Sit tight, chip shortage likely to last to 2023, says top supplier to auto industry

Carmakers hoping for relief from the acute global chip shortage may have to wait until 2023 before things return to normal, German semiconductor supplier Infineon warned on Tuesday.

Infineon’s own inventories are depleted; downstream facilities responsible for final assembly are waiting on shipments of raw chips; and its factory in Austin would need four months to fully recover from February’s storm-related power outages in Texas. READ MORE

Mind the GAAP

Is a company making profit or a loss? It’s undoubtedly an important question in the minds of managers, investors, bankers, and boards of directors (investors would like to buy shares of, and banks would prefer to lend money to, a profitable company). But surprisingly, this question is becoming increasingly difficult to answer. The bottom-line number in income statements, which shows a profit or a loss, is calculated after so many deductions and adjustments that it provides no assurance of a firm’s core profitability. Compounding this development is the fact that, along with earnings based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), firms increasingly report a number called non-GAAP or pro-forma earnings. READ MORE

Signal tried to use Facebook's targeted advertising data against it

Facebook runs a massively successful digital advertising operation on the back of its granular categories based on user behavior. Yet, many of the people who actively use its services aren't aware of how the social network shares their data with advertisers. To shed light on the issue, privacy-focused messaging app Signal tried to use Facebook's targeted ad machine against it. However, what may have started as activism-meets-self-promotion has since boiled over into a full-blown spat, with both companies disputing each other's version of events. READ MORE

American factories are desperate for workers

Demand for goods is skyrocketing as the US economy reopens from the pandemic. But there's a big problem: American factories can't find enough people to do the work.

Even though US manufacturing activity surged to a 37-year high in March, the industry has more than half a million job openings. Factories are struggling to find skilled workers for specialized roles such as welders and machinists. Manufacturers are even having trouble hiring entry-level positions that do not require expertise. READ MORE

Musk trolls Bezos as space race between world’s richest men heats up

The space race between the world’s two richest men went into hyperdrive on Tuesday after Tesla chief Elon Musk took a swipe at Jeff Bezos’ attempt to challenge a major NASA contract.

The two billionaires, who have been trying to launch long-range orbital rockets, were competing for a coveted contract from the government to build a spaceship to deliver astronauts to the moon as early as 2024.

Musk won. Bezos was not happy. READ MORE

Fake LinkedIn profiles can be used to trick you into sharing secrets

Fake LinkedIn profiles pose a risk to members who could be duped into sharing sensitive secrets on the popular Microsoft-owned professional networking platform, a BBC report says.

The UK’s MI5 security service said that over the past five years at least 10,000 UK nationals have been targeted by fake LinkedIn profiles connected to hostile nation-state actors, according to the BBC. READ MORE

6 things you must do if you’re planning to work remotely permanently

The “next normal” is officially setting in, especially when it comes to remote work. Simform’s 2021 Remote Work Survey found that 82% of surveyed companies plan to allow their employees to work from home indefinitely and 77% want to make this a permanent solution. 

Even some of the largest corporations in the world such as Facebook, Spotify, Microsoft, Salesforce, Twitter, and Slack have rolled out plans for a long-term remote workforce beyond just 2021.  READ MORE