Free Republic

There are political movements to push the federal minimum hourly wage to $15. Raising the minimum wage has popular support among Americans. Their reasons include fighting poverty, preventing worker exploitation and providing a living wage. For the most part, the intentions behind the support for raising the minimum wage are decent. But when we evaluate public policy, the effect of the policy is far more important than intentions. So let's examine the effects of increases in minimum wages. The average wage for a cashier is around $10 an hour, about $21,000 a year. That's no great shakes, but it's an...

A new minimum wage study suggests Seattle's quest for a $15 minimum wage may not be completely painless. Not all is rosy in Seattle as the city gradually pushes to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, according to a new study that suggests hiring and the number of hours worked among lower-wage employees took a hit last year as minimum pay rose. The National Bureau of Economic Research unveiled a working paper on Monday that found the number of hours worked in low-skill professions dropped more than 9 percent in Seattle during the first three quarters of last...

A promise made before Christmas is fizzling before the Fourth of July. In December, then-President-elect Trump told hundreds of workers at the Carrier manufacturing plant that he had worked out a deal to save their jobs. But it's not working out that way. A steady downpour today did little to wash away the fact that the jobs of 600 union employees are going south. "They're going to Monterrey, Mexico," said Robert James, president of the local union. Reynolds said he felt betrayed, since Mr. Trump told workers during his December visit to the plant that 1,100 jobs would be saved....

Peddling fake news does not, in fact, equate to a long-term successful business strategy, reporters for The New York Times are learning the hard way. The Gray Lady, which many in the media class consider the pinnacle of the information business, is struggling so much financially that reporters are expected to be laid off from the publication, along with many editors, the New York Post reports. “Reporters at the New York Times could soon be ‘vulnerable’ to the ax,” the Post’s Keith Kelly wrote. “If the ongoing round of voluntary buyouts being offered to editing staff does not get enough...

Reporters at the New York Times could soon be “vulnerable” to the ax. If the ongoing round of voluntary buyouts being offered to editing staff does not get enough takers, the Gray Lady could begin another round, NYT Executive Editor Dean Baquet recently warned his top department editors. “Up until now, the company had not indicated that layoffs would happen if targeted numbers weren’t achieved,” Grant Glickson, president of the NewsGuild, told Media Ink. As part of the NYT’s ongoing restructuring of its editing ranks, 109 copy editors have had their jobs eliminated. There are estimated to be about 50...

The Carrier plant in Indianapolis that President Trump convinced to stay open late last year will lay off more than 600 employees beginning next month, according to a new report Thursday. CNBC reported that the deal struck by Trump before he assumed office isn’t working out as expected, and more than 600 employees will soon face layoffs. Trump and Carrier reached an agreement in December to keep about 1,000 jobs at the Indiana plant. Both Carrier and Trump celebrated the agreement on Twitter Trump also celebrated the agreement at the plant shortly after it was reached as an early victory...

Nike has announced a new business structure, which among other changes involves trimming 2 percent of its workforce globally. "Nike's leadership and organizational changes will streamline and speed up strategic execution," the retailer said in a statement Thursday, explaining plans of how Nike will also change the reporting divisions of its company. "The changes are ... expected to result in an overall reduction of approximately 2 percent of the company's global workforce," Nike said. As part of the organizational changes, about 1,400 employees are expected to lose their jobs. Nike had 70,700 employees as of May 31, 2016. Shares of...

Between 20% and 25% of the nation’s shopping malls will close in the next five years, according to a new report from Credit Suisse that predicts e-commerce will continue to pull shoppers away from bricks-and-mortar retailers. For many, the Wall Street firm’s finding may come as no surprise. Long-standing retailers are dying off as shoppers’ habits shift online. Credit Suisse expects apparel sales to represent 35% of all e-commerce by 2030, up from 17% today. Traditional mall anchors, such as Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Sears, have announced numerous store closings in recent months. Clothiers including American Apparel, Bebe and BCBG...

The troubles continue for cereal giant Kellogg’s as it announced layoffs of more than 400 Texans working in company distribution centers this summer. In this latest round of layoffs, 421 employees will lose their jobs in two Texas distribution centers–201 in Fort Worth and 220 in Houston. Part of a larger ongoing cost-cutting measure, the cereal manufacturer told the Texas Workforce Commission it plans to cut most of the affected staff between July 29 and August 17, according to The Dallas Morning News. In February, the beleaguered Kellogg Company announced it intended to axe around 1,100 jobs from payroll nationwide,...

