WeCruitr Podcast

California Congressman Mark Takano Introduced Legislation For A Four-Day Workweek

Democratic Congressman Mark Takano introduced legislation on Wednesday that would reduce the standard workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours.

According to Takano's press release about his piece of legislation “A shorter workweek would benefit both employers and employees alike.” He pointed to “Pilot programs run by governments and businesses across the globe have shown promising results as productivity climbed and workers reported better work-life balance, less need to take sick days, heightened morale, and lower childcare expenses because they had more time with their family and children.”

He added that “Shorter workweeks have also been shown to further reduce healthcare premiums for employers, lower operational costs for businesses, and have a positive environmental impact in some of these studies.”

Rep. Takano asserts that the workers would benefit from this change as his proposal will allow non-exempt employees to receive overtime compensation for any hours worked over 32-hours.

Takano said “At a time when the nature of work is rapidly changing, it’s incumbent upon us to explore all possible means of ensuring our modern business model prioritizes productivity, fair pay, and an improved quality of life for workers.”

He said “I am introducing this legislation to reduce the standard workweek to 32 hours because – now more than ever – people continue to work longer hours while their pay remains stagnant. We cannot continue to accept this as our reality. Many countries and businesses that have experimented with a four-day workweek found it to be an overwhelming success as productivity grew and wages increased.”

InStride is reinventing the education of today’s workforce, working with employers to provide opportunities to degrees and credentials for their employees and partners, through the highest-quality universities and colleges.

By serving as the key link between universities and employers, InStride facilitates partnerships that will positively impact the lives of thousands of people who will benefit from a high-quality education.

InStride is a public-benefit corporation that aims to become the indispensable human capital partner of organizations, helping them unlock the full potential of the university ecosystem and provide meaningful, life-changing impacts for their employees.

InStride CEO Vivek Sharma said about forming the novel socially purpose-based company, “We founded InStride to champion a movement that deepens the connection between employers and their employees, helping them take a powerful next step in their careers.” Sharma added, “InStride will provide the opportunity for employers to unite with the highest-quality universities to ensure meaningful impact in the lives of their employees.”

It's become fashionable to say that the “American Dream” is dead. Many people feel that the best days are behind us. The pandemic created extraordinary wealth concentrated in a small group of powerful people, while average Americans feel left behind. The humiliating pullout from Afghanistan, supply-chain disruptions and the surge in inflation causing increased costs of everyday items (such as food and gas at the pumps) erodes our confidence.

Sometimes, we need a reminder that despite setbacks, there is hope. The American Dream of immigrating to the United States and creating a better life for your family is still alive and well. Yong Kim was born in South Korea. At an early age, he became infatuated with the U.S. and desperately wanted to emigrate. He begged his parents for years to relocate. As a young adult, Kim boldly left his family and came to America.

With broken English, he tried—mostly unsuccessfully—to find a job. “This was before the days of the internet. Living alone in a foreign country, not knowing anyone and not speaking English, was extremely difficult,” Kim said. Over time, he found his way. He attended the University of Chicago and received a masters and M.B.A. from Harvard. Kim went on to found Wonolo, an on-demand staffing marketplace for blue-collar workers.

The platform connects businesses that have critical temporary staffing needs with workers looking for a gig. Kim conceived of the app based, in part, on his own experiences working at Coke. He noticed that it was hard to quickly find workers and thought that there has to be a better way to both benefit folks looking for part-time work and employers who desperately need to staff up.

With over $200 million in venture capital funding, Kim says that Wonolo has over 1 million people on the platform, predominantly retail, factory, warehouse, fulfillment, hospitality and related types of workers. There are thousands of businesses that seek Wonolo’s help.

Ravi Swaminathan, CEO of TaskHuman: Company-Sponsored, On-Demand, Personalized Live Coaching Is The Latest Trend To Help Improve The Lives Of Workers

We are in a new, exciting era that places the focus of attention on workers. Companies have realized that they need to roll out the red carpet to job seekers and show empathy and appreciation to their current employees. With millions of open jobs each month, and 4 million quitting on a regular monthly basis, executives nervously noticed the sea change. In response, they are offering an array of benefits to attract, recruit and retain people.

It used to be that bosses would throw some more money at a person to make them shut up, put in the long hours and keep working hard. The power dynamic has now dramatically shifted from management to workers. It takes more than a few bucks to entice job hunters to select their company and keep current employees happy and engaged.

Smart entrepreneurs are creating products and services for businesses to offer unique experiences that express appreciation and gratitude to their workforce. Ravi Swaminathan, CEO of TaskHuman, is a progressive, forward-thinking startup founder. He built a unique platform that helps companies combat the current “Great Resignation” culture and win the war for talent. His app offers comprehensive and holistic employee wellness and coaching solutions that improve the quality of lives of workers.

