Worcester Business Journal

20 Worcester Business Journal • August 1, 2016 www.wbjournal.com Join the WBJ's LinkedIn discussion group by scanning the code to the left on your smartphone. To scan the code, you need the NeoReader. Visit get.neoreader.com to download it onto your phone. Want to participate in the conversation? F L A S H P O L L T A L K B A C K RAIL TRAVEL A proposed rail program could add new routes connecting Boston to both New Haven and Montreal through Worcester, requiring investments of $1.2 billion. "Any connection of this need to support an actual need and proof of income for that route. It seems that it is more important currently to connect the state itself to Worcester/Fitchburg/Boston, from Amherst down Route 2 as well as Springfield to Worcester. Money was slated toward the Fitchburg area has yet to be completed and should be done first!" Anonymous poll commenter OUTSOURCING MANUFACTURING Framingham-based Bose Corp. has sold manufacturing plants with a combined 3,500 employees in Mexico and Malaysia for an undisclosed sum. "Global competition and the fact that a business must compete with the same relative costs of operating or even less than their competitors to stay alive, unfortunately, says outsource due to cost of goods and production. " Anonymous poll commenter Do you support preventing employers from asking about salary history? Salary history should be private A pay equity bill aimed at ensuring that men and women are paid the same for comparable work has been passed by both the Massachusetts House and the Senate. Included in the bill is a first-in-the-nation provision to prevent employers from requesting salary history in hiring. When polled, WBJ readers said job candidates should be allowed to keep their salary history private. COMMENTS: A proposed rail program could add two new routes connecting Boston to both New Haven and Montreal through Worcester. However, this would require infrastructure investments of more than $1.2 billion, with around $300 million to occur in Massachusetts alone. Invest in rail improvements Do you support the addition of these routes knowing taxpayer money will have to fund extensive improvements? COMMENTS: Yes. Infrastructure improvements are a good use of taxpayer funds. 48% Yes. Pay should be based on the job and a person's experience and qualifications. 49% "If an employee is held within a narrow salary range throughout their working life, they have little incentive to stay with one employer and every incentive to jump." Yes. Having salary history gives an unfair advantage to potential employers during negotiations. 19% "That would be huge! Being able to get directly into NYC without having to go to Route 128 or Providence. I drive to New Haven now to get the Metro-North. It should help make the area more attractive across the board." No. This is pertinent information when hiring a new employee. No. This is an important question for negotiating purposes. Yes. The connection will improve business travel. 20% 19% 13% "Rail is an investment in the future. New England has the population density for rail to work. With more point-to-point options, it will work better." "No, there should be transparency with salary history, to reduce the incidence of salary bias, where women and minorities make less than white males who do the same job." "This is about negotiating. However, prospective employees can gauge the environment of a company based on how they act around salary. Let employers go ahead and show the prospective employee what kind of people they really are." No. Rail is not a worthy investment of public money. 10% No. Money should be spent on improving current routes. 22% "The timetable for travel to Boston is laughable – many people would consider living in Worcester if they had reliable, fast and frequent transportation. We need this to improve to attract people to Worcester."

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