The rate of homelessness has been rising since 2017, with nearly 600,000 people unhoused across the US in 2022, according to a tally by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH). And while some experts argue that employment isn’t the only key to keeping people in their homes, an analysis from the Homelessness Policy Research Institute indicates that unemployment is “a prominent factor” in homelessness nationwide.

A University of Chicago survey found that 53% of those living in shelters in the US received employment earnings during the year they were observed, and 40.4% had some type of formal employment.

Frontier Co-Op, an organic food manufacturer in Iowa, recently began working with community organizations to recruit unhoused workers, creating job opportunities while also tapping into a potentially underutilized workforce.

Partnership approach. Megan Schulte, VP of human resources at Frontier Co-Op, told HR Brew that the company’s Breaking Down Barriers program works with a local homeless services organization to hire apprentices, starting the workers as contractors in an apprenticeship program.

Research from the NAEH has found that transportation is one of the barriers to good attendance for unhoused workers, so Frontier Co-Op provides shuttles to its manufacturing facility three times a day, five days a week.

Keep reading.—KP

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Here at HR Brew, we’re interested in learning more about how people work, and how the way they work is changing. With that in mind, we’re asking professionals to tell us about their desk setups.

What are you proud of in your workspace? Do you keep mementos with you while you work? What’s your emotional support animal/plant/action figure? If you want to show us your desk, you can submit your story here!

Stephanie Miletich is the COO at YWCA West Central Michigan, a nonprofit located in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. With the help of a small team, she manages everything from payroll to recruiting, facilities, and conflict resolution.

Miletich has taken great care to create an inviting office that serves multiple purposes—and all in a space that has an entire wall of cabinets and sinks from when it used to be a medical office. She’s also learned about ways to help all of her colleagues create a more welcoming environment at the office.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell us about your office setup.

I wanted it to feel more homey so I brought in more typical home/living room elements. There’s an L-shaped desk for ample workspace including two large monitors. There’s also a cozy seating area anchored by a nice area rug, tying everything together for one-on-one meetings. Lastly, there is a brainstorming station with a large whiteboard.

Keep reading.—AK

Workers largely blame management and HR for creating toxic work environments throughout the tech industry, with 45% of respondents to a recent poll by online training firm TalentLMS saying they plan to quit their current position due to toxic behavior.

TalentLMS commissioned an online poll of 1,000 tech workers who identified their workplaces as toxic, defined in the report as matching the cultural attributes MIT Sloan researchers identified as the “toxic five”: disrespectful, non-inclusive, unethical, cutthroat, and abusive. Over two-thirds of respondents said the culprits behind the toxic working conditions were management or HR, with relatively few blaming their own colleagues:

• Twenty percent blamed leadership/senior management, while 18% blamed middle management and 17% their direct supervisors.
• Fourteen percent pointed the finger at human resources.
• Just 15% blamed colleagues on their team, while an additional 16% blamed those from other teams.

Keep reading on IT Brew.—TM

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: More than 85% of Airbnb employees would recommend the company as a good place to work, a year after the company introduced (and stuck to) its work-from-anywhere policy. (Fortune)

Quote: “Accessibility and inclusion need to be embedded in all aspects of the organization and its culture, with policies and premises designed with disabled people in mind. Senior leaders should start by challenging poor workplace culture and driving organizational-wide change which better supports disabled employees and managers.”—Diane Lightfoot, CEO of Business Disability Forum, on disability inclusion in the workplace (Forbes)

Read: Unpaid internships persist, often to the detriment of the workers who take on the roles. (the Washington Post)