Sunday's economy & business stories

Trending in business: Favoring millennials
"Older Workers Challenge Firms' Aggressive Pursuit of the Young: In one class action against PricewaterhouseCoopers, two men say they were rejected because they lacked the youthful profile possessed by many PwC recruits," by Wall Street Journal's Jacob Gorshman.
- The trigger: "[T]he percentage of new hires who are recent college graduates is up by more than 40% from a decade ago."
- A sad stat: "Unemployed workers between 45 and 54 have been unemployed for an average of 10 weeks longer than jobless Americans between 25 and 34."
- The legal backdrop: "[F]avoritism toward millennials, the suit alleges, violates the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act.... [T]he idea that company recruitment efforts aimed at students and recent graduates can be unlawful is a controversial premise that no federal appeals court has ever endorsed."
Why it matters: "Courts have looked at the question more closely in the aftermath of a recession that saw many seasoned workers lose their jobs and toil to find new ones. Advocates for older Americans say age discrimination in hiring is driven by a common misperception that younger workers are more productive, creative, trainable and cheaper."

The gender gap in engineering and computer science
Computer science and engineering have become two of the most lucrative degrees in the U.S., but only a fraction of women are choosing to go into those fields of study. Instead, women are overwhelmingly represented in psychology, biology, and social science programs, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Why this matters: The gender gap among the specific degrees within the "the sciences and engineering" field is actually much wider than universities might let on. It also illustrates the importance of examining why women are underrepresented in some fields and how to address that.

NY employers could stop asking about pay history
Hiring managers at private-sector companies in New York City could soon be fined for asking about potential employee's salary history, per WSJ. Some argue it's the latest effort in closing the gender wage gap.
Why it matters: Job seekers' previous salary is an increasingly influential factor in securing their next job. For some, having a higher salary history than a future employer can match could affect a person's chance of being hired. On the flip side, having a lower salary, especially as a woman or minority applicant, could maintain the gender wage gap, since most employers negotiate a new salary based with the job seeker's previous salary in mind.

Asian men are the only demographic to out-earn white men


Why everyone's talking about the new 'Star Wars' trailer
"Stars Wars: The Last Jedi" won't arrive in our galaxy until Dec. 15, but a trailer that dropped yesterday (16 million views just of the official YouTube video, with copies all over the web) provided more online excitement and debate than most actual movies.
Entertainment Weekly calls the clip "our first glimpse into the galaxy after civil war was reignited in The Force Awakens."
Han Solo is gone. Luke Skywalker has been found. And although General Leia Organa's Resistance has knocked back the First Order, those Imperial wannabes remain a volatile threat under the command of General Hux, and the enigmatic Supreme Leader Snoke.
Wired's Brian Raftery: "[P]erhaps what's most notable is that no one is having any fun. Rey (Daisy Ridley) is trying to learn the Force from a cranky, Hoth-cold Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who tells her, "I only know one truth: It's time for the Jedi to end.'"



