Join us on Friday mornings – grab a cup of coffee and get your read on – we’ll take a look back through some of the important and sharable HR news that came across our newsfeeds this week:
U.S. job growth accelerates in January, but wages lag (Read @ Yahoo Finance)
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 227,000 jobs last month, the largest gain in four months, the Labor Department said on Friday. But the unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.8 percent and wages rose marginally, suggesting that there was still some slack in the labor market.
Wanted: Factory Workers, Degree Required (Read @ NYTimes)
When the German engineering company Siemens Energy opened a gas turbine production plant in Charlotte, N.C., some 10,000 people showed up at a job fair for 800 positions. But fewer than 15 percent of the applicants were able to pass a reading, writing and math screening test geared toward a ninth-grade education.
The Candidate, the Employer, the Job: Fairy Tales of the Candidate Experience (Read @ Medium)
Once upon a time there was a little boy/girl who wanted to grow up and become a [ job, title, role, something]. They went to school, studied, (or not, in some cases), graduated, got a degree, (or not, in some cases), prepared a resume, and applied, with great anticipation and excitement, over the slew of jobs on Indeed, Monster, Craig’s… etc. They applied and waited.
WOTC’s 28-Day Rule Explained (Read @ WOTC Blog)
Although Work Opportunity Tax Credit WOTC is a federal program, it is administered at a state level via State Workforce Agencies who handle the review, processing and distribution of certifications (or denials). State Agencies require employers, or service providers like CMS, submitting WOTC applications to them to do so within 28 days of the employee’s start date. This is to ensure timely processing of qualified applicants due to the large volume states receive.
HR’s Vital Role in How Employees Spend Their Time, Talent, and Energy (Read @ HBR)
HR’s value and efficacy is a favorite topic of debate in business. Complaints about HR include things from weak, reactive business partnering to poor talent recruitment and development, from time-wasting processes to incomprehensible communications. I don’t intend to defend HR or provide guidance on how to change all those HR processes that have failed to deliver. But my colleagues and I will make a case for why hating HR can be bad for your company — and why HR has a vital role to play in helping an organization make the best use of its human capital.
H-1B Visa Bill Introduced In US, Minimum Pay More Than Doubled (Read @ MSN)
A legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives which among other things calls for more than doubling the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders to $130,000, making it difficult for firms to use the programme to replace American employees with foreign workers, including from India.
Warning: Malware is showing up in job applicants’ files (Read @ HR Morning)
There’s a new kind of malware computer attack targeting HR professionals. Ransomware, a form of malware that blocks access to computer files until a ransom is paid, is arriving in HR pros’ inboxes dressed as job applications, according to the research team at Check Point Software Technologies Inc., a provider of IT security products.
#DressLikeAWoman: backlash over reports of dress code for Trump staff (Read @ The Guardian)
Amid claims that Donald Trump likes female staffers to dress a certain way, Twitter uses responded with pictures of what many women wear at work.
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