Small communities are getting creative and opening their pocketbooks to solve their severe labor shortage woes. Hamilton, Ohio, is doling out $5,000 for student loan debt to young workers who move there. Grant County, Indiana, is offering $5,000 to people buying a home. And North Platte, Indiana, isn’t messing around: $10,000 to anyone who moves there for a job. The chamber will hand over the check at a ceremony in your honor. The Wall Street Journal
The entire concept of the gig economy was rocked this week when the California Supreme Court ruled that companies that want to classify their workers as contractors must prove that those workers are running their own businesses. More blistering than that, they must also prove that the work is “outside the usual course of the the hiring entity’s business,” among other things. Does it mean companies like Uber and Lyft may not be able to keep their current business models? Yep. Keep your eyes on this one.San Francisco Chronicle
The U.S. government isn’t immune to pay equity issues, as Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found out this week. It was reported that he earns more than twice what his predecessor, a woman, earned in the job (which was also less than her predecessor, a man, earned.) And the beat goes on. The Hill
A new survey by machine-learning software vendor Digitate revealed what we already knew. The new hire onboarding experience is critical, especially now in this savage job market. Companies with weak onboarding processes are twice as likely to lose new hires “in the near future.” To us, this rings true. It’s a job seeker’s market out there, and if top talent doesn’t feel integrated into the workplace culture and receive adequate training right away, they very well can jump ship. HR Dive
A full year of paid parental leave? The Gates Foundation has been offering it since 2015. It’s getting press now because, in this tight job market, more companies are upping their leave offerings to attract star employees. But, how does the work get done when people are off for a year? At Gates, it has evolved into a website that shows all the positions that are vacant, and employees are applying for them as “stretch opportunities” for them to grow and evolve. Fast Company
