5 Culture Tips: Honoring Black History As American History

Originally named Negro Week in 1926, and founded by Carter G. Woodson, Black History Month is a time to recognize and acknowledge the numerous contributions of African-Americans. In the words of President Gerald Ford, let’s lead and encourage all generations to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

• Acknowledge the Month: It may be simple to state the obvious, however this is very often difficult to accomplish. Black History Month can stump the most culturally savvy intellectuals, due to the United States’ complicated past. To quote Dr. Frederick Gooding Jr a professor at Northern Arizona University, “acknowledging [black history] for what it is and embracing it head on will allow us not to repeat the mistakes of the past so we can move forward in a new direction.” Acknowledging the past and the work that still needs to be done is a great way to start the conversation.

• Be Thoughtful: Be thoughtful of how your acknowledgement manifests both in your personal and business life. Black History Month is an opportunity to reach out to a new market. It’s important to be cognizant of the diverse beliefs and practices held by one race; for example, not every African-American celebrates holidays such as Juneteenth and Kwanzaa. Be mindful of diversity by educating yourself on specific cultural values, instead of generalizations.

• Recognize Unsung Heros & Forgotten Figures: In books and movies like Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, and Hidden Figures, unsung heroes emerge, showcasing their invaluable contributions to the advancement of the African-American community. While many of us have read important books like Native Son and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, step outside of your comfort zone and take on a challenging read. Good examples include The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin, and The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson. While these books and others may be uncomfortable to read, their insights provide a new viewpoint of what it means to be African-American in this country.

• Learn Something New: The experiences of African-Americans have created a culture unique to the black community and experience.Take time this month to visit your local Black Cultural Districts, like Six Square in Austin, TX. Plan travel to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. Curl up at home with popcorn, your favorite beverage and the documentaries available on PBS Black Culture Connection. Consider courses that challenge your thinking about the African-American experience and contributions.

• It’s More Than Just a Month: Black history Is More Than a Month. Throughout the year, take the time to practice the ideas presented in steps 1-4. As a business and community leader, it will reflect your willingness to connect in a meaningful way.

Remember that Black history is part of U.S. American history, and we can’t hide from or feel embarrassed about some dark chapters. Changing the mindset of how we view Black History Month, as recognition of those who broke barriers, strove for equality, and fought against injustices- will have a profound impact of being culturally savvy.

Sharon Schweitzer, J.D., is a cross-cultural trainer, modern manners expert, and the founder of Protocol & Etiquette Worldwide. In addition to her accreditation in intercultural management from the HOFSTEDE centre, she serves as a Chinese Ceremonial Dining Etiquette Specialist in the documentary series Confucius was a Foodie, on Nat Geo People. She is the resident etiquette expert on two popular lifestyle shows: ABC Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend and CBS Austin’s We Are Austin. She is regularly quoted by BBC Capital, Investor’s Business Daily, Fortune, and the National Business Journals. Her best-selling book Access to Asia: Your Multicultural Business Guide, now in its second printing, was named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2015. Sharon is the winner of the British Airways International Trade, Investment & Expansion Award at the 2016 Greater Austin Business Awards.

Lights, Camera, Action: Reinvigorating the Big Screen

By Andrew Solmssen, Managing Director, POSSIBLE Los Angeles

It was not so long ago that seeing the latest Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts movie meant waiting in lines 50 yards deep. Those days—along with Mr. Cruise’s blockbusters—are gone. Times have changed in the last few decades: the drive-in died, smaller theaters popped up throughout the country, the VCR came and went, and now we stream. Throughout it all, the theaters have remained. And while many a Gen Xer or Baby Boomer prefers to watch the latest movies from the comfort of home, others continue to enjoy movies on the big screen—but in smaller numbers.

CEO and co-founder of the upstart Atom Tickets, Ameesh Paleja, is a 12-year Amazon veteran who helped launch Prime Instant Video, Amazon’s Appstore, Cloud Drive, and the Kindle product line. Seeing an opportunity to bring modern ecommerce techniques to a popular and traditional form of entertainment, he and his partners started Atom two-and-a-half years ago. Since then, the company has become a popular choice, especially among Millennials. Its app and website not only sell movie tickets but also offer social features, special offers, and pre-orders for concessions. We spoke with Ameesh to learn a little more about working in the movie industry, and what we can expect from Atom in the future.

