Key Points

• According to a survey, 91% of respondents believe the fed. is late in addressing the issue of inflation. Respondents are still optimistic the economy will do well as long as it reaches a point where it is able to fight inflation.
• America however will still have to deal with supply chain issues as well as the effects of the virus on supplies. There has also been a significant rise in consumer demands over the past months.

Key Points

• In a recent development, surveys have found that hiring difficulties are a permanent concern. Aside from general difficulties in terms of hiring, the U.S. is now significantly behind in terms of women in the workforce as a result of childcare accessibility.
• Compared to November’s survey, this survey predicted the fed to taper at 30 billion. The biggest concern however shifted to whether or not the fed was moving too high too fast.

Key Points

• Given what is known—and not known—about omicron, Dr. Vin Gupta, a critical care pulmonologist, affiliate faculty member and scientific health advisor at the University of Washington, says the psychological wellbeing of employees would be better served with more time and certainty about the risks posed by this latest variant.
• While changing return dates only makes CHROs’ jobs even more complex, the bigger issue that companies will soon need to address is the definition of fully vaccinated. Companies should prepare now to re-evaluate their definition of fully vaccinated to better reflect what we’re learning about omicron and communicate that clearly to their employees.

• Bryan Hancock, a partner with McKinsey & Co., said the challenge of fair performance reviews pre-dated Covid, but the pandemic amplified the need to get this right.
• It will require a new way of doing things but fairness and equity in performance reviews can be achieved when there is a premium placed on transparency and consistent and open communication between managers and employees.

Key Points

• According to Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch and self-proclaimed tech optimist, the ability to check in with remote employees via different tools and platforms is liberating and productive for many, but there are differences. “Vulnerable people in your organization don’t experience surveillance as helpful,” he said.
• “We’re never going to solve this talent shortage if companies don’t address what’s happening at the entry level,” Simone Petrella, CEO of CyberVista told CNBC’s Jon Fortt. She said companies should put a bigger focus on evaluating the tech talent they have and then put in place upskilling programs to get them to the next level. Petrella added that the average cyber job takes six months to fill.

• The unrelenting frequency of cyber attacks on companies, hospital systems, schools and critical U.S. infrastructure has reached a boiling point, said Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant, the company that discovered the SolarWinds attack nearly a year ago. “Everyone is tired of ransomware,” he told CNBC Senior Washington Correspondent Eamon Javers. But there are things companies can do. He urged TEC members to require two-factor authentication in their organizations and to make spear phishing training essential for all employees.
• “There’s just so much we don’t know about space yet,” said Jared Isaacman, Shift4 Payments founder and commander of the first all-civilian crew to orbit the Earth. He told TEC members that the role of the private sector in space exploration is a good thing, adding that capital can be deployed more efficiently than when it comes from the government.

Key Points

• The labor shortage and what it will take for companies to attract and retain talent remains top-of-mind for WEC members. Betsey Stevenson, a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan, encouraged council members to invest in workplace flexibility and focus on the humanity of their workers to reinvigorate current employees and attract new ones. “People are reevaluating their jobs and lives. They figured out what they really want, so they’re searching for something different,” she told CNBC’s Sara Eisen.
• Flexibility is the key to keeping both sides engaged, said Nicholas Bloom, Stanford University Professor of Economics, in conversation with CNBC’s Dominic Chu. Bloom said 40% of the U.S. workforce is going utilize some type of hybrid work option, whether employees are coming into the office 2 or 3 days per week.

• In a hybrid space, Brooks said companies can foster a culture of learning across all levels of employment to facilitate this transition. “It's a huge time for learning because everyone knows that we haven't been around this corner. Hybrid work is new for us,” Brooks said.
• “Vaccines and economic progress, revenue growth, income growth, wage growth, jobs, GDP industrial production; every variable that I look at seems highly and positively elastic to wiggles in the [Covid-19] caseload,” Jared Bernstein, White House Council of Economic Advisers Member, said to Kayla Tausche, CNBC Senior White House Correspondent.
• According to Masheika Allgood, AllAI Consulting Founder, HR professionals should acquire three skills when it comes to AI: understand what it is, what it’s good at, and what its limitations are. “When it comes to AI, there's this hands-off fear,” Allgood said. “Like, ‘No, the data scientists know best.’ They know how to code, but they don't know what you know.”
• Alison Borland, Alight EVP, Wealth Solutions and Strategy, in a conversation with Devin Banerjee, LinkedIn Editor at Large stated that wellbeing can be defined in four dimensions: a healthy body, healthy mind, healthy wallet and healthy life.
• With a recent vaccine mandate for federal workers, larger companies with 100 or more employees may soon mandate vaccinations or routine testing against Covid-19. This may lead to more employees getting vaccinated to avoid the time, cost and hassle of regular testing, said Lawrence O. Gostin, Georgetown University Professor, Founding O’Neill Chair in Global Health Law; World Health Organization Center on National and Global Health Law Director, in a conversation with CNBC’s Contessa Brewer.
• “Greater ventilation leads to significantly better cognitive function performance of employees,” Joseph Allen, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Associate Professor and Harvard Healthy Buildings Program Director, said to CNBC’s Meg Tirrell “It is good for worker health, productivity and performance.”
• Steve Pemberton, Workhuman Chief Human Experience Officer and author of “The Lighthouse Effect: How Ordinary People Can Have an Extraordinary Impact in the World,” in a conversation with CNBC’s Sharon Epperson shared “When you work in human resources, you are, in essence, the people who take care of people and you get to see all these human stories." “Perhaps as you are navigating your own daily life, you are being a lighthouse to someone else who might draw strength and courage and conviction just from your presence,” he told WEC members.

Key Points

• As expected, inflation has remained the number one concern and risk to the economy. Labor shortage has also remained a pressing issue within the United States as a result of the immigration crisis. While we have yet to see any obvious solutions, inflation is certainly the more manageable issue of the two.
• According to CNBC’s Fed. survey. Predictions have expected the fed to taper in November with an average monthly cost of 15 billion. Respondents forecasted a median hike for September 2022 while 44% believe it could be here as soon as July.

• A one size fits all mindset is no longer realistic as becoming more flexible is crucial, especially for older generations in terms of understanding and taking full advantage of new technology.