Swaminathan believes employees are the most valuable assets of a company. He is a champion of the concept “come as you are,” which means that business leaders should offer deep personalized support for each employee based upon their individual needs and desires.

When employees are appreciated and offered meaningful ways to enhance and improve their lives, they’ll be more apt to stick with the company. They’ll also be more motivated and productive. “To best future-proof their organization and retain talent, business leaders must create an environment where employees feel valued and are offered resources that help them build healthy behaviors and help the employee feel good about both their personal and work life,” said the TaskHuman chief executive. Swaminathan added, “Employees will see their workplace as an invaluable resource that supports their unique individual lifestyle.”

Rags to riches is a uniquely United States story. It's the American Dream of starting from humble beginnings, working hard, fighting against adversity and making something of yourself. Brian Garish embodies this ethos. Though, his version is a little different. Garish went from stocking shelves at Walgreens to becoming the president of Banfield Pet Hospital, the largest pet hospital chain in the U.S.

He began his career stocking shelves at the local Walgreens pharmacy during high school. Garish dropped out of college after only a six-month stint when he was 18 years-old. It was a trying time. Back at home with his parents, he felt lost without any direction. As he explains, "At the time, I didn't see the value of sitting in class to hear about business. I wanted to do the work." A mentor at the pharmacy chain suggested that Garish focus on working hard and advancing within the organization, especially since he didn’t have any other alternatives.

After serving about 12 years as a manager at Walgreens, then spending more than 10 years rising from district and regional manager roles to area vice president at CVC Health, Garish is now the president of Banfield Pet Hospital, the industry’s leading provider of preventive care, a division of Mars Inc.

The Metaverse Is The Web3 Wave That Democratizes Buying And Building Real Estate, Hosting Fashion Shows, And Monetizing Video Gaming

We’re in the beginning stages of a relatively new revolutionary innovation. The metaverse is the web3 next wave changing the way we’ll socialize, work, play video games, and interact. We’ll soon see business started, office buildings constructed, meetings held for remote workers, and job interviews conducted in virtual reality.

To learn more about metaverse, we spoke with Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Tokens.com, an early real estate investor in virtual reality. The former investment banker recently made headlines with his company’s purchase of real estate in the fashion district of Decentraland, paying around $2.5 million for the space.

Founder and CEO Christoph Fleischmann and his team created Arthur, a virtual and augmented platform enabling companies to conduct business in the metaverse. While the metaverse is currently dominated by gaming and other noncorporate activities, Arthur is offering solutions for enterprises and their employees with virtual reality.

Fleischmann named the company after King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, feeling it was “a nice parallel of meeting together in a specific space.” They are also “big fans of Arthur C. Clarke, a futurist and science fiction author who has been predicting things like Arthur for decades.”

Imagine, after working decades, building up your career, and you’ve reached the pinnacle of success becoming the CEO of a fast-growing company. It must be a great feeling. Then, out of nowhere, a pandemic surges across the world. There’s not enough time to savor the moment, as Covid-19 hit and up-ended everything. This was the position Raul Villar Jr., the CEO at Paycor, found himself in.

With Covid cases spreading, followed by the Delta and Omicron variants, Villar didn’t have much time to savor his new position and had to act quickly in the face of uncertainty and chaos. A message made by the Governor of Ohio, who said that he’d suggest, if possible, to have people work from home for safety reasons, inspired Villar. To bravely move forward, instead of being paralyzed by fear, leaders need to set forth clear priorities and guidance. The Governor’s advice prompted the newly appointed CEO to take the business virtual overnight to protect his team.

Meta Is ‘Ruthlessly” Cutting ‘Laundry Benefits’ And Other Perks, Creating A Panic Among Some Employees

We know times are tough. There were two years of unrelenting stress and anxiety over the pandemic. Inflation has hit record high levels, sending the costs of everything higher. Just when we thought that things were getting better, Russia invaded Ukraine.

Some people are facing even greater challenges. It's hard to believe—and I hope not to frighten you with this new recent disaster—according to the Blind app, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is “cutting benefits ruthlessly,” including “laundry benefits,” wrote a verified employee of the company.

A new, large-scale global survey shows that corporate management is significantly more satisfied with how they have adjusted to new working norms compared to their employees. It is imperative for leadership to gain insight into how they can help their employees meet their needs and desires.

NTT, a leading global technology company and business solutions provider, has released its Global Workplace Report, offering important insights into the future of work gathered from a survey of 1,146 executives across 23 countries. The results clearly indicate that “business leaders are significantly more satisfied with how they have adjusted to new working norms than their employees are.” This chasm in experiences and expectations highlights that managers are not listening or understanding the mindset and wants of their workers.

In a wide-ranging interview, Alex Bennett, NTT global senior vice president of the workplace and employee experience division, offered color and texture to the international study. One of the biggest takeaways of the report is that “what employees really want is flexibility and support.”