•  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN CHARGE: AI now monitors ‘productivity’ and “automatically generates warnings and terminations without input from supervisors” at Amazon fulfillment centers. At one facility, failure to meet productivity benchmarks (i.e. quotas) based on “proprietary metrics like customer demand and location… in some cases hundreds of boxes per hour… resulted in firing over 10% of its staff annually, solely for failing to move packages quickly enough.” [THE VERGE – 4/25/19]
• SOCIAL SKILLS CAN BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN TECHNICAL & KNOW-HOW SKILLS in competing with others for business advancement. “Empathy, Transparency and Sincerity” were the top-rated descriptives in a UCLA study of 500 adjectives “based on perceived importance relative to being Likeable, often referred to as Emotional Intelligence… which is attributable for up to 80% of one’s business attraction and personal advancement.” Key traits which generate trust, respect and likeability include: (1) Greeting people by name & warm handshake, conveying willingness to connect; (2) Treating them as a respected problem-solver versus problem-maker; (3) Actively listening, hearing and pausing before responding; (4) Using positive body language – facing squarely, leaning slightly toward with uncrossed arms, keeping eye contact, enthusiastic voice tone; (5) Admitting ‘I don’t know’ when appropriate to convey authenticity; (6) Showing empathy to reflect genuine caring; (7) Being non-judgmental; and    (8) Focusing with undivided attention – especially avoiding cell phone interruption.  [DEVELOPMENTAL EXCELERATIONS – 4/24/19]
• “THE TECHNOLOGY THAT’S POPULAR AS WE GROW UP TENDS TO SHAPE OUR COMMUNICATION STYLES FOR LIFE,” creating problems for many companies with up to five unique generations now in the workplace – up to a 60-year spread between Silents (born pre-1945), Baby Boomers (to mid-60s), Gen X (to mid-80s), Millennials (to late 90s) and Gen Z (the new kids) – with very differing norms. The chances for optimizing effective communication can be improved by: (1) Establishing company protocol & style, like 40-hr vs 24/7 on-call availability and/or response time expectation; (2) Focusing on individual more than age-group approach, like email vs text vs face meeting, and quick chat or huddle vs planned meeting; (3) Using multiple approaches for some messaging, remembering that receipt on PCs/laptops/tablets/mobile devices, means text/graphs/pictures often display differently & ineffectively; (4) Being respectful of others’ skills & styles, versus joking or dismissing. [JRNL OF ACCOUNTANCY – 4/22/19]
• AMERICAN RECESSION “WILL OCCUR WITHIN TWO YEARS,” according to more than 80% of 300 execs representing some $13 Trillion in balance sheet assets of insurance companies, surveyed recently by Goldman Sachs. Over 70% are unconcerned about Inflation, but over half see the U.S./China trade conflict as “the greatest risk to investment portfolios over the next twelve months… stemming from market volatility as the economy is in last stages of the credit cycle.” [PENSIONS & INVESTMTS – 4/24/19] Countrywide, nearly 90% of American companies concur that Inflation is not a current expectation, with seven in ten planning to increase base pay by 3% maximum, and two in ten planning zero raises. [CFO MAGAZINE – Apr/May 19]
•  HOSPITAL-ACQUIRED INFECTION STUDIES at ten U.S. academic hospitals found contamination sources to be clothing worn by doctors & nurses, as well as stethoscopes, phones and tablets. One-in-six white coats tested positive for MRSA and four-in-ten for other bacteria which can cause skin & blood infections, sepsis or pneumonia. The ties of orthopedic surgeons showed a 45% match between “species of bacteria found there and in the wounds of patients they treated.” [LBN EXAMINER – 5/1/19]
•  AMERICANS ARE NOW ON A “PATH TOWARDS SECULARIZATION… rejecting the structures of organized religion at an accelerated pace… About a quarter of the total population and a third of those who became adults beginning 2000 now identify with no creed… and membership of any faith is plummeting (Democrats down to 48%, Republicans down to 69%), particularly among today’s young parents who were raised without a faith so they have nothing to go back to.” [THE ECONOMIST – 4/27/19]