Job openings soared to a record high in June, increasing by 590,000 to 10.1 million, according to Labor Department data. This is the first time the figure has exceeded 10 million, with hiring also showing an upturn, rising to 6.7 million from 6 million in May.

A number of major corporations, including Facebook, Google, United Airlines and Walmart, are announcing vaccine mandates for some or all of their employees as COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the US. The country's seven-day average for new cases jumped 36% compared with the previous week to 108,600 as of Sunday, and many businesses and health officials see vaccination as the safest way to get employees back to offices.

Upskilling has become even more critical because of the radical workplace changes caused by the pandemic, and employers must invest in matching the skills of their workforce to business objectives, Sarah Danzl writes. Danzl recommends tapping a skills management system that can collate, manage and analyze skills data.

Amazon is going big in its efforts to get more workers vaccinated against the coronavirus, even as it announced it will reinstate a mask mandate at its warehouses effective Oct. 9, regardless of workers' vaccination status. The company is holding the Max Your Vax lottery, which will feature cars, vacations and cash amounts of up to $500,000 as prizes for workers who show they're fully vaccinated.

The only person's expectations you should be living up to are your own, writes Steve Keating. "You must also be willing to disappoint a few people who think they know you better than you know yourself," Keating writes.