Peter Schorsch
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
If the Black Plague led to the Renaissance, COVID-19 could be leading to a Great Reset of sorts.
Speaking at the Florida Chamber Foundation’s 2022 Florida Technology & Innovation Solution Summit, IBM partner Andrew Campbell drew a parallel between the Renaissance and the current Great Resignation facing the world economy.
“The Renaissance followed the Black Plague. And it was a great time, obviously, the Renaissance, for workers, for creativity. It elevated people out of poverty, all because of a shortage of workers,” Campbell said. “Now I was thinking how great it would be if the Great Resignation led to a new renaissance, where innovation and ideas lift wages and standards of living for all.”
The head of HR at IBM calls it the Great Reevaluation. Another HR thought leader calls it the Great Reset.
Regardless of what you call it, Campbell calls it a confusing time in the economy, with companies laying off employees at the same time they’re hiring.
“One thing for sure is that your best talent will continue to quit,” Campbell said. “Even with the recession looming, they will continue to quit unless you find the right ways to attract, retain, engage, motivate, incentivize, compensate — pick your verb — that you want to do.”
Campbell provided three takeaways for the Florida Chamber audience.
The first: hybrid work is here to stay. People got used to their time at home, maybe bought a dog, and don’t want to lose time and money commuting again every workday. Some companies leave it up to different departments to decide whether they’ll work from home or the office, Campbell said.
His second takeaway is that skills are the new currency. Employers are looking less for degrees and more for a potential hire’s potential to learn new skills. In one example of how to hit two birds with one stone, Campbell said some hospitals invited retired nurses back to mentor new nurses, providing the resources to develop skills in the upcoming workforce while providing veteran employees the work flexibility they were hunting for.
Finally — and don’t let Gov. Ron DeSantis hear it — but Campbell said employees want great work culture and to work for a company with purpose, be it how the company supports its employees or how the company’s stance on social justice. Millennials make up the majority of the workforce now, and Gen Z is a growing segment.
“For many of these folks, it’s not just about getting a job, or getting a job with a great culture, but getting a job that fits with my expectations about who I am, what I stand for and what I want to achieve in life,” Campbell said.
Evening Reads
—“Florida suing FDA to get approval for Canadian drugs in Florida” via Scott Powers of Florida Politics
—“Ron DeSantis’ voter fraud hunt backfires” via Selene San Felice of Axios
—“Podcast: Inside the $5 billion deal that DeSantis’ political appointees gave to Florida Power & Light” via Jason Garcia of Seeking Rents
—“News is becoming secondary to DeSantis press conferences as he seeks reelection” via Michael Moline of the Florida Phoenix
—“Cases against arrested voters on shaky legal ground. Florida issued them voter IDs” via Mary Ellen Klas, Lawrence Mower and Romy Ellenbogen of the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
—“Charlie Crist resigns from Congress as campaign for Governor heats up” via Romy Ellenbogen of the Tampa Bay Times
—“Why is Crist’s running mate drawing fire from Republicans?” via Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times
—“Merrick Garland’s perilous path to prosecuting Trump” via Josh Gerstein of POLITICO
—“Donald Trump’s lawyers may become witnesses or targets in documents investigation” via Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times
—“Rick Scott’s shadow presidential campaign is frustrating his fellow Republicans” via Daniel Strauss of The New Republic
—“With Labor Day RTO deadlines, bosses really mean it. Probably.” via Taylor Telford of The Washington Post
—“As Citizens seeks to shed risk, insolvencies send influx of policies” via Gray Rohrer of Florida Politics
—“Seminole GOP chair’s trial starts with cousin’s testimony” via Annie Martin of the Orlando Sentinel
—“Mikhail Gorbachev never realized what he set in motion” via Anne Applebaum of The Atlantic
Quote of the Day
“People use drugs in Canada. This isn’t Djibouti. It’s a safe country.”
— Ron DeSantis on federal concerns over the safety of Canadian drugs.
Bill Day’s Latest
Breakthrough Insights
