Looks like the news is conspiring once again to make us talk about one of our favorite nemeses, corporate headquarters. This week, Tyson announced that it’s moving its entire corporate staff, about 500 jobs, from offices in Downers Grove and Chicago to Arkansas. Arkansas!
Now, we’re not psychics, but it does seem like there might be a few employees, let’s say with certain identities, who are not going to be willing to make that move. So Tyson can certainly announce that it’s “relocating” 500 employees from Chicago, but this is not the Dust Bowl, and 500 people aren’t going to just pack up their jalopies and follow the chicken packer to new work. Some people in Illinois will lose their jobs, and some new jobs will open up in Arkansas, but most of that “talent” is going to stay where it is, waiting for some other company to scoop them up, regardless of where the headquarters is.
This is what makes the tax break arms race so ridiculous. States fall all over each other to offer the most money to a potential project, only to find out that they’ll never get that money back.
J.B. Pritzker, person we’re normally not mad at, is campaigning on a potential $1 billion “closing fund” to lure corporate headquarters to Chicago. In that article, Pritzker holds up electric carmaker Rivian as an example of the kind of manufacturer he wants to attract with incentive packages. The same company that just recalled almost its entire fleet of vehicles for lack of sufficient torque on a particular bolt. If we’re going to be investing money in things, let’s not bet the billion on a private enterprise where success or failure can hinge on a wrench. Put that money into education and infrastructure, and let the people who want to live here do the luring.
Amazon is a great example. That titan of tax incentives just announced that it’s hiring 3,500 workers in Illinois ahead of the holiday season, hot on the heels of closing a couple of suburban warehouses. And bear in mind that even if all of those 3,500 jobs materialize, and even if they get extended past seasonal posts, they are still under no obligation to be good jobs. Just ask the Joliet warehouse workers who walked out this week citing low pay and racist threats.
Built In, the tech-championing media company and frequent source for this newsletter, is making the case for newsroom unions, laying off 25% of its staff nationwide, or roughly 50 people.
The U.S. Soccer Federation is moving to a real office, after decades of operating out of a South Loop mansion. With 185 employees in the Chicago area and counting, rising popularity for the sport, an impending World Cup and, oh yeah, a major scandal for the not-the-same but still semi-adjacent National Women’s Soccer League, it was time for the organization to level up the professionalism a bit.
While we would wag our tails over a paper with the subtitle, “The Effects of Managers' Business Education on Wages and the Labor Share in the US and Denmark,” we do not have access to the paper through an academic membership. So if one of you wants to read the full text of this paper, which purports to show that managers with business degrees fail to deliver better performance than their non-degreed peers, despite reducing employee wages by an average of 6% in the U.S., please share! Maybe we can get a reading circle started.
You know what else sounds true? That Starbucks is closing its Edgewater location — one of the first in Chicago to unionize — as retaliation. It could be due solely to the fact that the location has a record of safety incidents, as Starbucks says. But if employees are, in fact, regularly interacting with aggressive customers, losing tips to theft and finding needles in the bathroom, isn’t that the best case yet for unionization?
Try as management might to stop it, unionization efforts are still rolling across the country. The Field Museum staff is the latest to sign on, working to join the same union as the Art Institute of Chicago. Given that the entire existence of The Field Museum is ethically compromised in about a dozen ways, it sure would be nice if we could feel comfortable about how the institution treats its employees.
Jobs, Glorious Jobs
Marketing and Communications Specialist at Nourishing Hope
Help the former Lakeview Pantry raise money and awareness through social media, email, blogs, quarterly and annual reports, and website updates. Strong writing and some graphic design skills are a must, and Spanish proficiency is a huge plus.
Director of Digital Product at the Chicago Bulls
The cool factor is obvious here, sports fans. But as job nerds, we'd like to point out something else awesome: A bachelor’s degree is advantageous, but not required. More of that, please.
Inspiration of the Week
“Aging meaning living.”
—Ada Limón, offering us a concise reminder that moving through time is still the best option, regardless of what indignities our impending and metaphorical winter may bring. Read the full interview for more perfect poetry.
Forward this email to anyone who’s looking for meaning. They can sign up here to get a twice-monthly help moving through time.
Got a tip on an excellent job? Reply to this email, send us a new one at hey@gethustl.in, or reach out on Twitter.