Political Discussion

Indymisanthrope said:
There's a place for this sort of automation, even if it's too broadly applied. My wife does HR for an engineering firm that recruits people in highly specialized fields. Every time they post a position she gets flooded with hundreds if not thousands of applications. But the vast majority of them are not even close to being qualified. If it weren't for automated filters she would waste all her time looking through resumes of people who have no business applying for the job in the first place.
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I agree there is a place for it but it shouldn’t be the only thing used. And any filtering that’s done, should be able to be manipulated (filter on and off) by humans instead of sticking everything into a black box that no one knows how it works.
 
nolalady said:
I agree there is a place for it but it shouldn’t be the only thing used. And any filtering that’s done, should be able to be manipulated (filter on and off) by humans instead of sticking everything into a black box that no one knows how it works.
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Exactly. And at the end of the day, a few good candidates also get eliminated with the hundreds of totally unqualified people. Companies are unable to find potential candidates because they are also being filtered out.

Engineering probably less so than other fields though, I'll give you that @Indymisanthrope. It makes more since for some jobs over others, but is being used pretty much universally across the board these days.
 
RenegadeMonster said:

Current happenings in France. Wonder if the US would ever strike like this to any retirement cuts or age increases passed here? My guess is probably not.

Speaking of the US, we just hit the debt ceiling. If the GOP controlled house can't come to a quick resolution we might be in for a world of hurt.
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I think we should take this approach and riot against anti labor policies:

France's hardline CGT union has threatened to cut off electricity supplies to lawmakers and billionaires before a nationwide strike on Thursday, in an increasingly acrimonious showdown over the government's plan to raise the retirement age.

www.reuters.com

French union threatens to cut electricity to MPs, billionaires amid nationwide strike

France's hardline CGT union has threatened to cut off electricity supplies to lawmakers and billionaires before a nationwide strike on Thursday, in an increasingly acrimonious showdown over the government's plan to raise the retirement age.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
 
nolalady said:
I love Lina.

You’re not really free if you don’t have the right to switch jobs or choose what to do with your labor,” Lina Kahn, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, wrote earlier this month. But thanks to noncompete clauses that ban employees from working for similar businesses if they leave their jobs, that is the reality for millions of Americans. Under Khan, the FTC wants to eliminate that practice. On January 5, the agency, which is responsible for regulating businesses so they don’t engage in unfair and uncompetitive practices, announced a proposed rule that would make noncompete clauses illegal.

“Non-union workers have one source of power with respect to their employers, and it is their ability to quit,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute. “The only thing they have is the ability to say, ‘If you’re not paying a competitive wage, I’m just going to go somewhere else.’” Even if they don’t leave, it often takes a credible outside offer to get an employer give someone a raise.
www.thenation.com

The FTC’s New Rule Against Noncompetes Could Raise Wages by $300 Billion

Quitting a job for a better offer is non-unionized workers’ best, and often only, trump card. Noncompete agreements take that power away.
www.thenation.com www.thenation.com
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There was a nice piece by Rober Reich in the guardian about this
www.theguardian.com

The FTC is back to being the activist US agency progressives sought in 1914 | Robert Reich

Last week, under its Biden-appointed chair, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule banning non-compete agreements – and it’s a big deal
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
RenegadeMonster said:
The Today Show just had a good segment about job recruitment and the "paper ceiling".

Many corporations of switch from recruiters sorting through applicants to filter down the potential applicants to computer algorithms. The primary motivation for corporations to make this move to automation is cost savings. They can reduce labor costs of recruiting which of course is good for profits and shareholders.

However algorithms create something called the "paper ceiling". Algorithms are not looking to see if someone has the skills to do the job, but rather if they meet the requirements. And these requirements often include degrees. And if a job applicant doesn't meet a requirement they are filtered out and never given a second look or review by human eyes to check if the job applicant contains the required skills or work history. The process is very much dehumanized and rigid.

Companies have loads of job postings available, and keep saying that they can't find the workers. And this "paper ceiling" is the number one reason why. Companies get tons of applicants who have the skills to do the job, but are never considered for an interview because they don't have a college degree.

Traditionally, a college degree has been considered a requirement for jobs. But in many cases this is only an arbitrary requirement, the degree itself has no impact on whether or not someone is able to preform the job. Especially with tech jobs. As baby boomers retire and fewer people are able to afford a college degree companies should reconsider degrees as a requirement. But so far they haven't. They continue to insist on the requirements. I have seen that at work. We write the job description, don't include a degree in the requirement, but the official job posting HR publishes includes the Bachelors degree requirement. This irks one of my co-workers, who manages the QA team. He doesn't have have a college degree, the job does not require any type of degree whatsoever to have the required skills. Yet time after time they keep putting the degree as a requirement, and this means that the people we are hiring would be more "qualified" than the manager. The pay also doesn't reflect what one would expect with a bachelors degree and often leads to turnover.

