It's been a while since we shared a general Talent and HR News Weekly Roundup. The past few weeks, we've shared news on particular topics, so this week we're sharing the broader news, and there's lots of it when it comes to employment. Big names showed up this week, such as Uber, Clinton, and Disney. Check it out below:

1) In a Turnabout, Disney Cancels Tech Worker Layoffs from New York Times

"In late May, about 35 technology employees at Disney/ABC Television in New York and Burbank, Calif., received jarring news. Managers told them that they would all be laid off, and that during their final weeks they would have to train immigrants brought in by an outsourcing company to do their jobs. The training began, but after a few days it was suspended with no explanation. In New York, the immigrants suddenly stopped coming to the offices. Then on June 11, managers summoned the Disney employees with different news: Their layoffs had been canceled."

2) Hillary Clinton to Renew Push for Apprenticeships to Help Hire Millennials from The Guardian

"Hillary Clinton will propose the creation of tax credits for businesses that hire and train apprentices during a campaign event in South Carolina on Wednesday. The proposal from the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president seems designed to appeal to millennial Americans, who could cast the deciding vote in the 2016 election. Apprenticeships are relatively unfamiliar in the US. But in many European countries - particularly Germany - they have been hailed for training young workers as early as high school in their chosen vocation."

3) California Says Uber Driver is Employee, Not a Contractor from New York Times 

"In a ruling that fuels a long-simmering debate over some of Silicon Valley’s fastest-growing technology companies and the work they are creating, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office said that a driver for the ride-hailing service Uber should be classified as an employee, not an independent contractor. The ruling ordered Uber to reimburse Barbara Ann Berwick $4,152.20 in expenses and other costs for the roughly eight weeks she worked as an Uber driver last year. While Uber has long positioned itself as merely an app that connects drivers and passengers — with no control over the hours its drivers work — the labor office cited many instances in which it said Uber acted more like an employer. Uber is appealing the decision."

4) How Adobe Keeps Key Employees from Quitting from Fortune

"If there’s one thing almost everyone in corporate America can agree on, it’s that traditional once-a-year evaluations are a waste of time. Managers and employees dread the discussions, and plenty of evidence shows they don’t produce anything but a pile of extra paperwork. “I looked at this whole process, back in 2011, and thought, ‘Is this really doing anything useful for us? Why are we doing it?’” recalls Donna Morris, Adobe’s global senior vice president of people and places. Especially troublesome was that the company’s “rank and yank” system, which forced managers to identify and fire their least productive team members, caused so much infighting and resentment that, each year, it was making some of the software maker’s best people flee to competitors.The training began, but after a few days it was suspended with no explanation. In New York, the immigrants suddenly stopped coming to the offices. Then on June 11, managers summoned the Disney employees with different news: Their layoffs had been canceled."

5) US Job Markets Are Returning to Peak Employment. Where Does Yours Rank? from Wall Street Journal 

"Just over half of U.S. metropolitan areas have surpassed prerecession employment, according to a new report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, completing the long slog back from a downturn that ended in mid-2009. “Soon, half of all metros will have unemployment rates below 5%, with fully employed economies, reaching their potential in providing jobs and income for their residents and generating higher levels of growth,” according to the report, prepared by IHS Global Insight for the mayors’ group. The latest outlook is broadly upbeat, though there’s still some bad news for urban centers and their suburbs, which are home to almost 86% of the nation’s population and 88% of nonfarm employment, according to IHS."

Lexi Gordon is a Lead Consultant for exaqueo, a workforce consultancy that helps organizations build their cultures, employer brands and talent strategies. Contact exaqueo to learn more about how we can help you build a workforce that’s aligned with your company culture and develop an employer brand that will allow your business to scale and grow the right way.