A new McKinsey & Co. report says companies that want to keep their employees need to be more flexible.  The company's recent study of more than 35,000 workers with spouses or live-in partners in various professional sectors found that 89 percent of women and 70 percent of men are part of a dual-career couple (DCC) — meaning both partners have jobs. The couples come from all racial and ethnic groups and span all income levels. "Companies can do more to base promotions and top-executive-hiring decisions on output rather than input to ensure equity for employees in DCCs," the report states. "Too many companies mistake quantity (as in the number of hours an employee spends on the job) for quality (reflected in the employee’s output)." The report explains that companies can help employees in DCCs succeed and feel fulfilled at home and work by ensuring these employees have access to professional development and career advancement, support for maintaining work–life balance, and sponsorship opportunities. Specifically, companies can take the following actions: Provide supportive managers and ensure equitable growth opportunities, especially for lower-level workers.  Encourage ambition by making top positions seem feasible.  Create a culture that encourages work–life balance.  Ensure consistent access to sustainable sponsorship.  Click for report

Netflix proudly shares its company culture with the world on its jobs page. "Entertainment, like friendship," the website states, "is a fundamental human need; it changes how we feel and gives us common ground. Netflix is better entertainment at lower cost and greater scale than the world has ever seen. We want to entertain everyone, and make the world smile. "This document is about our unusual employee culture. "Like all great companies, we strive to hire the best and we value integrity, excellence, respect, inclusivity, and collaboration. What is special about Netflix, though, is how much we: Encourage independent decision-making by employees Share information openly, broadly, and deliberately Are extraordinarily candid with each other Keep only our highly effective people Avoid rules "Our core philosophy is people over process. More specifically, we have great people working together as a dream team. With this approach, we are a more flexible, fun, stimulating, creative, collaborative and successful organization." Click for full description of Netflix culture

Each year, editors and data scientists at LinkedIn evaluate billions of actions taken by LinkedIn users around the world to find which companies attract the most attention from jobseekers and then hang onto that talent. The data-driven approach looks at what members are doing — not just saying — in their search for fulfilling careers. The result of that data is “Top Companies,” LinkedIn’s fourth annual ranking of the most sought-after companies today. The researchers analyze U.S. members’ actions across four main pillars: interest in the company, engagement with the company’s employees, job demand and employee retention. You can also check out the top companies in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and the U.K. Click for article

NPR digs deeper into a trend outlined in a new report in which the Washington state auditor found that good jobs in the skilled trades are left unfilled because students are being almost universally steered to bachelor's degrees. The article cites a U.S. Department of Education stat: There will be 68 percent more job openings in infrastructure-related fields in the next five years than there are people training to fill them. Sound familiar?   Click for article