The company has begun another round of layoffs, according to several reports and LinkedIn posts from former employees.  

Received the unfortunate news this morning that I was part of todays layoffs at GameStop, Gabriel A., who identified himself as a former senior software engineer at the company, wrote on LinkedIn Monday. Im proud of what I built for the eCommerce + Retail tech infrastructure during my time there and the opportunity to work with a great team while doing so.

Another person, Will Helms, who said he was a software engineer for the company, wrote on LinkedIn: Super sad to say I was a part of the layoffs today at GameStop.

Gamestop did not immediately respond to Fortunes request for comment. 

The companys crypto team, tasked with building the companys blockchain wallet, is facing the brunt of the blow, Axios reported, citing a source within the company that said the team was heavily impacted. 

Unfortunately I was impacted by layoffs at GameStop today, Brandon Jenniges, who identified himself as an iOS Engineer for Blockchain at GameStop, wrote on LinkedIn Monday. I had a great time getting a deep dive into Ethereum and learning about many new things in the crypto space.

GameStop partnered with the failed crypto exchange FTX in September to introduce more GameStop customers to FTXs community and its marketplaces for digital assets. After the FTX collapse began early last month, GameStop moved to cut ties with the exchange, tweeting on Nov. 11 that it was winding down its relationship with FTX.US.  

GameStops CEO Matt Furlong, in a copy of an email sent to staff obtained by Kotaku, did not clarify the extent of the layoffs, but referred to the cuts as headcount reductions across different teams. Furlong called the decision proactive and difficult, while blaming it on the current economic climate. 

This isnt Gamestops first round of layoffs this year. In July, chief financial officer Mike Recupero was let go along with others across several divisions. The memo to employees regarding the layoffs at that time, obtained by CNBC, read: our focus is on achieving sustained profitability. This means eliminating excess costs and operating with an intense owners mentality.

Its just one of several tech companies that have executed or announced layoffs over the last few months. Meta, Amazon, and HP Inc. have all announced major job cuts.

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The guilty verdict came on the second day of deliberations following a trial in which the Trump Organization was accused of being complicit in a scheme by top executives to avoid paying personal income taxes on job perks such as rent-free apartments and luxury cars.

The conviction is a validation for New York prosecutors, who have spent three years investigating the former president and his businesses, though the penalties arent expected to be severe enough to jeopardize the future of Trumps company.

As punishment, the Trump Organization could be fined up to $1.6 million a relatively small amount for a company of its size, though the conviction might make some of its future deals more complicated.

Trump, who recently announced he was running for president again, has said the case against his company was part of a politically motivated witch hunt waged against him by vindictive Democrats.

Trump himself was not on trial but prosecutors alleged he knew exactly what was going on with the scheme, though he and the companys lawyers have denied that.

The case against the company was built largely around testimony from the Trump Organizations former finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, who previously pleaded guilty to charges that he manipulated the companys books and his own compensation package to illegally reduce his taxes.

Weisselberg testified in exchange for a promised five-month jail sentence.

To convict the Trump Organization, prosecutors had to convince jurors that Weisselberg or his subordinate, Senior Vice President and Controller Jeffrey McConney, were high managerial agents acting on the companys behalf and that the company also benefited from his scheme.

Trump Organization lawyers repeated the mantra Weisselberg did it for Weisselberg throughout the monthlong trial. They contended the executive had gone rogue and betrayed the companys trust. No one in the Trump family or the company was to blame, they argued.

Though he testified as a prosecution witness, Weisselberg also attempted to take responsibility on the witness stand, saying nobody in the Trump family knew what he was doing.

It was my own personal greed that led to this, an emotional Weisselberg testified.

Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to dodging taxes on $1.7 million in fringe benefits, testified that he and McConney conspired to hide that extra compensation from his income by deducting their cost from his pre-tax salary and issuing falsified W-2 forms.

During his closing argument, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass attempted to refute the claim that Trump knew nothing about the scheme. He showed jurors a lease Trump signed for Weisselbergs company-paid apartment and a memo Trump initialed authorizing a pay cut for another executive who got perks.

Mr. Trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud, Steinglass argued.

The verdict doesnt end Trumps battle with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who took office in January.

Bragg has said that a related investigation of Trump that began under his predecessor, District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., is active and ongoing.

In that wide-ranging probe, investigators have examined whether Trump misled banks and others about the value of his real estate holdings, golf courses and other assets allegations at the heart of New York Attorney General Letitia James pending lawsuit against the former president and his company.

