Initial jobless claims declined to 230,000 last week, a decline of 16,000 from the prior period, according to the Labor Department. The moving average of jobless claims over four weeks also decreased, reaching 236,000. Full Story: USA Today (4/27),MarketWatch (tiered subscription model) (4/27)
Individually powerful, altogether life-changing On their own, each of our chronic care solutions is powerful. Together, they lead to even better clinical outcomes for your employees. Learn More.
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Recruiting & Retention
JPMorgan workers lash out at back-to-office order A return-to-the-office edict published on a JPMorgan Chase internal messaging system was met by an unusual volume of push-back from employees, sources said. Some workers denounced the message entitled "The importance of being together" as "divisive" and "tone deaf." Full Story: Reuters (4/28)
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Survey: Americans grow less confident about retirement Sixty-four percent of workers who responded to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research report optimism about their prospects in retirement, a sharp decline from the 73% of respondents who were upbeat last year. Inflation was a key cause for concern, and confidence also dropped among current retirees. Full Story: Financial Advisor (4/27),The Wall Street Journal (4/27)
The HR Leader
Why leaders need to keep their stress in check When managers feel stressed out, it can affect not just their work, but that of their reports, writes Garen Staglin, co-founder and chairman of One Mind at Work, who recommends managers build a support network, investigate the root cause of their mental frustrations and become an advocate for mental health. Former Massachusetts First Lady Diane Patrick relates her struggles with mental health as a leader, which led to anxiety attacks and therapy to help her sort through her issues. Full Story: Forbes (tiered subscription model) (4/25),Fortune (tiered subscription model) (4/24)
Google Meet will now be available in high-definition video, similar to Microsoft Teams and Zoom, which also support a computer with a 1080p camera. The default will remain 720p, but by the end of May all high-tier business plans for Google Meet will offer the better quality. Full Story: TechRadar (4/26)
SmartBreak: Question of the Day
How much was the reported final eBay bid for a years-old McDonald's Chicken McNugget resembling George Washington? Check your answer here.
It was late in the afternoon and I had just finished a two-hour soccer practice. I was spent. It had been a long week. I was juggling several projects at work, supervising Kawai and Kiaha’s homeschooling routine and coaching a team of wiggly, giggly middle-school girls. My neck felt tight and I had a tension headache from the stress. Kawai and I climbed into my 4Runner, where Kiaha was waiting. He was in the driver’s seat. He was just shy of his 18th birthday and practicing driving for his upcoming license test. I leaned my head against the headrest and sighed. I just wanted to get home and collapse onto the couch. Kiaha weaved through some back streets and was soon on an overpass, doing about 50 mph. He was a good driver, but like any new driver, still needed guidance. A turn was coming up and he was going too fast to make the turn safely. “Slow down, kiddo. You’re going too fast,” I said, raising my head off the headrest. He continued at his same speed. “Son,” I said more firmly, as the turn got closer. “Slow down.” “It’s fine. We’re okay.” I got mad. “BOY! This is not your truck! SLOW DOWN!" I bellowed. Too late. He hit the turn and I felt the truck slide left. He whipped the steering wheel right to correct. I yelled, and grabbed the car door armrest and his seat back. In the backseat, Kawai slid left, then right. Kiaha hit the brakes and the truck screeched as it slowed down. I felt my heart thumping in my chest. No one said anything. And then I exploded. “Boy when I tell you to slow down, you slow your behind down! Do you hear me?” I screamed, slamming my hand on the middle console. Fear and stress had boiled into a cocktail of rage. “This not your truck!” I ranted. Kiaha stared straight ahead, his face white. “You don’t have a truck. You don’t have a license. You don’t have a job. You got nothin' rookie! You ain’t got the sense God. Gave. A. Gnat. You mess up this truck, you can’t make that right! So when I tell you to slow down, you slow your behind down – DO YOU HEAR ME??” In the backseat, Kawai giggled. She enjoy my scoldings, when they weren’t directed at her. I ignored her and sank back into my seat, my breath ragged and my voice hoarse from yelling. My neck was tight again and the headache felt worse. Unchecked stress can take leaders down a dark rabbit hole, according to Garen Staglin, co-founder and chairman of One Mind at Work. It can affect our physical health and damage team morale and performance, he writes. Staglin offers several ideas for managing it, including paying attention to physical signs of stress and exercising emotional self-awareness. It's good advice. That tense afternoon in the truck actually ended well. Kiaha apologized ("I'm really sorry, Mom. You were right.") and I calmed down. In the backseat, Kawai kept giggling. “It’s okay, son,” I said, my voice hoarse but at a normal level. He relaxed. I put my hand on his arm and pointed to the giant yellow and red sign just ahead of us. “Now, take us to In-n-Out.” Burgers to the rescue. How do you keep stress from spiraling out of control? Let me know! And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.
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