Why is company culture important

The India-based NASSCOM business lobby is asking the Department of Labor to help the lobby keep its huge workforce of Indian H-1B temporary workers in American jobs throughout the coronavirus crash, according to a report in the Times of India newspaper. “Everyone that has been involved in the H1-B program … has skirted the rules to stay in the United States,” said one lobbyist. “These companies do not want to have to fire these [H-1B] workers and send them back home — they want to hold them here” so they can grab jobs in the recovery, he said. Labor Department officials declined to provide any information about the NASSCOM lobbying and declined to say if the agency would help businesses change the paperwork that allows fired H-1Bs to stay in the United States. The Indian report did not say if the NASSCOM lobbyists met with Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia. If the administration moves forward in relaxing regulations governing the H-1B program amid spiking unemployment, “get … [Read more...] about India’s H-1B Companies Ask Labor Dept. to Let Foreign Workers Stay amid Crash

The nation’s Democratic labor secretary is urging Republicans and Democrats to import more workers for jobs throughout the U.S. economy, even as millions of Americans remain on the sidelines of the U.S. economy. “Go talk to businesses in your communities, privately, and ask them what they want: Every single company is going to say we need immigration reform,” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh told the House Appropriations subcommittee on May 17, adding: Big companies need it, small companies need it, people need it. We need more workers in this country. We’re a country that that constantly depends on immigrant workers. We always have. My parents were two of those workers that came to this country. We’re a country that if we want to continue to move forward as a country, we need to figure out some immigration laws and get some reform. “It’s a complete betrayal of the people that he is supposed to be prioritizing in in that position,” responded Rob Law, regulatory policy chief at … [Read more...] about Biden’s Labor Chief Urges Congress to Import More Foreign Workers

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic , many life events and celebrations were postponed. As a result, the number of US weddings in 2020 was the lowest in nearly a half-century. The pandemic's first year saw approximately 1.68 million weddings, a drop of 16.8% from the 2.02 million recorded in 2019, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics . recorded . NCHS data on 2021 marriages isn't available yet, but according to a survey conducted by industry analyst The Wedding Report , there were approximately 1.93 million weddings, with an average spend of about $22,500. With the arrival of vaccines and a relaxing of COVID restrictions, industry experts expect a wedding boom in 2022. According to The Wedding Report, 20% of couples rescheduled their weddings last year to 2022. Some 2.6 million weddings are expected by the end of the year, according to a February report from The Knot , the most since … [Read more...] about COVID Pushed 2020 Wedding Rate to Lowest in 50 Years

There have been many influential women throughout history. While women's history has often been ignored or even erased over the centuries, many women have made huge impacts on society through activism, art, politics and leadership. Women's History Month — observed annually in the month of March — is a perfect occasion to discover more about the female revolutionaries, politicians and campaigners who are simply too important to be forgotten. Here are some of the most influential women in history. Related: 20 amazing women in science and math Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020) Greatest Women in History In this special edition from the makers of All About History magazine, discover the stories, accomplishments and adventures of just some of the many inspirational women who have made their mark on the world. Available now exclusively in the U.S. and Canada. Pick up a copy from your nearest Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Sam's Club, Whole Foods … [Read more...] about Famous women in history: 10 influential women from around the world

Apple retail employees in Atlanta are accusing the company of violating the National Labor Relations Act by holding captive audience meetings to counter an ongoing union drive at the site. The Communications Workers of America, which is working to organize the store, filed an unfair labor practice reporting the activity earlier today. Workers at the Cumberland Mall Apple store filed for a union election in April. They say that while they love the company, they want to have a bigger say in their compensation , benefits, and store health protocols. The Cumberland store is one of three retail locations where workers have launched official union drives. Many more are in the process of organizing. Apple hasn’t said publicly whether or not it supports the union, but the company has distributed anti-union talking points to some store managers, according to Vice . It has also hired well-known anti-union lawyers from Littler Mendelson to respond to the Atlanta union campaign. … [Read more...] about Apple accused of union busting in new labor board filing

