Employers Offer Cash For Recruits; A Look Ahead At School This Fall

Plus, an attempt to gauge how close we are to The Old Normal

View this email online by Christopher Dean Hopkins and Rachel Treisman Andrea Hsu/NPR With millions of jobs open in the U.S. and a workforce in no hurry to get back to the shop — other than teens, whose unemployment rate is at a 70-year low — a growing number of employers are looking to big-dollar hiring bonuses to fill their ranks. But while they're tempting, workers would be better off looking for higher base pay or opportunities for growth. The coronavirus crisis has eased since winter, but how close is the world getting to The Old Normal? According to a study by The Economist, we're about two-thirds of the way back — but there's huge variance from country to country. For the U.S. specifically, the metric finds recovery at 73%, as entertainment revs back up but offices stay closed. Hear more about the magazine's assessment here.   Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle/Getty Images The Centers for Disease Control says school can look mostly normal in the fall for kids 12 and up — if they're vaccinated, there's no need for a mask. (The Short Wave podcast tackled some teens' questions about the vaccine here.) Younger kids will need to stick to the mask and distancing rules from the spring, when indoor spacing was dropped to 3 feet. There's a bit of recent guidance for grownups, too: Even though the delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading quickly, vaccinated adults should still be safe — no need for a booster shot yet. Newsletter continues after sponsor message What's Your Story? Jenny Pompilio lives with her family in Portland, Ore., and was finally able to visit her mom in Newport, Ky., after everyone got vaccinated. She says they often eat at her dad’s old family restaurant — which bears her last name — but this visit was different.  "We reached out to invite the aunts, uncles and cousins who helped Mom after she barely survived COVID-19 in February," Pompilio writes.  Pompilio loved seeing everyone, including some people she hadn't been with in nearly two decades. She says the photo they took that day represents four generations of her family, all the way down to her 9-month-old grand-niece. Courtesy of Jenny Pompilio This summer is looking a lot more "normal" than last. What do you have planned for it? We want to hear about the traditions you're restarting and the memories you're hoping to make. Drop us a note (and some photos!) at thenewnormal@npr.org. You could be featured in an upcoming edition of The New Normal newsletter! Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WBEZ (edit station). Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Daily News, Politics, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to New Normal emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy