As the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the world, a growing number of colleges and universities are waiving standardized test requirements or making them optional. The College Board, which administers the SAT and the ACT, anticipated “an at-home style solution” for testing, and said it would make a formal announcement on Wednesday to clarify their recommendation. Ronald Ehrenberg is professor of industrial and labor relations and economics at Cornell University and the director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute.

Industrial and Labor Relations

---

Workers at Deere & Company have rejected a contract proposal negotiated by their union for the second time, further extending their strike. Professor Harry Katz says workers have more bargaining power now and management at Deere have overestimated their power in the negotiations.

Industrial and Labor Relations

---

The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that 4.4 million workers filed new unemployment claims last week, bringing the total number of claims to 26 million in just five weeks. Erica Groshen says that today’s data reinforces forecasts of a Great Depression-level unemployment rate by the end of April.

Economics and Business

Industrial and Labor Relations

---

Arthur Wheaton, an expert on the automotive industry, Christopher Ober, a materials engineering expert, and Ron Olson, director of operations for Cornell's Nanoscale facility, comment on a global shortage of semiconductors.

Industrial and Labor Relations

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Physical Sciences & Engineering

Economics and Business

---

Arthur Wheaton, an expert on the automotive industry at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, comments on Ford's failure to meet European limits on greenhouse-gas emissions and the company's need to partner with another automaker.

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Industrial and Labor Relations

---

Arthur Wheaton, an expert on the automotive industry and director of labor studies at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, comments on the Biden administration's plans to restore California’s authority to set its own auto emission rules for cars and trucks.

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Economics and Business

---

As the Omicron variant continues to spread throughout the U.S., shoppers are still faced with empty grocery store shelves as pandemic induced supply chain-related problems persist. Miguel Gómez says worker shortages are causing the current grocery store shortages, which could also be exacerbated by store’s emphasis on direct-to-consumer channels at the expense of an adequate labor force.

Food & Agriculture

Industrial and Labor Relations

Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management

---

On Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its monthly jobs report for September 2020. Russell Weaver, an economic geographer, says the September 2020 jobs report is likely to show small gains, but New York state is still lagging behind the rest of the nation.

Industrial and Labor Relations

New York State

---

Arthur Wheaton, an expert on the automotive industry and director of labor studies at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, comments on a new electric vehicle battery swapping policy in India.

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

---

Cornell University labor experts are available to weigh in on the increased focus on workplace safety, gig economy growth, unemployment and employee shortages, climate jobs, social justice at work and more.

---