Latest news with #HealthAndHumanServices
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
More workers are getting back together with their ex — employer, that is
Returning to work for a former employer, known as boomeranging, is back in vogue. In March, boomerang employees made up 35% of new hires, up from 31% a year earlier, according to payroll provider ADP. 'The trend of workers returning to previous employers is continuing,' Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, told Yahoo Finance. 'It's persistent.' For employers, 'there's a lot of uncertainty and caution in the labor market, which is showing up in the increase in boomerang hires,' she said. 'Employers are trying to get as much efficiency from their workforce as possible. And sometimes that means hiring and onboarding someone who's already familiar with the turf. They know the worker, the worker knows them.' The boomerang trend is even bigger if you count federal employees returning to their former jobs. Trump administration officials across the government are scrambling to rehire experienced workers who were forced out this spring under DOGE's staff-slashing initiative. More than 460 laid-off employees, for example, at the US Department of Health and Human Services, were reportedly sent notices last week that they are being rehired. By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy Boomerang hiring comes in waves. It skyrocketed during the summer of 2020 as companies sprinted to bring back workers laid off during the pandemic shutdown that spring. Then, in 2022, millions of workers quit their jobs during the Great Resignation. In March 2022, the quit rate was 3%, with 4.5 million workers voluntarily leaving their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The impetus in many cases was money. Wage growth for job switchers surged, as employers enticed workers with sweet compensation packages. Hardly anyone was looking back. Boomerang workers as a share of new hires sank to a low of 26%, per ADP. Now, far fewer people are quitting their jobs. Quits have dropped to 2% or 3.19 million workers in April. At the same time, boomerang rehiring has been steadily rising. This hiring trend has been gathering steam across virtually all industries, Richardson said, especially in media, publishing, software development, and technology. Other factors spurring the trend include a domino effect from the housing market. 'People are just less willing than they used to be to move for jobs,' Richardson said. 'With the housing market having cooled down because of higher interest rates, higher house prices, and the ability to work remotely, workers are just not as likely to move for a job. So if you're not willing to move, maybe going back to an employer that's in your local area is a stronger option than it would've been 20 years ago.' Sending a resume blindly out to job postings where you have no connection is, generally speaking, a dead-end street. Employers hire people they know, or people they know know. But if you parted a job on good terms, you have no reason not to check back in. 'The grass isn't always greener at a new company, and sometimes, you realize your previous workplace had more going for it than you remembered,' Nancy Ancowitz, a career strategist, told Yahoo Finance. 'Going back gives you the chance to bring sharper skills and a fresh perspective to familiar ground.' If getting back together appeals to you, you might join former employer alumni groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. Check out job boards and don't be bashful about contacting a former manager or ex-colleague if there's a position that catches your eye. 'Relationships matter — reaching out to former colleagues can give you the inside scoop on the team and management, and sometimes even open the door for a referral or a good word on your behalf,' Ancowitz said. When you reach out, show how you've grown. 'Spotlight the new skills, insights, and connections you've gained since you left, and explain how you're eager to use them to make an even bigger impact this time around,' she added. Be clear-eyed, however, about why you resigned. Plenty of people leave their jobs because of a bad boss, and you don't want to walk back into a toxic environment. 'You've probably heard the saying, 'people don't leave jobs, they leave managers,'' Ancowitz said. 'I see this all the time — even companies regularly ranked as top places to work can have pockets of poor management. Sometimes it's that one manager who turns your Sunday nights into a sleepless countdown to Monday.'Before making a move to reconnect, ask yourself: Will you be reporting to someone who brings out your best? 'That's often the game changer for boomerang success,' Ancowitz said. I have found that when you exit with grace, the door is always open. I have resigned from five jobs during my career, and all of my former employers and bosses became steady clients when I ran my own business. 'When I talk to HR managers around the country for firms of all sizes, they tell me that the exit conversation has changed in the last two years,' Richardson said. 'It is more like we value you, and if it doesn't work out, keep us in mind. It's not so much a goodbye, it's more of a 'see you later, let's keep in touch.' That's a big difference.' And as Ancowitz said: 'Sometimes, the sequel really is better than the original.' Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including the forthcoming "Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future," "In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work" and "Never Too Old to Get Rich." Follow her on Bluesky. Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. dismissing experts creates deadly vaccine hesitancy
