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In recent years, pay transparency has grown increasingly common as many states have passed legislation to help arm workers with more data as they enter into salary negotiations. Across 14 states and many more localities, employers are now required to either provide explicit salary ranges in job postings or share that information during the hiring process. That means some of the biggest employers in the country now have to disclose compensation data in states like California and New York. But according to a new report from compensation platform Beqom, despite all this progress, many workers still feel like pay transparency isn’t within reach and that they have little insight into how their compensation is being determined. Of the nearly 2,000 people surveyed, which included workers in both the U.S. and U.K., only 38% said they understood how their compensation was calculated. Over half of respondents also said they believed their performance reviews were subjective, which in turn could impact their compensation. When it comes to pay equity and transparency, many workers said that their employers did not adequately report data on pay disparities: Nearly 60% of U.S. employees said their company did not disclose information on gender-based pay gaps. More than half of workers also believed that their employer was not taking meaningful steps to address those pay gaps. Inflation also continues to be a major concern: Just 40% of respondents in the U.S. said their salaries were adjusted to match inflation in 2024. Wage stagnation was also a source of frustration for all respondents: Almost half of them said their pay had not increased in the last year and cited it as a top concern, alongside a lack of pay transparency. The findings on pay equity also underscore just how halting progress has been on combatting the gender pay gap. While pay transparency laws were intended to help mitigate pay gaps on the basis of race and gender, the data indicates that there has been limited movement on a broader scale: In fact, the gender pay gap actually increased in 2023 for the first time in 20 years, with women earning 83 cents on the dollar compared to men. While wages actually increased overall, men benefitted more than women did. Even as the gap has narrowed over the years, experts have also said it’s unlikely that the gap will disappear altogether due to a combination of factors, from fluctuations in the workforce to the motherhood penalty. But employers do have a role to play in helping women and other underrepresented employees reach parity in the workplace, from conducting pay equity audits to embracing pay transparency whether or not it’s mandated by lawand making sure they demonstrate a commitment to addressing those issues.
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E-Commerce
We want grandparents who want to have pizza nights with us, attend baseball and basketball games, have ice cream dates, take bike rides, just genuinely have fun with us and our boys, reads one post on the Facebook group Surrogate Grandparents USA, a place where grandparent-seeking families can connect with surrogate grandparents. One lonely grandma here. I would love to share affection and attention with a nearby family, posted another. Created in 2015 by 68-year-old retired paralegal Donna Skora, Surrogate Grandparents USA now has more than 11,800 members. The page is described as a place where grandparents who are missing having grandchildren in their lives & families whose children are missing having grandparents in their lives, can find and connect with each other for a possible lifetime of love. Here, prospective grandparents across the country offer their services for baking cookies and reading books, while parents can seek out the kind of support and comfort only grandparents can provide. In 2024, 21% of adults in the U.S. reported feeling lonely, with many respondents feeling disconnected from friends, family. While a surrogate family might not be the most conventional set up, at the end of the day, doesnt every family have their unconventionalities? Access to the group is granted by invitation only. Skora reviews each membership request and the groups moderators encourage people to properly vet prospective surrogates before connecting in real life. Short personal ads are then shared on the page, along with locations. If both the surrogate grandparent and the grandparent-seeking party hit it off, messages are exchanged before eventually progressing to meeting up IRL. The reasons people post on the group are as wide-ranging and complex as biological families. Some members of the group have lost loved ones, others have never had families of their own. The site has also expanded to serve foster children who have aged out of the system and are looking for chosen family, as well as helping grandparents who are raising grandchildren full time find respite care. It is also a safe haven for the estranged. Today, around 27% of American adults have cut off contact with a family member, which translates to 68 million people, one of the highest estrangement rates in the world. Skoras experienced this first-hand, becoming estranged from her son and daughter-in-law when her grandson was born. We were totally blacked out of their lives completely, she told reporter Lexi Pandell in a recent interview with Wired. Deciding to launch Surrogate Grandparents USA the same year, Skora connected with a family nearby. As is the case with flesh-and-blood, it is not always happy families. In the end, Skora cut contact when the parents began requesting gifts and trips from her. This is now expressly forbidden in the groups rules. For others, however, the arrangement works well and fills a family-shaped hole. Im not going to live my life being sad, one surrogate grandmother told Wired. There are people out there who want relationships with people like me.
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E-Commerce
PepsiCo said Tuesday that high prices and changing consumer tastes have weakened U.S. demand for its snacks and drinks, but it’s confident it can turn that around in the coming year.The Purchase, New York-based company said its revenue fell slightly to $27.78 billion in the fourth quarter. That was short of Wall Street’s forecast of $27.89 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.U.S. demand flagged last year after two years of outsize, double-digit price increases. The average price of a 16-ounce bag of potato chips peaked at $6.68 in October 2023, according to government data.PepsiCo hit the brakes on prices, which rose 4% globally in 2024. The company focused on making its snacks more affordable, adding product promotions, more chips per bag, and value packs. It also invested more heavily in its Chester’s and Santitas value brands, which saw strong revenue growth last year.In a conference call Tuesday, CEO Ramon Laguarta said those efforts are paying off and consumers have begun buying salty snacks again. Still, North American sales volumes for both Frito-Lay snacks and beverages fell 3% in the October-December period.PepsiCo is also closely watching a longer-term trend toward healthier snacking, Laguarta said. The company isn’t seeing much impact from the growing use of GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Wegovy, he said. But people are looking for smaller, portion-controlled snacks, healthier ingredients like whole grains and lower sodium and fat.“There’s a higher level of awareness in general of American consumers toward health and wellness,” he said.PepsiCo is well-positioned to meet that need with products like Pepsi Zero Sugar, SunChips and its Simply line of chips, which have no artificial colors or flavors, Laguarta said. And more healthy, “permissible” snacks are coming, he said.“We’re very confident that our North American business will accelerate this year,” Laguarta said.PepsiCo is also trying to amp up its away-from-home offerings, like its Doritos Locos Tacos collaboration with Taco Bell and its Tostitos Cantina food trucks.PepsiCo’s snack food and beverage volumes both climbed 1% globally in the fourth quarter, with strong growth in Africa and Asia.Net income rose 17% to $1.5 billion. Adjusted for one-time items, PepsiCo earned $1.96, or two cents better than analysts had forecast.PepsiCo expects organic revenue growth in the low single digits in 2025. Organic revenue is adjusted for foreign currency exchanges and the impact of product acquisitions or divestments. The company reported organic revenue growth of 2% in 2024.The company, which closed four U.S. bottling plants in October, also plans to continue a multiyear push to enhance productivity, including adding more automation in its plants and warehouses.PepsiCo shares fell 2% Tuesday. Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Business Writer
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E-Commerce
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