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When times are good and the economy is expanding, companies grow in a variety of ways. They build in some redundancy so that key functions survive even if an employee leaves. They add capacity hoping to grow the size of the core business. They consider new projects or products that might enable the company to enter new markets. All of this is reflected in a growth in the number of employees at the firm. When the economy takes a downturn, leaders immediately look for places to trim costsand the base of workers is often an easy place to start. That is when the layoffs may begin: this year companies have already eliminated 800,000 jobs. So, what can you do to minimize the chances that one will find its way to you? Be good at your job Perhaps the most important thing you can do to protect your job is to be really good at it. When a company first starts to consider downsizing, they usually start by looking for candidates to lay off whose contributions wont be missed that much. So, the first people to go are usually those whose performance has been lackluster. Continue to develop your skills to become expert in your job function and facile with any new technologies that may improve your productivity. Work to stay motivated to provide great service to your team, your clients, and your customers. Even on the days you arent feeling it you still need to bring a positive attitude to your work. Be the kind of person that your leadership notices. That effort will get you past that first round of layoffs that often targets the folks that management is perfectly happy to see walk out the door. Be mission-critical When companies look for ways to trim costs, they often focus on their core businesses. The dreams of new products and services take a back seat to a focus on the central drivers of revenue in the near term. That means the safest place to be in the organization is working on things that are recognized to be mission critical. Take a look at your daily responsibilities. If you have some latitude about where youre spending your time, focus most on those tasks that are easily identified as contributions to the core current drivers of revenue and success. You may have a passion for some of the more innovative or future-focused parts of your job, and you can continue to do some of that work. But, make sure that the bulk of your focus is on projects that are not potentially expendable. Play well with others When high-level leadership wants a reduction in force, they often send headcount or budget targets to managers who then have to identify the people who are let go. When it reaches that stage, managers are in a mindset of rejection. They are thinking about which individuals will not make the cut to stay with the firm. Whenever youre looking to eliminate people (or options) from a set, you tend to focus on the negative characteristics of those options more than the positives. That means that your negatives are going to loom particularly large at that moment. One factor that is easily under your control is whether you are a pleasant colleague to work with. Being nice to others, doing favors, and being a team player puts you in a camp of individuals who make the workplace pleasant rather than unpleasant. So, you are unlikely to stick out of a list of people being considered as potential layoff targets. On top of that, managers are also human. They are likely to give more consideration to people they generally like than to those they dont. Being nice to others wont guarantee youll keep your job, but it will make the decision as difficult as possible for the manager faced with making tough choices.
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E-Commerce
Hurricane Erin began pelting part of the Caribbean with rain and wind Monday before it’s expected to churn up dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast this week. Evacuations were being ordered on a few islands along North Carolinas Outer Banks even though the storm is unlikely to make direct landfall. Authorities warned that some roads could be swamped by waves of 15 feet (4.6 meters). The monster storm intensified to a Category 4 with 140 mph (225 kph) maximum sustained winds early Monday while it started to lash the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Forecasters are confident that Erin will turn northeast and away from the eastern U.S., but it’s still expected to produce dangerous waves and rip currents and could bring tropical force winds to the North Carolina coast, said Dave Roberts of the National Hurricane Center. Evacuations were ordered beginning Monday on Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks, coming at the height of tourist season on the thin stretch of low-lying barrier islands that jut far into the Atlantic Ocean. Coastal flooding was expected to begin Tuesday and continue through Thursday. There are concerns that several days of heavy surf, high winds, and waves could wash out parts of the main highway running along the barrier islands, the National Weather Service said. Some routes could be impassible for several days, authorities warned. But there were no signs of panic on Hatteras Island, said Angela Tawes, a co-owner of Conners Supermarket. Its so beautiful outside. Its hard for people to feel like theres a hurricane coming when its so gorgeous, she said. Erin, the years first Atlantic hurricane, reached a dangerous Category 5 status Saturday with 160 mph (260 kph) winds before weakening. It is expected to remain a large, major hurricane into midweek. Youre dealing with a major hurricane. The intensity is fluctuating. Its a dangerous hurricane in any event, the hurricane center’s Richard Pasch said. Early Monday, the storm was located about 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of Grand Turk Island and about 880 miles (1,400 kilometers) south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, the hurricane center said. Erins outer bands hit parts of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with heavy rains and tropical-storm winds on Sunday. Scientists have linked the rapid intensification of hurricanes in the Atlantic to climate change. Global warming is causing the atmosphere to hold more water vapor and is spiking ocean temperatures, and warmer waters give hurricanes fuel to unleash more rain and strengthen more quickly.
