November was such a whirlwind, October might as well have been 50 years ago at this point.

As such, October’s job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTS) from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics feels a bit like a time capsule, as some industries were gearing up for holiday and winter busy seasons, while overall the labor market continued to cool down, possibly in anticipation of next year. Let’s take a closer look.

Diving into the data. Employers reported 5.3 million hires in October, down month over month from 5.6 million in September, and 7.7 million job openings, up slightly from the 7.4 million posted the month prior. Total separations changed little at 5.3 million in October, up from 5.2 million in September, but total quits increased by more than 228,000 to 3.3 million in October.

Heating up for the holidays. Regardless, certain sectors of the labor market continue to see strong hiring, particularly those employing service or frontline workers, Rachel Sederberg, senior economist and director at research firm Lightcast, noted. According to Lightcast’s own data, in October large employers like Walmart and Amazon saw a lot of hiring activity, likely in preparation for the holiday season. Similarly, there were more openings for registered nurses as well, ahead of flu season.

Keep reading here.—PM

Elon Musk will not receive a compensation package worth more than $50 billion after a Delaware judge on Monday affirmed her earlier ruling that rescinded the pay Tesla had awarded its chief executive officer, the New York Times reported.

In January, the judge, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick, struck down the award, stating that shareholders hadn’t been adequately informed of the package’s details and that some board members were not sufficiently independent.

Lawyers for Tesla and Musk said the package could be reinstated after it was approved in a shareholder vote in June. “The pay, in the form of stock options, was worth more than $50 billion and helped make Mr. Musk the richest person in the world. The package is now worth $100 billion after Tesla’s share price jumped sharply in recent weeks,” the Times reported. The pay stems from a 2018 award that would be granted only if Tesla met certain hallmarks. He also had to hold the options for five years, the Times said.

Earlier this year, Ani Huang, president and CEO of the Center on Executive Compensation, a division of the HR Policy Association, previously gave HR Brew three ways to avoid such executive compensation disputes.

Keep reading here.—TA

Most people don’t dream of a career in HR from a young age.

Many pros, as we’ve covered in past installments of Coworking, got interested in the function either during college or when considering a career change. But Shannon Hilmar, director of talent acquisition at Deputy, an HR software provider primarily for companies with shift workers, said she had a “really early interest” in the profession that emerged during one of her first-ever jobs, working as a shift worker at McDonald’s. Her interest in workplace management was ignited by her fascination with the fast food chain’s approach to workstations that revolutionized the fast-food business.

“It really just ignited an interest in people, our relationship with work, and how meaningful and impactful work can be for a lot of folks,” she told HR Brew. From there, she pursued a career in HR, earning a master’s in industrial and organizational psychology, and working in recruiting across multiple industries, including integrated healthcare, defense contracting, and tech.

At Deputy, Hilmar leads a team of three that handles global recruiting. A spokeswoman for the company declined to share how many new hires Deputy makes annually, but headcount grew by 20% to 380 employees in the last fiscal year. Hilmar said that her past experience as a frontline worker has helped connect candidates to the company’s mission.

Keep reading here.—PM