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The Morning Ledger: Walmart Promises Steadier Hours to Woo Workers |
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Yolanda Evans, a manager for Walmart in Erie, Pa., said steadier schedules help recruiting and makes life easier for workers. PHOTO: JEFF SWENSEN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Good day. Walmart Inc. is rolling out a new system for scheduling its more than 1 million U.S. store workers, as the country’s largest private employer aims to hold down labor costs while offering more stable schedules to attract workers, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Battle for workers: Walmart’s efforts come as U.S. unemployment is at its lowest level in decades and wages are rising, leaving retailers to compete for workers while managing rising costs. Some rivals have raised their minimum wages above Walmart’s $11 threshold set early this year.
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New system: The retailer will introduce to all 4,600 of its U.S. stores software that executives said better predicts staffing needs and allows some of those stores to give workers schedules that remain the same for 13 weeks.
Greater autonomy: Walmart also is letting workers use a company mobile app to check their schedules or swap shifts without a manager’s approval. Steadier schedules and shift-swapping via mobile have been popular, said workers and executives.
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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will begin Wednesday the first of two auctions for extremely high-frequency spectrum licenses, raising cash from a type of radio wave considered worthless before 5G technology.
Negotiators for Britain and the European Union hammered out a draft Brexit deal in Brussels on Tuesday that British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to put to her cabinet Wednesday.
Blue Apron Holdings Inc., Macy's Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. are among the companies slated to report earnings today.
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SEC Wants Companies To Boost Risk Disclosures |
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The seal of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. PHOTO: JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS
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Companies should ramp up the level of disclosure surrounding the risks posed by cybersecurity, Brexit and the planned phaseout of the London interbank offered rate, said Kyle Moffatt, chief accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Corporation Finance Division.
The SEC issued new cybersecurity disclosure guidance earlier this year, and the regulator wants companies to align their current disclosure policies with that guidance, reports CFO Journal's Tatyana Shumsky.
That means including in corporate filings discussions of board risk oversight, disclosure controls and procedures, and insider trading policies as they relate to cybersecurity, Mr. Moffatt said Tuesday at the Current Financial Reporting Issues Conference in New York.
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Data Protection Concerns Upend M&A Plans |
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More than half of respondents to a recent survey have worked on deals that fell apart because of concerns about data protection policies. PHOTO: DADO RUVIC/REUTERS
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The European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation privacy law is turning into a stumbling block for mergers and acquisitions involving companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to a survey released Monday by business services provider Merrill Corp., reports CFO Journal's Nina Trentmann.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said they had worked on deals that fell apart because of concerns about a target company’s data protection policies and compliance with GDPR, a regulatory framework that took effect at the end of May.
Two-thirds of respondents expect GDPR to result in greater scrutiny of data protection policies and processes at target companies on behalf of buyers, complicating the deal-making process.
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Companies Pay Down Debt With Cash Freed Up by New Tax Law |
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President Donald Trump signs the tax overhaul plan in the Oval Office of the White House, Dec. 2017. PHOTO: JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS
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U.S. companies are using the cash freed up by the new U.S. tax law to increase debt repayments while continuing to return money to shareholders, according to a new report by Moody’s Investors Service Inc.
Debt payments accounted for 14% of the $700 billion in cash outflows among a sample of 100 nonfinancial companies as of Sept. 7, according to the report. That’s up from an average of 5% of the $500 billion for the same periods of 2016 and 2017, reports Ms. Shumsky.
The new tax code requires companies to pay a one-time 15.5% tax on all unrepatriated profits held in cash, a reduction from the previous corporate tax rate of 35%. Moreover, companies can bring home any future overseas earnings without paying additional tax in the U.S.
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Google’s competition with Amazon for talent in New York City will be stiff, recruiters say. PHOTO: JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
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Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are planning to recruit thousands of employees in New York City, pitting the two behemoths against one another for already-scarce talent in the area.
