
Rise and fall of Christianity
Politics
Rise and fall of Christianity
May 9, 2025 | 6:51 PM GMT
Are there more or less Christians? Since 2007, the global Christian population has dropped, but it plateaued around the pandemic.
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Skift
8 hours ago
- Skift
Planners Fear Immigration Crackdowns Will Make Hotel Labor Shortages Worse: Exclusive Survey
The hospitality industry has struggled with a labor shortage since the Covid pandemic. Now, immigration enforcement and an anti-immigrant sentiment are adding a new layer of complexity. An exclusive Skift Meetings survey of U.S. planners shows that they expect to grapple with the effects of Trump-era immigration policies on their events, with growing concern about hotel staffing across the board. More than two-thirds of respondents (72%) said they expect hotel staffing to be affected in 2025–2026 because of immigration policies. Only 13% foresaw no impact. 'Hotel staffing never fully bounced back after the pandemic. We're still experiencing some gaps in service in certain markets and at certain properties,' said Kyle Jordan, director of meetings at the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS). Staffing issues are being felt at more than hotels. 'Challenges extend to other key partners like AV providers and vendors that support our meetings,' said Jordan. 'While it's hard to predict the full impact, I would expect that deportation activity could further strain staffing in some destinations.' Concerns stem not just from general staffing shortages but also the effect of revived immigration enforcement policies. 'The main issue is that for many workers in hotels, while they may be legal immigrants, the feeling toward immigrants in general has turned toxic,' said Mark Phillips, CEO of LamontCo. 'No one wants to live and work in such an environment or put families through it, so over time we will see less available even legal immigrant workforces. It already appears to be happening in several cities.' ICE Raids and Protests Exacerbate Immigration Issues In Los Angeles, several days of protests followed large-scale immigration raids by ICE. Protests have spread to other U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C, and New York City. a'The hospitality industry relies heavily on immigrant labor especially in back-of-house roles like housekeeping, food and beverage service, and maintenance. Stricter immigration enforcement, increased deportations, and general anti-immigration rhetoric have created fear and uncertainty among these workers, not to mention ICE raids, and I-9 audits. This leads some to leave the industry or self-deport, reducing the labor pool, making it even harder for hotels to fill critical positions,' said Robert Kraus, founder of Small Conferences. Kraus added that there are concerns about the future of the H-2B visa program and similar initiatives. 'There's also a worry that H-2B visas and other temporary worker programs will be curtailed plus general apprehension on potential workers to risk coming to the U.S. just to be told they can't enter or later be sent home only after a short amount of time. This could easily limit the number of foreign workers applying, which is critical for meeting seasonal demands of resorts and other hospitality businesses.' Labor shortages have already disrupted event logistics.'In several cases, my groups suffered through multi-hour lunch services because the hotel restaurant kitchen could not keep up with demand,' he said. Legal Compliance Doesn't Eliminate Anxiety Michael Dominguez, president and CEO of ALHI, argues that deportation is not necessarily a direct impact to hotel staffing. 'It has been required by law for any employee to complete an I-9 form, which verifies legal status and requires documentation,' said Dominguez. 'Any company or hotel not doing that is in violation of Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1986. Everyone working in a hotel needs documentation, or they are breaking the law.' Still, legal status does not erase worker anxiety, said Melanie Nathan, human rights advocate and executive director of the African Human Rights Coalition. 'I know people who are perfectly legal and who have filled in those I-9's who are too scared to go to work. They are standing back to try and ride out what they feel like is a storm. Some fear they might get picked up in workplaces where there are likely to be raids.' Guest Services and Sales Take a Hit The staffing crunch is also affecting guest experience and hotel revenue. 'Daily housekeeping is no longer a given. There are hotels where it is now every other day or on request,' said Akshar Patel, VP of corporate strategy and development at eShow Event Management Solutions and a hospitality expert. Beyond guest services, the staffing crunch is slowing business development efforts. 'A staffing shortage on the sales side is delaying RFPs,' said Patel. Andrea Milrad Heilweil, VP of sales and marketing at The Hutton Group, agrees. 'I have found that since Covid I have to be much more proactive with follow-up. Between people furloughed, laid off, or leaving the industry altogether, RFP responses, requests for contracts, setting up site visits, and general communication have been delayed.'


