Neil A. Carousso produces NewsNation original “Kurt’s Country” – a celebration of country music and a slice of Americana with host Kurt Bardella.
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Back to Office Exposes Digital Divide between Employers and Employees
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
CONNECTICUT (WCBS 880) — At about 7:30 a.m. on a weekday morning in October, David Lewis is driving to OperationsInc headquarters in Norwalk, CT. He can spot plenty of good parking spaces available at the New Canaan train station.
“You could have found a parking spot up against the train station tracks, themselves, which were coveted spaces that used to fill at 5/5:30 in the morning. That tells me all I need to know about how people still are working remotely and are not making their way into the city,” said Lewis on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
That’s concerning to the human resources CEO who feels the same way as many of his larger clients: They want workers back in the office.
“I’m ecstatic about the ability to dynamically talk to my employees, bring somebody into a meeting, and have a quick conversation with them about an issue that just came up,” Lewis told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso. “I keep hearing that from our clients that ‘I want to go back to the way that we did it before because that worked best for us.'”
He recognizes, though, that remote work has increased productivity in many areas. One glaring outlier is employee training.
“Training for us was always about the in-person experience – about coming into a training facility, a training room, or a hotel conference center – and being able to get in front of our students and really connect with them – have a discussion versus have a lecture. That’s our secret sauce. But, we’ve had to pivot that since last year to something online,” said Lewis.
To combat so-called “Zoom fatigue,” OperationsInc has made its online training modules shorter. Lewis also admits the world has changed.
“Employees are in control and employers need to understand that,” he said.
Many workers want the flexibility that remote work allows, namely flexible work hours, absence of a commute, and the ability to pick up their kids from school.
Lewis tells his clients to find the right balance or turnover will be extremely high.
Labor issues continue to plague businesses and many prospective employees complain that their online application does not get noticed by a human resources professional.
Lewis told Connolly and Carousso that artificial intelligence has exacerbated a huge problem during the pandemic .
“A lot of companies have invested a lot of money in these applicant tracking systems but don’t know enough about how to change these filtration settings to get the candidates that they’re looking for through the door,” he said.
“They also tend to eliminate a lot of people because they’re not remembering that the settings they have – five years of this or two years of that – have to be regularly adjusted.”Lewis told WCBS 880 another hiring issue at play is that in-person jobs are not as desirable as remote work in the current labor market.
Watch the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above for more on this story.
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Why Inoculating Kids is the Key to Driving Down U.S. COVID-19 Infections
Produced by Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine could be approved for children as soon as next week after the company’s data showed its kid-sized dose is nearly 91 percent effective in preventing symptomatic infections.
On this week’s 880 Weekly Rewind, Lynda Lopez covers the latest developments in the pandemic fight and looks at ways to improve healthcare in communities of color.
Subscribe to The 880 Weekly Rewind podcast for in-depth reporting and deeper analysis of the top stories of the week, produced by Neil A. Carousso, for WCBS-AM New York.
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AUDIO: Adams would mandate COVID vaccine for NYC schoolkids if FDA approves shot
By Lynda Lopez
Produced by Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Democratic nominee for New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Friday said he would issue a vaccine mandate for all public school students if the shot is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In an interview with WCBS 880’s Lynda Lopez, the mayoral hopeful said that vaccine mandates are nothing new for the United States, and he believes that they are necessary to ensure the health and safety of all New Yorkers.
“This is a city and country where we do vaccinate. I was vaccinated for smallpox, for mumps, measles and so many others. We already have a system in place that states before you start school, you receive your vaccination,” Adams said. “It is to protect the child and the student population. We saw, historically, what happens when you have an outbreak of a certain type of illness that we can prevent … so I say yes, if it is FDA approved, we should also mandate it, as we mandate with other vaccinations.”
His comments came just hours after current Mayor Bill de Blasio stood by his decision not to require COVID vaccinations for school kids once they’re approved for children under 11.
“The issue that’s been raised so many times is, should there be a mandate for a child to be able to go to our schools. And I feel very strongly, our health care team feels strongly, our Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter feels very strongly our kids need to be in school,” de Blasio told WNYC on Friday. “So, I’ve said I’m not ready, nor is the Chancellor to exclude children who are unvaccinated because their parent won’t let them be vaccinated. That’s the reality. The child doesn’t get to decide, the parents have to give consent.”
Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams at a rally in Brooklyn on Sept. 9, 2021. (Photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images) The mayor noted that 75% of teenagers in the city are vaccinated and believes younger children “will be even a higher percentage ultimately.”
“But I’m not going to, certainly not at this point, I’m not going to say a child can’t come to school if they’re unvaccinated because they’ve been excluded from education for too long,” he added.
In his interview, Adams also said that he would sit down with NYPD and FDNY union leaders to issue a vaccine mandate for both departments, as well as schools.
“I believe there’s a way to work this out where we all will see the importance of having our first line workers being vaccinated,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Democratic nominee talked about the city’s Gifted and Talented program for kindergartners – which Mayor de Blasio has planned to do away with – saying he would like to preserve the program, but restructure it to make it more accessible to all New Yorkers.
“I have been extremely vociferous around the expansion of programs for accelerated learners,” he said. “I believe that we should have students opt out of the tests and not have to navigate the process to sign up for the tests. And we should not only test at 4-years-old but throughout the educational system. It is wrong and it is unfair to test the child at 4, and it will determine their entire educational career.”
