 |
|
|
|||||
At a recent JPMorgan Chase employee town hall meeting, one brave soul brought up a petition pushing back against the firms decision to force workers to return to the office five days a week. “Don’t waste time on it. I don’t care how many people sign that f-ing petition,” CEO Jamie Dimon responded. Dimons language might be particularly salty, but his sentiment is common among CEOs of tech and financial firms. Amazon, Disney, Google. One after another, theyve ordered employees to return to full-time, in-office work over the last few years. Which means a whole lot of workers are grumpily packing their laptop bags and digging their hard pants out from the bottom of the closet, right? You could be forgiven for thinking that return-to-office mandates mean tons of employees are returning to offices. But recent data suggests that a whole lot of people are responding to RTO mandates differently. Theyre ignoring them. Bosses crack down on remote work Employees defying bosses various schemes and requirements to get them back in the office is nothing new. A Stanford study back in 2022 found that half of workers asked to go back to the office full-time reported they were simply ignoring the request. Since the pandemic, Reddit and other forums have been full of outraged employees calling their bosses various profane and unpleasant things for suggesting they give up their remote setups. But these are different times. Many companies are pursuing increased efficiency, including through large-scale layoffs. Like Dimon, bosses seem all too happy to let go of any employee who might defy their RTO orders. Which might make you think that employees are finally, begrudgingly heeding the back-to-the-office call. Not so, according to Nick Bloom, the Stanford economist behind the 2022 study and a long-time leader in research into hybrid and remote work. Employees are still ignoring RTO orders In 2023, Bloom shared real estate and transit data suggesting that most businesses were settling at three days in the office and two at home. The return-to-office push seems to have died, he tweeted. The RTO wars were over. Hybrid won.” The rhetoric from bosses may have heated up since then, but according to Blooms latest data, the numbers havent really budged. While policy requirements for office attendance have jumped 10% since early 2024, actual attendance has barely moved, increasing less than 2% during the same time period, reports Time. The Dimons of the world may be noisy, but 67% of firms still maintain a hybrid policy (and that rises to 70% in companies with less than 500 employees). Even those who have a five-day-a-week attendance policy on paper seem to be hybrid set-ups in practice. According to Occuspace CEO Nic Halverson, whose workplace occupancy sensor technology is deployed across Fortune 500 companies, many firms mandating five days in office see almost the same rate of utilization as those with more flexible policies, the Time report adds. Learn to lead remotely Entrepreneurs can take these numbers a few different ways. A few Dimon-style diehards may vow to continue the fight to the bitter end. But others, I suspect, will see an opportunity to scoop up top talent frustrated with bigger companies constant RTO hectoring. While data suggests hybrid work is holding steady overall, job openings advertised as remote or hybrid are down. Indeed shows a decline to 7.8% of jobs from 10% in 2022, while LinkedIn saw a fall from 26% to 21%. If you put your openness to remote arrangements in a job ad, you are likely to be deluged with candidates seeking flexibility. The other potential takeaway here is that, reluctantly or not, bosses need to finally learn to manage remote work. One 2024 survey of business leaders found a shocking 75% said their firms were still terrible at remote work. Other polls find remote employees waste vast amounts of time reassuring and performing busyness for anxious managers. You can try to browbeat and threaten your team into coming in five days a week, but the latest data suggests you probably wont have anything close to perfect success. That makes adapting for our new world of remote work and shifting how you lead a logical choice. Bloom and other experts have tips for making this transition, including setting communication norms and core office hours for hybrid teams and avoiding mixed messages from leadership. Read more about them here. By Jessica Stillman This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
Category:
E-Commerce