Harvard Business Review
9 hours ago
- Harvard Business Review
Five Ways Companies Learn to Thrive in an Unpredictable World
by Courtney Rickert McCaffrey and Oliver Jones Geopolitics, and how to manage its potentially seismic risks, is an increasingly pressing concern for business leaders. References to geopolitics and political risk in corporate public documents skyrocketed 600% three years ago and remain three to four times higher than before 2022. And it's not just talk: Political risk—the decisions, events, and conditions that might affect the performance of a company, market, or economy—is having a material impact. The recent tariff announcements caused widespread disruption worldwide. While the scale and scope of these promised tariffs took many observers and markets by surprise, the underlying forces propelling the tariff agenda are both long-standing and global, contributing to this heightened emphasis on political risk appearing in corporate documents. Shaping Supply Chains Sixty percent of more than 1,000 global executives surveyed in EY-Parthenon's Geostrategy in Practice 2025 report said political risk harms their operations and supply chains. (These executives lead companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue, representing more than 20 sectors, including consumer and retail, advanced manufacturing and industrial products, life sciences, and technology.) Such supply chain impacts are unsurprising, given recent headline-making policymaker priorities. Governments worldwide have implemented industrial policies and trade protectionism around critical products and strategic sectors. There's also been greater use of sanctions and anti-sanctions policies and a flurry of regulatory activity, particularly around sustainability and artificial intelligence (AI). In response, most companies are taking strategic action. All executives surveyed said geopolitics had driven strategic changes at their companies, especially for supply chains. Nearly all (94%) said they had invested more time and resources in geostrategy over the past two years, and almost as many (93%) plan to invest more. The percentage of companies taking action across multiple levels of their organizations is also rising—from 24% in 2021 to 37% in 2025. But there is more work to be done. One-third of global executives say they were surprised by most or all political risks that affected their companies in the past two years, 77% of them at least half the time. So how do executives better prepare for future geopolitical and tariff shocks? Becoming a Geostrategist Leading the field in preparing for unexpected political risk are a group of companies EY-Parthenon classifies as 'Geostrategists.' These companies are those taking the most proactive and comprehensive actions to strategically manage geopolitical risk. They operate across all sectors but are concentrated in the retail, power and utilities, real estate and construction, and telecommunications and media industries. Since 2021, Geostrategists have increased in number by 50%. EY-Parthenon teams identified five habits common to successful Geostrategists: 1. They adapt supply chains to geopolitical realities. Geostrategists are more likely than other organizations to have altered their supply chains in response to political risks in the past two years, so they can more effectively manage geopolitical risks, remain resilient, and adapt to the increasingly complex global landscape. One manufacturing company surveyed maps its entire supply chain to identify pockets of risk and, when finding high risk, considers finding new suppliers or redesigning its products. And a life sciences company reconfigured its supply chain after finding vulnerabilities. 2. They build political risk analysis into investment decisions. Integrating political risk as they determine their investments helps Geostrategists enhance M&A success, optimize growth strategies, and save time and resources amid geopolitical uncertainties and macroeconomic challenges. For example, all Geostrategists conduct political risk due diligence when evaluating a potential transaction. 3. They prepare for the unexpected. Geostrategists are more likely to have invested in identifying and monitoring political risk and to use political risk scenario planning to design and test strategy. These strategies help prepare them for unexpected events, such as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. 4. They regularly engage their boards on geostrategy. Geostrategists' boards are increasingly focused on geostrategy, with 85% incorporating political risk into future-oriented strategic decisions, including M&A and market entry. In 2025, 76% of boards took action on political risk—up from 26% in 2021. 5. They have the right roles at the geostrategy table. Geostrategists are more likely to have cross-functional and collaborative governance teams. In 2021, a function or business unit was the body most likely to have responsibility for geopolitics (52%). In 2025, it is a committee (52%, up from 39%). The number of executives involved has almost doubled, with the general counsel and chief compliance officer increasingly sharing responsibility with the chief risk officer. Geostrategy for Competitive Advantage It is not easy to become a Geostrategist. It requires investments in capabilities and is never 'finished.' But benchmarking against the habits of Geostrategists can help companies identify where to invest for resilience and growth—so they can anticipate and respond to political risk and seize potential opportunities more effectively than their peers.

Wall Street Journal
12 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
Protest? It's Strictly Business
Joseph Epstein rightly laments society's moral decline in 'Protest Isn't What It Used to Be' (op-ed, May 30). Yet he searches for the underlying cause in the wrong location, as hate and prejudice have always been an integral part of our condition. What has changed in recent years is threefold. First are the effects of social media, which through its anonymity has supercharged the viciousness of the town square. Second is the development of a permanent cadre of disaffected people who look to inclusion in any cause that seeks to attack the system into which they so poorly fit. And third is myriad organizations and deep-pocketed activists who have harnessed the social unrest through financial support and incentives for the disaffected serial protester. In the end, protest isn't personal anymore; it's strictly business. Pete Gurney