KC restaurants are split on adding automatic tips during the World Cup. For tipped workers the stakes are real — and the safety net is thin.
Labor
Posted inLabor
Missing the first rung: Entry-level job seekers in Kansas and Missouri feel hiring slowdown
Hiring is at a historically slow pace and young Missouri and Kansas workers are feeling it. Here’s what’s reshaping the entry-level job market.
Posted inHousing
Priced out: KCPS eyes vacant historic school building for teacher housing in Brookside
KCPS is exploring converting the vacant Bryant School in Brookside into affordable housing for teachers — but the idea faces challenges.
Posted inLabor
Kansas City data centers and AI flip the script on job security
KC’s data center boom is a windfall for construction trades. But the AI powered by those buildings is already reshaping who has job security — and who doesn’t.
Posted inHousing
Working homelessness: When ‘getting a job’ isn’t enough in KC
Increasing numbers of sheltered families have jobs while a growing population is caught in the gap between the wages they earn and the cost of housing. It’s a formula for rising homelessness.
Posted inEconomics
Canary in the corner booth: What restaurant closures reveal about the KC economy
Some legacy restaurants close ahead of World Cup opportunity while others report strong sales. Who can afford a night out reveals a split economy.
Posted inEconomics
Close to the bone: KC’s workers struggle with inflation amid affordability crisis
While workers produce more than ever, rising costs for food, housing, child care, and health care outpace wage growth, forcing Kansas City families into tough choices.
Posted inEconomics
AI disruption is here: Kansas City workers navigate new reality
New data center jobs pay $23/hour, but 40,000 workers face automation risk from AI. Local leaders ponder AI jobs transition ahead.
Posted inLabor
Reservation for 650,000: Kansas City’s hospitality industry braces for World Cup workforce scramble
With more than 6,000 open food service job listings and no coordinated plan to address staffing, Kansas City restaurant leaders worry they won’t be ready for the massive influx of World Cup visitors in 2026.
Posted inLabor
‘Troost is not scary’: Kansas City Equity Walk highlights Black business revival on historic street
The Troost Equity Walk on Aug. 15 invites the public to trek 10 miles along Kansas City’s historic racial dividing line, visiting The Combine KC, Aim Well Yoga, WeCode KC, and others.