The wage wars are heating up this summer. We've talked about companies taking the initiative and raising the minimum they pay their employees, and now the government is taking action too this week. Other employment news to highlight covers women in the workforce, your boss, and one technology company's plans to cut its workforce. Check it all out in this week's Talent and HR News Weekly Roundup!

1) New York Panel Approves $15 Fast-Food Wage from The Wall Street Journal

"Board recommends $15 minimum wage for fast-food workers in NYC by 2018 for establishments that are part of chains with more than 30 locations nationwide. New York state’s fast-food wage board on Wednesday recommended raising the minimum wage for that industry to $15 an hour by 2018 in New York City and by 2021 elsewhere in the state. The move gives Gov. Andrew Cuomo a political gain with labor unions and liberal Democrats who have pushed for higher wages for low-income workers, even as it prompted an immediate backlash from businesses that say higher costs will lead to job losses."

2) Young Women Leaving Financial Services Due To Limited Career Opportunities from Forbes

"Much of the recent focus on developing women within the financial services sector has focused on the mid to senior management level. An accusation leveled at large global organizations, not just those in the financial services is that much of the gender diversity work ignores women at the start of their careers. Now a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed that two-thirds of young women don’t believe they will be able to reach a senior level within the organization. The PwC report entitled “Female millennials in financial services: strategies for a new era of talent” has found that limited opportunities for career progress is the main reason why female millennials leaving their job in financial services. The report, which draws on interviews on more than 8,000 female millennials globally, found that the financial services industry faces a number of hurdles in attracting and retaining this generation of women."

3) More Than Their Mothers, Young Women Plan Career Pauses from The New York Times

"Beginning in college, years before she planned to have children, Yi Gu began strategizing about how to have a career that was flexible enough to fit in family responsibilities. She knew that arrangement wasn’t realistic in her first two jobs: banking, in which she worked very long hours, or consulting, in which she traveled often. Instead, she saw those as preparation for the more flexible job she took last year at age 31, in strategy at a major pharmacy company. She became pregnant soon after."

4) What Your Boss is Worried About: You from Bloomberg

"Your company is bracing itself for lawsuits. Yours included. U.S. employers are anticipating a rise in workplace discrimination claims based on their own hiring policies, a survey released last week shows. In the study (PDF), employment law firm Littler Mendelson asked 500 representatives of companies with both small and large market capitalizations about their deepest legal anxieties this year. Fifty-seven percent said they expected an increase in discrimination claims because of their interest in an applicant's criminal history—the companies' top concern when asked about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's enforcement efforts."

5) Qualcomm to Cut 15% of its Workforce from CNN Money

"The layoffs add up to about 5,000 workers. News of the job cuts came as the company also reported its revenues fell 14% and that its profit was down 47% from a year ago. Shares slumped 1.2% in after hours trading and are down more than 21% over the past year. Its business has struggled since Samsung began making chips for its Galaxy S6 in house. "They didn't excute it. They didn't have the right product at the right time," Srini Pajjuri, an analyst with CLSA, said."

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.