>>Southwest Airlines To Give Employees Gratitude Pay Following Travel Crisis (Dallas, TX) -- Southwest Airlines is giving some employees a bonus following last month's travel crisis. Pilots, flight attendants and other Southwest employees will be receiving what the airline calls "gratitude pay" after a software meltdown led to the cancellation of tens of thousands of flights. The payments come as the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association plans to vote on a potential strike in May.
>>Business Survey Finds Probability Of 2023 Recession Less Likely (Washington, DC) -- A new business survey shows concerns about a U.S. recession easing slightly this year. The results of the January NABE Business Conditions Survey finds just over half of its members put the possibility of a recession at 50 percent or higher. That's a drop of more than ten percent from three months ago. The group's chief economist noted "inflation may be easing" with the outlook for price increases at its lowest reading in more than two years.
>>IRS Bolsters Customer Service Staff (Washington, DC) -- The IRS is going into the 2023 tax filing season with thousands of new customer service representatives thanks to funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. Some five-thousand new reps will help slash call waiting times and shorten the processing time for paper tax returns. Only 13-percent of more than 170 million calls to the IRS were fielded by live agents last year and eight-percent were answered with automated assistance. This comes as Republicans are trying to nix the funding approved for the IRS in the law, which allocates about 80-billion for the agency over the next decade.
>>Honda To Create Division To Speed Up Electrification Development (Tokyo) -- Honda Motor Company is going to create a new division to strengthen and speed up its electrification business. Today's announcement is part of an overhaul of the Japanese carmaker's organizational structure. The changes are scheduled to take effect April 1st and will consolidate Honda's electrification and development of cars, motorcycles, and power products such as generators. Honda set a target last year to roll out 30 electric vehicles worldwide and produce two-million electric vehicles by 2030.
