Ford CEO: Up to 20% of factory workers are out on some days

Face masks are required again in major US auto factories and, according to Ford CEO Jim Farley, that has some workers deciding not to show up for work. In some factories, absentee rates can exceed 20%, he said in an interview with CNN Business.

"When a fifth of your workforce isn't coming in, in a manufacturing operation where everyone has their job and you don't know who's going to be missing every day, man, it's really challenging," Farley said. READ MORE

How Tim Cook has grown the Apple empire in his decade as CEO

When Tim Cook took over as chief executive of Apple, it was a corporate transition unlike any other. He stepped out from the shadow of one of the best-known American CEOs and took the reins of one of the world's biggest tech companies facing some uncertainty about how much more successful it could be.

Ten years into the job, Cook now leads the most valuable company in the world — technology or otherwise — and it remains among the most influential. More than a billion people worldwide use its devices and tens of millions of developers have built businesses on its software platforms. READ MORE

Global trade is in disarray. It's still booming

The reopening of the world's third busiest container port in China is great news for global trade.

What's happening: The Meishan terminal at the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in eastern China resumed operations Wednesday, ending a two-week long suspension after a dock worker tested positive for Covid-19. The closure was stressing tangled supply chains, as companies face sky-high costs and delivery delays 18 months into the pandemic. READ MORE

Microsoft, Amazon meet with White House as 500,000 cybersecurity jobs unfilled

President Biden on Wednesday afternoon will host a White House meeting focusing on cybersecurity with the leaders of several industries.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy will be among the executives representing the tech sector.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, will represent he financial community. READ MORE

As the pandemic fuels tech fatigue, researchers cast doubt on the benefits of a 'digital detox'

Tired of having to gaze at a screen for anything from a pub quiz to work calls, Anna Redman and her boyfriend headed to a wooden cabin outside London, locked their phones in a sealed envelope and spent three days off-grid earlier this year.

"It felt really appealing to not have access at all for a few days," said Redman, 29, who works in public relations and started to crave a "digital detox" as almost all her social contact shifted online during COVID-19 lockdowns. READ MORE

This $15 billion startup promises 30-minute deliveries. Now it's facing a worker backlash

Gopuff, a startup that originally launched to offer hookah deliveries for college students and later food deliveries to help satisfy the munchies, is rapidly establishing itself as the future of the on-demand industry.

The Philadelphia-based company has announced raising billions of dollars from investors to grow its on-demand delivery business this year alone amid a pandemic-driven boom for online shopping. But it's also raising a familiar set of labor concerns in the process. READ MORE

The shipping crisis is getting worse

The vast network of ports, container vessels and trucking companies that moves goods around the world is badly tangled, and the cost of shipping is skyrocketing. That's troubling news for retailers and holiday shoppers.

More than 18 months into the pandemic, the disruption to global supply chains is getting worse, spurring shortages of consumer products and making it more expensive for companies to ship goods where they're needed. READ MORE

Reimagining the Sales Role in the COVID-19 Era

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the way the sales function operates has looked very different, and sales teams have been forced to find new ways to connect with customers.  

Organizations have responded by redoubling their investment in the salesforce: expanding the number of inside sales and hybrid roles, increasing financial controls such as performance thresholds and incentive pay gaps, and investing in technology and sales skill training, for example. READ MORE

Bosses without offices: CEOs ditch private spaces for their return to the workplace

Planning for the return to the office, Angi, the parent company of home-improvement brands Angi, HomeAdvisor and Handy, reduced the footprint of two of its three offices in the U.S. In doing so, it did away with all executive offices — including that of CEO Oisin Hanrahan — opting for an open plan, more space for collaboration and additional conference rooms.

As Hanrahan explained, the plan “lends itself to a flatter organization — it feels more approachable and breaks down barriers between the leadership and the folks who run the business.” READ MORE

US companies should mandate COVID-19 vaccines for employees, most economists say

A majority of economists believe U.S. companies should require their employees to be vaccinated in order to keep their jobs or return to the workplace, according to a new survey released early Monday. 

Conducted by the National Association for Business Economics, the survey shows that most of the group's members are in favor of requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before they return to the workplace, with 79% in favor of such a policy. Just 14% of respondents said they did not support mandated vaccines.  READ MORE

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are arguing over the moon already. Here's what it all means

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, the two wealthiest people on this planet, both want to be center stage when NASA returns astronauts to the moon. But NASA only has enough money for one of them, and it went with Musk's SpaceX. That means Bezos' Blue Origin is mad.

Both of the billionaires' space companies are working to develop lunar landers, vehicles capable of making a gentle touch down on the moon's rocky surface. READ MORE

Vaccine mandates at work meet their toughest opponent: America's labor shortage

At Kevin Smith's home health care agency in Massachusetts, only 52% of his 400 staff members have been vaccinated. He'd like to order them all to get the shot, but he says he can't risk a mass exodus.

It's a legitimate fear. The labor market is very tight, with a record number of job openings and not enough job candidates. And among unvaccinated workers asked what they would do if their employer instituted a mandate, 50% said they'd leave their job, according to a June survey by health policy think tank KFF. READ MORE

Fed’s Powell: There’s No Returning to Pre-Pandemic Economy

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the U.S. economy has been permanently changed by the COVID pandemic and it is important that the central bank adapt to those changes.

“We’re not simply going back to the economy that we had before the pandemic,” Powell said at a Fed virtual town hall for educators and students. “We need to watch carefully as the economy continues to get through the pandemic and try to understand the ways that the economy has changed and what the implications are for our policy.” READ MORE

Don’t believe the cynics: Done right, stakeholder capitalism is what America needs

Critics of stakeholder capitalism and ESG—investing based on environmental, social, and governance metrics—have been out in force over the past few weeks, portraying them as empty marketing, as radical liberal activism, or as approaches antithetical to free enterprise and shareholder interests. Vivek Ramaswamy’s Woke, Inc. is now a bestseller, and a former BlackRock sustainable finance executive has labeled ESG “a dangerous placebo.” READ MORE