How Remote Work Changed Working Moms
A significant segment of moms who had been working remotely decided they would rather stay home. 8/21/2025 | Updated: 8/21/2025
A funny thing happened as people, particularly mothers, started to return to the office after years of COVID-related remote work. Timothy S. Goeglein is vice president of external and government relations at Focus on the Family in Washington, D.C., and author of the new book 'Stumbling Toward Utopia: How the 1960s Turned Into a National Nightmare and How We Can Revive the American Dream.' Author's Selected Articles
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Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Tinley Park District 146 teachers union declares impasse over contract negotiations
The union for Tinley Park Elementary District 146 teachers says it is at an impasse with district officials over negotiating an updated contract. While most of the contract's provisions are settled, the Tinley Council Teachers 146 of Local 604 is fighting for higher wage increases and improved retirement benefits than the district is offering. Negotiations began in February, and the most recently approved contract expired July 31. The district's most recent offer includes wage increases of 6% for each of the next two school years and 5% for the 2027-2028 school year. Keegan Kociss, a spokesperson for the district, said District 146 teachers are among the highest paid in the surrounding area, saying the district's proposal is 'generous and it's fair and it keeps our taxpayers in mind.' The teachers union countered with wage increases of 7% each year for the next three school years, which they say is important to counter inflation and struggles teachers faced during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to attract good teachers amid a nationwide shortage. 'As always, our number one priority is ensuring our students get the high-quality education they deserve. To us, that means a stable district that is fully staffed. It means ensuring that the district can retain great teachers through their career, making them a long term part of the school community,' union President Eileen VonBorstel said in a statement. Kociss said the district is unwilling to match the union's 7% proposal because wage increases beyond 6% expose the district to financial penalties through the Illinois Teachers Retirement System. Under the district's proposed salary increase, teachers' starting salaries would be $52,570. Teachers with master's degrees would start at $67,284. The union said it allowed the district to choose between two financial proposals in April, one that the district pay teachers' TRS contribution, which is 9% of every teacher's salary, while providing lower raises, or that they provide higher raises. The district chose the higher salary increase, the union said. In its public posting of their offer, the teachers union said the school board has impeded progress of negotiations and spread inaccurate information about the union's proposal. The district and the union met twice with a mediator since May but do not have any scheduled negotiation sessions. 'The union has been forced to bargain against itself repeatedly in order to find a path to progress, revising our proposals over and over again, to only be met with the same 'no,'' the union said. District 146 board President Julie Berry said in a district news release that the board values its teachers and their contributions to the district, which includes Fierke Education Center, Kruse Education Center, Fulton School, Memorial School and Central Middle School. 'We have been fortunate enough to maintain small class sizes and student-teacher ratios, exceptional educational programming, and minimal unfilled vacancies,' Berry said. Superintendent Jeff Stawick, district said 'we remain focused on reaching a fair, sustainable agreement that honors educators, meets student needs, and protects the district's financial stability.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Hong Kong's bourse operator posts record interim profit amid city's IPO, stock market boom
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) set records for second-quarter and first-half earnings amid a boom in initial public offerings (IPOs) and sizzling stock market turnover, according to a stock exchange filing on Wednesday. Second-quarter net profit for the operator of Asia's third-largest stock market rose 41 per cent to HK$4.44 billion (US$569 million), or HK$3.51 per share, from the previous second-quarter high of HK$3.16 billion in 2024. This is the second consecutive quarterly record profit for the HKEX. That propelled the exchange's six-month profit to a record HK$8.52 billion, 39 per cent higher than last year, according to HKEX, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. The result beat analysts' estimates and surpassed the previous record profit of HK$6.93 billion in the second half of 2024. