By Tom Starner, October 26, 2020

While many U.S. employers are struggling with layoffs, others—primary in retail, e-commerce and delivery—are looking to hire. And big time.

According to a recent report from CNBC, in fact, employers in those industries and related sectors are preparing for the upcoming holiday season like never before, as consumers abandon on-location buying sprees for virtual settings, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The result, CNBC reports, is that employers will be taking on hundreds of thousands of workers to meet the expected shopping demand. 

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By Sarah Green Carmichael, October 28, 2020

The Great Work From Home Experiment of 2020 has gone on for nearly eight months, and preliminary results are coming in. Overall, surveys suggest that most of us like it most of the time, except for one thing: We feel lonely. “Camaraderie” is the No. 1 thing people look forward to about an eventual return to the office. “Loneliness” is often at the top of the list of downsides to remote work.

Feeling lonesome is not only a side effect of working from home. Our social interactions outside work have also been curtailed. Normally, a teleworker can liven up her day with coffee-shop meetings or dinners with friends. Not during a pandemic. Nor are we working remotely entirely by choice right now. Many are banished.

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By Stephen Miller, CEBS, October 30, 2020

Starting Jan. 1, 2021, the maximum earnings subject to the Social Security payroll tax will increase by $5,100 to $142,800—up from the $137,700 maximum for 2020, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced Oct. 13. The SSA also posted a fact sheet summarizing the 2021 changes.

The taxable wage cap is subject to an automatic cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) each year based on increases in the national average wage index, calculated annually by the SSA.

FICA Rates

Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes are collected together as the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax. FICA tax rates are statutorily set and can only be changed through new tax law.

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By David Rice  August 5, 2020

The focus on employee experience has certainly intensified in recent months and, as recent research from McKinsey & Company suggests, many employers did a good job of meeting employees basic needs.

By Michael Solomon and Rishon Blumberg August 12, 2020

“Once we go back to normal…” has become the catchphrase of the day at the virtual watercooler. But instead of waiting for some imaginary day in which we no longer have to work remotely, business leaders and managers should be thinking about how to embrace the remote work paradigm shift for the long haul. Like it or not, it’s here to stay. And if you’re not prepared to adapt your long-term work practices, you’ll regret it when you discover that your competitors are.

By David Rice August 19, 2020

People analytics and data science in general can be a bit confusing if you’ve not dedicated a good amount of study to it. Part of figuring anything complex out is surrounding yourself with people who can help you understand it better, but short of having a data science expert on hand, HR professionals will have to turn to analytics SMEs on social media for advice and a steady stream of relevant people analytics commentary.