The U.S. tax reform pushed by the Trump Administration has prompted many corporations to announce bonuses and wage hikes for their employees. Starbucks is one of the latest to boost its compensation and benefits package in light of the recent changes in U.S. tax law. Ron Crawford, VP of Benefits at Starbucks, was with us to discuss the company's investment in benefits.
Starbucks said the U.S. tax reform accelerated its latest investment in paid leave and wages. Had there not been tax reform, Crawford said Starbucks still would have made investments in compensation, but the timing and the extent of it may have been different. The offerings will total more than $250 million for more than 150,000 workers.
Digital apps and emerging technologies are driving more coffee runs to Starbucks, says Crawford. He believes digitization has brought more customers to its stores and boosted interactions between customers and employees. Starbucks is pumping in $7 billion of capital to build and renovate stores, manufacturing plants and technology platforms in the U.S. over the next five years.
Joanne Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Mycocycle Inc., joined Cheddar News to discuss how her company uses mushrooms to decarbonize construction waste. "Mycocycle was started to address the waste mismanagement issue we have," she said. "Globally, we've got overflowing landfills that are creating human and environmental health issues."
The World Economic Forum recently released its future of jobs report and broke down what abilities employers are looking for. Julia Pollak, chief labor economist at ZipRecruiter, joined Cheddar News to discuss what top, in-demand job skills are needed in the rapidly-changing economy.
James Demmert, founder and chief investment officer of Main Street Research, joined Cheddar News to discuss market trends as investors digest mixed trading sessions with debt ceiling talks stalling.
This year's upfront presentations to advertisers happened against the backdrop of a massive writers' strike. Cheddar News broke down the big takeaways from how networks proceeded with their events and what upcoming TV and streaming shows were presented.
The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
With Americans' credit card debt mounting, Ted Rossman, senior analyst for Bankrate.com, stopped by the Cheddar News studio to offer some tips on how to pay down debt.
