Fast Five

SWC’s Fast Five

What’s old is new again with that job you left, food bank lines and remember landlines? Meanwhile office occupancy trends continue their downward track and Ukraine – good on you if you’re sending money, just don’t get scammed.

So, here’s this week’s Fast Five:

1 Landlines on a comeback!

Some hybrid and remote workers are embracing the joys of hardy old-school technology, untangling wired headphones, unearthing cords from that box in the back of the closet and rediscovering the delight of a ringing phone that’s tethered to the wall.

2

Office occupancy continues downward trend.

Nationwide, office vacancy rates have risen to 12.2 percent from 9.7 percent over the past two years, according to Barclays, which cited data from Costar, a commercial real estate database. Those numbers likely overstate how much of that office space is actually being used.

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3 Donating to Ukraine? Don’t get scammed.

Wise Giving Alliance says to check out donor sites with a third-party like guidestar.org; avoid newly created organizations and crowdfunding platforms; and when you donate, do so from a charity’s website not social media.

4 Welcome back?

So now the Great Resignation is spurring a jump in employees returning to former jobs and employers think it’s a dandy idea. Not so long ago, this was thought of as questionable at best for the employee and employer. Now it’s a celebrated homecoming.

5 Inflation’s unique toll on food banks

It’s not just the cost of the food itself but increases in utility and transportation costs also are driving food banks to pull back at a time when demand for their services is back to levels seen in the first half of 2020 when people waited in lines that formed at dawn and stretched for blocks.