The story also featured a company who's gone back to using humans to filter job applicants, And most people on their team today do not pass the algorithm filtering when their resume's are run through it. Yet they have all the skills required, and are hard workers. Some of the best, hardworking peoples don't have college degrees. Some of the most successfully and wealthiest people in the world also do not have a college degree.

So why is this a requirement? And why does the job market have such a hard line filtering against people who don't have a degree?
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I've been a contractor for the same company for about 7.5 years. I have no bachelor's degree. Every time a full time position comes up, even one written toward the exact job I've been performing for 3/4 decade, I get turned down because of that.

To put it simply, I really miss having PTO.
 
RenegadeMonster said:

Current happenings in France. Wonder if the US would ever strike like this to any retirement cuts or age increases passed here? My guess is probably not.

Speaking of the US, we just hit the debt ceiling. If the GOP controlled house can't come to a quick resolution we might be in for a world of hurt.
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You won’t because there’s no protection from your employer when you strike. Your labour laws are so piss poor.

Also it’s France, they love an old strike over there, it’s a nice thing to do to pass the time over there, like going bowling or to the cinema…

nolalady said:
I think we should take this approach and riot against anti labor policies:

France's hardline CGT union has threatened to cut off electricity supplies to lawmakers and billionaires before a nationwide strike on Thursday, in an increasingly acrimonious showdown over the government's plan to raise the retirement age.

www.reuters.com

French union threatens to cut electricity to MPs, billionaires amid nationwide strike

France's hardline CGT union has threatened to cut off electricity supplies to lawmakers and billionaires before a nationwide strike on Thursday, in an increasingly acrimonious showdown over the government's plan to raise the retirement age.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
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I still can’t believe there hasn’t been more violent unrest in the states over the way workers are treated, their pay and your non existent labour laws.
 
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Ohio's Supreme Court made a ruling earlier this month that insurance companies do not have to cover ransomware attacks.

www.malwarebytes.com

Software provider denied insurance payout after ransomware attack

The Supreme Court of Ohio issued a ruling days before the New Year that a software and service provider shouldn’t be covered by insurance against...
www.malwarebytes.com www.malwarebytes.com

"When insurance policy covers 'physical damage', there must be direct physical loss or physical damage of the covered media containing the computer software in order for the software to be covered under the policy," the opinion document noted.
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Essentially, there was no physical damage or physical loss. The company paid up the ransom and the courts have sided with the insurance company that this is not covered because the computer systems or products weren't physical damaged or physically lost.

I don't know what to think about this.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
Ohio's Supreme Court made a ruling earlier this month that insurance companies do not have to cover ransomware attacks.

www.malwarebytes.com

Software provider denied insurance payout after ransomware attack

The Supreme Court of Ohio issued a ruling days before the New Year that a software and service provider shouldn’t be covered by insurance against...
www.malwarebytes.com www.malwarebytes.com



Essentially, there was no physical damage or physical loss. The company paid up the ransom and the courts have sided with the insurance company that this is not covered because the computer systems or products weren't physical damaged or physically lost.

I don't know what to think about this.
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It’s a way for the insurance companies to have a new kind of policy based on semantics.
 


Is the advantage moving away from the employee and back towards the employer now?

Disney mandated that employees must be back in person 4 days a week and several other large corporations followed. SnapChat surprises me as there is no reason a tech company like them would need to require people to be back in person in the office. It's necessary for most positions.

We just hear over and over that the corporations "want people to collaborate" and there is "more productivity when people are in the office". But the pandemic has proven that not to be the case.

The CNN video points out that with the economy being uncertain, and companies having layoffs, the power is shifting back to the employer. While hybrid work models aren't likely to go anywhere at the majority of companies, large corporations are likely to return to in person working.
 
My mother's company just laid of 13% of their workforce this morning. She's safe thank god, but impacted by other changes that leave a lot of unanswered questions right now.

My mother works for a company that's under a large holding company. The holding company made cuts across all their brands. Not just to staffing, but too office space as well. The brand my mother works for is based out of a rural town in Massachusetts and that's where their corporate offices are. And her office building is one of the office spaces being closed.