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. "HKEX started 2025 from a position of strength, reporting the group's best-ever half-yearly revenue and profit," said CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting in a media briefing. HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting attends the launch ceremony of a new service on the Integrated Fund Platform at the HKEX Connect Hall in Central on July 3. Photo: Edmond So alt=HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting attends the launch ceremony of a new service on the Integrated Fund Platform at the HKEX Connect Hall in Central on July 3. Photo: Edmond So> "After receiving a record number of listing applications over a six-month period, we enter the second half of 2025 with new initiatives that are under way to further enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of our markets," she said, pointing out that the exchange was preparing its infrastructure for a shorter settlement cycle and recently enhanced the IPO allotment regime. The strong results vindicated the preparations that the HKEX had made during the fallow years since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, involving upgrades to its trading infrastructure and updates in its listing rules. The executives of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) at the bourse operator's results announcement on August 20, 2025, in Hong Kong: (L to R) Gregory Yu, Head of Markets; Herbert Hui, Group Chief Financial Officer; Bonnie Chan, Chief Executive Officer; Vanessa Lau, Chief Operating Officer; and Richard Leung, Group Chief Information Officer. Photo: May Tse alt=The executives of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) at the bourse operator's results announcement on August 20, 2025, in Hong Kong: (L to R) Gregory Yu, Head of Markets; Herbert Hui, Group Chief Financial Officer; Bonnie Chan, Chief Executive Officer; Vanessa Lau, Chief Operating Officer; and Richard Leung, Group Chief Information Officer. Photo: May Tse> HKEX also planned to have a consultation at the end of this year on the board lot size, the minimum trading unit in stock transactions, said Gregory Yu, head of markets at HKEX. The exchange operator's shares rose 1.7 per cent to close at HK$441.20 on Thursday after the results were announced. They have risen 47 per cent this year, outperforming the 25 per cent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. Hong Kong's stock exchange marked its busiest day yet of 2025, when five companies made their trading debuts on July 9, 2025. Photo: Aileen Chuang alt=Hong Kong's stock exchange marked its busiest day yet of 2025, when five companies made their trading debuts on July 9, 2025. Photo: Aileen Chuang> HKEX will pay an interim dividend of HK$6 per share, 38 per cent higher than a year earlier. The earnings growth was driven by a 33 per cent increase in first-half revenue, which reached a record high of HK$14.08 billion. This included a 49 per cent jump in trading and settlement fees compared with last year. Average daily turnover soared 132 per cent to HK$238.4 billion in the second quarter and 118 per cent to HK$240.2 billion in the first half. HKEX benefited from global investors switching to the relative safety of Hong Kong-listed stocks of mainland Chinese companies amid US tariff policies and a weaker US dollar. Funds from across the border also piled into Hong Kong-listed stocks. Exchange Square in Hong Kong on May 20, 2025, the location of the Hong Kong stock exchange. Photo: Xinhua alt=Exchange Square in Hong Kong on May 20, 2025, the location of the Hong Kong stock exchange. Photo: Xinhua> Average daily turnover in the southbound channel of Stock Connect, which allows mainland investors to buy Hong Kong stocks, grew 196 per cent to HK$111 billion in the first half, while the northbound channel recorded a 32 per cent jump to 171.3 billion yuan (US$23.85 billion), HKEX's report card showed. Meanwhile, listing fees increased 12.6 per cent in the first half, the bourse operator said. Funds from Hong Kong IPOs soared eightfold in the first six months of 2025, propelling the city's exchange to the top of the global rankings for the first time since 2019. A total of 42 companies raised US$13.5 billion on the main board of the Hong Kong stock exchange during the first half. With about 230 listed companies having submitted listing applications, Chan is optimistic about the outlook for the IPO market in the second half. HKEX booked a HK$1.04 billion gain from its investment portfolio of global stocks and bonds during the period, 16 per cent higher than a year earlier. The investment income may be affected by the interest rate cut in the second half of this year, alongside the cost for the HKEX office purchase expense, Chan said. In April, the HKEX agreed to pay HK$6.3 billion for office and retail space in One Exchange Square and other related assets in Central