Why did you get interested in the movie space?

About three years ago, I was approached by the executives at Lionsgate. They presented me with a fascinating problem: there are five-and-a-half billion unsold seats in the U.S. theatrical market. That meant that if we could just sell one percent more seats, we’d have a billion-dollar box office opportunity.

It was also a field ripe for disruption. None of the innovation you’ve seen in the ecommerce space—recommendations, personalization, and machine learning—had made its way to the digital ticketing industry. There is a ton of interesting techniques we can use that have now evolved from their infancy to where consumers expect them.

Why did you start as a mobile-first solution?

Though we have a website, mobile is our primary platform. We focused on where people are engaged. Mobile phone usage in the U.S. is obviously huge and growing. When you think about outside of the U.S., it's monstrous. In China or India or Japan, it's basically the only thing people use.

I had also stumbled on an astonishing statistic that said on average, a person unlocks their smartphone 150 times a day. That's on average. My dad unlocks it maybe 10 times a day, while people like me do it more like 400. That engagement with the device was a big deal and we wanted to be close to that customer.

Why aren’t people going to the movies more?

One of the big pain points is planning. All of us have experienced it. Whether it's these crazy group texts, email chains, or posts on Facebook, nobody can get their act together. That’s why we added group invite features to the app.

There are also a lot of ambivalent people sitting on the fence. We realized that social influencers could play a big role in getting them into theaters. Most people just want to go out with their friends and family. Let's say a bunch of your friends want to go see Star Wars and you aren’t interested in it—but you are interested in hanging out with them. We found the opportunity to leverage social influencers with these people.

Can you tell us some of the ways you’re changing the buying process for moviegoers?

Most new ecommerce experiences are taking on pain points and inconveniences in the purchasing process. With Amazon Go, the new grocery store, they’ve made it so you can shop without standing in line or seeing a cashier.

We looked at the entire ticket-purchasing process and found ways to make it easier. For example, we deployed tablet scanners inside the theater so people can skip the lines.

Another of the big things we do is pre-ordering concessions, so they don’t have to wait in line for popcorn or soda. In addition, we can send targeted coupons. For example, let’s say I know you like Junior Mints. If you haven't been to the movies recently, I can offer you a box of Junior Mints if you go. And if I know that when I get you to come to the movies, you’ll bring a few other people. Then, it becomes a simple ROI equation. The studio is happy because it’s getting revenue. The exhibitor is happy because your friends are buying popcorn. And you're happy because you love your Junior Mints.

Seems like a win-win.

I am glad you pointed it out. When we talk about disruption of space, typically there is somebody that gets the short end of the stick. In this space, we make everyone happy. It’s a very unusual situation, which is one reason I was so attracted to it.

What have you found to be the major driver of adoption growth? 

It's a somewhat complicated question because we're now moving from our infancy to our adolescence in terms of customer adoption and growth. Early on, we did a very good job of engaging customers through standard digital paths. Over 50 percent of our customers came from other people inviting them to the movies. We’re seeing that those who get invited by the app are likely to download it. Then, after they use it two or three times, there is a very high likelihood that they are going to invite new friends to join.

That said, we are still at a place where our biggest hurdle is awareness. Candidly, people just don't know about us. Customer acquisition has now shifted from simply leveraging digital channels to supplementing that with un-aided awareness campaigns.

One of the more unique features of your app is the user experience. Was that by design?

With over a thousand apps deployed every day, it's incredibly hard to differentiate yourself in the app stores. Part of the way that we do that is by having an incredible customer experience. It has to be unique, it has to be innovative, but it also has to be engineered well. Our customers are getting 60 frames a second, and it's really smooth whether they have a $50 Android phone from Best Buy or a brand new iPhone.

What is the biggest difference between the movie industry and technology companies like Amazon?

