Rojgar Job News

In my prior post, I wondered aloud whether there were some rough waters ahead for employers.  Apple recently announced that it would not meet it’s earnings estimates in the first quarter of 2019, in part because of soft demand from China. Other companies are expected to announce some similar issues. Honestly, I’ve had enough conversations in the last few years with HR professionals who just haven’t lived through a major downturn. Think about this way: For anyone who joined the workforce since 2010 or so, the era of massive layoffs in the financial and automobile sectors had just passed. But fortunately, there are still a few of us around who remember. So here are four things to think about: Performance Reviews.   Why? Because when a downturn hits, your company will need to start a selection process as to who stays and who goes.  Inevitably, you will start looking at performance reviews to see about ranking employees.  You know what you might fi...

Before I do a recap, I want to share a hopeful tidbit. My friend Tim plays the bagpipes. For the last few years, St. Patrick’s Day (and the weekend) is his favorite time because his band rents a bus and tours pubs across Connecticut. Suffice to say, there was no pub crawl yesterday. But after the workday, we got a text. Come to the street at 5:30 p.m. Stay in your car. And at 5:30 p.m., out waltzed Tim in his full garb playing the bagpipes — at a safe social distancing distance — for neighbors and a few friends. Really, you couldn’t ask for much more after another tough day for employers and employees. Late on Tuesday, Connecticut announced that 30,000 unemployment claims had been filed since Friday. To give some perspective: In January 2020, Connecticut reported nonfarm employment at 1.696M. Extrapolating the numbers a bit, suppose the 30,000 job loss takes us down to 1.666M. The last time Connecticut had that number was in July of 2014.  Meaning five years...

Monday, March 16th was brutal. I kept using that word over and over in conversations with employers who are watching their entire business disappear overnight. Brutal. Layoffs — at a scale that I think is difficult to comprehend — are sweeping through Connecticut businesses. Restaurants? Closed (except for takeout or delivery). Gyms? Closed. Movie theaters? Closed. And all the employees out of work for now. You can see Governor Lamont’s full executive order (7D) here.  There was SO much happening today that I’m just going to recap a few other items for employers in Connecticut to consider. Employers should delve deeper into each of the topics that may impact them. Employers of 100 or more employees that are going through mass layoffs need to be aware of the WARN Act statute. That requires 60 days notice to the worker and local officials; a shorter time is allowed in circumstances like this.  For more on WARN, see my prior post here.  Employers of a...