Shots in the hot seat... Last week, President Biden ordered companies with 100+ employees to require employee vaccinations or weekly testing. Amazon praised the move, while Nike and Target questioned America’s ability to meet the requirement. Some smaller employers and Republican politicians criticized the mandate as costly overreach. Meanwhile, others like United Airlines and Tyson have already passed vax mandates. We’ll see how companies approach implementation.
Prime cap and gown... Amazon offered to pay full college tuition at select schools for 750K+ employees, in a push to attract workers in a tight labor market. The US has a record 10.9M job openings, but 8.4M Americans are still unemployed. Walmart and Target began offering college tuition perks earlier this summer, Uber and Lyft debuted huge bonuses to attract drivers, Chipotle and McDonald’s raised wages, and some big banks even offered employees free Pelotons. TBD if the perks will work.