David Lidsky's Blog, page 18

Starbucks store closings: 59 unionized locations on doomed list in company restructuring

The coffee chain is closing 1% of its North American stores by the end of 2025, prompting employees to crowdsource lists of locations marked for closure.

On the heels of Starbucks’s recent announcement that it will be cutting 900 corporate roles and closing 1% of its North American stores by the end of 2025 (after accounting for both new openings and closures), Starbucks Workers United said Tuesday that 59 of those locations marked for closure are unionized.

Job openings barely climb in August amid economic uncertainty

The Labor Department reported that job openings blipped up to 7.23 million from 7.21 million in July.

U.S. job openings were essentially unchanged in August amid economic uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump’s trade policies and an impending government shutdown.

Home remodeling costs jump in the second quarter

Much of the increase appears to be driven primarily by higher labor costs for repair and remodeling work.

If it seems like it’s getting more expensive to replace a broken door or kitchen fixtures, or to upgrade a major appliance, you’re not wrong.

‘AI for America’ wants to be a New Deal for workers and communities. But it needs teeth

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly’s plan to protect workers amid the AI revolution starts the conversation, but here’s how it could take the fight to the companies building the future at a breakneck pace.

Curing cancer. Reducing carbon emissions. Maximizing business efficiency. To achieve all this and develop untold social goods, artificial intelligence “accelerationsts” at companies like Google, Meta, and OpenAI believe their industry has a duty to speed ahead toward superintelligence, or AI that’s far superior to humans at most tasks. Key to that revolution will be the build-out of data centers.

Why whiskey collectors are flocking to Unicorn’s $125 million marketplace

Unicorn’s warehouse holds $100M of booze—and its CEO says the future of collecting is as much about logistics as it is about taste.

In the early days of the internet, collectors traded rare whiskey and wine on eBay alongside Beanie Babies and vintage sneakers. But then, in 1999, six months after closing down firearm sales, eBay announced they would ban the sale of alcohol and tobacco products as well. 

How great leaders step into new roles

Right now there’s a lot of churn in leadership. Here are four strategies for helping leaders get off to a great start in a new role.

Across all sectors of the economy, there is a lot of churn in leadership right now going all the way to the top. The C-suite and its equivalent in many organizations has become a merry-go-round. When a new leader is hired into a key role, they must quickly get adapted to how things work in order to make positive changes while breaking as few things as possible.

How freelancing became the new entry-level job

In a world where the entry-level job is disappearing, freelancing offers opportunities to develop professional skills and earn money.

The evidence is mounting. There was a time when a college degree all but guaranteed a job. Not anymore.

Why Maxwell House coffee just changed its name to Maxwell Apartment

The brand has temporarily changed its name to reflect rising costs of coffee—and housing.

Maxwell House is doing some downsizing. For a limited time, it’s changing its name to Maxwell Apartment.

58 million pounds of corn dogs and sausages may contain something you really don’t want to eat: Full list of recalled products here

The USDA issued a warning to avoid these items from Tyson Foods subsidiary Hillshire Brands, including some Jimmy Dean breakfast foods.

Hillshire Brands, a subsidiary of Tyson Foods, has recalled some 58 million pounds of corn dogs and sausage-on-a-stick products, saying they “may be contaminated with extraneous material, specifically pieces of wood embedded in the batter,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

AI investment is boosting the economy more than consumer spending—for now

New data suggests the economy depends largely on the artificial intelligence sector, a worrisome sign for long-term overall growth.

Spending on AI infrastructure is now contributing more to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth than the entire consumer economy, according to new data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The comparison, which was posted to the social platform X by economist Heather Long on Monday, suggests that hype may not be the only thing propping up the high stock prices and valuations of artificial intelligence companies such as Nvidia and OpenAI.