BuzzFeed is laying off 15% of its workers

BuzzFeed Inc. is eliminating 15% of its workforce, the latest pullback for digital-media sites dealing with a challenging advertising market.

As it trims staff, BuzzFeed has been examining the “the evolving economics of digital platforms,” Chief Executive Jonah Peretti said in a memo to employees….

L.A. Times – Business

Furloughed federal workers are on the hook for work expenses they can’t get reimbursed

As if going without pay during the month-long partial government shutdown isn’t enough, thousands of federal workers are dealing with another financial indignity: servicing debt on government-issued credit cards.

They are receiving credit card bills — for which they are personally responsible —…

L.A. Times – Business

TSA Workers, It’s Time to Take Action

Thousands of TSA officers are calling in sick as the government shutdown enters week four, but is that protest enough? Maybe not: “TSA workers should use last year’s teachers’ strikes as a model,” Barbara Ehrenreich and Gary Stevenson write in the New York Times . “They were called not by the…
Newser

Lampert uses Sears workers as fulcrum in renewed rescue package

Chairman Eddie Lampert’s revised plan to save Sears includes more severance for its workers, a move that could head off a debacle like the collapse of Toys R Us that left employees empty-handed and lenders being blamed and shamed.

It’s still unknown if the plan from Lampert’s ESL Investments Inc….

L.A. Times – Business

Most of what you pay for things ‘made in China’ goes to U.S. workers and businesses

About 56% of what you pay for something “made in China” goes to U.S. workers and companies, on average, according to a new analysis released by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

The rules are complicated, but a “made in China” label roughly indicates a good was assembled in a Chinese factory….

L.A. Times – Business

iPhone Tweet Means Demotion for Workers at Rival

Falling solidly under the “you had one job” umbrella this week is a story out of China. If you’re responsible for updating Huawei Technologies’ social media pages, highlighting a rival tech company probably isn’t the best idea—which is exactly what two Huawei employees just discovered. Reuters reports that Huawei…
Newser

In 2019, California workers gain on pay and working conditions. Employers say it will be costly

For minimum-wage earners, port truckers, farm laborers, sexual harassment victims, nursing mothers, high-powered female executives and workers injured on the job, 2019 offers reason to celebrate.

A score of new state laws took effect on Jan. 1, expanding the rights of many employees while placing…

L.A. Times – Business

Retraining Programs Fall Short for Some Workers

The goal of retraining programs was to help displaced workers gain skills in new industries. But multiple studies have shown that many workers leave the program earning less than they did at their old jobs.
WSJ.com: US Business

Workers Get Good News Across 20 States

At Granny Shaffer’s restaurant in Joplin, Missouri, owner Mike Wiggins is reprinting the menus to reflect the 5, 10, or 20 cents added to each item. A two-egg breakfast will cost an extra dime, at $ 7.39. The price of a three-piece fried chicken dinner will go up 20 cents,…
Newser

Trump Ends 2018 by Freezing Federal Workers’ 2019 Pay

In August President Trump said he planned to freeze federal employee pay in 2019 due to “serious economic conditions,” reports USA Today . That has come to pass. The president on Friday signed an executive order establishing what will be the first pay freeze for civilian federal workers (the military is…
Newser