Don Draper suggested that when you don’t like what’s being said, you should change the conversation. Facebook is trying to change the conversation to the Metaverse. But we should keep our eyes on the prize, and not look stage left so the illusionist can continue to depress teens and pervert democracy stage right. In sum, nothing has changed. And something (likely many things) needs to be done to stop the most dangerous person on the planet. I first wrote the preceding sentence three years ago; it seems less novel or incendiary today. READ MORE
Democrats' spending bill could give four weeks of paid leave to people without jobs
The latest version of the House Democrats’ massive $1.7 trillion reconciliation bill contains a provision guaranteeing four weeks of federal paid medical and family leave, even if you’re unemployed.
The provision in question is buried deep in the Build Back Better Act as Democrats desperately try to get legislation across the finish line after a GOP trouncing at the polls on Tuesday. READ MORE
Nearly half of board members want to fire a colleague
A survey from PwC of around 800 corporate directors found that 47% believe a fellow director on their board should be replaced, and of those almost one-fifth (18%) believe multiple directors should leave. READ MORE
How Tyson Foods Got 60,500 Workers to Get the Coronavirus Vaccine Quickly
When Tyson, one of the world’s largest meatpacking companies, announced in early August that all of its 120,000 workers would need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or lose their jobs, Diana Eike was angry. Eike, an administrative coordinator at the company, had resisted the vaccine, and not for religious or political reasons like many others here in her home state.
“It was just something personal,” she said. READ MORE
These are the people still most likely to quit during the next wave of the Great Resignation
The hottest trend in 2021 isn’t some fad on social media or a creative new baking recipe, it’s quitting your job, and it’s taken the U.S. workforce by storm. READ MORE
4 Must-Know Tips For Building A High-Growth Startup
All startups have the same goals; develop an innovative product, find your market fit, and exit through an acquisition or IPO. Yet, very few achieve these goals. Even if they’ve built a product that blows the market away, the majority of startups fail. While some companies may suffer from a lack of product-market fit or a lackluster sales strategy, many don’t make it far because of mundane reasons. READ MORE
Inside Q4’s Action-Packed IPO Pipeline, Including The Year’s Biggest Expected Offering
This year has already been a record one for IPO volume, and by all accounts the final quarter of 2021 is set to continue that momentum with anticipated Wall Street debuts from big venture-backed companies including Weave, Expensify and—the largest expected offering of the year—electric-truck maker Rivian.
Fourteen companies went public last week in the U.S., according to IPOScoop, with Rent the Runway and Udemy among the notable public debuts for tech companies. READ MORE
Americans take essential work ‘for granted’
As American workers are leaving their posts due to coronavirus vaccine mandates, the country’s gap in filling essential jobs worsens and FOX Business’ "How America Works" host Mike Rowe says it’s no secret why.
Rowe told "Fox News Primetime" that the issue has always lied in what Americans value, which includes turning a blind eye to blue-collar careers. READ MORE
Can Supersonic Air Travel Fly Again?
Despite the promise of two-hour flights from New York to Los Angeles, the supersonic airline industry never really got off the ground. That is largely because of physics: specifically, the sonic boom, the thunderclap noise made when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier, which essentially doomed supersonic aviation as a viable business. READ MORE
Musk would liquidate Tesla shares to 'solve world hunger' if UN can explain how money would be spent
Elon Musk, the founder of Telsa whose net worth is approaching $300 billion, responded Sunday to calls from social media users to sell some stock to solve world hunger.
Musk responded to a repost of a CNN article that quoted David Beasley, the director of the UN’s World Food Program, who said billionaires need to "step up now" — namely Musk and Jeff Bezos. READ MORE
SEC Enforcement Developments: Fessing Up and Paying Up
As the SEC has recently completed its fiscal year on September 30, 2021, where it pushed its enforcement initiatives under new Chairman Gary Gensler, a brief overview of its recent track record is in order. No one can now doubt the enhanced enforcement already underway in the Biden Administration. Basically, the SEC mantra is "fess up" and "pay up." READ MORE
Four Retail IPOs
I make predictions, which is a shitty business. If they come true, circumstances leading up to the event make the prediction seem less bold. If they don’t, the Twitter troll army comes for you. On a risk-adjusted basis, bad idea.
