Getty Images Amazon Echo could put Amazon at the forefront of voice commerce Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN, +0.12% Prime Day was not just a day to sell merchandise and Prime memberships. This year, it was also a day for Amazon to push Alexa-enabled devices and plant its flag in the emerging voice commerce…

background check Background Check Company InfoMart Acquires Global Information Source InfoMart screened 1.75 million individuals in the last year and over 8,000 clients use its employment-related screening services, according to Workforce research. July 14, 2017 by Background-screening company…

The second-quarter earnings season kicked off in earnest on Friday with the first reports from big banks, and investors should now brace for what will be a key test of sentiment. The stock market is at lofty levels after repeatedly setting records this year , and companies need to show earnings…

For Your Benefit Benefits Provide an Edge in the War for Young Talent Companies that want the best and brightest of college graduates should include benefits as a critical part of their recruiting strategy. July 13, 2017 by Benefits can be the key to attracting the best and the brightest young…

Shares of Advanced Micro Device erased early gains to close sharply lower in active trade Thursday, as it mirrored the reversal seen in prices of bitcoin rival Ether. AMD’s stock AMD, -5.32% surged as much as 1.4% within the first few minutes of trade, before declining steadily . It fell into…

Stock price volatility is natural in emerging sectors and with compelling brands. Tesla is a case in point. Tesla shares started the year in the low $200s and approached $400 by the end of June. Now it sits in the low $300s. Such dramatic swings require a certain faith for an investor. This most…

Intel Corp. pulled out all the stops Tuesday with the most important product launch in the history of its data-center business, as the world’s largest chip maker faces the fiercest competition ever to its dominance. On Tuesday, Intel INTC, +0.80% hosted an unusual product launch at the Brooklyn Navy…

Workplace Culture Beyond Great: Features of Today’s Legendary Companies Great is really good when you’re an organization. But aspiring to make legendary status is another level. July 11, 2017 by While solid economic and financial performance may be an indicator of a “great” company, legendary status…

If you’re in the market for a discount on a new appliance, Amazon’s Prime Day event is not the sale for you. Since 9 p.m. EST Monday, Amazon AMZN, -0.37% has been running its third annual Prime Day event, which includes sales on more than 100,000 items. With new deals being added every five minutes,…

Working Well Some Constructive Criticism on Wellness It’s time to respond to an article titled, ‘How Wellness Became an Epidemic.’ July 11, 2017 by New York Magazine just published an interesting — and fairly critical — article called “How Wellness Became an Epidemic.” I’ve been thinking about it…

Last May, “Concerned Wife” wrote to the Moneyologist about her husband who had spent $300,000 on a church overseas. She described it as a religious cult. “It has not stopped, no matter how much I express concern and disapproval for all the debts incurred,” she said. “He does not share my concern for…

Workforce Internal Communications Balancing Old Methods with Millennial Generation Technology is moving, millennial needs are moving, and internal communications tries to keep pace. July 10, 2017 by Office communications used to happen largely via one channel — email. But nowadays, email has many…

Optimas Awards Finalists for the 2017 Workforce Optimas Awards Announced Finalists will win Gold or Silver honors and one will be named as the overall winner of General Excellence. July 10, 2017 by Workforce has named its 2017 Optimas Awards finalists. Now in its 27th year, these organizations join…

Get ready to hunker down at your keyboard for a marathon sale. Monday night at 9 p.m. EST Amazon’s AMZN, +1.81% third annual Prime Day will begin and the online retailer will reveal more than 100,000 deals, with new ones posted every five minutes for 30 hours straight. The flash deals are available…

Interest in Apple Inc.’s newest products, including the HomePod smart speaker, appears to be picking up, which could help the company gain a competitive advantage over Amazon Inc. in the sector. According to a Raymond James survey of 500 consumers in June, about 14% of iPhone owners intend to buy…

The Last Word Take it Easy on the Boss; There’s a World to Save Consider that it’s your bosses, not you, who provide half the country with their health care insurance. July 7, 2017 by HR, I bet you’ve grown weary of people telling you how to do your job. I’m not talking about your corporate…

Before young American men get back to work, they should switch off the video console. Younger men’s working hours have declined more than those of older men over the last 15 years, according to a working paper by researchers at Princeton University, the University of Chicago and the University of…

Benefits With Benefits, It’s Good to Get Back to the Basics It’s easy to overlook the what and why of your benefits offerings. Here are 7 best practices to re-establish your comprehensive plan. July 6, 2017 When faced with increasing employee health care cost, budgetary pressures and pending renewal…

New York Markets After Hours Market Snapshot Winners and Losers Home Industries Internet/Online Services The Wall Street Journal Get email alerts The Wall Street Journal By Published: July 6, 2017 5:01 p.m. ET Share Music-streaming platform consolidates in bid for profitability Getty Images Alex…

E-commerce has already changed your local mall. Now it’s changing your wallet. As more consumers do their shopping online, they’ve said goodbye to popular brick-and-mortar stores . Now, experts say they should start saying goodbye to the credit cards that go with them. Online shopping has led to…

