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The US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
© 2023 Bloomberg Finance LPIn a decision that stunned exactly no one—but that could ultimately impact not only on the diversity of higher education, but at some point, the workplace—the U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday in a historic decision that colleges and universities could no longer use race as a factor in their admissions decisions, prompting Democrats to slam the Court and declare the decision “undermines decades of progress” while former President Trump cheered the ruling.
The immediate impact will be most felt by elite higher education institutions, which are scrambling to navigate a future without affirmative action. The decision will have the biggest impact on the nation’s most highly-selective universities, writes contributor Shaun Harper. But it is ultimately expected to have some impact on the workforce, too.
For one, research has shown that in key states that had previously ended affirmative action, there were “sharp declines” in the workplace for Asian women, Black women and Hispanic men, reported Forbes’ Antonio Pequeño IV. It could create a “chilling effect” for companies, reports Forbes’ Molly Bohannon, with experts predicting it may bring more litigation.
That could take some time—and after years of promoting their diversity efforts, organizations could be hesitant to withdraw their efforts. One of the most immediate impacts for employers, Employment Learning Innovations CEO Stephen Paskoff told me this week, will be navigating divided camps of workers who may be, depending on their views, angry or thrilled by the decision.
“Nobody is talking about this,” said Paskoff, a former EEOC attorney whose company does diversity and civility training. “Before anything’s going to happen, you’re going to have a group of people who are saying both things: ‘I’m so glad,’ or ‘I’m so ticked off.’ Somehow, employers need to have a statement getting ready saying ‘here’s how we are moving forward in a way that brings those two together.’ ”
Another decision made by the Supreme Court Thursday may have a more immediate impact for employers, in a case involving a postal worker who wanted to take Sundays off for religious reasons (see our “Quiz” below). Read on for the latest on noncompetes, layoffs and artificial intelligence—and then, after this momentous week, hope you have time for a breather this long holiday weekend.
Jena McGregor, Senior Editor, Leadership Strategy & Careers | @jenamcgregor
POLICY AND PRACTICE
New York could become the fifth state with a blanket ban on noncompetes, Forbes’ Emmy Lucas reports, after state legislators fast-tracked a bill to Gov. Huchul’s desk, but it may not be the last. Experts predict more states could follow, especially after New York, which one observer called “a big domino to fall” in the growing national movement against the policies.
Some two dozen companies, including Burger King, Pizza Hut and Jimmy John's, will be investigated by the U.S. Senate after Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) announced a probe into whether the employers avoided overtime pay by calling workers “managers,” reports Forbes’ Mary Whitfill Roeloffs.
HUMAN CAPITAL
For workers and organizations, there’s a science to failing well, author and Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson told participants at the Forbes Future of Work Summit, especially in the sustained, perpetual crisis that drives the new world of work following the pandemic.
Layoffs keep mounting, as Pokemon GO Maker Niantic cuts 230 jobs and National Geographic cut its last remaining staff writers. In the tech world, writes contributor Gary Drenik, post-pandemic layoffs are significantly changing the job market. AI is likely to add to those changes.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Work isn’t the only thing AI is changing: The 2024 election will be a ‘mess,’ billionaire ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Monday. Meta announced Voicebox, an AI for speech generation, built with an eye toward assisting audio editing and accessibility. Meanwhile, contributor Penny Abeywardena writes about what it will take to regulate AI.
Photo Courtesy Velocity Global
Photo Courtesy Velocity GlobalWHAT’S NEXT: VELOCITY GLOBAL CHIEF PEOPLE AND CULTURE OFFICER LINDA LEE
As the new chief people officer at Velocity Global, the fast-growing H.R. tech startup that helps employers hire people in far-flung locales as an “employer of record,” Lee was brought on by new CEO Frank Calderoni. As the company moves into its next chapter and the hiring market shifts, Forbes caught up with Lee to discuss remote hiring, employee perks in a new tech era and the latest on hybrid work. Excerpts below have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Velocity Global helps companies hire people in other countries—is the new remote work offshoring? Have the views on this concept changed?
The demand’s been there forever. COVID accelerated it. [In the past], in some circles, offshoring was sort of a negative thing. It was like this hush hush thing. It’s now become the norm, right? Remote hiring has also offered, in my opinion, this whole concept of accepting diversity, which builds within your culture.
How is the shift in the social contract changing for tech workers, with so much disruption and layoffs?
The social contract, I think, is completely shifting. I was at this conference where there was an actual speech called “what happened to my ping pong table?” Those shiny perks are no longer as important. I think social movements, political movements—things that you wouldn't have discussed at work—are now actually something that you expect your leaders to talk about.
Have you made changes to those kinds of perks?
I don't want to call out [the name], but there was a meditation app that we had, and when I looked at it, 60% of the employee base had downloaded it. But out of that, 85% was using it for music and not meditation. So I got rid of it.
Let me be clear: We got pushback from the employees initially. That's natural, right? Employees think you're taking something away, even if they weren't aware of it. … We looked at the stats, we looked at the data and how much we were spending. It did not make sense. We were overspending [on that] and underspending where it really mattered—with health insurance, life insurance and the matching program. So I had to make that decision.
A.I. is a huge topic of conversation. How are you using it with your team?
I just hired a person from my previous [firm] who's going to help me bring it here.
One way I used to use it was … really intelligent forecasting to help me plan better. When I knew that I'd have a higher attrition—we had bonuses in January, so we saw a high uptick—I could already be sourcing for certain kinds of software developers and engineers in advance to replace them a lot faster. As it got better at predicting my attrition rates in specific areas, I was able to plan better.
Where do you see the hybrid work debate going over the next six months?
A year ago no one was asking to come to the office. And now I'm getting more and more people asking. I think it's going to happen more as long as you don't push your employees. It's visceral. We’ve seen it everywhere. The minute executives say ‘everybody in the office for this amount of days,’ there's a really huge backlash.
You need to be really smart with your hybrid approach and not force, say, three days. Say, hey, here's an opportunity to come into the office.
FACTS + COMMENT
Contract workers provide an antidote to procuring people with the right skills and experience quickly without the hassle of paperwork and the company having to pay out health benefits, writes contributor Jack Kelly about a McKinsey survey on gig work
58 million: The number of Americans that consider themselves independent workers, according to an American Opportunity Survey by management consulting firm McKinsey.
36%: The percentage of employed respondents in McKinsey's survey who identify as gig workers
VIDEO
Carlos Ghosn on EVs, Executive Pay And Rebuilding His Reputation
STRATEGIES + ADVICE
Here’s the kind of leader you need to be to successfully implement AI, and how to beat AI bias.
To improve productivity, focus on well-being instead.
As Pride month comes to a close, here’s how to create a safe community for LGBTQ+ workers.
QUIZ
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously to throw out a ruling this week against a former postal worker who wanted to take Sundays off for religious reasons. What implications does the ruling have for employers?
- It opens the door to more religious accommodations for employees
- It specifies the employers must “reasonably accommodate” workers’ religions
- The court believes it won’t have a huge impact on how the EEOC regulates workplace rights around religion
- All of the above
Check if you got it right here.
