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Two years ago, a $575 million battery factory planned in St. Louis, Missouri, was set to be the first large-scale lithium iron phosphate (LFP) facility in the U.S. This November, after the Trump administration withdrew a grant for the project, it was cancelledbecoming one of more than 50 major clean energy projects to be scrapped or scaled back in 2025. From January through November, as federal policy turned against clean energy, companies abandoned more than $32 billion in investments, according to the most recent data from E2, a nonpartisan organization that tracks clean energy projects in the U.S. Some companies are still announcing new projects, but lost investments are now outpacing them by three to one. “The scale of cancellations shows how fragile this moment is for Americas clean energy economy,” says Michael Timberlake, director of research at E2. The list includes a new $4.3 billion General Motors EV plant in Michigan that’s being retooled to make gas-powered vehicles, a $3.2 billion Stellantis battery factory in Illinois that was cancelled, and a $2.6 billion battery factory in Georgia that was scrapped by a Norway-based manufacturer, among dozens of other projects. The majority of the cancelled projects are factories, not clean energy generation plants, though some solar or wind farms may not show up on the list because their cancellations are harder to track. (Though there is some evidence the administration is changing its mind about batteries, specifically.) The cuts add up to nearly 40,000 lost jobs, according to E2. Republican congressional districts lost the most large-scale projects, 37 in total. What’s harder to track than cancellations is how many projects might have been announced under different political conditions that now won’t ever break ground. Up until the 2024 election, Timberlake says monthly announcements consistently exceeded $1 billion in investment. Last month, that total was $550 millionless than the value of the cancelled battery project. “We’ll never recover those jobs and those investments that were going to be announced in 2025 under a different political environment,” says Timberlake. “And thats going to add up over time to a significant loss in step with the rest of the world. We’ve now lost a lot of what could have been, and it’s going to be hard to ever get that back.” It’s not clear yet what will happen in 2026. Still, despite the setbacks, the industry still has strengths. The fact that the list of cancelled projects wasn’t longer “is a good sign of the health of the clean energy economy and how robust it is and how the economics still work,” Timberlake says. Nearly all of the energy added to the grid in 2025 came from solar, wind, or batteries, despite the Trump administration’s efforts. As the surge in energy demand continues, driven in part by data centers, clean energy is still a quick, affordable way to meet that demand. And some projects are continuing to move forward. “The market is still there,” he says.
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E-Commerce
Culture rot is when everything that once made a company good gradually starts to disappearresulting in sinking morale, low productivity, lots of gossip, quiet quitting, and overall cynicism. And it can cause big problems for everyone.
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E-Commerce
The end of the year is the perfect time to take stock of where you are, what youre good at, and what you want to develop in the new year. The job market continues to be intense and competitive, so youre wise to consider hiring trends and how you can best prepare and set yourself apart. There is one skill that tops the list for getting the job, building your career, and becoming indispensable: resilience. Resilience has many forms. At a general level, resilience is about adaptability, flexibility, and responsiveness to multiple situations. But when you consider it through a few lenses, it brings terrific focus to what you must be wicked good at for the brightest future. RESILIENCE WITH PEOPLE Topping the list of which skills will set you apart are people skills also known as soft skills. And while theyre called soft skills, theyre actually not soft at all since they are hard to find, hard to master, and its hard to get anywhere without them. In particular, a survey by Resume Template found that 24% of hiring managers believe soft skills are most important, followed by 62% who say they are just as important as technical skills. And data from TestGorilla found that 60% of hiring leaders believe soft skills are more important today than they were five years ago. But whats helpful to consider is that soft skills are really made up of an ability to be resilient with people. When you can listen with empathy, youre better able to respond. When you can communicate effectively with diverse groups of people, you can get more done. When you can demonstrate teamwork and collaboration, youre able to move others to action and effectively achieve objectives together. And when you show professionalism through tough issues, youll generate a lot of panache. These are all among the top-ranking skills that hiring managers want, according to Resume Template. Ultimately, resilience is required with people because youll need to be constantly adjusting to their moods or their styles. Youll also need to flex your style if you face conflict, staying calm