Workforce Smart Lockers Open Options for Workplace Wellness and Safety Innovative vending machines put everything from bike parts to fire extinguishers at employees’ fingertips. July 5, 2017 by Hull & Knarr’s workout room provides a bright atmosphere to go along with its work culture. Photo courtesy…

She went in style. Or did she? Lucinda Chambers, former fashion director of British Vogue and a 25-year veteran of that magazine, was fired from her post after the new editor-in-chief Edward Enninful took over. She told the fashion blog Vestoj : “A month and a half ago I was fired from Vogue. It…

American homeowners can take pride in these prices. At the nadir of the housing market in 2012, homebuyers had to pay an average premium of almost 29%, or $209 per square foot, to live in communities with a higher share of gay, lesbian and bisexual residents. This year, homebuyers will need to pay a…

No, Amazon and Apple stock are not crashing. But incorrect stock data on the popular Google Finance and Yahoo Finance sites appeared to be freaking out some investors Monday evening. As of 8 p.m. Eastern, Google Finance said Amazon.com Inc. shares were down more than 87%, to $123.47. On Yahoo…

U.S. tech stocks may have posted their worst performance in seven months in June, but they are still among the top dogs when it comes to brand power. The latest ranking from WPP’s Kantar Millward Brown shows that the elites of the most valuable brands in the world are mostly tech companies, and…

Twitter screenshot President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted a doctored video of him body slamming a man with the CNN logo as his head. President Donald Trump continued his weeklong Twitter tirade against the media Sunday, tweeting a doctored pro wrestling video showing Trump body slamming an…

Benefits Contracting a Cure for Prescription Drug Costs As specialty drugs siphon employers’ benefit spend, prices of more common drugs are also climbing. Can PBMs be part of the cost cure or another pain point? July 1, 2017 by Specialty drug prices were continually creeping up for the American…

WASHINGTON—A longtime Republican activist who led an operation hoping to obtain Hillary Clinton emails from hackers listed senior members of the Trump campaign, including some who now serve as top aides in the White House, in a recruitment document for his effort. The activist, Peter W. Smith, named…

Health Care HR and the Hippocratic Oath: The VP of HR Will See You Now With health care such a large part of an employer’s responsibility, receiving the advice of or even hiring physician leaders in the HR suite is crucial to suppress costs. June 30, 2017 by HR leaders today are faced with unbounded…

Getty Images Things could get interesting in the stock market next week. It may be a holiday-shortened week in the stock market, but investors can expect plenty of fireworks to keep them on edge. From economic data to the tech sector’s meltdown and even President Donald Trump’s fusillade of tweets,…

Many Americans have a love-hate relationship with their iPhone. Ten years ago , when late Apple AAPL, -2.00% co-founder Steve Jobs announced the release of the first generation iPhone, he said it was like having “your life in your pocket,” but in the decade since, the smartphone has truly taken on a…

Shares of Blue Apron Holdings Inc. opened at $10 Thursday, in line with the company’s issue price, as the stock made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in a price-sensitive market. The opening price puts Blue Apron’s APRN, +3.55% public market capitalization at $1.9 billion, below its private…

The Practical Employer One State Looks to put Enforcement Muscle Behind Workplace Concealed Carry Law Instead of complaining about it and threatening non-compliance, now is the time to invest in implementing an Active Shooter/Emergency Action Plan. June 29, 2017 by It’s been six months since Ohio…

Investors have lost their appetite for the initial public offering of meal-kit delivery company Blue Apron, fearing the emergence of Amazon.com as a competitor with its acquisition of Whole Foods. Late Wednesday, New York-based Blue Apron Holdings APRN, +0.00% priced its shares ahead of its initial…

The Practical Employer More on Why Holding Lawyers Liable for Retaliation to a Client’s Employee is a Bad Ruling As the 9th Circuit's Arias v. Raimondo ruling showed, it’s dangerous for courts to hold an employer’s lawyer liable for retaliation against the employees of the lawyer’s client. June 28,…

Copy editors at the New York Times Co. can no longer keep quiet about their growing frustrations regarding the direction of the paper. In a letter sent to Executive Editor Dean Baquet and Managing Editor Joseph Kahn from the Times copy desk, the editors said they felt betrayed and disrespected in…

The richest people on the planet just added new members to their exclusive club. The world’s ultra-high net worth population — individuals with $30 million or more in assets — grew by 3.5% to 226,450 individuals in 2016 after a sharp fall a year earlier, according to new data by global wealth…

The Practical Employer 9th Circuit’s Arias v. Raimondo Ruling May Be the Year’s Worst Employment Law Decision Add the 9th Circuit to my California tourist stops in July, because this decision is flat-out bonkers. June 27, 2017 by I’ll be vacationing in California with my family the first two weeks…

As it prepares to go public, Blue Apron Holdings needs its customers to eat more. Blue Apron APRN, +0.00% has been increasing its marketing efforts , in hopes of bringing in and holding on to more customers, but those costs have been weighing on the company’s margins, delaying potential…

Sprint Corp. has entered into exclusive talks with Charter Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. as the cable companies explore a deal that could bolster their plans to offer wireless service, according to people familiar with the matter. Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son and the cable firms have…