Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Nearly half of unemployed Americans have quit looking for work, and the numbers are even worse for the long-term jobless, according to a poll released Wednesday that paints a grim picture of the labor market. Some 59 percent of those who have been out of work for two years or more say they have stopped…
So much for that much anticipated rebound in the participation rate. After it had managed to rise for 5 months in a row through March, hitting the highest level in one year, the disenchantment with working has returned, and the labor force participation rate promptly slumped in both April and May, sliding 0.4% in the…
The biggest near term threat to the stability of nations might not be climate change, terrorism, or nuclear war. It just might be robots—putting millions of people out of jobs. Where will they all go? There are only a few possibilities. The widespread automation of jobs—millions and millions of jobs—is not a sci-fi theory, or…
According to the high-profile consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., millennials will have to work seven years longer or save twice as much in order to live as well in retirement as their parents. But take heart millennials! The following video should make you feel better (if you have a little adventure in your soul as…
As Monday morning arrives in Austin, Texas, the thousands of people who’ve come to rely on Uber and Lyft (as both passengers and drivers) in this car-oriented city are waking up to a new reality. The two ride-hail leaders lost a major vote on Saturday, one they collectively spent more than $8 million trying to…
As I’ve spent the last several months looking for a full-time journalism job, I keep noticing something depressing. When you search job sites for “journalism,” “reporter” or other similar keywords, what you’ll find is a whole bunch of roles that have nothing to do directly with producing the news. For every one job result for…
google_ad_section_start Credit: Pixabay / Wokandapix / 357 images When I started thinking about what would be next for me after my year of funemployment, remote work weighted pretty highly on my list. People who know me might think that it’s because of my geographical indecision, and yes, that was a consideration, but the biggest factor for me…
Imagine you’re African-American and working at a 500-person technology company where everyone else is white, and one day the CEO declares in a national newspaper interview that his company’s lack of diversity isn’t an accident. In fact he prefers to hire white people because when it comes to technology white people simply make better…
Looking for job security in the knowledge economy? Just learn to code. At least, that’s what we’ve been telling young professionals and mid-career workers alike who want to hack it in the modern workforce—in fact, it’s advice I’ve given myself. And judging by the proliferation of coding schools and bootcamps we’ve seen over the…
“I feel as though I have died and gone to heaven,” said Britain’s skills minister in a recent speech, as he prepares to preside over the fastest rise in the minimum wage in the country’s history. The new policy, which starts on Friday, will see the wages for low-paid workers rise four times faster than…