Like that’s going to stop me. READ MORE
Employees are designing the workplace of the future
Why do we go to the office?
This is not a rhetorical question. Do we go to be around other people and work collaboratively? Do we go because it’s a dedicated location that allows us to focus on our work in a unique way? Do we go because we believe it’s necessary to be “seen”? Do we go because we’re just supposed to, because it’s what we’ve always done? READ MORE
MeWork
Two years ago, WeWork’s IPO was aborted, and the company was put on SoftBank life-support. Things changed yesterday. WeWork took its first steps in the public markets, opening at $9.5 billion, which is a fifth of its 2019 valuation. Sanity restored.
The stock’s doing well. It closed up 13.5%, which is an especially nice gift to Adam Neumann, whose 11% ownership is now worth more than $1 billion. He celebrated in standard douchebaggery: spraying champagne at the Standard Hotel in a shirt that read “Student for Life.” It took the greatest catastrophe in IPO history for Neumann to realize he’s not fit to teach. READ MORE
Gas hits $7.59 a gallon in CA town
Gas keeps getting more and more expensive, especially in California. But perhaps nowhere is it pricier than the remote central coast community of Gorda.
The town's only gas station is offering regular unleaded for $7.59. Premium is nearly $8.50. READ MORE
Labor flexes its muscle as leverage tips from employers to workers
Workers are saying enough is enough.
And many of them are either hitting the picket lines or quitting their jobs as a result.
The changing dynamics of the US labor market, which has put employees rather than employers in the driver's seat in a way not seen for decades, is allowing unions to flex their muscle. READ MORE
Andy Puzder: Biden is about to drive us off an economic cliff
It is difficult to imagine a worse time for massive increases in taxes and spending, yet that’s exactly what Democrats in Washington, D.C. have in mind. We are all aware that, as Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated this week, President Joe Biden views the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to "make fundamental changes in our economy." But the changes he has in mind are about to drive us over an economic cliff. READ MORE
Tech's big bad morale problem
The rank-and-file runs the tech industry now. If you want to boil down many of the events of the last weeks and months, one thing that unites them all is that employees at tech companies are flexing their individual and collective power more than ever. Even a vocal minority has more ways than ever to make noise and press for change. And instead of worrying about public opinion and business ramifications, bosses are increasingly worried about employee morale above all else.
Facebook is the most obvious example. The company's increasingly aggressive public stance, pushing back on whistleblower testimony and news stories, is less about changing public opinion and more about getting the team back on track. READ MORE
5 Reasons Not to Quit Your Job (Yet)
Has there ever been a better time for employees to quit their jobs?
Whether you call it “The Great WorkQuake,” The Great Resignation,” or “The Great Reset,” up to 41% of employees are thinking about changing careers right now. There are a lot of reasons for them to consider leaving. A strong labor market is pushing up wages and benefits, and companies are offering additional perks to attract new talent. Some workers may be fed up with their existing company’s toxic or unappreciative culture, inflexible work arrangements, or pay inequity. Some may be suffering from burnout or general work/life dissatisfaction. Some are leaving their jobs simply because they can afford to — U.S. personal savings hit a record high of 33% this year. Add in the opportunities to “work from anywhere,” and you can understand why we’re seeing employees quitting in record numbers in 2021. READ MORE
The office is the new offsite
Social media is awash with the cognitive dissonance of how many people are still working from home (it's less than some might think). But those who are going back to the office are also spending a lot less time there. Many of the people with the flexibility to choose what days and how often they go into the office appear to be adopting the "less is more" strategy.
Protocol spoke with OfficeTogether's founder and CEO Amy Yin to learn more about the trends related to the return to work. The desk reservation and team-scheduling startup was born in the age of the pandemic and its software helps companies figure out who is coming to the office and how to complete health checks for those returning. Insights have poured in as workers head back to their respective office spaces. Here are some of the biggest takeaways. READ MORE