Speed. Movies take two or three years to get developed and a lot of the economics are built in way up front. So there is a significant amount of lead time to affect change.

At first, I said, “Why can't we just move faster? The data says this, so let's just do that." What I have come to understand and appreciate is that the machine is extremely complicated. That's not an excuse; it's an explanation of why it takes longer to innovate in a substantial way. We’re like a tugboat trying to steer an ocean liner.

Building trust is a big part of our process. Movie people bleed for their art. I really didn't understand that until I actually sat down and saw what they have to do to get these incredible stories to consumers. I am so accustomed to solving problems through data that solving problems through relationships is a new experience for me.

Are you planning to incorporate more brand content?

Our brand partners and advertisers are important to us, however, so is customer experience. One thing we're trying to do is create integrated opportunities to expose brands—at the point where they are endemic to a better experience. If it's about helping the customer enjoy their night out, there should be a clean way to integrate advertising into the experience.

What’s your favorite part of this?

The nice thing about movies is that the whole country loves to watch them. Seventy-seven percent of the United States will go see at least one movie a year. It's one of the most egalitarian and recession-proof forms of entertainment out there. Think about it—there is something for a three-year-old all the way up to a 93-year-old. For men, for women, for every race, for every ethnicity, you know, movies basically are the broadest entertainment category that exists.

What’s next?

We keep innovating. In 2016, we created pre-ordering concessions for the exhibitors, and that was a big deal. We also made a deal with Rogue One that connected the Disney consumer products division with the Disney Studios team. We are now selling T-shirts and hoodies for Star Wars when you buy your ticket, which has been successful for us.

In 2017, we’ll continue on that path. That drum beat of innovation will get louder and faster over time. But it’s also about building relationships with all of our partners—so that they feel comfortable with the changes that we're making.

Facebook Recognizes Everyone Needs Paid Time Off. Not Just Parents.

In an announcement Tuesday afternoon that deftly weaved together the personal, the corporate and the political, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said the company would be giving all of its employees six weeks of family leave to care for ailing family members.

She also announced two other generous leave benefits: three days of additional time off for employees caring for a family member with a short-term illness, like a child with the flu, and 20 days of bereavement leave, twice as much as before.

“This is personal for me,” Sandberg told a packed crowd Tuesday at the Makers conference, a women’s leadership event sponsored by AOL held in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. “I lost my husband very suddenly. Facebook provided leave and flexibility, and now we’re doing more.” 

Sandberg was back to work 10 days after her husband, Dave Goldberg, died in 2015.

The expanded benefits are a step up in Silicon Valley’s ongoing benefits war, which so far has mainly been confined to offering leave time to new parents.

Sandberg, who is widely known for leading the conversation about feminism and women in Corporate America, also seemed to be indirectly responding to critics who noted her absence from the women’s marches that took place immediately after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. She’s been asked repeatedly to take a stronger stance against Trump, even as she’s publicly opposed several of his policies.

“It is a challenging time, but anytime there’s a real challenge is not a time to retreat,” she said at the conference. “We know what the policy agenda is for women,” she added, calling for equal pay, paid parental and family leave, and better education. 

The U.S. is one of only a handful of countries in the world that offers no paid maternity leave. It is the only developed economy that doesn’t mandate employers offer paid sick leave. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act offers unpaid time off to certain workers to care for children or family members.

The amount of bereavement leave Facebook will now offer is generous even for tech companies, which typically give just a few days off to workers who are dealing with a death in the family.

But the paid family leave Sandberg announced is perhaps even more groundbreaking. It can be taken every 12 months.

Over the past few years, tech companies have been in an arms race to offer workers increasing amounts of paid maternity and paternity leave. Facebook itself in 2016 increased the amount of parental leave it offers to four months for both men and women who welcome a new child into their family.

The new paid family leave benefit ― available to all workers, not just parents ― is a clear acknowledgement that welcoming a new child is hardly the only personal life event that workers need to handle.