Since 1964, pediatricians have looked to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to provide evidence-based recommendations regarding childhood vaccines. We represent more than 80 years of experience as pediatricians in Nashville and have benefitted from ACIP throughout our careers. On June 9, our clinic days were disrupted by the news that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had dismissed all 17 ACIP members. These members are academic clinicians, epidemiologists, immunologists and infectious disease experts. Their service was driven not by money or fame, but by a commitment to the collective health of Americans. ACIP meetings were transparent, being broadcast live and then archived on YouTube, while agendas were posted well in advance of each meeting. The public could request to ask questions at meetings as well as review slide decks that were presented. Kennedy's implication that he was reconstructing the committee to prevent conflicts of interest is far from the truth. In order to preserve objectivity and limit corporate influence on their recommendations, ACIP members already disclose any potential conflict of interest in advance. If a member has a potential conflict, they are not permitted to participate in vaccine discussions, or to vote on that vaccine or any vaccine that a company might bring before ACIP – even if that member didn't work on that specific vaccine. Opinion: As a doctor, I know it will take more than dietary changes to Make America Healthy Again Kennedy also implied that ACIP only ever adds vaccines to the schedule, acting as a rubber stamp for industry. But ACIP recommendations came after analyzing evidence and weighing the benefits and risks. The 1972 decision to stop vaccinating for smallpox was a significant and very well-informed move, reflecting an in-depth understanding of both the science and the broader public health context. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. The 2016 recommendation to reduce the number of doses for the HPV vaccine also shows that ACIP actively engaged in fine-tuning vaccination schedules based on the latest research, rather than to increase industry profits. It's crucial for these bodies to make decisions based on science, not external pressures or adherence to a certain ideology. As pediatricians, we have seen patients die from vaccine-preventable diseases. Our pediatric forefathers cared for children in iron lungs due to paralytic polio. Opinion: Please stop letting RFK Jr. make vaccine policies. His new COVID plan is deadly. Kennedy has planted the seeds of the anti-vaccination movement for more than two decades, despite evidence that contradicts his falsehoods. Due to the vaccine hesitancy and refusal he promotes, we are once again seeing more children succumb to vaccine-preventable diseases in America. So far in 2025, we have had pediatric deaths from measles and whooping cough, not to mention more than 200 deaths from influenza. Those numbers will only escalate in the future. Kennedy's decision to eliminate trustworthy members of the ACIP fundamentally changes the nature of this committee. Institutional memory and the trust of physicians were obliterated in one fell swoop. We hold little hope that HHS can put a new trusted committee together in time for the next scheduled ACIP meeting Jun 25-26, given Kennedy's preference for conspiracy theorists and other unqualified people. Through our careers as community pediatricians, we have been blessed by the opportunity to partner with wonderful families who desire what is best for their children. We fervently hope this relationship will be the most important factor when families make decisions regarding vaccinating their children. We call on our elected officials to reinstate the ACIP members Kennedy dismissed and to empower them to continue their work to limit damage from infectious diseases. Doing so will actually help make Americans healthier. James Keffer, MD; Chetan R Mukundan, MD; Jill Obremsky, MD; Elizabeth Triggs, MD; and David Wyckoff, MD, are local pediatricians practicing in different settings around Nashville. This column originally appeared in The Tennessean. You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kennedy's vaccine rhetoric puts children's health at risk | Opinion
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
As Trump cuts funding, these Harvard scholars consider leaving US — and academia
For over three decades, John Quakenbush has been working in biomedical research, investigating the mechanisms that cause healthy people — and ultimately their cells — to become diseased. He has raised his son in Boston, built a life with his wife and has a mortgage. However, with around $1 million of federal funding cut from his work, he is considering moving out of the United States. 'I'd hate to leave my home. I'd hate to leave my country,' Quakenbush said. 'The idea of walking away from that is really hard to think about — the idea of walking away from my own research is really difficult to imagine, too,' he said. Quakenbush isn't alone. Many others at Harvard are considering this option. It comes as a reaction to a wave of federal research grants being cut at Harvard and the Trump administration proposing a budget that would cut around 40% of the National Institutes of Health budget from the prior year. The Trump administration has also frozen or cut nearly $3 billion in federal funding, giving the reason of antisemitism at Harvard. The administration has claimed the university failed to protect Jewish students, particularly in the wake of the war in Gaza. 'In the Trump Administration, discrimination will not be tolerated on campus. Federal funds must support institutions that protect all students,' the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wrote in May as it cut $60 million in grants to Harvard. Read more: Trump cuts threaten 'irreplaceable' Harvard stockpile of human feces, urine Countries like Australia and France are offering Harvard researchers funding and job opportunities if they leave, at a time of uncertainty for Harvard, both in terms of research funding and the institution's ability to host foreign students. 'I stand behind Harvard in its decision to fight for its First Amendment rights,' Quakenbush said. 'But I'm looking, at this point in my career, at potentially two years with almost no external research funding — maybe longer. And, as you get to that point, and you're not doing research anymore, picking back up and starting up again becomes more difficult. Even securing federal research grants becomes difficult.' Quakenbush has applied, with some colleagues, for grant opportunities in Europe to continue his work at Harvard — but it is also a way of 'testing the waters' of what possible interest there is for his work overseas. 