To modern workers everywhere,
Policymakers generally agree that unemployment benefits should be sufficient to support people through a job search, but not so generous that people are disincentivized from looking for work. But as the controversy in the US over the expiration of a federal supplement for Americans filing for unemployment shows, the question of what constitutes a sufficient income is deeply divisive.
Last week, as Republicans and Democrats failed to reach consensus over a new aid package, millions of Americans left jobless in the pandemic lost the extra $600 a week upon which they’d come to rely. That puts them back at the mercy of state assistance, which varies wildly and in some cases can amount to as little as $5 a week (or as much as $1,200).
It’s possible that a new relief bill will reinstate at least some portion of the emergency supplement. Republicans have proposed lowering it to $200 a week. “In certain cases where we’re paying people more to stay home than to work, that’s created issues in the entire economy,” US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an ABC interview, arguing that people whose wages normally fell below the $600 per week mark were being “overpaid.”
But there’s another way of looking at the situation. If people are bringing home more money from emergency unemployment benefits than they did from their jobs, the problem isn’t that the benefits are too high. It’s that the pay many workers receive is too low.
After all, $600 per week is equivalent to making $15 per hour during a 40-hour work week—the same rate that the Fight for 15 movement, led by fast-food workers, wants to establish as the federal minimum wage. It’s hardly a princely sum. A recent analysis by the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that the average worker would need to earn $19.56 per hour to pay for an average one-bedroom apartment in the US without spending more than 30% of their pay on rent, the maximum portion that budget experts recommend.
There’s another crucial flaw in the concern over whether $600 a week could disincentivize workers from job searches. As Paul Krugman observed recently in the New York Times, there are currently 30 million Americans looking for work and only 5 million job openings: “No matter how harshly you treat the unemployed, they can’t take jobs that don’t exist,” Krugman wrote.
If Republicans are truly concerned that people would rather rely on temporary unemployment money than get a steady paycheck, they should worry less about undercutting the private sector and more about regulations that ensure all people have access to decent wages, health insurance, paid time off, and other policies that make working conditions better.—Sarah Todd
Five things we learned this week
The average work meeting is 20% shorter since Covid-19.
Zoom has found a way to outsource censorship of its video calls in China.
These are the non-tech companies snapping up PhDs from America’s elite AI programs.
Even small changes can help you combat workplace burnout.
Despite waiting for years, some Indian immigrants are now giving up their green card dreams.
It’s a fact
Last week, the number of US job postings for data scientists, aka “the sexiest job of the 21st century,” was down 43% from a year ago, more than double the rate of decline for job postings overall, according to the job-postings site Indeed.
30-second case study
What do Men’s Wearhouse, JoS. A. Bank, J.Crew, Neiman Marcus, and Lord & Taylor have in common? They, or their parent companies, all have filed for bankruptcy this year. What else do they have in common? They are major suppliers of men’s suits, a fashion category that was under plenty pressure even before the pandemic.
Annual US retail sales of men’s suits have shrunk in each of at least the past five years, with Euromonitor International predicting a 24% decline in 2020. Makers of dress shoes and shirts are also feeling the pain as remote-work arrangements take hold and special occasions get postponed or go virtual.
The takeaway: As Quartz fashion writer Marc Bain notes, “Right now demand for anything more formal than workout clothes is diminished.” That doesn’t mean the need for suits will die out completely, he adds, but retailers that still rely on them might if they can’t find new ways to stay relevant.
Eau de remote
For the sake of keeping the peace, the best scent in an office is usually none. No microwave popcorn, no overpowering perfumes or colognes, no strange aromatherapy products at your desk. But working remotely in the wake of Covid-19 means being the master of your own olfactory universe—and an uptick in candle sales suggests we’re making the most of it. In this piece, Quartz at Work’s Sarah Todd offers some basics on the science of scent and tips for choosing the right aroma for your at-home workspace.
A quick poll
What’s your preferred scent category when you’re working at home?
🍋 Energizing (citrus, peppermint)
And a quick poll recap
Based on last week’s survey, the emojification of the workplace is nearly complete 🧟
+ If you’re into emoji, you might enjoy some of these articles from the Quartz archive:
Why we can’t stop using the “face with tears of joy” emoji
The feminist case for not using 👍
The 😬 emoji is the best emoji—long live the grimacing emoji
✦ Special to Quartz members ✦
In the early years of regulated cannabis, cowboys with ample cash and minimal expertise built a house of cards with questionable business models amidst rapidly evolving regulations. Last year it came crashing down. Now, as those cannabis companies left standing struggle to recover, it’s time for them to start building sustainable businesses that can withstand the economic and social demands of 2020 and beyond. What might a great modern cannabis industry look like? And how might it be prevented from exacerbating the inequality and exploitation already rampant in American capitalism? Find out in our members-exclusive field guide, Cannabis at a crossroads.
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ICYMI
The power of cataloging your creative influences. The liner notes of Freak Out!, the 1966 debut album of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, includes a list of 179 influences on the band’s music, ranging from Elvis Presley to Sabicas, a Spanish flamenco guitarist. As Quartz’s Oliver Staley notes in this gem from our archive, paying homage “freed [Zappa] from the illusion that his work emerged tabula rasa” and gave him “permission to spend a career exploring their influences.” It’s the kind of exercise anyone could benefit from as they take stock of their work and think about how they will craft their future.
Words of wisdom
“Covid-19’s disruption revealed the many cracks in our remote-work strategies, provided there was a strategy in the first place. Even as employees start to return to the office, we can’t turn a blind eye to these shortfalls.”—Mike Hicks, chief marketing officer, Igloo Software
+ Read Mike’s full article in Quartz at Work on the gaps that remote employees have been pointing out for years, and which companies can no longer afford to ignore.
You got The Memo!
Our best wishes for a productive and creative day. Please send any workplace news, comments, discount suits, or data scientist job postings to work@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. This week’s edition of The Memo was produced by Heather Landy and Sarah Todd.