from Hongkong Land, marking one of the city's biggest commercial property transactions in two years. The group has HK$35 billion corporate funding available for investment, including HK$7 billion managed by external fund managers, which would be used to fund the purchase, said Chief Financial Officer Herbert Hui Leung-wah. "We will redeem the entire HK$7 billion external investment portfolio to pay for the headquarters," Hui said. "The redemption will cut down the size of corporate funds available for investment." The strong income growth was partly offset by a 6 per cent increase in operating expenses in the first half to HK$2.97 billion, due to a HK$90 million fine paid to the UK regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, because of the nickel market chaos in 2022. Excluding the fine and a HK$50 million recovery of legal fees related to the event, operating expenses were up 1 per cent. The average daily turnover of futures and options trading in the first half rose to 1.7 million contracts per day, up 11 per cent from a year earlier. The London Metal Exchange, wholly owned by HKEX, handled 715,000 lots of metal contracts per day during the first half, an increase of 3 per cent from a year earlier. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Apple contractor Foxconn ramps up hiring at China factories ahead of iPhone 17 launch
Apple's main contract manufacturer, Foxconn Technology Group, has ramped up recruitment efforts ahead of the September launch of the iPhone 17, offering higher pay and bonuses for assembly line workers at its plants in Zhengzhou and Shenzhen. The world's largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, in central Hunan province, has started increasing pay scales to lure temporary workers. A Tuesday post on WeChat by one of Foxconn's recruiting agencies said workers who stayed at the factory for three months would qualify for a bonus of up to 8,000 yuan (US$1,113), a significant hike from early July when the three-month bonus was up to 4,500 yuan. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Workers can earn 28 yuan per hour, up from 23.5 yuan per hour in early July. The hourly rate was raised to 24 yuan in mid-July, 25 yuan later last month, and 27 yuan in early August, according to recruitment agency Zhengzhou Fugonglian Human Resources. In Shenzhen, the tech hub in southern Guangdong province, Foxconn's Integrated Digital Product Business Group - responsible for smartphone manufacturing - is offering 26 yuan per hour for contract workers, according to a recruitment notice posted on WeChat on Wednesday. The notice said the rate lasts until November 30. This photo taken on July 17, 2025 shows the Apple booth at the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua alt=This photo taken on July 17, 2025 shows the Apple booth at the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua> In the same factory, workers responsible for other products earn a lower rate. For example, the post said that the Bluetooth earphone unit paid 22 yuan per hour. Taiwan-based Foxconn, officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, entered its peak recruitment season in July and will conduct "increasing recruitment efforts in the coming period to meet production needs", according to state-backed newspaper Securities Times, citing the company's human resources assistant manager Fang Siming, who is based in Zhengzhou. Opened in 2010, the Zhengzhou facility contributed roughly 60 per cent of the total trade volume of Henan province, according to Fang. However, Foxconn has faced a number of challenges in recent years. In late 2022, there were significant disruptions to the Zhengzhou output when thousands of Foxconn workers fled in fear of draconian Covid-19 control measures. Earlier that year, Foxconn had offered a three-month stay bonus of 10,000 yuan, and the hourly rate peaked at 31 yuan in late August that year, to keep production on track. The Covid-19 episode prompted Apple to increase production outside of China. In India, Apple has expanded iPhone manufacturing at five local plants operated by both Foxconn and local giant Tata Group, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, citing sources. In a first for the country, India's manufacturing role would be extended to all four iPhone 17 models, including the premium Pro versions, according to Bloomberg. In April, iPhone shipments from India to the US surged 76 per cent year on year to roughly 3 million units, as US President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to as much as 145 per cent, while corresponding exports to the US from China fell about 76 per cent to 900,000 units, according to CNBC, citing market research firm Canalys. Tata declined to comment, while neither Apple nor Foxconn responded to a request for comment on Wednesday. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. 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
