Economists credit immigrants with solid job growth that is boosting the US economy. The post-pandemic surge in immigration has increased the demand for goods and services while keeping wages in check, economists report. Full Story: NBC News (4/7)
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Recruiting & Retention
Companies look beyond college degrees for candidates Skills-based hiring is gaining favor with many companies, especially in the tech sector, with college degrees sometimes being removed from job requirements altogether. LaunchCode CEO Julian Nicks says, "The reality is the demand for tech workers is growing faster than the traditional college pipeline, so it has been imperative that employers look for talent elsewhere." Full Story: The Hill (4/5)
A writer finds "quiet joy" and her old self Rachel Feintzeig had a long to-do list for her unpaid four-and-a-half-month sabbatical from the Wall Street Journal, but she scrapped most of it in favor of a time of "quiet joy." She took naps, ditched marathon training for half-marathon training, returned to baking and rediscovered her old self. Full Story: The Wall Street Journal (4/7)
Benefits & Compensation
Growing number of firms are offering child care The number of US firms offering child care facilities, in a bid to resolve staff shortage difficulties, has grown steadily from 26% in 2019 to 32% in 2023, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has found public spending on child care in the US is among the lowest in the world. Full Story: The Wall Street Journal (4/7)
South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley has always set the bar high for herself and her players, but after the Gamecocks' win Sunday over the Iowa Hawkeyes to become the NCAA champions, she displayed a top leadership trait by thanking Iowa leading player Caitlin Clark "for lifting up our sport" and handling her new-found fame "with class," writes Jason Aten. "As a leader, your job is to use your platform to elevate those around you," Aten notes. Full Story: Inc. (tiered subscription model) (4/8)
Aloha dear readers, Yesterday after church, Mom and I headed out to Kohala, on the northwest side of the Big Island. It had been years since I’d been out that way. Kohala holds a special place in my heart. North Kohala is where King Kamehameha I was born and members of my mom and dad’s families were raised in that district. I was eager to soak up the local and family history. We spent the day exploring. We enjoyed a lilikoi bar and live music at Hawi Coffee Company. We marveled at the haunting, emerald beauty of Pololū Valley. We admired the original statue of King Kamehameha 1 in Kapaau. We visited the site of the all-girls school -- established by missionaries -- where my great-grandmother had been a student. We chatted up store owners at the shops that dotted the highway, and shared a kalua pig pizza and a slice of homemade lemon merengue pie at King’s View Cafe. If I were going to do a sabbatical, like the one Rachel Feintzeig describes in today’s Health & Wellness story, I’d like to do it in Kohala -- maybe in Hawi or Kapa’au. I could see me spending mornings writing at the coffehouse and then afternoons wandering the art galleries or maybe volunteering at the local library. I’d love to talk to local historians and dig into the history of my family’s roots in the area. And I would definitely spend time riding through the mountains and hiking the trails of Pololū Valley. This kind of sabbatical would give me the “quiet joy” that Feintzeig described. It would be a combination of rest and work, but only work I truly want to do. I enjoy projects that feed my curiosity and build my knowledge. What about you? What would your sabbatical look like? Let me know! And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.
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In the deep sky where there had been a sun, we saw a ring of white silver; a smoking ring, and all the smokes were silver, too; gauzy, fuming, curling, unbelievable. And who had ever seen the sky this color!