when you feel angry, or finding a way to talk with someone even if you disagree. Build your resilience with people by focusing on listening and tuning in when youre interacting, rather than getting distracted by devices or your internal chatter. Also ask for feedback from a trusted colleague about how you interact and how you can improve. Look around for people you believe are especially good at building relationships and rapport. Consider how you can learn from what makes them effective, so you can put new strategies into practice. RESILIENCE WITH SITUATIONS Another way that resilience is a primary skill for success is that it helps ensure youre adaptable to whatever situation you face. Youll need to be contextually aware, staying in tune with shifts that might be occurring with customers or with an emerging problem. In fact, in the Resume Template survey, problem-solving was one of the top skills that hiring managers are looking for in candidates. Youll also need to manage time effectively, and this is rarely linear or predictable, requiring flexibility. The project will take longer than you thought, or youll need to wait for a teammate to give you key information before you can make progress on your task. Or you may finish with a set of responsibilities more quickly than you planned and be ready to position yourself for whats next. Time management is one of the most important skills, according to the Resume Template data. Resilience with situations also requires you to take initiative. When you see a barrier, youll need to step up and figure out how to get past it. Or when you see an opportunity, youll want to lean in, raise your hand, and volunteer to get involved. This kind of approach will get you noticed so you can get promoted or secure the next opportunity. You can think of situational resilience as grit. Its the ability to stick with things and adapt to whats needed in the moment. Its also the ability to be flexible in terms of how you apply your skills based on what the team or the organization needs and based on where you want to head with your career. Build your resilience with situations by staying aware of whats going on around you in the world, in your organization, and with your customers (whether theyre internal or external). Consistently ask yourself how you need to respond and how you can take initiative with whats changing. You can also build your situational resilience by reminding yourself that youre capable and that you can learn all the time. If you stumble, reflect on what happened and make plans for how you can improve. This will keep you in a learning mode and a resilience mindset. RESILIENCE FOR THE FUTURE Resilience is also the most important skill as it relates to your ability to learn, grow, and develop. The landscape of work is changing at breakneck speed, largely because of technology. As a result, the very best candidates are those who can figure out how to make things happen in the midst of uncertainty and keep their skills fresh and continually developing. There is also an element of optimism and energy that is part of resilience for the future. When youre investing time and effort in your own growth, youre necessarily anticipating whats next and planning on where you can go. This is a hope-filled strategy, and people are drawn to others who are powering through and engaged with the team in moving forward together. This is the true essence of leadership, another in-demand skill, in which youre motivating and inspiring others. When you demonstrate resilience for the future, youre also staying aware of trends, markets, customers, and competitors. Whatever job you do, youre constantly sensing whats changing, whats coming, and how you can respond. In the Resume Template survey, among the top 10 hard skills that leaders wanted candidates to have were data analysis, project management, and AI. A survey by Resume Builder agrees that AI is the most important skill that hiring managers want to see on résumés. But the nuances of these skills and how theyre applied will change over time. The ability to learn whats new and flex over time will be most critical to success. Build your resilience for the future by staying optimistic. There are always plenty of barriers as you look forward, but try to focus on the opportunities that are also coming up. Make plans for the new skills you want to learn. Also lean into how you use technology. Try, test, and experiment so you can develop both skills and a point of view about what works best. And engage other people, involving them and sharing te positive energy youre feeling to move ahead. THE ACTION HERO EFFECT Resilience is an action-hero skill. Think of MacGyver, who was an action hero who could solve any problem to get himself out of thorny situations. Or consider Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible, surviving and achieving the objective no matter the challenge. Resilience allows you to make things happen in spite of challenging colleagues, conflicts, problems with projects, or changes in direction. You wont avoid difficulty, but youll be able to work your way through by adapting, flexing, and demonstrating resilience. Building this ability in the new year will allow you to stand out and set yourself apart whether youre interviewing for a new job, getting noticed for a promotion, or expanding your credibility in your current role.
Category:
E-Commerce
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