The district attorneys office has also investigated whether any state laws were broken when Trumps allies made payments to two women who claimed to have had sexual affairs with the Republican years ago.

Near the end of his tenure last year, Vance directed deputies to present evidence to a grand jury for a possible indictment of Trump. After taking office, though, Bragg let that grand jury disband so he could give the case a fresh look.

On Monday, he confirmed that a new lead prosecutor had been brought on to handle that investigation, signaling again that it was still active.

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When asked about her braids, she wore a relieved expression. [Braids] are an important protective style, she explains. As public figures, were getting our hair fried and dyed, she says referring to the conservative image she needed to put forward. For eight years I was praying just let me have some hair on my head.

She expressed that being outside of the White House has made her voice louder. 

We have become so divided. You put a D or an R on your chest, and you alienate one half of the country. Outside of politics, people can hear me better. 

Each chapter of The Light We Carry offers readers just thata chance to hear from a vulnerable, stripped-down version of a highly revered woman. Behind that squeaky clean image is a woman who battles with insecurities and fears. Self-care messages are baked in throughout, and the book serves as a self-help tool kit.  

Obama offers a hopeful message, as she did in her first book Becoming. This time, she talks about using the pandemic as a time to jump into radical self-care. Like the rest of us, she fretted over making sure elderly loved ones were safe, wondered if her young adults were being responsible, and whether or not she had enough toilet paper. Also, like the rest of us, took up a new hobbyknitting occupied her hands and helped to quiet her mind. 

Knitting isnt just for old ladies, she mused on stage. Unbeknownst to me, knitting was meditative. When you shut your mind off and you let your hands do the work, theres something clarifying in it. Coming from a family of sewers and knitters, she felt that it was her inheritancesomething that would have surprised her younger self. 

An important part of Obamas self-care message was not only finding an outlet, but also managing fear, which was crucial for navigating COVID lockdowns and when she started writing the book. Pandemic or not, the message to not let fear lead the way reverberates.

Obama dedicates a whole chapter to how fear disconnects us from our truth and from others. 

She explained, Fear is a necessary evil, right? It keeps us safe. Anyone whos grown up like her, on the Southside of Chicago, knows that fear can keep us out of trouble, but she believes that we shouldnt give it too much power. If she hadnt sat and listened to what her fear was trying to say, her husband might not have run for president. 

Sometimes that fear is rooted in self-doubt, and despite once living in a prestigious house, even she has to battle with it.

I wanted to be perfect, she told the audience. But now I dont feel like I need to prove anything. Excellence is now my habit. 

Nonetheless, leaving the White House revealed two realities for her: The bad news is that [leaving] hasnt eliminated fear and doubt in my life. The good news is that Im not intimidated by my own thoughts anymore.

A major part of standing resolute in your truth is boxing out your inner critic. Another is having a circle that can validate your experiences and help you keep perspective. Relationships can be everything when self-doubt sneaks in. 

Obama reminds us of the importance of forging friendships, something that many adults struggle to do or seem to neglect. Friendship is a tool that has sustained me my entire life, she recalls. Starting a family and an intensive work schedule may force us to miss out on connections that feed us mentally, spiritually, and socially. The former first lady learned early into the presidency just how difficult it could be, but nonetheless, despite clearances, secret service, and snipers, she was able to form a girl group as tight as Survivor-era Destinys Child.

Combine these messages, plus many more, that are sprinkled throughout her book, and you have not only a revealing look at the former first lady, but also a map to harness your light.

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This may not seem like national news, but in this expensive resort town where parents have gone as far as sleeping outside childcare centers in order to secure a spot for their kids, every single new opening likely means the difference between a parent working or not.  

Whats happening in Americas ski towns has mirrored the problems facing much of American. Costs of living have soared as home prices skyrocketed during the pandemic amid the flight of the wealthy to more remote areas. Both year-round and seasonal resort staffers have been feeling the squeeze, with some taking to sleeping in cars and campers because theres not enough affordable housing.

The influx of new residents has also put pressure on amenities like childcarean industry already suffering a major staffing shortage. Despite gains in recent months, childcare employment is still down 8% from pre-pandemic levels, according to the latest analysis from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at the University of California, Berkeley.

The dire care situation in Routt County, Colo., caught the attention of employers, including the Steamboat Ski Resort. In order to provide childcare support for both its year-round and seasonal workers, as well as community members, the resort took the bold step of opening up its own childcare center. 