'We're throwing away tens of millions of dollars of work by prematurely terminating these projects,' Quakenbush said. Leaving higher education isn't something that Kelsey Tyssowski, a Harvard postdoctoral researcher, wants to do. Her pathway to getting a tenure-track job has been halted by federal funding cuts. Her research only has funding until the end of the month — then it is up to tenure faculty to determine if she will have any left. A canceled grant from the National Institutes of Health was supposed to cover her salary through March 2026 and the first three years of research in her own lab. 'I have to get a job this year. And this year it's going to be very hard to get a tenure track faculty job because there's hiring freezes everywhere,' Tyssowski said. 'If I can't stay in this job here, I almost certainly have to leave academia,' she said. Tyssowski's research involves skilled movement, complex learned movements that can be reproduced accurately and efficiently and take entire body coordination to do, like climbing. She is pioneering a new way to study skilled movement through deer mice — whose skilled movement might have evolved in a way that humans and primates have. This could have major impacts on understanding how our brains do skilled movement and ultimately in treating diseases like ALS, where skilled movement is the first thing to go. If she leaves academia, the work that she has been doing is at risk of completely vanishing. 'No one will do this research. I won't do this research. It will just go away,' she said. While she has the skillset to work in biotechnology or at a pharmaceutical company and make more money, it's not something she is interested in. She believes in the 'mission of federally funded research' and the work of higher education, she said. Read more: As Harvard fights Trump admin in court, professors are quietly dropping courses Jules Riegel, a lecturer in History and Literature at Harvard, agreed. 'We don't go into academia because we want to make money. We go into academia because we believe in the mission of it,' said Riegel, who uses they/them pronouns. Riegel has a three-year time cap to work at Harvard — a restriction on how long they can work at Harvard as someone who isn't tenured. They are approaching their last year. While there is bargaining going on to eliminate time restrictions for non-tenure members through the Harvard Academic Workers chapter of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, there is a likelihood that Riegel will soon have to look for another job, they said. With a tight job market filled with hiring freezes at universities and colleges as a reaction to an onslaught of federal funding cuts, Riegel is considering looking for a job overseas or leaving academia entirely. 'I really don't want to, but I have to be realistic about the world we're now in and that at the end of the day, that lies at the feet of the Trump administration,' Riegel said. 'This is what I've worked for my whole life, really, — certainly my whole adult life — and it's ... my sense of calling. It's my mission,' they said. Quakenbush said he has had to give notice to four of his staff that they will be laid off and has sat down with each of his postdoctoral students that they should seriously be considering leaving the U.S. Admittance to the Biostatistics Department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's doctoral program has been whittled down from a typical year of 12 to 15 people to now four — two of which are international and are worried they might not be able to get their visas, he said. Bence Ölveczky, a Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, said as much as he is trying to stay positive, it is difficult to encourage students and researchers to come to Harvard right now. That is especially true for international students at Harvard, as the Trump administration has attempted to block Harvard international students from entering the country or enrolling at the institution. 'I have an incoming graduate student from Taiwan, who's phenomenal by all accounts, and I can't encourage him about this situation because the degree of uncertainty and anxiety associated with this whole situation is not something that I would necessarily want for myself if I had other options,' Ölveczky said. When Ölveczky came to the U.S. at the age of 28 from Hungary, he said he found it to be the first place where he didn't feel like a foreigner. Now, that has changed. 'This is a unique country because it's a country of immigrants. And that's why I felt at home because nobody cared,' he said. Ölveczky is settled in the U.S. now as an American citizen. However, only a few short years ago, that wasn't the case. If he were making the move again out of Hungary for his doctoral degree, he said there would be 'no chance' of him coming to the country, he said. Harvard researcher released from custody after months in detention Ex-Harvard professor fired after refusing COVID shot named to CDC vaccine panel U.S. House committee demands Harvard send them hiring policies for review Williams College stops accepting federal grants, opposing new policy Trump cuts threaten 'irreplaceable' Harvard stockpile of human feces, urine Read the original article on MassLive.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Health
- Bloomberg
RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Panel to Vote on Flu Shots With Mercury
A panel of key government advisers appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will weigh in on an infrequently used vaccine preservative that has been wrongly linked to autism in the past. Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, will hear a presentation about thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative that is used in some adult flu vaccines, at a planned meeting next week. The group will later vote on 'thimerosal-containing vaccine recommendations,' according to a draft agenda posted Wednesday.
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Health
- Bloomberg
RFK Jr.'s Criticism of Fluoride Is Good News for Natural Toothpaste Brands
Fluoride-free toothpaste sales are jumping as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other government officials openly question the safety of the mineral long hailed as a public-health miracle. Since the beginning of last year, sales of tubes that eschew fluoride have grown around 16% on average each month through April, compared to an increase of just 2.4% for fluorinated options over that time, according NielsenIQ data.
