92 Percent Of Kamala Harris’ Staff Left In Her First Three Years As VP

Of the 47 staff members hired when Harris took office in 2021, only four reportedly remained in her employment as of March 2024.

63% of small business owners not hiring because they can't afford to: Survey



A solid majority of small business owners say that they are not currently hiring because they cannot afford the added cost, a new survey says.

On Wednesday, Alignable, an online small business network, released a survey revealing that a startling 63% of small businesses cannot afford to hire more staff, even when new staff is needed. What's worse, 10% of small businesses say they are actually laying off workers, a 6% increase from July.

Alignable states that labor is just one of several added costs — including rent increases, soaring inflation, and rising energy prices — that could jeopardize the solvency of many small businesses. Sadly, nearly half of all small business owners — 47% — reported in the survey that "their businesses are at risk of closing by fall 2022, unless economic conditions improve significantly."

Most experts blame the government COVID shutdowns for the lingering struggles for small businesses.

"Beyond the skyrocketing price of labor, only 23% of small business owners say they have fully recovered financially from the worst years of COVID, down 2% from July and down 20% from December 2021," the report said. "This 23% recovery rate is the lowest the Alignable Research Center has seen in more than a year. Looking only at August revenue, 51% of all small businesses generated half or less of their pre-COVID monthly earnings, up 13% from 38% in July."

Still, despite the discouraging numbers, some economists remain optimistic about the near future. Paychex CEO Marty Mucci recently argued that the hiring pace at small businesses has slowed because applicants for jobs are scarce. According to CNBC, job openings outnumbered job applicants in July by about a 2-to-1 margin.

"For small businesses, the toughest thing is they have the demand, and they have the need for workers — they just have a little bit harder time finding it," Mucci said.

Average hourly wages have also risen significantly to $30.17 in August, up $1.51 from the same time last year. With workers in relatively short supply but in high demand, the rise in labor costs makes sense.

But it doesn't make cents for small business owners who, based on the survey, seem resigned to stagnation and continued gaps in operation for the foreseeable future.

"While some small business owners admit they just gave up on hiring more staff, the majority note that it’s just too expensive to do it in this economic environment," the survey said.

Staff of Canadian publishing company reportedly cry over decision to publish Jordan Peterson's new book



Publishing giant Penguin Random House Canada announced Monday that it would be releasing Toronto professor Dr. Jordan Peterson's latest book next year, a decision that apparently left multiple employees in tears.

What are the details?

Vice's Manisha Krishnan broke the story, reporting that the staff felt their employer — the largest publisher in Canada — "ambushed" them with the news, and managers defended the company's decision during a town hall with the staff.

"Several employees cried at the meeting discussing how Peterson's views have negatively impacted their lives," Krishnan tweeted. "One told me: "He is an icon of hate speech and transphobia and the fact that he's an icon of white supremacy... I'm not proud to work for a company that publishes him."

several employees cried at the meeting discussing how Peterson's views have negatively impacted their lives. One to… https://t.co/66D7xdjgi1
— 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐤𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐧 (@𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐤𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐧)1606252921.0

According to the Washington Examiner:

Peterson is a University of Toronto professor who rose to international prominence as a vocal critic of the Canadian government's Bill C-16, which sought to establish "gender identity or expression" as a prohibited ground of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Peterson objected on the grounds that the law could force him to address a transgender student by his or her preferred pronoun or else be faced with prosecution under human rights laws.

The title of Peterson's new book is "Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life." It is due out in March.

In a statement, Penguin Random House Canada defended its publishing decision, telling Vice:

We announced yesterday that we will publish Jordan Peterson's new book Beyond Order this coming March. Immediately following the announcement, we held a forum and provided a space for our employees to express their views and offer feedback. Our employees have started an anonymous feedback channel, which we fully support. We are open to hearing our employees' feedback and answering all of their questions. We remain committed to publishing a range of voices and viewpoints.

Anything else?

According to Clair Lehmann, founding editor of Quillette, the upset employees might be shooting themselves in the foot with their protest.

In reaction to Vice's story, she tweeted, "Peterson's '12 Rules for Life' has sold over 3million copies. A book like that pays for all of the other books that a publisher takes a risk on, for years. But they want to cancel him. In other words, they want to cancel their own company & their own jobs."