workforce

Bellwood – October 15, 2026 -- Nearly 300 school bus drivers and monitors at Sunrise Transportation, now a subsidiary of Student Transportation of America, have voted overwhelmingly to join Teamsters Local 777 in Illinois.

Local 777 moves to negotiate a first collective bargaining agreement

Local 777 will work with the newly organized group to negotiate its first contract. The workers organized to secure fair pay, improved working conditions and better benefits.

Union cites wages, benefits and workplace protections as priorities

Local 777 President Jim Glimco said the workers transport students to and from school every day and deserve wages, benefits and workplace protections that reflect that responsibility.

Pittsburgh – October 15, 2026 -- DICK'S (NYSE: DKS) and its Foot Locker unit expect to hire more than 11,000 seasonal teammates for the 2026 holiday season, with about 8,400 positions at DICK'S banners and roughly 2,900 at Foot Locker banners in North America.

DICK'S targets 8,400 seasonal hires across four store banners

The hiring covers DICK'S Sporting Goods, DICK'S House of Sport, Going Going Gone! and Public Lands locations. The retailer will hold its ninth-annual "National Signing Day" on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, where candidates can interview on-site and meet store leadership at participating locations. Hiring will continue until positions are filled.

McDonough, Ga. – September 22, 2026 -- Piedmont Orthopedics | OrthoAtlanta has added board-certified interventional pain specialist Vic Manocha, M.D., to its Henry County team, deploying him across both its McDonough office and its newly opened Locust Grove location.

New physician strengthens nonsurgical pain treatment capacity

Dr. Manocha treats acute and chronic back pain, neck pain, joint pain and musculoskeletal conditions using interventional techniques including spinal cord stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation and minimally invasive spine procedures. He also maintains a focus on regenerative medicine and orthobiologic therapies for chronic spine and joint pain, and is the founder of RegenCures, a practice dedicated to orthobiologic treatments.

San Jose, Calif. – September 14, 2026 -- Over 60 drivers and mechanics at California Waste Solutions in San José have overwhelmingly ratified a new five-year labor contract, securing substantial wage increases, expanded protections for relief employees, and a ninth week of vacation time described by union officials as industry-leading.

Workers servicing 170,000 households secure long-term wage gains

The ratified agreement, negotiated by Teamsters Local 350, covers employees who provide residential recycling services to more than 170,000 households across the San José area. The five-year term locks in economic terms and revised work rules through the contract period.

Kansas City, Mo. – September 16, 2026 -- Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe joined nonpartisan think tank United WE at its Kansas City headquarters on September 10 for a ceremonial signing of House Bill 2974, a law that shortens licensing wait times for out-of-state professionals and clarifies telehealth rules for providers with reciprocal Missouri licenses. The bill was formally signed on July 13 and took effect August 28.

HB 2974 resolves ambiguity blocking telehealth providers from treating Missouri patients

The law confirms that a health care provider granted a Missouri license based on an out-of-state credential is fully licensed in the state, including for delivering care to Missouri patients via telehealth. The previous statute, in place since 2018, had left that question unresolved.

Tukwila, Wash. – September 15, 2026 -- Nearly 500 public safety employees across King and Snohomish Counties have voted to affiliate with Teamsters Local 117, shifting representation away from the Public Safety Employees Union (PSEU) Local 519.

Workers approved the switch in an August 31 election

The vote, conducted by the union on Monday, August 31, 2026, resulted in an overwhelming majority favoring affiliation with Local 117. The workers span a range of classifications across numerous worksites in the two counties.

Certification from state labor board expected by year-end

The change in representation must first be certified by the Public Employment Relations Commission. Local 117 anticipates that certification will occur by the end of 2026, at which point the workers will formally become union members and Local 117 will be recognized as their exclusive bargaining representative.

Dublin -- September 01, 2026 -- Half of 152 European merchants surveyed by Temu said they expanded production capacity or hired new staff since joining the e-commerce platform, according to the Temu Small Business Insights Report 2026.

AUSTIN, Texas -- September 01, 2026 -- DPR Construction completed the 74-story Waterline tower at 98 Red River Street two months ahead of its original 50-month schedule, finishing the job in 48 months. The 1,025-foot structure now stands as the tallest building in Texas, DPR announced on Aug. 31, 2026. The 2.7 million-square-foot tower, co-developed by Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential, combines residential, hotel, office, retail and parking uses on a footprint of more than three acres in downtown Austin.

DPR Deploys 6,800 Workers Across 4.5 Million Labor Hours

More than 150 trade partners and roughly 6,800 skilled workers logged approximately 4.5 million hours on the project, with about 1,000 workers onsite during peak construction. Crews placed more than 150,000 cubic yards of concrete, a volume DPR compares to 46 Olympic-sized swimming pools, and built 92 individual sculptural columns, including 15 installed on the roof.

NEW YORK -- September 01, 2026 -- Optimizely unveiled Virtual Teammates on Aug. 31, 2026 at its Opticon conference, a new class of AI coworkers built to take on defined marketing roles instead of responding to individual prompts. The launch includes five role-specific digital coworkers: Chief of Staff, SEO & AI Search Analyst, Marketing Analyst, Personalization Strategist, and CRO Manager. Each retains organizational context over time and operates across marketing tools under its own identity and permissions.

81% of B2B Marketing Leaders Juggle Multiple Disconnected AI Tools Weekly

A global Optimizely study of more than 2,000 B2B marketing leaders found that 81% personally switch between two or more disconnected AI tools each week, including 19% who use four or more. Optimizely said Virtual Teammates are built to function as ongoing members of the marketing team rather than an additional standalone tool marketers have to operate.