“Recognizing the range of needs people have in their lives outside of work is really a positive step,” Ellen Bravo, the director of Family Values @ Work, a nonprofit coalition of groups pushing for paid parental and sick leave in the U.S., told The Huffington Post. “We’ve been pleased to see so many companies expand parental leave, but we know there are many other loved ones in workers’ lives who may need care; and there are also times when we need to pause and care for ourselves and grieve.”

Sandberg on Tuesday challenged other companies to step up and offer similar benefits to their workers. She also called for public policies that would do the same, implicitly recognizing that not all businesses can afford to be as generous as a multibillion-dollar tech company. It’s a topic she brought up at a widely criticized meeting between tech leaders and Trump last month, according to a source close to Sandberg. 

“People should be able both to work and be there for their families. No one should face this trade-off,” Sandberg writes in a Facebook post that also announced the new benefits. “We need public policies that make it easier for people to care for their children and aging parents and for families to mourn and heal after loss.”

Also on Tuesday, in a sign of how wide the gulf between white-collar Silicon Valley workers and the rest of the country has grown, two Democratic congresswomen reintroduced legislation that would give U.S. workers paid parental leave.

The legislators are pinning their hopes on public statements made by the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, HuffPost’s Marina Fang writes.

Sandberg, who launched a conversation about women in the workplace when she published her corporate feminist manifesto Lean In in 2013, has been remarkably candid about her grieving process since her husband died.

Dealing with her own loss has moved Sandberg to acknowledge, among other things, that the version of feminism she wrote about in her best-selling book was incomplete.

“Some people felt that I did not spend enough time writing about the difficulties women face when they have an unsupportive partner, or no partner at all,” Sandberg wrote in a Mother’s Day post last year. “They were right.”

Sandberg recently said she “feels bad” that she didn’t attend the women’s march.

However, over the past couple of weeks Sandberg has spoken up: first to protest the Trump administration’s reinstatement of the anti-abortion global gag rule, which cuts off funding to organizations offering health care services around the world. (She recently announced a $1 million donation to Planned Parenthood.) Then Sandberg joined Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ― and most of her other peers in the tech industry ― in condemning Trump’s executive order on immigration. 

This story has been updated to note Sandberg’s remarks at a tech leaders meeting with Trump.

7 Essential Strategies for Startup Sustainability

Creating a startup can be a wild ride, rocketing from the thrill of launch to crash-and-burn in a matter of months. A few decades ago, Fortune 500 companies could count on being around for at least a half-century. Most now last about 15 years. And the average startup? The lifespan is just three years.

Today's business environment demands speed and transparency, and the key to longevity is building a company that matters. Marketplace survivors have become the obvious choice -- to customers, investors, teams, employees and even competitors. Successful companies lead the pack without leaving it behind. They anticipate and embrace disruption in ways that enable their markets to grow.

Our research identifies seven key factors that help leaders successfully launch a business and position it for long-term success:

1. Build a Dream Team. Companies that matter need top-notch people who can quickly assess market needs, develop an elevated perspective and, most critically, execute on decisions. This isn't the time to hire your buddies. Talented people with meaningful insight will create the foundation for a company that takes off successfully and continues to soar.

2. Employ a Telescopic Lens. It's natural to want to celebrate every transaction, but keep your eyes on the long view. A company with a buy/sell mindset will be plagued by shortsighted decisions. Decision-making that considers the market, the community and society at large is critical to sustaining relevance. Keep a keen eye out for potentially disruptive evolutions, and quickly figure out how to make them work for you.

3. Anticipate and Share. Foresight and futurecasting are powerful assets that help you dominate your market by anticipating customers' needs and wants. Leaders must stay attuned to what the future holds -- and how to thrive in disruption. Openness to doing things differently is essential. And the best way to gain credibility and ensure the health of the market is to be willing to share that wisdom with others in your organization.

4. Partner Strategically. Companies that matter know how to connect with the right high-value partners and build trusting, open relationships. Don't waste energy on partnerships that don't clearly align with company goals. Remember that by definition, partnerships are mutually beneficial. Both sides get value out of identifying problems and creating solutions. Each invests in success for the benefit of both.

