Also: Dreamliner deliveries, Novavax disappointment, and Trump raid.
Good morning.
These are strange economic times. In the U.S., recent government statistics say GDP shrank for two quarters in a row—traditionally, a sign of recession. Yet Friday’s labor report showed employment grew by more than half a million—symptomatic of a boom.
So what’s going on? I don’t have the answer. But I do believe the so-called “battle for talent” is a long-term trend that will transcend the business cycle. At Fortune, we’ve seen it play out over the 25 years we’ve been publishing our 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Each year, competition to make the list gets more intense. In Tomorrow’s Capitalist (order here), I cite a statistic that helped me understand the change: 50 years ago, more than 80% of the value reflected on the balance sheets of Fortune 500 companies was physical stuff—plant, equipment, oil in the ground, inventory on the shelves. Today, more than 85% of the value on the balance sheets of Fortune 500 companies is “intangibles”—intellectual property, brand value, and a host of things more closely tied to human capital than to physical and financial capital. People are today’s value drivers.
That’s why Fortune last week launched a new newsletter, the CHRO Daily, sponsored by ServiceNow and written by Amber Burton. In yesterday’s newsletter, Amber wrote about the elevation of the Chief Learning Officer at corporations. L&D departments used to be purveyors “of onboarding and mandatory compliance trainings,” she wrote. But today “cultivating and upskilling talent” is becoming increasingly core to business strategy.
Interested? You can get a taste of topics here and sign up here. Let me rephrase that: you should sign up here. Anyone who thinks the much-prophesied recession will end the talent wars is missing the big picture.
News below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
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Dreamliner deliveries
Boeing is about to resume deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner. The Federal Aviation Administration has greenlit the move following changes made by Boeing to meet certification standards, and American Airlines is expecting to take delivery of the long-haul plane as soon as tomorrow. Dreamliner deliveries have been largely paused since the fall of 2020, when production defects were discovered. Wall Street Journal
Novavax disappointment
Novavax, which took $1.6 billion in Operation Warp Speed funding, has administered all of 7,300 COVID jabs in the U.S. The Maryland-based company massively disappointed Wall Street with its quarterly results yesterday ($186 million rather than an expected $1 billion) and its shares were down 30% in after-hours trading. CEO Stanley Erck blamed a current glut in vaccine doses. Fortune
Trump raid
FBI agents yesterday raided the residence of former U.S. President Donald Trump, reportedly in connection with an investigation into his handling of classified information. The Mar-a-Lago raid, which elicited an instant outcry from Republicans, was likely authorized at the highest levels of the Justice Department. Trump himself was in New York at the time of the agents’ visit. Financial Times
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Summer 2022 Fortune/Deloitte CEO Survey CEOs believe there is more to be gained by providing greater flexibility and training leaders to empower and engage workers as opposed to merely offering more financial-related incentives. What steps are leading CEOs considering? Learn More
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