With unemployment low and economic growth expected to bounce back from a slow first quarter, consumers are not in bad shape. But it has been an especially terrible year so far for retailers. Nine U.S. chains have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Store closures are accelerating, and almost 90,000 retail workers have lost their jobs since October. Experts say the industry's troubles are just beginning. "The disruption is just unfolding," says Mark Cohen, a former CEO of Sears Canada who now directs retail studies at Columbia Business School. "I think the number of store closings will continue at an...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you most likely know that ESPN just went through massive layoffs. The reason behind the layoffs? Don't miss the politics factor. How many times have you or someone you know said the following, “Why doesn’t ESPN just stick to sports?” or “Since when did ESPN become a political channel?” Well, apparently Linda Cohn, who has been with the network for over 25 years, thinks politics IS partly to blame for the layoffs. In an interview this past Friday with WABC’s “Bernie and Sid Show,” Cohn spoke about the loss of viewership the network...

ESPN will cut more than 100 employees today, Yahoo Finance has learned. That number is much bigger than the 40-50 that was initially reported. ESPN aims to notify all of the people today, if it can do so. It has been widely reported for weeks that big cuts are coming to ESPN—so widely reported, and dissected, and gossiped about, in fact, that ESPN moved up its schedule and is notifying people earlier than it originally planned. The 100 people getting cut are all “on-air talent,” a label ESPN uses for TV personalities, radio hosts, and writers who regularly appear on...

“Mayday, mayday.” That’s the message that Hampton Roads’ ship-repair industry is sending to Congress as it gets back to work this week. A minimum of 1,000 layoffs are projected in the region’s ship-repair yards in the weeks and months ahead, some of which have already begun to unfold. They’re largely the result of a stopgap spending measure the government has been operating under for roughly seven months and the failure to approve a new national budget with adequate funding to maintain Navy ships, said Bill Crow, president of the Virginia Ship Repair Association, a regional trade group. The meter on...

More than 3,000 employees in 36 states will be laid off in the liquidation of one of the world’s largest Christian retailers. More than two years ago, suppliers forgave Family Christian Stores $127 million in debt so that it could remain open. Today, the chain—which bills itself as “the world’s largest retailer of Christian-themed merchandise”—announced it is closing all of its stores after 85 years in business. Family Christian, which employed more than 3,000 people in more than 240 stores across 36 states, blamed “changing consumer behavior and declining sales.” “We had two very difficult years post-bankruptcy,” stated president Chuck...

Boeing Co warned employees on Monday it planned another round of involuntary layoffs that would affect hundreds of engineers at its commercial airplanes unit, according to a source and a memo seen by Reuters. The latest job cuts followed a prior involuntary reduction of 245 workers set for May 19 as the company responded to increasing competition and slowing aircraft sales. The additional layoffs are due to start June 23, according to the memo from John Hamilton, vice president of engineering at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We are moving forward with a second phase of involuntary layoffs for some select skills...

While many of the targeted federal agencies have offices outside Washington, Trump's dream budget would hit the region disproportionately, with tens of thousands of jobs at risk. The cuts would be felt throughout the city, with fewer people riding the already-beleaguered Metro subway or eating at restaurants. It would also hurt Washington's already-shaky market for office space. Economist Stephen Fuller of George Mason University, who has studied the regional economy for decades, estimated 20,000-24,000 federal employees and 10,000 federal contractors would lose their jobs under Trump's proposal. That equates to 5 percent of federal workers in the region. With those...

Caterpillar Inc. has announced the closing of its facility near Aurora, Illinois, and the lay off 800 workers. Earlier this year, the earth-moving equipment maker said it would lay off employees in 2017 because of an anticipated decline in demand for its products. Caterpillar spokeswoman Lisa Miller said Friday the large wheel loaders and compactor production will be moved to the company’s Decatur, Illinois, plant. Its medium wheel loader production line will be moved to the North Little Rock, Arkansas, plant. …

As we noted last summer, the Obama administration’s constant gun control threats did little more than flood American homes with more guns as people looked to stockpile weapons ahead of anticipated new regulations. In fact, both of Obama's elections resulted in massive and unprecedented spikes in gun sales. Meanwhile, Obama's presidency was a boon for the gun manufacturers whose revenue, profitability and stocks all soared during his presidency. But while the constant threat of new regulations under Obama resulted in a massive full forward of gun demand and pushed gun stocks to all-time highs, the election of Trump, and thus...

As hard as it will be to pass health insurance reform, tax reform, and infrastructure legislation, President Trump's toughest challenge will come in trying to cut the numbers of federal workers. Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but budget and government experts are calling the planned reductions in the federal workforce a "historic contraction" not seen since the drawdown after World War II.  Cabinet secretaries will have some leeway in how they reduce their departments' workforces.  Some may rely on the normal attrition that occurs in any workforce with retirements and vacancies created by promotions being responsible for...

ESPN will lay off some of the personalities who appear on TV, radio and online. The cuts will only affect "talent" -- not rank-and-file employees, according to sources familiar with the matter. The details are still being finalized, but layoffs are expected to take place through June.