5. Fixate on Value. In today's marketplace, hungry competitors are constantly prowling. It's not enough to offer super products or great service. Envision a full spectrum of value, where customer problems are solved and changes in the industry are anticipated and addressed. Customers and clients will flock to companies that provide resources and solutions.

6. Attend to Growing Pains. From a market share perspective, a startup has different goals than a mature company. Startups are hungry and hard-driving. With growth and maturity, leaders must consciously shift the culture. It's essential that decisions and actions align with company aspirations. Successful leaders foster collaboration. This might mean altering organizational structures and taking the time to make sure everyone understands strategies and values.

7. Be courageous. Facing disruption, rather than fighting it, takes bravery and will. Companies that discover and deliver on new opportunities are investing in longevity. Consider Adobe, which saw its market dominance wane as technology changed and competitors emerged. Instead of digging in, the company redefined itself and seized the opportunities a disrupted market was providing. Adobe helped define the new market, and it became the obvious choice.

Startup companies need an expansive, wise perspective on the now and the future to successfully grow and create sustainability. While these tips can help a company get firmly established, they remain relevant as the company matures. A sustainable evolution -- from a hungry launch to a healthy enterprise -- means staying connected with the world you're growing into. By maintaining perspective, and making sure your company culture is aligning with your growth as well, you can get to the front -- and stay there.

American Cities Adding The Most Jobs This Year

The U.S. economy added nearly 2.5 million employed workers in the last 12 months, a growth of 1.7%. Employment is expanding even more rapidly in some parts of the country. Due to a variety of factors, employment growth in a number of cities was more than double the national growth rate. Together, the 25 cities with the fastest employment growth added more than half a million new jobs.

To determine the 25 U.S. cities adding the most jobs, 24/7 Wall St. compared employment levels in 387 metro areas in October 2016 with levels a year prior. Employment growth in these 25 cities ranged from 4.4% in Ithaca, New York to 7.6% in the Bend-Redmond metro area in Oregon.

National employment growth is often attributed to thriving industries. In the past year, the education and health services industry added the most workers, while professional and business services was the second biggest contributor to employment growth nationwide. Meanwhile, manufacturing was the biggest drag on employment, followed by the information industry.

Click here to visit 24/7 Wall St. and see the American cities adding the most jobs this year.

Click here to visit 24/7 Wall St. and see the American cities losing the most jobs this year.

These broad national trends, however, often do not reflect economic conditions within a given metro area. Many of the cities adding the most jobs have thriving manufacturing industries, and only four reported employment declines in their manufacturing sectors.

In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Martin Kohli, chief regional economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, explained that steady manufacturing employment has been very important to certain cities on this list, particularly in Oregon and Tennessee. “The Portland area has actually got one of the largest concentrations of employment in computer and electronic product manufacturing,” Kohli said. Nashville, too, “has unusual concentrations of employment in electrical equipment and transportation equipment manufacturing.” Both the Portland and Nashville metro areas have either maintained steady manufacturing employment or added to the sector's workforce in the past year.

In many of the cities on this list, rapidly growing job markets often create something of a virtuous cycle. “When you have strong growth," Kohli said, "that will attract people and jobs.” It is perhaps no coincidence that labor force growth was within a percentage point of total employment growth in all but two cities on this list as people entered the workforce to fill newly available employment opportunities.

A rapidly growing labor force will have implications across many industries, often health care, education, and construction in particular. Of course, in return, these sectors add more jobs. Such seems to be the case in Oregon, where job growth in other industries also caused a construction employment boom. “Nationally, employment in construction and residential construction is still below where it was back in 2006," Kohli said, "so the fact that you're seeing 8% [employment] growth in construction in some of these areas in Oregon is remarkable.” More than one out of every four cities adding the most workers is in Oregon.

Unlike construction job growth, which is more unique to some growing areas, education and health care employment growth seems to follow the national trend. Much like across the country, the industry was a leading contributor to increased employment in 13 of the 25 cities adding the most jobs.

