in New York City, it is a noteworthy shift from years of ferocious battling between the two transportation groups. Uber, which is headquartered in San Francisco, was once sued by a local taxi company in federal court for rapacious pricing schemes. Some taxi drivers have expressed concern that the partnership would mean lower earnings and make it harder for taxi riders to afford a drive. Uber and other companies that rely on gig workers (i.e. Lyft and DoorDash) supported California’s Proposition 22. The bill gave the workers limited benefits but also made it impossible for them to be considered full employees of these companies. The measure passed in 2020, even though most voters opposed it; a judge dismissed it in 2021. This partnership expands Uber’s driver pool substantially. The app’s driver base shrunk rapidly during the height of the pandemic, and many drivers voiced discontent with their low earnings. Rising gas prices have also pushed many drivers away. According to the Municipal Transportation Agency, taxi drivers will benefit too, by leveraging Uber’s ridership toward the city’s taxis.

The agreement, part of Uber’s long-term strategy to increase taxi representation on its app, will allow Uber passengers in San Francisco to hail a cab virtually. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors still has to approve the pilot, and Jeffrey Tumlin, the city’s director of transportation needs to authorize it, but the partnership is slated to begin as early as May 2022.

Google Buys Mandiant

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Global tech giant Google has announced its acquisition of Mandiant, the cybersecurity company. In a $5.4 billion deal, Google will expand its services to provide businesses with strategic planning assistance for and in response to cyberattacks.

Google Mandiant

The purchase comes as Google tries to distinguish itself and its cloud computing platforms from those offered by Amazon and Microsoft.

Organizations around the world are facing unprecedented cybersecurity challenges as the sophistication and severity of attacks that were previously used to target major governments are now being used to target companies in every industry.

Thomas Kurian, chief executive of Google Cloud

Based in Virginia, Mandiant has over 2,300 employees, making it Google’s second-biggest purchase ever. The biggest was Google’s 2011 buy of Motorola for $12.5 billion.

Something’s Brewing at Starbucks

Posted on by scott.hodges

Employees at four Starbucks stores in New York City have petitioned to unionize through the National Labor Relations Board. This development follows months of efforts to unionize at three Buffalo Starbucks locations, two of which have already successfully established unions. The NYC Starbucks employees have requested to hold a vote on March 3.

In letters to Starbucks president and CEO Kevin Johnson, workers from the four stores expressed concerns about deteriorating work conditions during the pandemic and unfair salaries. The employees have received support from more than 70 New York elected officials, including City Council members and U.S. representatives, according to the New York Times. A signed letter read: “New York City is a union town and union-busting has no place here. We believe that these organizing efforts will ultimately lead to a stronger and more sustainable future for Starbucks, the workers, and our city and state.”

Although Starbucks has claimed not to be anti-union, just last week the company fired seven Memphis employees who tried for form a union claiming they had violated company policies. A few years earlier, two Philadelphia workers trying to unionize were also fired.

Mid-America’s Economy is Strong, if Slowing

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Creighton University’s Mid-America Business Conditions Index, a premier economic barometer for the region of states between Minnesota and Oklahoma, shows a recent slight drop. Nevertheless, it remained above neutral growth for the 20th consecutive month. Employment in the region dropped to 43.6, its weakest since June 2020, the third consecutive decline in the monthly index.

“Creighton’s monthly survey results indicate the region is adding manufacturing activity at a positive pace, but with much weaker job numbers for the month. In terms of supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks for the first half of 2022, approximately one-third of supply managers expect delays to worsen with only 12% anticipating improvements. Despite healthy growth over the past year, compared to its pre-pandemic level, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data indicate that the region has lost 16,000 manufacturing jobs, or 1.1%,”

Dr. Ernie Goss, the study director

College, Coronavirus and Consumer Spending

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The coronavirus taking its toll on college education. According to a recent Junior Achievement and Citizens (which polled 2,000 American teenagers), a quarter of high school students have put their college plans on hold, primarily due to lack of financial support from traditional familial sources. Given that tuition fees are extraordinarily oppressive, people are now looking at the worthiness of college vis-à-vis investment in the future.  CEO and President of Junior Achievement, Jack Kosakowski explained:

“We’ve had this ‘college thing’ up on a pedestal. As costs have gone up, it’s forcing people to take a more realistic view.”

At this time, high-schoolers are focusing more on career training.  This is understandable for three reasons:

  1. Exorbitant college fees
  2. Seeing how easy it is to lose a job because of COVID-19, irrespective of a college degree
  3. Having time during COVID-19 to come up with ideas to make money.

Regarding the latter, youngsters have been finding a variety of ways of making money. These include:

  1. bitcoin investment (this has become very attractive with the younger generation which is seeing new ways of expanding their money while gaining more control over it);
  2. vlogging/blogging
  3. video game playing for money (think Playtest Cloud)
  4. online tutoring for other kids.

Jobs in the Energy Industry

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According to a recent US Federal investigation on jobs in the clean energy sector, the pay for this work is generally 25 percent higher than the country’s media salary.  One example is solar power versus regular fossil fuel.  Standard fossil fuel jobs pay (on average) $24.37 per hour.  The national average is $19.14 but when you work in wind/solar power the average jumps to $24.85 per hour.  Plus the accessibility is better as every single state offers fossil fuel work.

Further, those who get a job in the clean energy sector are also more likely to receive healthcare and retirement packages.  Indeed around 90% of those who work in the sector do which is 20% higher than those who work in the general private sector.

Hence it is probably no surprise that in September 2020, solar installers and turbine technicians were ranked by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics as two of America’s fastest growing occupations.

Investments in Society

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Investments in ideas and startups is great.  But when the investments seek to benefit society at large, that is even better.  That is what American private investment firm Bain Capital is currently in the process of doing.

The firm – one of the largest multi-asset alternative investment entities in the world – has recently raised $800m in new capital in an attempt to support businesses that are working for the greater good.  The company’s impact investment section based in Boston – Bain Capital Double Impact – is focusing on the creation of environmental, governmental and societal benefits.

Approximately 12 portfolio firms have so far been backed under this program.