Skiff has spent the last couple of years developing a privacy-focused, collaborative document editing platform that you could most succinctly describe as “encrypted Google Docs.” Now, it’s coming for Gmail. The company is launching an email service called Skiff Mail that aims to be, well, encrypted Gmail — and eventually much more than that. Ultimately, Skiff co-founder and CEO Andrew Milich says Skiff wants to build a complete workspace, something as sweeping and broad as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. But the only way to do that is to solve email, which is, in so many ways, the core of both platforms. “It’s the most private corpus of our lives, you know?” Milich says. In an effort to keep people’s most important information safe — which includes doctors’ notes, confirmation numbers, work emails, family chats, and everything else — he says email felt like a “logical and critical next step.” Email’s also a potential growth hack for Skiff. “It’s really, really hard to move off … [Read more...] about Skiff Mail is taking on Gmail by betting on privacy — and crypto

LONDON: Schroders , Britain's biggest listed asset manager, said on Wednesday it would back a swathe of shareholder resolutions at Amazon , Meta and Google-owner Alphabet concerning workers' and digital rights . Schroders, which manages around 730 billion pounds ($905.64 billion), said it was declaring its intention to vote against management on the issues as an escalation measure following talks with the companies. While any move to declare voting plans is still relatively rare among asset managers, more are starting to do so as part of efforts to accelerate change on environmental, social and governance-related issues such as climate change. In total, Schroders said it would vote against 11 resolutions across the three companies at their annual general meetings, scheduled for next week. The money manager said its engagement with Amazon had centred on supporting workers' rights, specifically improving staff pay and benefits, the health and wellbeing … [Read more...] about schroders: Schroders to oppose Amazon, Meta, Alphabet over worker, digital rights

Confession: I have stopped automatic downloads on Apple Podcasts because I am reckless with my data and have absolutely let podcast downloads eat my phone on more than one occasion. I love having back episodes of Stuff You Missed in History Class for the subway as much as the next guy, but I also need to be able to save and send my husband I Think You Should Leave GIFs at will (♫ it’s the little things you do together ♫). Anyway, point being, Apple’s new update that lets users limit downloads to five episodes at a time feels like it was tailor-made for me. Also on tap today, Spotify experiments with NFTs, highlights from the Podcast Upfronts, and how the podcast outgrew its namesake. Apple is making it easier to distribute subscription podcasts, manage podcast storage Creators who are part of the Apple Podcasters Program will no longer have to take the extra step of uploading podcasts through the Apple Podcast Connect dashboard – as long as they use a designated … [Read more...] about Apple helps you download fewer podcasts

NEW DELHI: As the global smartphone brand Vivo on Wednesday launched its much-anticipated flagship smartphone Vivo X80 series in the country, a top company executive revealed that its premium segment has helped the brand grow by 300 per cent in India . According to Paigam Danish , Director-Business Strategy, Vivo India, the company has grown by 300 per cent in the premium segment in the past one year in the offline market, despite the pandemic's impact on smartphone industry and chip shortage. "I think it is really an important point for us because this shows that consumers are accepting our product in the premium segment. We feel India has a very big potential in terms of smartphone growth and we will be having a healthy growth this year too," Danish told IANS. Meanwhile, the company has unveiled two new smartphones under the camera-centric X80 series -- Vivo X80 Pro and Vivo X80. The X80 Pro with 12GB+256GB storage is priced at Rs 79,999, while the X80 is priced … [Read more...] about india: X-series pushes Vivo’s India growth by 300% in premium smartphones: Top Executive

Google's going... out of business?! That's apparently the case in Russia. As Reuters reports, Google's Russia subsidiary plans to file for bankruptcy after "the authorities seized its bank account, making it impossible to carry on operations." Reuters has a statement from Google: The Russian authorities' seizure of Google Russia's bank account has made it untenable for our Russia office to function, including employing and paying Russia-based employees, paying suppliers and vendors, and meeting other financial obligations. Google Russia has published a notice of its intention to file for bankruptcy. A regulatory filing showed Google Russia has been expecting to file for bankruptcy since March 22. The division did $2 billion in revenue last year, but that doesn't matter much when authorities take your entire bank account. Unlike many tech companies that have abandoned Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Google has tried to keep doing business in the country. Heavy hitters … [Read more...] about Google Russia forced to declare bankruptcy after bank account seizure