OK, forget the disasters of the Obama years, other than the fact that we suspect he’s going to be an annoying presence on the US and global stage for some years to come. Worse than Jimmy Carter.
But on to 2017; we have a new President, looks like a step in the right business direction. But, Trump isn’t afraid to whack corporate folks over the head when they need it.
- Pay attention to what Trump did to Carrier and Rexnord; he severely chastised corporate managements for being shortsighted and not thinking of alternatives. With the new money you’re going to get in the tax cut, think about putting some of it in labor-saving productivity improvements, so you can hire more US workers and pay fair wages.
- Entry level workers remain a problem, because they don’t know anything. Our clients all hire seasoned folks who aren’t on an entry level program. Talk to your local schools, at all levels, though, because they may have engineering or other students who are looking for job experience. For example, my college, Antioch, is looking to restart its business coop program, for three month internships. Right now, we need a slot for a media arts major. Ad agencies come to mind.
- We don’t entirely know what’s going to happen on health care for workers, although it’s a good idea to have a plan, to attract workers. If you are below 50 employees, having a health for your workers plan is optional, but if you’re over 50, you have to have one, until the Affordable Care Act is changed. We have suggested some mods to ACA as a stopgap to a more comprehensive fix, but who knows? Probably sometime in 2017.
- Labor laws will get eased. The big problem is our universe has been the law that requires you to pay overtime up to $55k. This will probably get changed by the Department of Labor under Andy Puzder, but it might take awhile.
- If you got bushwhacked by the executive orders of Obama (#4 above is an example), help is on the way. Wake up your congressman/person. EPA and OHSA are notorious for ambushes here in Arizona, but we think the whole culture of these programs will change, but not overnight.
- Watch your work/llife/family balance. Entrepreneurs are notioriously bad at this. Delegate more, if you can afford it.
So, valued readers, that’s our opine about what’s going to happen early on in 2017, but I’m sure we’ll have more to say as the year goes along.