A federal appeals panel on Thursday appeared skeptical of U.S. President Donald Trump‘s argument that a 1977 law historically used for sanctioning enemies or freezing their assets gave him the power to impose tariffs. Regardless of how the court rules, the litigation is almost certainly headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here is what you need to know about the dispute, which Trump has called “America’s big case,” and how it is likely to play out in the months ahead. What is the case about? The litigation challenges the tariffs Trump imposed on a broad range of U.S. trading partners in April, as well as tariffs imposed in February against China, Canada and Mexico. It centers around Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which gives the president the power to address “unusual and extraordinary” threats during national emergencies. Trump has said that trade imbalances, declining manufacturing power and the cross-border flow of drugs justified the tariffs under IEEPA. A dozen Democratic-led states and five small U.S. businesses challenging the tariffs argue that IEEPA does not cover tariffs and that the U.S. Constitution grants Congress, not the president, authority over tariffs and other taxes. A loss for Trump would also undermine the latest round of sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries that he unveiled late Thursday. Trump has made tariffs a cornerstone of his economic plan, arguing they will promote domestic manufacturing and substitute for income taxes. What’s the status of the litigation? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments on Thursday in the case. The panel of 11 judges sharply questioned the government about Trump’s use of IEEPA, but did not rule from the bench. The Federal Circuit has not said when it will issue a decision, but its briefing schedule suggests it intends to move quickly. Meanwhile, the tariffs remain in effect after the Federal Circuit paused a lower court’s ruling declaring them illegal. Will Trump’s tariffs be blocked if he loses in court? A Federal Circuit ruling would almost certainly not end the litigation, as the losing party is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. If the Federal Circuit rules against Trump, the court could put its own ruling on hold while the government appeals to the Supreme Court. This approach would maintain the status quo and allow the nine justices to consider the matter more thoroughly. The justices themselves could also issue an “administrative stay” that would temporarily pause the Federal Circuit’s decision while it considers a request from the Justice Department for more permanent relief. Is the Supreme Court likely to step in? The Supreme Court is not obligated to review every case appealed to it, but it is widely expected to weigh in on Trump’s tariffs because of the weighty constitutional questions at the heart of the case. If the Federal Circuit rules in the coming weeks, there is still time for the Supreme Court to add the case to its regular docket for the 2025-2026 term, which begins on October 6. The Supreme Court could rule before the end of the year, but that would require it to move quickly. How might the Supreme Court rule? There is no consensus among court-watchers about what the Supreme Court will do. Critics of Trump’s tariffs are optimistic their side will win. They point to the Supreme Court’s decision from 2023 that blocked President Joe Biden from forgiving student loan debt. In that ruling, the justices limited the authority of the executive branch to take action on issues of “vast economic and political significance” except where Congress has explicitly authorized the action. The justices in other cases, however, have endorsed a broad view of presidential power, especially when it comes to foreign affairs. Can importers seek refunds for tariffs paid? If Trump loses at the Supreme Court, importers are likely to seek refunds of tariffs already paid. This would be a lengthy process given the large number of anticipated claims. Federal regulations dictate that such requests would be first heard by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. If that agency denies a refund request, the importer can appeal to the Court of International Trade. There is precedent for tariff refund requests being granted. Since May, CBP has been processing refunds to importers who inadvertently overpaid duties because of tariff “stacking” where multiple overlapping tariffs are applied to the same imports. And in the 1990s, after the Court of International Trade struck down a tax on exporters that was being used to finance improvements to U.S. harbors, the court set up a process for issuing refunds. That decision was upheld by both the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court. Would a courtroom defeat unravel Trump’s trade deals? Trump has used the threat of emergency tariffs as leverage to secure concessions from trading partners. A loss at the Supreme Court would hamstring Trump in future negotiations. The White House, however, has other ways of imposing tariffs, like a 1962 law that allows the president to investigate imports that threaten national security. Trump has already used that law to put tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and those levies are not at issue in the case before the Federal Circuit. Some legal experts say a loss for Trump at the Supreme Court would not impact bilateral trade agreements the U.S. has already inked with other countries. Others say that the trade deals alone might not provide sufficient legal authority for taxes on imports and may need to be approved by Congress. Jan Wolfe and Dietrich Knauth, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. When assessing home price momentum, ResiClub believes it’s important to monitor active listings and months of supply. If active listings start to rapidly increase as homes remain on the market