Strong annual job growth does not always mean a given area’s economy is especially healthy. Though the number of jobs in the Detroit metro has grown by 4.4% in the past year, faster than in all but 21 other U.S. metros, Detroit has been the poster child of the decline of American manufacturing in the last several decades. Similarly, though Yuma, Arizona’s job market grew by 6.8% since October 2015, the third highest rate in the country, the city’s 18.4% unemployment rate remains nearly the highest in the country.

To identify the cities with the greatest employment growth, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed metropolitan statistical areas with the largest employment growth from October 2015 through October 2016. Unemployment rates, the size of the labor force, and employment levels are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and are seasonally adjusted. Industry-specific growth rates for the same period are from the Current Employment Survey (CES), a monthly BLS survey. Educational attainment and median household income came from the 2015 American Community Survey (ACS) of the U.S. Census Bureau.

These are the top 5 U.S. cities adding the most jobs.

5. Salem, OR

• Employment change: 6.01%

• No. of jobs Oct. 2015: 179,402

• No. of jobs Oct. 2016: 190,190

• Unemployment rate Oct. 2016: 5.4%

No state has more metro areas on this list than Oregon. In Salem, the number of workers increased by 6% last year, more than in all but four other metro areas. The city’s mining, logging, and construction sector, as well as the professional and business services sector grew the most rapidly. Employment in each grew by 6.7% and 17.5%, respectively, well above the industries’ 1.1% and 2.7% corresponding growth rates nationwide.

4. Prescott, AZ

• Employment change: 6.57%

• No. of jobs Oct. 2015: 92,552

• No. of jobs Oct. 2016: 98,637

• Unemployment rate Oct. 2016: 4.7%

The number of workers in Prescott, Arizona has spiked by 6.6% since October 2015. Job growth in hospitality, education and health services, and trade, transportation and utilities each was more than double the corresponding national growth rate. Employment in the area’s manufacturing sector also grew by 2.9%, even as manufacturing employment nationwide fell by half a percentage point. Prescott is home to major manufacturing plants of firearm maker Sturm Ruger & Co. and of aircraft parts company Cobham Aerospace Communications.

3. Yuma, AZ

• Employment change: 6.81%

• No. of jobs Oct. 2015: 72,473

• No. of jobs Oct. 2016: 77,407

• Unemployment rate Oct. 2016: 18.4%

Yuma’s employment increased more than any metro area in Arizona and all but two other American metros. The city added nearly 5,000 new workers in the last year, a 6.8% increase. While Yuma’s growth was rapid, the city’s overall economic picture is bleak. More than 18% of Yuma’s labor force is unemployed, the second highest share of any metro area in the country.

2. Cleveland, TN

• Employment change: 7.31%

• No. of jobs Oct. 2015: 53,770

• No. of jobs Oct. 2016: 57,700

• Unemployment rate Oct. 2016: 4.7%

Cleveland is one of five Tennessee metro areas on this list and one of only two metro areas in the country with more than 7% employment growth. Driving employment growth was the area’s professional and business services industry. Employment in the industry grew by 20.3% between October 2015 and October 2016, more than in any other U.S. metro. Major employers in the area include Whirlpool Corporation and Amazon.com.

1. Bend-Redmond, OR

• Employment change: 7.63%

• No. of jobs Oct. 2015: 80,446

• No. of jobs Oct. 2016: 86,587

• Unemployment rate Oct. 2016: 5.2%

The Bend-Redmond metro area had the most rapid employment growth of any U.S. metro over the past year. The 7.6% employment growth was more than quadruple the nationwide job growth. A former saw mill town, wood products still make up a significant share of the area’s economy. Last year, employment in mining, logging, and construction went up by 10.3%, more than in any other industry in the area. Strong growth in a number of other industries, including leisure and hospitality as well as professional and business services were enough to offset a 4.3% decline in the area’s finance industry.

Didn't see your city? Click here to visit 24/7 Wall St. and read the full list of cities adding the most jobs.

Click here to see the 25 cities losing the most jobs.

Click here to see the cities with the longest life expectancy in every state.