Childcare should just become an expectation. I think it should become a point where its [a benefit] like 401(k)syou expect that from most companies now, especially large companies, says Loryn Duke, Steamboats director of communications and one of the people leading the childcare project for the resort. I think its a really smart move for businesses moving forward.

Courtesy of Steamboat Ski Resort

When employees started coming back to the Steamboat offices last year after the initial COVID-19 waves in 2020 pushed many Americans to work from home, there were several with young children who were unable to find childcare, Duke says. Its a situation shes familiar withshes also a mom, and she spent weeks calling local childcare centers to find a spot for her daughter when she came back from maternity leave in 2021. 

But just a year later, the childcare situation is perhaps even more fraught now, in part because Steamboat, like other employers, is battling a tight labor market. We were having employees who were on the verge of quitting because they just had no other options, Duke says. And losing talented employees because they lacked childcare wasnt something anyone wanted. 

This isnt a new problem in Colorado: In 2019, licensed childcare providers were only able to serve about 62% of the states children in need of care, according to a 2021 report from Kids Count in Colorado. But it took the pandemic, increased awareness of the childcare crisis, and a tight labor market to push corporate leaders to really put something in motion.

Across the country, employers are increasingly on the frontlines of the childcare crisis as working parents struggle to find care. About 4.3 million Americans reported theyre currently not working because they need to watch their children, according to the latest Household Pulse Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau. 

More broadly, nearly one in three parents have had to leave their jobs at some point to care for children, according to a survey on the costs associated with having children fielded earlier this year by Credit Karma.

Many times, a lack of childcare comes down to cost. Parents with children under the age of 5 paid nearly $1,350 a month, on average, for childcare, according to Census data. As a result, the most common source of childcare in the U.S. tends to be relatives, including grandparents. 

Even among parents who can readily afford childcare, accessing it is a major hurdle. Yet its rare that employers step in to offer support. But Duke says the resort felt it had to help, given the lack of childcare openings was affecting employees ability to stay in the labor force. Simply subsidizing the cost of childcare isnt helpful if theres none to be had. 

Opening a childcare center is no picnic 

So how does a company go about opening their own childcare center? Lots of help, Duke says. Not only from the resort and corporate leadership, but also from the state, other childcare providers, business groups, and even the local community. 

Steamboats childcare project kicked into high gear in October 2021 after Duke and several other resort employees pitched their idea of an on-site childcare center for staff. Corporate leaders immediately supported the project, especially given that there were not only the usual tax breaks, but also state grant money available to help fund the venture. 

Image courtesy of Steamboat Child Care Center

Colorados Department of Human Services had recently enacted the Employer Based Child Care Facility Grant, which offered employers like Steamboat up to $500,000 in matching grant funds to open a childcare facility specifically for employees to help alleviate the crisis. 

To help employers navigate the process, the state funded a grant that allowed the business group, Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC), to establish a five-month Employer-Based Child Care Design Lab. Steamboat was among the first of nine employers that actively participated in the program. 

Duke and her teamthe only ski resort chosen to participateunderwent training from October 2021 through March 2022, learning not only about state childcare childcare licensing, building codes, staffing levels, and regulatory requirements, but also about how to apply for state grants and even financing methods. 

We know that there are a lot of other potential barriers to entry even if you have the money and the will to open up a childcare program, says Alethea Gomez, EPICs director of programs and initiatives. Gomez tells Fortune that the program provided support and helped employers connect the dots on a variety of complex issues that can come into play, such as zoning laws and even supply chain challenges. 

The first priority for Steamboat? Hire an executive director to bring a level of expertise to the project. Steamboat hired Sarah Mikkelson in January 2022, and she was on-hand for the final months of the Design Lab training. 

Next came the actual site of the center, which Steamboat secured in July. Corporate leaders agreed to renovate a building that used to house a medical practice, which is within walking distance from the resorts employee housing. 

Also helping the equation is that as a ski resort, Steamboat does offer limited employee housing. So while the widespread childcare industry is still experiencing staffing shortages, Duke says they were able to look further afield for workers because they could offer subsidized housing as an added benefit. 

But it hasnt been easy. Steamboat invested heavily in the start-up costs of the center, kicking in more than half a million dollars, Duke says. Additionally, the resort expects to subsidize the program at $200,000 per year on an ongoing basis. 

Sometimes employers may come into this thinking that they could have a break-even business model in offering on-site or near-site childcare, Gomez says. But most employers eventually realize that if they want a high quality program that is meeting quality standards, that does not charge families exorbitant tuition rates, and also pays the teaching staff a livable wage, theres an investment required in that facility year over year.