It's unclear if she will be 100% remote now or if she will be expected to go into the office space in NYC. Most of the office closing were for consolidation, and have a present in NYC or New Jersey. They eliminated dedicated desks, and now require booking a space to come into the office. Brands are now sharing the same office space. The NJ office buildings were closed, and those people are expected to come into the NYC office space. But they are within an hours commute, my mother is not. It would take her 5 hours each way to get to NYC.

Her company has always been "we will never be a work from home company", so that is a bit concerning. They mandated office workers back into the office 3 days a week a year ago, but workers were ressisting and came in far less that that. So the company said fine, if you all aren't going to come into the office, we are consolidating office space and eliminated dedicated desks.

They are also under a hiring and promotion freeze.

A lot of companies are laying people off now. And hiring and promotion freezes are common. I only wonder if this is a way corporations are fighting back to gain control of their employees and tip the power dynamic back on their said. Slow down the hot job market and put a cut back to salary increases employees are demanding due to inflation.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
My mother's company just laid of 13% of their workforce this morning. She's safe thank god, but impacted by other changes that leave a lot of unanswered questions right now.

My mother works for a company that's under a large holding company. The holding company made cuts across all their brands. Not just to staffing, but too office space as well. The brand my mother works for is based out of a rural town in Massachusetts and that's where their corporate offices are. And her office building is one of the office spaces being closed.

It's unclear if she will be 100% remote now or if she will be expected to go into the office space in NYC. Most of the office closing were for consolidation, and have a present in NYC or New Jersey. They eliminated dedicated desks, and now require booking a space to come into the office. Brands are now sharing the same office space. The NJ office buildings were closed, and those people are expected to come into the NYC office space. But they are within an hours commute, my mother is not. It would take her 5 hours each way to get to NYC.

Her company has always been "we will never be a work from home company", so that is a bit concerning. They mandated office workers back into the office 3 days a week a year ago, but workers were ressisting and came in far less that that. So the company said fine, if you all aren't going to come into the office, we are consolidating office space and eliminated dedicated desks.

They are also under a hiring and promotion freeze.

A lot of companies are laying people off now. And hiring and promotion freezes are common. I only wonder if this is a way corporations are fighting back to gain control of their employees and tip the power dynamic back on their said. Slow down the hot job market and put a cut back to salary increases employees are demanding due to inflation.
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My employer, also part of a large Holding Company (Holding Company of the Year last year from Ad Age (woot woot!) ), had a hiring/promotion freeze during the pandemic for 2 years, but now we can't seem to hire people fast enough. I think we get something like $2,500 in referral bonuses right now if someone we refer gets hired and works for at least 6 months.

We also did a lot of the same things your mom's company did, like closing office spaces, eliminating dedicated desks and requiring booking of desks for those who want to come in. But we've fully embraced a WFH lifestyle in the divisions where it makes sense to do so. We had double digit growth last year and show no signs of stopping.

I'm glad your mom wasn't impacted, but in terms of painting broad strokes about corporations, I think those who embrace the new normal will continue to attract the top talent and see success whereas those who don't will start failing, cutting and/or only attracting mediocre talent, and they will push against change until change is forced upon them because no one wants to work for them otherwise. We're seeing some of those pain points now.

"we will never be a work from home company"
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The ultimate employee red flag in post-pandemic working environment.
 
@Djxfactor511

My company is under a large holding company as well. But since the pandemic has embraced the new normal. Downsized office space, having to book a desk, and you can come into the office as much or as little as you want. Being fully remote is what many do. But last month, the holding company split my company in two, and exorped the half im in. So now the holding company is directly in charge of us. Their welcome / introduction to us said they have a work culture that thrives at collaborating in person in the office. The latest survey form HR just asked us "If we were to mandate you to come back into the office at least 1 day a week" question and multiple choice options for answers. So, I expect a minimal return to office is in order for my future =\
 
RenegadeMonster said:
@Djxfactor511

My company is under a large holding company as well. But since the pandemic has embraced the new normal. Downsized office space, having to book a desk, and you can come into the office as much or as little as you want. Being fully remote is what many do. But last month, the holding company split my company in two, and exorped the half im in. So now the holding company is directly in charge of us. Their welcome / introduction to us said they have a work culture that thrives at collaborating in person in the office. The latest survey form HR just asked us "If we were to mandate you to come back into the office at least 1 day a week" question and multiple choice options for answers. So, I expect a minimal return to office is in order for my future =\
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Let me know if you're looking to make a change. We can take this to DM's if you'd like.
 
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