for longer periods, it may indicate pricing softness or weakness. Conversely, a rapid decline in active listings could suggest a market that is heating up. Since the national Pandemic Housing Boom fizzled out in 2022, the national power dynamic has slowly been shifting from sellers to buyers. Of course, across the country that shift has varied significantly. Generally speaking, local housing markets where active inventory has jumped above pre-pandemic 2019 levels have experienced softer home price growth (or outright price declines) over the past 36 months. Conversely, local housing markets where active inventory remains far below pre-pandemic 2019 levels have, generally speaking, experienced more resilient home price growth over the past 36 months. Where is national active inventory headed? National active listings are on the rise (+25% between July 2024 and July 2025). This indicates that homebuyers have gained some leverage in many parts of the country over the past year. Some sellers markets have turned into balanced markets, and more balanced markets have turned into buyers markets. Nationally, were still below pre-pandemic 2019 inventory levels (-11% below July 2019) and some resale markets, in particular, big chunks of Midwest and Northeast, still remain tight-ish. While national active inventory is still up year-over-year, the pace of growth has slowed in recent weeksmore than typical seasonality would suggestas some sellers have thrown in the towel and delisted (more on that in another piece). !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}(); July inventory/active listings* total, according to Realtor.com: July 2017 -> 1,322,659 July 2018 -> 1,261,916 July 2019 -> 1,239,534 July 2020 -> 822,834 July 2021 -> 546,686 July 2022 -> 691,652 July 2023 -> 647,135 July 2024 -> 884,273 July 2025 -> 1,102,787 IF we maintain the current year-over-year pace of inventory growth (+218,514 homes for sale), we’d have: 1,321,301 active inventory come July 2026 1,539,815 active inventory come July 2027 Below is the year-over-year percentage change by state. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}(); While active housing inventory is rising in most markets on a year-over-year basis, some markets still remain tight-ish (although it’s loosening in those places too). As ResiClub has been documenting, both active resale and new homes for sale remain the most limited across huge swaths of the Midwest and Northeast. Thats where home sellers this spring had, relatively speaking, more power. In contrast, active housing inventory for sale has neared or surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels in many parts of the Sun Belt and Mountain West, including metro area housing markets such as Punta Gorda and Austin. Many of these areas saw major price surges during the Pandemic Housing Boom, with home prices getting stretched compared to local incomes. As pandemic-driven domestic migration slowed and mortgage rates rose, markets like Tampa and Austin faced challenges, relying on local income levels to support frothy home prices. This softening trend was accelerated further by an abundance of new home supply in the Sun Belt. Builders are often willing to lower prices or offer affordability incentives (if they have the margins to do so) to maintain sales in a shifted market, which also has a cooling effect on the resale market: Some buyers, who would have previously considered existing homes, are now opting for new homes with more favorable deals. That puts additional upward pressure on resale inventory. In recent months, that softening has accelerated again in West Coast markets tooincluding much of California. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}(); At the end of July 2025, 12 states were above pre-pandemic 2019 active inventory levels: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Hawaii, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington. (The District of Columbiawhich we left out of this analysisis also back above pre-pandemic 2019 active inventory levels too. Weakness in D.C. proper predates the current admins job cuts.) !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("ifram");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}(); Big picture: Over the past few years weve observed a softening across many housing markets as strained affordability tempers the fervor of a market that was unsustainably hot during the Pandemic Housing Boom. While home prices are falling in many pockets of the Sun Belt, a big chunk of Northeast and Midwest markets saw a little price appreciation this spring. That said, given the current softening, ResiClub still expects that as the year progresses, more markets will fall into the year-over-year decline camp. Below is another version of the table abovebut this one includes every month since January 2017. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}(); If youd like to further examine the monthly state inventory figures, use the interactive below. (To better understand ongoing softness and weakness across Florida, read this ResiClub PRO report.) !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}();
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||