The financial conversations definitely took a lot of research and fortitude, Duke says. Everything comes down to budgets, Duke says. And its really hard to sell a line item that is not going to be your revenue driver, right? Its absolutely going to be a loss center. 

Perhaps the biggest contention point was infant care. Duke says initially, corporate leaders wanted to scrap infant care because its incredibly costly given the ratio of teachers to children has to be very low. Yes, infants are hard. And the math on that never adds up, Duke says. But we pushed back really, really hard because infant need is the biggest need in our community, she says, adding that theres only one other center in the area that takes babies, and they too only have limited spots. 

Yet with most of the heavy lifting now behind the team, the Steamboat Child Care Center is set to open on Dec. 19, with 19 spaces allocated for staff and 11 spaces available for community membersthough these numbers are in flux. The center is expected to serve infants to children up to 5 years old.

When the new center opened for registration, there were 49 parents who applied for the six community spots. This is the heartbreaking part, but it shows the need, Duke says. 

Resort staff do get first dibs on open slots and the benefit is open to all employees. However, full-time, year-round staff get first priority, followed by part-time, year-round, then full-time seasonal, part-time, seasonal, and finally community slots. Prices will start at $64 per day for staffslightly less than the current community average of about $78 per day, Duke says.

We couldnt bring down the affordability to an amazing rate. I think we all had visions of like $20 a day, Duke says. It is more affordable, but theres no denying the fact that childcare is expensive. 

For now, Duke says the center is focused on addressing the lack of accessibility by increasing the number of available childcare slots in the community. Hopefully somewhere down the line, affordability will be something that can be addressed too, she says. 

Getting more private and public partnerships in place 

The accessibility and affordability of childcare is a crisis that isnt going away anytime soon in most communities across the U.S. Which is why, absent passing major federal legislation, many experts say its going to take a combination of state and local public resources paired with private investment to really make a dent in the current situation. 

While getting employers involved is a tough sell, its not impossibleas Steamboat Ski Resort clearly shows. Employers and business voices have power and influence, says Nicole Riehl, EPICs president and CEO. And when they speak for children and familiesand support early childhood investments and policy solutionsour policymakers listen.

Image courtesy of Steamboat Child Care Center

There does need to be meaningful change around the legislation and regulation of childcare at all levels of the government in order to improve the on-the-ground conditions for providers, parents and children, Riehl says. But programs like the Design Lab can help drive change, too, giving organizations a very clear roadmap and process on how to get from concept to completion in their efforts to create on-site or near-site childcare in their communities. 

Since the launch of the Design Lab, Riehl says EPIC has fielded requests from other states, business groups, and nonprofits on how to set up similar initiatives. And Colorado renewed the grant supporting the program, so EPIC is set to host another class of employers interested in standing up their own childcare solutions. Of the nine active participants, Gomez estimates about half are still pursuing their childcare projects. Fellow Design Lab participant Community Hospital in Grand Junction, for example, broke ground on their new 7,500-square-foot childcare center in November. 

Yet even with help from state grants and the Design Lab, Duke says its not an easy path. The team at Steamboat assumed that because the resort is a big corporationit has in-house human resources, finance, security, and even runs a kids camp for resort guestsexisting resources could simply be utilized for the childcare center too. But many of the requirements are different and needed specialized solutions. 

Looking back, Duke admits she went into the process a bit naive. And if she were to do it again, she would instead partner with an established entity like Bright Horizons or KinderCare and let them drive the start-up process. In addition to the start-up costs covered by the resort, Duke and the marketing director, Morgan Bast, spent 20-30 hours a week working on the project in the beginning. And even now, Duke estimates she still spends 10 hours a week on childcare center operations. 

Projects like Steamboat Ski Resorts childcare center do have wider ripple effects and showcase the need for more employer-sponsored aid. Not only can employer-based daycares help the wider community by opening up childcare slots at other centers that were once being used by their employees, but they can set trends. At the resort, for example, entry-level wages for teachers and childcare staff are typically above $20 per hour, Duke says. That can help bring wages up across the community in a sector thats been historically subject to low pay and few benefits. 

The childcare center at Steamboat Ski Resort also sends a tangible message that employers listen and take steps to support their workers. When the resort made the announcement, Duke says she was overwhelmed by the number of staff members without children who were very excited about this. 

I knew that there would be a niche group that would be really excited, but to see everyone else understand the importance of it and be excited about the announcementthat was pretty special, Duke says.