Click here to see the cities with the shortest life expectancy in every state.

American Cities Losing The Most Jobs This Year

 

The U.S. economy added roughly 2.4 million workers over the past year. Over the same period, the unemployment rate fell from 5.0% to 4.9%, close to the lowest it has been in nearly a decade. The 1.7% employment growth nationwide was not uniform, and some areas lost a substantial share of workers.

To determine the cities that lost the most jobs, 24/7 Wall St. analyzed employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most cities added jobs in past 12 months, and most have posted unemployment declines. In 75 metro areas, however, there was a net loss in total employment. The Lafayette, Louisiana metro area had the greatest loss workers, with total employment falling by 4.5% since October 2015.

One major factor driving employment changes across the United States is industrial composition. Continued outsourcing and automation has lowered international demand for American manufacturing, and the downturn in the price of petroleum has hurt the oil and gas sector. Nationwide, the worst performing sectors were manufacturing, information, and mining, logging, and construction.

Click here to see the American cities losing the most jobs this year.

Cities with economies that heavily depend on these industries tended to have the most job loss. In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Martin Kohli, chief regional economist at the BLS, explained that a “large concentration of employment in energy and construction-related industries has definitely been negative in the last few years for communities.” In many cases, a major round of layoffs or plant shutdowns contributed to employment declines in the past year.

People are not likely to move to a city without a job or some other opportunity available. As a result, the distribution of employment growth across the country mirrors today’s domestic migration patterns. Kohli added that residents of the Northeast and Midwest, where a majority of the metro areas are losing workers, have been relocating to major cities in the Sun Belt, which is gaining the most workers.

Employment tends to increase as unemployment declines. In metropolitan areas losing the most workers, employment declines contributed to labor force declines and a rise in unemployment. In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for example, the 14,200 workers lost in Oklahoma City was among the most of any metro area. At the same time, the labor force shrank by a total of 9,000 workers, while area unemployment rate rose from 3.6% to 4.4%.

To identify the cities losing the most workers, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed metropolitan statistical areas with the largest employment decline from October 2015 through October 2016. Unemployment rates, the size of the labor force, and employment levels are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and are seasonally adjusted. Industry-specific growth rates for the same period are from the Current Employment Survey (CES), a monthly BLS survey. Educational attainment is from the 2015 American Community Survey (ACS) of the U.S. Census Bureau.

These are the cities losing the most jobs.

5. Mansfield, OH

• Employment change: -2.33%

• No. of jobs Oct. 2015: 50,576

• No. of jobs Oct. 2016: 49,399

• Unemployment rate Oct. 2016: 5.6%

Cities without a talented, educated workforce often rely on one dominant, low-skilled industry and may be more vulnerable to changes in commodity prices and other market shifts than more diversified economies. Nearly one in five workers in Mansfield works in manufacturing, and just 14.4% of adults in the metro area have at least a bachelor’s degree. As demand for American manufacturing continues to decline, Mansfield’s reliance on the industry may have partially caused accelerated employment decline over the past year. The number of employed workers in the city decreased by 2.3% in 2016, more than nearly any other metro area.

4. Shreveport-Bossier City, LA

• Employment change: -2.35%

• No. of jobs Oct. 2015: 180,977

• No. of jobs Oct. 2016: 176,731

• Unemployment rate Oct. 2016: 6.8%

Employment in the Shreveport-Bossier City area decreased by over 4,200 workers in the past year. During the same period, nearly an equal amount of people left the labor force.

Following the statewide trend, the Shreveport area is losing workers in the oil and gas sector. Unlike other areas in Louisiana that are more dependent on the oil and gas industry, however, Shreveport has a more diverse economy, and employment losses in this industry have had a less dramatic effect on the area's overall employment. Still, due to falling oil prices and reduced natural gas production at the Haynesville Shale -- a rock formation rich in natural gas -- the industry's job losses accounted for a sizable share of the area's 2.3% employment decrease.