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E-Commerce
The conservative network Newsmax will pay $67 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of defaming a voting equipment company by spreading lies about President Donald Trumps 2020 election loss, according to documents filed Monday. The settlement comes after Fox News Channel paid $787.5 million to settle a similar lawsuit in 2023 and Newsmax paid what court papers describe as $40 million to settle a libel lawsuit from a different voting machine manufacturer, Smartmatic, which also was a target of pro-Trump conspiracy theories on the network. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis had ruled earlier that Newsmax did indeed defame Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems by airing false information about the company and its equipment. But Davis left it to a jury to eventually decide whether that was done with malice, and, if so, how much Dominion deserved from Newsmax in damages. Newsmax and Dominion reached the settlement before the trial could take place. The settlement was disclosed by Newsmax on Monday in a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It said the deal was reached Friday. A spokesperson for Dominion said the company was pleased to have settled the lawsuit. The disclosure came as Trump, who lost his 2020 reelection bid to Democrat Joe Biden, vowed in a social media post Monday to eliminate mail-in ballots and voting machines such as those supplied by Dominion and other companies. It was unclear how the Republican president could achieve that. The same judge also handled the Dominion-Fox News case and made a similar ruling that the network repeated numerous lies by Trumps allies about his 2020 loss despite internal communications showing Fox officials knew the claims were bogus. At the time, Davis found it was CRYSTAL clear that none of the allegations was true. Internal correspondence from Newsmax officials likewise shows they knew the claims were baseless. How long are we going to play along with election fraud? Newsmax host Bob Sellers said two days after the 2020 election was called for Biden, according to internal documents revealed as part of the case. Newsmax took pride that it was not calling the election for Biden and, the internal documents show, saw a business opportunity in catering to viewers who believed Trump won. Private communications that surfaced as part of Dominions earlier defamation case against Fox News also revealed how the networks business interests intersected with decisions it made related to coverage of Trumps 2020 election claims. At Newsmax, employees repeatedly warned against false allegations from pro-Trump guests such as attorney Sidney Powell, according to documents in the lawsuit. In one text, even Newsmax owner Chris Ruddy, a Trump ally, said he found it scary that Trump was meeting with Powell. Dominion was at the heart of many of the wild claims aired by guests on Newsmax and elsewhere, who promoted a conspiracy theory involving deceased Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to rig the machines for Biden. Though Trump has insisted his fraud claims are real, theres no evidence they were, and the lawsuits in the Fox and Newsmax cases show how some of the presidents biggest supporters knew they were false at the time. Trumps then-attorney general, William Barr, said there was no evidence of widespread fraud. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits alleging fraud, some before Trump-appointed judges. Numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results, including some run by Republicans, turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error and affirmed Bidens win. After returning to office, Trump pardoned those who tried to halt the transfer of power during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and directed his Department of Justice to investigate Chris Krebs, a former Trump cybersecurity appointee who had vouched for the security and accuracy of the 2020 election. As an initial trial date approached in the Dominion case earlier this year, Trump issued an executive order attacking the law firm that litigated it and the Fox case, Susman Godfrey. The order, part of a series targeting law firms Trump has tussled with, cited Susman Godfreys work on elections and said the government would not do business with any of its clients or permit any of its staff in federal buildings. A federal judge put that action on hold, saying the framers would view it as a shocking abuse of power. Nicholas Riccardi, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
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