葫芦影业

With confidence in the economy still feeling elusive for many people and layoffs dominating the headlines 鈥� particularly in the tech and banking sectors 鈥� it was a nice surprise to see prominent workforce investments by multiple large employers this week. 

After raising starting wages for store employees in 2023, Walmart announced that store managers will see annual base pay and bonuses increases this year. Walmart鈥檚 leaders specifically note when it comes to winning over their store employees and customers alike.

Chipotle also announced this week that it is seeking to recruit in the spring 鈥� a target up about 27% from a year ago. The effort will launch alongside multiple benefits incentivizing financial health and savings for employees 鈥� including a match of up to 4% of a worker鈥檚 salary through contributions to a worker 401(k) if they make student loan payments. It also dovetails with the company鈥檚 focus on from within 鈥� over 90% of restaurant managers at Chipotle were promoted internally, per 2023 data 鈥� and helping workers go from hourly to salaried jobs. 

Regular followers of 葫芦影业 will know such moves are very much in keeping with the goals of our Worker Financial Wellness Initiative (of which Chipotle is a founding member) not to mention American public opinion on just business behavior. At a time of increasing pushback on ESG and so-called 鈥渨oke鈥� business practices, investing in American workers is surely something we can all agree on.

Be well, 

Martin

Quote of the Week

鈥淚鈥檓 a full-throated, red-blooded, patriotic, unwoke, capitalist CEO 鈥� I鈥檓 not woke anything.鈥�

• JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon at an event hosted by the Female Quotient at describing how the bank will continue to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion plans supporting . 

葫芦影业 AI 

Fortune reports on an MIT study that , at least right now. Meanwhile, employees are increasingly looking . 

Must Reads

Nasdaq reports that Walmart , with the average salary for store managers increasing from $117,000 to $128,000 a year. 

Layoffs continue. This week, , Ebay announced they were , Microsoft with Activision-Blizzard. Media outlet is cutting 8% of its newsroom, and the is laying off 115 reporters.  

Safety issues remain in the news as well. Johnson & Johnson will pay , and problems escalate for Boeing as  

Fortune takes a deep look at the country鈥檚 seemingly intractable inflation, 鈥揹riving 53% of inflation during the second and third quarters of 2023.

The New York Times examines 鈥� from reportedly eliminating, hiding, or conversely, doubling down on them. 

The US Sustainable Investment Forum explores the impact of the anti-ESG legislation that was drummed up in 2023, finding that much of it was 鈥渁ll talk, no walk.鈥�  

Chart of the Week 

This chart from The Harris Poll and Axios shows that, in the wake of DEI pushback, the level of divisiveness certain terms holds across Republicans and Democrats, and between generations. The point? Companies need to define what DEI is to them, as well as the messaging they have around them, before others do it for them.