On Tuesday we looked at how Marvel fans recently packed movie theaters across the country for Avengers: Endgame. Many of these viewers likely enjoyed the movie alongside an overflowing bag of popcorn and boxes of candy, snacks that can leave quite a mess in the aisles. Most people probably assume that movie theater ushers are responsible for cleaning up the stray kernels and soda spills leftover by the day’s customers. But while these employees sweep up between screenings, the Continue reading
The grocery chain Stop & Shop began in 1892 as a small store in Boston’s North End neighborhood. Since then the company has expanded to more than 450 locations throughout the Northeastern United States. Last Thursday, however, operations at many of those stores were thrown off course as more than 31,000 Stop & Shop employees went on strike. After negotiations over a new contract reached a stalemate, members of five local United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) unions walked out Continue reading
A few weeks ago, PepsiCo announced the annual results of what turned out to be a very profitable year. The beverage and snack giant saw revenues increase 1.8 percent to a whopping $64.4 billion, resulting in a profit of $12.6 billion. On top of this 158 percent increase in annual profit, Pepsi also predicted organic growth at a rate of 4 percent for the coming fiscal year.
But while the company had plenty of good news in store for investors, Continue reading
On Wednesday night, two of the biggest teams in college basketball faced off in what many described as the game of the season. While Duke versus North Carolina is always a marquee matchup, this particular game had another unmissable element added to it: freshman forward Zion Williamson. With his remarkable combination of size and speed, basketball analysts almost unanimously agree that he is the favorite to be picked first in the NBA draft this summer. Unfortunately, Williamson’s night in the Continue reading
A couple of weeks ago, more than 20,000 Google employees staged a walkout to protest the search giant’s handling of sexual harassment claims. Along with demands to improve the process for reporting harassment, the protesters also called for Google to end forced employee arbitration. This controversial tactic requires staffers to settle any legal disputes out of court, usually through an independent arbitrator rather than a judge and jury.
Critics of the policy say that this system protects serial harassers by Continue reading
With about 6,700 hotels operating under 30 brands in more than a hundred countries, Marriott International is by far the world’s largest hotel chain. Last year the company earned profits totaling $1.37 billion as guests from around the globe checked in and out of properties like Sheraton, Ritz-Carlton, and Westin. Over the last few weeks, however, 23 hotels owned by Marriott have not been operating as usual. That’s because since October 8th the employees at these locations have been on Continue reading
Finding and keeping qualified employees is a constant struggle for companies across the nation. That’s why some businesses require staffers to sign non-compete clauses, which basically prevent them from jumping ship to a competitor. In the fast food industry, though, there’s another type of employment restriction that has long kept workers tied to a single location within a franchise. Called “no poach” policies, these strict guidelines prohibit staffers from switching jobs within a national chain.
For instance, say that a Continue reading
Amazon’s market capitalization recently hit $1 trillion, placing the e-commerce giant on a level of success shared only with Apple. What’s more, last year the company’s revenue topped out at $178 billion, about a 40 percent increase from 2016. These factors allowed CEO Jeff Bezos to claim the title of world’s richest person as his net worth climbed past the $150 billion mark.
According to critics, though, Amazon’s workers have been largely left out of this bonanza of profit. Continue reading
With more than 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook appears to be succeeding in its mission to “bring the world closer together.” But as anyone who has spent time casually scrolling through their news feed knows, not everything posted on the social network is positive and unifying. Along with heated political arguments and unflattering pictures of friends, users can also post violent or offensive content that is far too extreme to be allowed on the site. Fortunately, users can report Continue reading