News

“They share any information that’s available concerning our business or things that might affect our business. And I think they also are very effective in helping you understand why you need to look at things differently if you’re not looking at them the right way.
- Tanya Henry, Executive Director, Milwaukee Careers Cooperative”

We are constantly on the alert for all the latest industry news, legislative updates, trends and more that could possibly impact your staffing business. Our president and CEO, Julie Ann Bittner, also shares her insights on the staffing industry in her message (link below). And when we don’t see information about a topic we feel is critical for you to know, we create it ourselves to share in our monthly email.

Press Room

Skip the Delays with Electronic Filing

There have been frequent reports in the news about delays at the IRS when it comes to processing returns. Between the COVID-19 stimulus payments, last minute changes to tax laws, and the pandemic in general, the IRS has been behind.

What does this mean for business owners?

It depends. Are you filing your payroll and employment taxes electronically? If the answer is yes, then the delays may not impact you as severely as those businesses that file paper returns.

The IRS has been increasingly encouraging businesses to e-file their payroll and employment taxes. Specifically, the IRS cites three main reasons to file these taxes electronically:

It saves time
It’s secure and accurate
The filer gets an email to confirm the IRS received the form within 24 hours

For those businesses that continue to file paper returns, additional headaches may be in store.

Will Your Federal Unemployment Tax go up in 2022?

After all the chaos and upheaval of the last year, something is looking a bit familiar – and it’s not welcome news for many business owners.

Many states appear to be headed down the same path as they did in 2011 to 2017 after the great recession of 2007 and 2008. This is when the majority of states received federal loans to shore up their trust reserves. As of June 7, 2021, eighteen states’ unemployment insurance trust funds had outstanding loans from the Federal Unemployment Account totaling $52.66 billion.

With high jobless rates since March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many states have suffered record-high unemployment rates rendering the state’s unemployment trust fund insolvent.

Let’s review the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) tax rate and how it works to ensure we all understand how this could possibly impact your business.

The FUTA tax rate is currently 6.0% on the first $7,000 in wages paid per employee each year. However, employers in general receive a 5.4% FUTA tax credit reduction when they file their FORM 940 (Employer’s Annual FUTA Tax Return), resulting in a net FUTA tax rate of 0.6%.

The Labor Shortage Is Real — What States Are Doing About It

By Julie Ann Bittner, President / CEO, TRICOM

Over the past several months, staffing owners have indicated an overwhelming increase in open orders but are struggling to find candidates to fill them.

This trend has not only been impacting staffing companies — employers all over the U.S. are having trouble finding staff to fill open positions. This lack of workers is hurting small businesses and impacting their ability to survive. Small businesses are being forced to turn down business due to staff shortages. In the past few weeks, I have seen countless signs in restaurants and coffee shop windows indicating adjusted hours or additional days they are closed due to staff shortages.

Employers are having trouble competing with the federal government’s unemployment payments, which are paying individuals more to stay home and not work rather than find a job.

In a recent podcast with David Searns of Haley Marketing, David noted that, “Demand for talent is through the roof but supply is really low.”