Subscribe and download The 880 Weekly Rewind podcast for in-depth reporting and deeper analysis of the top stories of the week, produced by Neil A. Carousso, for WCBS-AM New York.
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VIDEO: Why Barbara Corcoran Believes Best Investments are in People
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Barbara Corcoran, the self-made “queen of New York real estate,” has always put her customers and her workers, first. That mantra is guiding her businesses out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I don’t buy businesses. I buy people,” Corcoran told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso on the latest WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
“The reason I was able to build such a large company is because I adored my employees and would do anything for them at any time – anything for them – they came first,” she said. “You have to have that attitude toward employees if you want to do well with them.”
A tight labor market has left many job postings unfilled. The “Shark Tank” star said the businesses that have survived the pandemic are growing, but their biggest challenge is hiring and retaining workers.
“It’s not just at your local restaurants, it’s at your dry cleaners, it’s at your technology companies. Everyone across the board is having a hard time attracting employees,” she said.
Corcoran noted one way to limit turnover is to pay more competitive salaries. She explained many customers are willing to support small businesses in their communities.
“They’re very amiable to helping small businesses if they think they’re helping a good business get ahead. So, you can pass on a lot of those costs, but you have to pay people more,” said Corcoran.
Barbara Corcoran listens to a pitch on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” (Photo Credit: ABC) She told WCBS 880 businesses must be more flexible with remote work, too.
“You have to give them the latitude and the freedom to work different hours, which now, people have been spoiled by because of COVID. Anybody who’s dictating that you must be here 9 to 5, come every day of the week, is not getting the employees because employees have other choices. They just move on and get a better boss so you have to be a phenomenally good boss and do everything you can to help that employee and that’s how you get them,” Corcoran said.
She describes “good bosses” as those who put the needs of their customers and employees before their own. She believes that’s the primary reason that The Corcoran Group blossomed into a $5 billion company when she sold it in 2001.
Corcoran called companies that are still not embracing remote work “stupid.”
“If you’re not budging, you’re stupid because you’re not doing what is the basic, core essence of all business: it’s called change,” she said, noting the seismic shifts businesses have been forced to adapt to over the past 19 months. “Let me tell you, if you don’t acknowledge the change that happens, you don’t stay in business.”
The famous entrepreneur said on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight that the job of the business owner is to spot trends early and direct their team “on which ways to run.” That’s how, she said, small businesses become big businesses.
“You know, the great advantage I saw early in my business when I looked around and saw my big competitors was I picked up on their attitude. They were big shots. The minute I saw everyone playing ‘big shot,’ I knew I had a shot,” said Corcoran, adding, “Most big businesses think they’re competing with other big businesses. They’re not. That’s not the enemy. The enemy is the little business that’s going to come up from behind and bite you in the butt.”
She said she tells companies like Ernst & Young in corporate speeches to think small. As for small businesses, Corcoran advises to learn everything about operating the business; those that are hungry will win the race.
Corcoran turned a $1,000 loan from a boyfriend in 1973 into a multi-billion dollar real estate empire. She told Connolly and Carousso that she budgeted every cent and hustled for every sale to keep her little business alive in the early days. That’s what she’s seeing new entrepreneurs doing today in season 13 of ABC’s “Shark Tank.”
“So many of the entrepreneurs that were standing before us either got fired or left their job,” Corcoran said. “They had part-time things they liked to do and they just decided they had time to think about it. They weren’t happy with their life and that was the time to make a big change and they took their part-time gig and they made it a full-time business. And, ironically, those were the strongest businesses we saw.”
See what it takes to make your dreams a reality on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight featuring Barbara Corcoran above.
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INTERVIEW: Sliwa fires back at Adams, talks crime and more ahead of mayoral election
By Lynda Lopez
Produced by Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — With less than a month to go before voters head to the polls to decide the next mayor of New York City, WCBS 880 spoke with GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa for this week’s 880 Weekly Rewind.
During an interview with anchor Lynda Lopez, Sliwa discussed his views on a number of pressing issues affecting New York City, including homelessness, Rikers Island, crime rates and more.
“I’m in the streets, I’m in the public housing projects, I’m in the subway – not with antics – doing the things. For instance, in Brooklyn – which has a severe crime problem, garbage in the streets, all kinds of potholes, quality of life problems – [I’m] really doing the job that the Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, should be doing,” Sliwa said, taking a jab at his Democratic opponent.
The founder of the Guardian Angels crime prevention organization noted he had been personally dealing with these types of issues for several years. He said his experiences can help him lead the city in change.
“I walk the streets, ride the subways with no security whatsoever,” Sliwa said, adding that he believes the mayor should be “a role model” for New Yorkers.
Sliwa also took a moment to respond to Adams’ accusations that he has made a “circus” of the New York City mayoral election.
“He may call [my actions] antics, I call them doing service. When you go into a public housing complex at night…and begin to do verticals in a gang controlled public housing complex, or visit Rikers Island to meet with correctional officers on a shift change and see all the problems – that’s not antics, that’s serving the general public,” Sliwa said.
The GOP candidate accused Adams of being too preoccupied with being “wined, dined and pocket lined” to deal with the issues.
Subscribe and download The 880 Weekly Rewind podcast for in-depth reporting and deeper analysis of the top stories of the week, produced by Neil A. Carousso, for WCBS-AM New York.
