Productivity & Trade Briefs

Too many retailers are shutting down: 2019 just hit its halfway point, but already the number of planned retail store closings has exceeded the total for all of 2018.

Directors don’t let management “just sit there.” The answer to knowing if your board is effective is having a meaningful board assessment process.

There is a great deal of evidence about the increasing sophistication of the assessments that investors, insurers, and others use in applying ESG indicators to evaluate risk and return. The President’s executive order brings the impact of climate change on retirement investments to the fore.

Rising labor costs and a dwindling number of available workers have compelled companies to seek new options such as gig hiring when it comes to recruiting.

Now, more than in any other time during this decade, we see signs of a comeback in automation activity. The timing could not be better. Labor shortages are becoming a growing problem for the US economy, especially in jobs that do not require a college degree, which in large part are the jobs where automation is likely to have the most impact. From a demographic perspective, this problem is only going to get worse.

So far this proxy season, the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues of corporate political spending disclosure, climate change-related reports, and board diversity have taken center stage.

American retailers are working hard to leverage this Memorial Day weekend to boost sales. Heavyweights like Amazon, Target, Macy’s, and Home Depot all have big promotional plans to accomplish this.