Posts

Showing posts with the label Laboreconomy

Healthy Returns: Higher medical costs are pinching insurers

Image
[ad_1] A UnitedHealth Group health insurance card is seen in a wallet, Oct.14, 2019. Lucy Nicholson | Reuters Good afternoon! Health insurers are feeling the squeeze as older patients head to the doctor more than expected. CVS , which owns health insurer Aetna, on Wednesday  slashed its full-year profit outlook , citing the potential for higher medical costs to bite into its profits. That warning came two weeks after insurance giant  Humana  cited the same factor as it issued a  dismal 2024 earnings guidance . Medical costs from Medicare Advantage patients have  spiked over the last year  as more older adults return to hospitals to undergo procedures they had delayed during the Covid pandemic, such as joint and hip replacements.  Medicare Advantage , a type of privately run health insurance plan contracted by Medicare, has long been a key source of growth and profits for the insurance industry.  More than half  of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in such plans, enticed by lower

Disney scraps plans for new Florida campus, mass employee relocation amid DeSantis feud

Image
[ad_1] Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, pauses while speaking during an Economic Club of New York event in Midtown Manhattan on October 24, 2019 in New York City. Drew Angerer | Getty Images Disney has abandoned plans to open up a new employee campus in Lake Nona, Florida, amid rising tensions with the state's governor. Citing "changing business conditions" and the return of CEO Bob Iger, Josh D'Amaro, chairman of Disney's parks, experiences and products division, penned a memo to employees Thursday, announcing that the company will not move forward with construction of the campus and will no longer be asking more than 2,000 California-based employees to relocate to Florida. "This was not an easy decision to make, but I believe it is the right one," D'Amaro told employees. Many Disney employees balked at the company's relocation plans when they were first announced in July 2021 by former CEO Bob Cha

White House no longer sending top officials to Detroit for UAW strike talks this week

Image
[ad_1] A United Auto Workers member on a picket line outside the Ford Motor Co. Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, on Sept. 15, 2023. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Biden administration is no longer sending two key officials to Detroit this week to potentially help broker a deal between striking autoworkers and the Big Three car companies, a White House official told NBC News. President Joe Biden last week said he would dispatch White House senior advisor Gene Sperling and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su to support discussions between the companies and the United Auto Workers union. But the White House and the UAW mutually agreed it would be better to speak virtually via Zoom, the official said Tuesday. Sperling and Su could still go to Detroit next week but there are no firm plans for them to do so, the official added. "We'll continue to assess travel timing based on the active state of negotiations," the White House official said. Biden large

Gap to lay off 1,800 workers as part of broad push to cut costs

Image
[ad_1] Gap will lay off about 1,800 employees, more than three times as many as the 500 layoffs it announced in September , as part of a broad effort to cut costs and streamline operations, the company said Thursday.  The layoffs will affect roles at Gap's headquarters locations along with upper field positions, or workers such as regional store leaders who hold leadership titles outside of a headquarters office, the company said. CNBC reported Tuesday that the company would lay off more than 500 employees. The job cuts come as the apparel retailer struggles to return to profitability while sales sag. The layoffs are expected to result in annualized savings of $300 million, Gap's interim CEO, Bob Martin, said in a statement. Gap expects to see half of those savings in 2023, and expects to complete the layoffs by the end of July, according to a securities filing. "We are taking the necessary actions to reshape Gap Inc. for the future — simplifying and optimizing our

Canadian auto union reaches deal with Stellantis after brief labor strike

Image
[ad_1] Lana Payne celebrates on stage as Unifor, Canada's largest private-sector union, announce Payne as their new president to replace outgoing leader Jerry Dias in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Aug. 10, 2022. Cole Burston | Reuters DETROIT — Canadian union Unifor and Stellantis have reached a tentative agreement early Monday morning, ending a brief strike that began after a deal wasn't reached by 11:59 p.m. Sunday. The Canadian work stoppage involved more than 8,200 autoworkers at several facilities in the Canadian province of Ontario, including two large assembly plants that produce the Chrysler 300 sedan and Pacifica minivan and the Dodge Challenger and Charger muscle cars. The strike and tentative deal, which must still be ratified by union members, occurred two days after Stellantis reached a tentative deal for about 43,000 U.S. autoworkers with the United Auto Workers union after roughly six weeks of targeted strikes that began Sept. 15. Details of the tentative ag

Biden says all autoworkers deserve deals like those the UAW won from Detroit automakers

Image
[ad_1] U.S. President Joe Biden puts on a t-shirt of the UAW Local 1268 during a United Auto Workers (UAW) union members meeting, in Belvidere, Illinois, U.S., November 9, 2023.  Leah Millis | Reuters DETROIT – President Joe Biden said Thursday that all autoworkers deserve contracts like the ones recently won by the United Auto Workers from General Motors , Ford Motor and Chrysler-parent Stellantis . Biden, wearing a red UAW T-shirt given to him by a local union leader, said the deals won by UAW negotiators are "game changers" that set a "new standard" for blue-collar workers. The deals include 25% wage increases, including 11% upon ratification; reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments; additional contributions for retirees; billions in new investments; and other benefits. The tentative deals must still be ratified by union members; voting is ongoing. "I'm a little selfish, I want this type of contract for all autoworkers," Biden said during

More than 75,000 workers strike at hundreds of Kaiser Permanente health facilities across U.S.