Separately, the head of Alphabet’s Waymo unit said it plans to launch its first commercial self-driving car service in the next two months and expects businesses to be among its biggest customers.
Starbucks Corp. is planning to lay off approximately 5% of its global corporate workforce as it seeks to become a more nimble company.
A judge signed off Tuesday on a bankruptcy plan for Toys “R” Us Inc. that gives control of the brand to a group of hedge funds, and a fractional payment to suppliers.
Chinese car maker Zotye Automobile International Co. plans to start selling a vehicle in the U.S. in 2020, despite new Trump administration tariffs imposed this year on vehicle imports from China.
General Electric Co. said it plans to sell up to 20% of its majority holding in oil services company Baker Hughes, providing around $4 billion in cash for the struggling conglomerate.
Tyson Foods Inc. expects meat prices to face continued pressure over the next year, as the U.S. protein industry grapples with rising supplies and trade disputes.
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Snap shares priced at $17 apiece in a hotly anticipated 2017 IPO. PHOTO: JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
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Snap Inc. is facing scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department and the SEC about its disclosures to investors ahead of its 2017 initial public offering, according to the company.
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A top banking regulator recently sent a letter rebuking Wells Fargo & Co.'s chief administrative officer, Hope Hardison, leading the executive to take a leave of absence and showing the issues between the lender and its overseers are far from over.
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U.S. aviation regulators have launched a review of the safety analyses Boeing Co. performed over the years regarding potential hazards associated with an automated flight-control system introduced on the latest versions of its 737 aircraft.
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A group of six television station owners on Tuesday agreed to settle Justice Department charges that they used third-party firms to illegally coordinate on sales of local advertising spots.
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A commission of security and economic experts convened by Congress warned that China’s technology-manufacturing strength threatens U.S. national security and advised U.S. government agencies to be mindful of Chinese attempts to compromise government systems.
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A Volkswagen Touran SUV stands on a raised conveyor on the assembly line at a factory in Wolfsburg, Germany. PHOTO: KRISZTIAN BOCSI/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Germany’s economy shrank for the first time in 3½ years, as tussles over trade undermined exports and new emissions rules hit car production.
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Improving family leave and support policies could draw millions of workers back into the U.S. labor force and help bring labor-participation rates closer to those seen in other major economies.
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The capex spending boom at U.S. companies appears to be slowing. After two consecutive quarters of record spending by companies in the S&P 500, the pace of investment growth is stalling.
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Dubai is struggling with what economists are calling a white-collar recession, undermining the city’s taste for luxury and testing an economic model other Middle East countries want to replicate.
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AmerisourceBergen Corp., the Valley Forge, Pa.-based drug distributor, said its appointment of James Cleary as finance chief became effective Nov. 9. Former CFO Tim Guttman’s retirement also became effective on that date.
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Mr. Cleary’s current employment contract is substantially similar to the company’s agreements with its named officers, and the company hasn’t yet entered into any compensation agreement in connection with his new position. Mr. Cleary currently receives a base salary of $575,000 and will be eligible for a target cash bonus of 100% of his base salary linked to performance goals, according to a filing.
Mr. Guttman received total compensation of $3.8 million in fiscal 2017, according to the annual report. This included a base salary of $710,000, equity awards worth $2.5 million and other compensation worth $632,955.
Mr. Guttman will continue to be employed by the company through all or a portion of 2019 and is eligible to receive $1.21 million, which consists of salary continuation and a lump sum payment, the filing said.
The Children’s Place Inc., a Secaucus, N.J.-based retailer, named CFO and Chief Operating Officer Michael Scarpa as principal financial officer on Nov. 8. Mr. Scarpa joined the retailer as CFO in 2012 and has served as CFO or COO since then.
Robert Helm, vice president, finance and accounting, was appointed as the company’s principal accounting officer on Nov. 8. Mr. Helm joined the company in 2016 as vice president and controller and became vice president in Nov. 2018. Compensation details were not disclosed.
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