3. Houma-Thibodaux, LA

• Employment change: -3.74%

• No. of jobs Oct. 2015: 91,738

• No. of jobs Oct. 2016: 88,311

• Unemployment rate Oct. 2016: 6.7%

The number of employed workers in the Houma-Thibodaux area decreased by around 3,400 in the past year. While area employment declined by 3.7%, the number of workers increased by 1.7% nationwide. A large share of the area’s employment decline resulted from a shrinking oil and gas sector. Following a drop in oil prices and the first decrease in North American oil production in years, many oil workers nationwide have lost their jobs. The effects of these industry declines are exaggerated in Houma-Thibodaux, where a large share of residents are employed in the sector.

2. Casper, WY

• Employment change: -3.77%

• No. of jobs Oct. 2015: 40,156

• No. of jobs Oct. 2016: 38,644

• Unemployment rate Oct. 2016: 6.6%

The Casper metro area lost around 1,500 employed workers in the past year. This 3.8% decrease was largely caused by a declining coal mining industry in Wyoming. During the first quarter of 2016, coal production nationwide was the lowest it has been in 35 years, with Wyoming among the regions whose production has declined the most. The Casper metro area is around 100 miles from America’s two largest coal mines. Earlier this year, both of these mines announced large layoffs.

1. Lafayette, LA

• Employment change: -4.46%

• No. of jobs Oct. 2015: 210,224

• No. of jobs Oct. 2016: 200,845

• Unemployment rate Oct. 2016: 7.1%

The Lafayette metro area lost around 9,400 workers in the past year. Employment in the area fell by around 4.5%, even as nationwide employment increased by 1.7%. Following a trend of declining manufacturing employment nationwide, Lafayette’s manufacturing sector shed the most jobs of any industry. The employment declines likely led to a large share of residents giving up looking for work or leaving the area. The overall labor force decreased by nearly 8,500 in the past year. This 3.8% decline in labor force was the largest of any U.S. metro area.

Six More Retailers Agree To Halt 'On Call' Scheduling For Workers

Say you’re a retail worker. You aren’t sure if you’ll be needed at the store tomorrow, but your employer wants you to keep your day clear just in case. You won’t know if you’re working until you call in that morning. The situation makes it nearly impossible for you to plan your day.

This practice is known as on-call scheduling, and it’s been coming under fire from worker groups and even state prosecutors recently. On Tuesday, six retailers agreed to stop the practice after they received inquiries about it from a group of state attorneys general. They join a growing number of retailers who have vowed to ditch on-call scheduling and give their employees more predictable hours.

Aeropostale, Carter’s, David’s Tea, Disney, PacSun and Zumiez all said they would stop requiring workers to call in each morning to find out if they’ll be working that day, according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, one of the top prosecutors who made the inquiry. Four of those retailers ― Carter’s, David’s Tea, Disney and Zumiez ― have also agreed to set schedules at least one full week ahead of time so that workers can plan around them.

In a statement, Schneiderman applauded the retailers for “stepping up to the plate” and leading by example.

“On-call shifts are not a business necessity and should be a thing of the past,” he said. “People should not have to keep the day open, arrange for child care, and give up other opportunities without being compensated for their time.”

The retailers couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Monday night.

On-call scheduling might conflict with New York state law, which is why Schneiderman had the leeway to hassle retailers about it. New York has a “call-in pay” statute that requires employers to pay workers for at least four hours if they have to report for work at all. That helps discourage companies from forcing employees to show up for work, only to tell them to go home because business is slow. A number of other states have similar laws on the books.

Last year, J. Crew, Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, Bath & Body Works, Gap and Victoria’s Secret also agreed to stop on-call scheduling after Schneiderman and his fellow attorneys general started asking questions.

Around 17 percent of U.S. workers have erratic schedules, according to an Economic Policy Institute report, and they’re employed disproportionately in low-wage fields like retail. A number of cities have moved to force businesses to offer workers more stable schedules. San Francisco passed what’s known as a “retail worker’s bill of rights” in 2014. Under that law, large retailers have to post their employees’ schedules at least two weeks in advance and must still pay them if their shifts are suddenly canceled without warning.