Image
[ad_1] People hold placards, as a coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions representing 75,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente start a three day strike across the United States over a new contract, in San Diego, California, U.S. October 4, 2023.  Mike Blake | Reuters More than 75,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente — the nation's largest health-care nonprofit organization — went on strike Wednesday at hospitals and medical offices in five states after the company and labor negotiators failed to resolve a dispute over staffing levels. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions says the work stoppage is the largest strike of health-care workers in U.S. history. The strike targets Kaiser hospitals and medical offices in California, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Washington. Kaiser Permanente serves nearly 13 million patients and operates 39 hospitals and more than 600 medical offices across eight states and the District of Columbia. The striking wo

Juul to cut 30% of its workforce in bid to slash costs and boost profitability

Image
[ad_1] Juul Labs signage is seen in the window of a store in San Francisco, June 25, 2019. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Juul Labs said Wednesday it's planning to cut about 30% of its workforce as it looks to cut costs and boost profits. The layoffs will affect about 250 people, reducing the company's headcount to about 650, a company spokesperson said. This will reduce operating expenses by $225 million, the Juul spokesperson added. Juul, which is seeking federal authorization to keep its e-cigarette products on the market, said the cuts will improve its margins and free up cash for litigation settlements. "Today, Juul Labs is announcing a company restructuring aimed at reducing our operating costs and positioning us to continue to advance our mission during a period of regulatory and marketplace uncertainty," the company said in a news release . Last year, the vaping giant had its products ordered off the market by the Food and Drug Administrati

Biden administration calls on employers to help keep people insured as millions lose Medicaid

Image
[ad_1] Chiquita Brooks-LaSure testifies before the Senate Finance Committee during her nomination hearing to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in Washington on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Caroline Brehman | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images The Biden administration on Thursday called on companies to help keep their employees insured as millions of people across the U.S. suddenly coverage through Medicaid . Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told employers in a letter that workers who have lost Medicaid coverage should be allowed to enroll in group health plans at any time over the next year via a special enrollment period. related investing news Companies are required to give employees a minimum of 60 days to enroll in their group health plans. Brooks-LaSure said, however, this isn't enough time given how many people are suddenly losing Medicaid coverage. More than 3 million people have lost Medic

'Massive shift': Older people will exceed a quarter of G7's workforce by 2031, report says

Image
[ad_1] A whopping 150 million jobs will shift to workers over the age of 55 by 2030, according to a new global study from Bain & Company .   In the Group of Seven countries , Bain predicts, older and experienced workers will make up more than quarter of the workforce by 2031. "That's a massive shift," Andrew Schwedel, partner at Bain & Company, told CNBC's " Squawk Box Asia " on Tuesday. "Japan is already at the vanguard of this with almost 40% of the workforce over age 55. Europe and the U.S. are not far behind, [with] anywhere from 25 to 30%."  But an aging workforce isn't unique to developed markets — China's elderly population (65 and older), for example, will double by 2050, according to the study.  "Fewer young people are entering the workforce, due partly to lower fertility rates, partly to longer education," Bain added.  "According to OECD data, a long-term trend toward earlier retirement is slowly going

UnitedHealth stock jumps after earnings top estimates despite rising medical costs

Image
[ad_1] Representatives speak with customers at a UnitedHealthcare store in Queens, New York. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images UnitedHealth Group' s stock price jumped Friday after the health-care conglomerate reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations despite rising medical costs . The results eased investor concerns after the Minnesota-based company flagged a surge in demand for non-urgent surgeries and outpatient services last month and spooked the market. related investing news UnitedHealth Group is the biggest health-care company in the U.S. by market cap and revenue, and is even bigger than the nation's largest banks. Given its size, UnitedHealth Group is considered a bellwether for the broader health insurance sector. Its market value was around $447 billion as of Friday afternoon. Here's what UnitedHealth Group reported compared with Wall Street's expectations, based on a survey of analysts by

Small businesses may have a hard time finding teen workers this summer

Image
[ad_1] As the summer hiring market heats up, small and seasonal businesses may find they're missing a key demographic to fill roles – teen workers. Outplacement firm Challenger Gray projected teens will gain 1.1 million jobs in 2023, down slightly from last year's numbers and the lowest forecast since 2011. The group said this spring that teens are once again working at pre-pandemic levels, but cautioned many teens who are willing to take on jobs are likely already in the workforce. The unemployment rate for teens aged 16 to 19 crept up slightly in June to 11% from the previous month, according to Friday's June jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile the labor participation rate fell year on year, to 36.3% from 42.9% in June 2022. That could mean fewer available workers for businesses like Grotto Pizza that rely heavily on teens, according to hiring manager Glenn Byrum. Across Grotto's 20 locations in Delaware and Maryland, teens make up a litt

Workers at Boeing 737 supplier approve labor deal, ending strike

Image
[ad_1] An aerial view of the engines and fuselage of an unpainted Boeing 737 MAX airplane parked in storage at King County International Airport-Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, June 1, 2022. Lindsey Wasson | Reuters Workers at Boeing aircraft parts supplier Spirit Aerosystems approved a new labor deal on Thursday, setting the stage to resume production at a Wichita, Kansas, facility after a work stoppage last week. Spirit Aerosystems, which supplies fuselages for Boeing's best-selling 737 Max aircraft as well as other parts for Boeing and other manufacturers, halted production last Thursday after workers voted against a new proposed contract and in favor of a strike. "We continue to monitor the situation as we assess any potential impacts to production and deliveries," Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing's commercial airplane unit, said in a note to staff. The company and the workers' union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, had r