While many claim to love the work from home (WFH) life, not all are ready to jump on the bandwagon. A recent poll of 5,500 users on Blind, an anonymous community made up of verified professionals with 3.6 million users found that many employees from major organizations are not digging this new reality in 2020. In fact, 57% of professionals said that the current WFH situation has made their life worse. One user on the site said, “A few of my friends were talking about how they feel a lot less pressure from their teams after WFH started. Personally, my team is chill to start with, but I have a hard time turning everything off at 5 PM as I should since work and home are now blended together.” While the lack of commute time is a key plus for some, the lack of professional and personal separation is hard for many. As organizations decide what to do in light of changing workplace dynamics, it’s important to consider employee preferences when hiring or deciding on office decisions. While it’s true that we can do many things from home, it’s good to answer the question of whether we should do most of our work from home.
Layoffs Impacting the Defense Industry
| AT&T | Recent reports claim that AT&T has cut about 9,000 jobs between June and September as part of the communication giant’s plan to shave off about $6 billion. Despite large 5G contracts, the communications industry is in layoff mode, as Verizon has also been reported to have cut jobs in recent years as well. |
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| HPE | While Hewlett Packard Enterprise is focusing its narrative on the cost-cutting merits of reducing its sales team, reports indicate the reason for the recent reorganization is due to the new normal of the socially-distanced pandemic life. Without face to face interaction, the organization shifted its focus to its inside and partner-driven sales. While HPE has yet to confirm layoffs or numbers, they have confirmed efforts that focus on growth, strategy acceleration, and realignment to core businesses. |
Hiring impacting the Defense Industry
| U.S. Army |
The U.S. Army has noted an increasing need for data talent. Not only does the military need to recruit for this specific skill set, it also needs to retrain or even retool its existing workforce. Changes to civilian hiring practices can help propel the Army forward in meeting this demand. Mark Gorak, the director of people analytics for the Assistant Secretary of the Army Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said at the recent AUSA conference, “The senior leaders know we need more but they don’t know what that means. So what does more of this skill set mean.” From changes in military academy offerings to software factories to task forces on artificial intelligence, the military is serious about changing the recruiting landscape. “We are in this enlightenment process about what is the intersection of our equipment modernization lines of effort with modernizing the talent base that the Army is going to demand for the future,” said Kate Kelley, Army Future Command’s director of Human Capital. |
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Opportunity to Watch
Just like every state is different when it comes to marijuana laws, back to school plans in a pandemic, and COVID-19 measures, it seems like every state also differs in how quickly they are able to bounce back. Recently, WalletHub released an update, noting which states’ unemployment rates are recovering the quickest. The top five states bouncing back the fastest since the start of the COVID-19 crisis are Oregon, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming. On the other end of the spectrum, the five states that are recovering a bit more slowly since the crisis hit are Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Florida, and Georgia. With the new WFH lifestyle in place for many, the options to work and live in two different states are a growing trend and could better connect talent with recruiters without ever having to worry about relocation. Working in national security can still be an option even when living outside the D.C. metro area.
