AS WE transit to an endemic phase with Covid-19 and its variants, companies are now moving from a heightened fight-or-flight state to tackling some of the fundamental shifts that the pandemic has brought to the global workforce. READ MORE
Executive greed is driving the labor shortage, says leader whose workers own 100% of the company
Bob Moore, 93, goes to work every day doing what he describes as his dream job, running Bob’s Red Mill, the Oregon-based whole-grain foods manufacturer he founded with his wife in 1978. But having a nonagenarian president isn’t the only thing that makes Bob’s Red Mill a special place to work. As of April 2020, the company is 100% employee-owned. READ MORE
Billionaire Carl Icahn targets McDonald's over pig welfare
Legendary investor Carl Icahn is known for his aggressive campaigns to shake up Corporate America. Now, he's leveraging his reputation to tackle an issue close to his heart: the welfare of pigs.
McDonald's (MCD) said Sunday that Icahn had nominated two new directors to its board. The move "relates to a narrow issue regarding the company's pork commitment," the fast food chain said in a statement. READ MORE
SEC responds to Elon Musk harassment allegations
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has responded to Elon Musk’s harassment allegations. In a letter it filed on Friday with a New York federal judge, the SEC said its frequent check-ins with Tesla were consistent with expectations from the court overseeing the company’s 2018 settlement.READ MORE
Could artificial intelligence REALLY wipe out humanity?
They use Siri to check the weather, or ask Alexa to turn off their smart lights – these are all forms of AI that many people don't realize.
However, despite the widespread (and relatively harmless) use of this technology in nearly every facet of our lives, some people still seem to believe that machines could one day wipe out humanity. READ MORE
Facebook is rebranding everything but faces the same old problems
Nearly four months ago, amid a firestorm of critical coverage stemming from a whistleblower's leaks, Facebook shifted its strategic focus to building an immersive version of the internet it calls the "metaverse" and changed its company name to Meta. READ MORE
New York’s Adams Tells CEOs to End Work-From-Home Policies
New York City Mayor Eric Adams told leaders of major companies in the city it was time to get their workers back in offices, emphasizing that empty buildings are holding back the city’s pandemic recovery. READ MORE
These Countries Have Introduced a Four-Day Week: Here's Where the US Stands
This week, Belgium became the newest country to offer workers the right to complete their workweek in four days, rather than the typical five, without a loss of salary.
Bloomberg reported that the move was made as part of an agreement "that aims to make Belgium's notoriously rigid labor market more flexible." READ MORE
The "Crapification" Of The US Economy Is Now Complete
The U.S. economy has fundamentally changed, and not for the better. There are numerous dynamics behind this decay, and I'll discuss a few of the more consequential ones this month.
One consequential dynamic few mainstream pundits dare discuss is the "crapification" of the entire U.S. economy. That isn't my description, "crapification" is now in common use. If the word offends you, substitute terminal decay of quality, competition, utility, durability, repairability and customer service. READ MORE
Facebook is staring down a 'perfect storm' of challenges that will define its future
Facebook has had an abysmal week.
In its fourth-quarter earnings report, parent company Meta revealed a major revenue shortfall, missing Wall Street expectations amid challenges spurred by its multibillion-dollar investment in its augmented reality “metaverse,” setting off a wave of stock-price volatility Thursday. Markets closed with Facebook down 26 percent, having shed roughly $230 billion from its market value — the biggest-ever one-day loss for a U.S. company. READ MORE
Beyond the Great Resignation, 7 trends that will shape work in 2022
At the start of 2021, many of us expected the world to return to normalcy, including a large-scale return to the workplace for many employees. But 2021 proved more volatile than anticipated given the rise of new COVID-19 variants, a massive war for talent, quit rates at an all-time high and the highest inflation levels in a generation. READ MORE
Dotdash Meredith ends print editions of six magazines
Dotdash Meredith, owned by media mogul Barry Diller's IAC, has decided to stop publishing the print editions of six magazines including Entertainment Weekly and InStyle as part of a digital push.
The move would result in 200 job losses and impacted titles also include EatingWell, Health, Parents and People en Español, Dotdash Meredith Chief Executive Officer Neil Vogel said on Wednesday in a memo to staff that was seen by Reuters. READ MORE
Wells Fargo asks employees to return to office in mid-March
Most of Wells Fargo & Co's employees, including those in customer-facing roles, will return to their offices on March 14 and work under a hybrid flexible model, according to a company memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday. READ MORE
CEO sees more supply chain trouble ahead
Maersk has a front-row seat to global supply chains. It says more trouble is ahead.
The supply chain issues that have walloped the global economy and spurred inflation during the coronavirus pandemic are not getting much better, Maersk CEO Søren Skou told CNN Business on Wednesday. READ MORE
Employee engagement is out. Here’s a better metric
As companies scramble to retain top talent and boost productivity in 2022, many will seek to double down on employee engagement.
They may be wasting their money. READ MORE
14 experts say how the net’s worst problems could be solved by 2035
In the early 21st century, the internet—and the social internet, in particular—has enabled a more connected world. But it’s also enabled and amplified some of humanity’s worst behaviors. Fringy, toxic opinions and outright disinformation proliferate. Antisocial behavior is normalized. Facts—when they can be recognized—are used to bolster preexisting opinions, not to challenge assumptions. Kids (and adults) measure their self-worth by their Instagram comments and follower count. Expecting the huge tech companies that operate the platforms to proactively fix the problems gets more unworkable as online communities grow into the billions. READ MORE
Silicon Valley's tech monopoly is over. Is the future in Austin, Texas?
When Tesla announced last fall that it was moving its corporate headquarters from California to Texas, officials in Sacramento seemed more surprised than concerned.
After all, Tesla was expanding its sprawling Fremont, Calif., assembly plant, which already employs thousands of people. It’s building a battery factory in the Northern California town of Lathrop. READ MORE
Internet guru on Web3: "Get ready for the crash"
With Web3 touted as the next evolutionary stage of the internet, businesses and investors are eagerly hopping on the bandwagon. Tech giants including Alphabet, Facebook-owner Meta and Microsoft are staking their claim in the emerging blockchain-based economy, some non-fungible token companies are already valued in the billion, and cryptocurrency trading platforms are experiencing hockey stick-like growth. READ MORE
Have You Heard Of Q-Commerce? Why And How It’s Taking Off
The trend toward speedy, last-mile delivery has grown exponentially worldwide in the past five years. According to a study by Clutch, online shoppers now typically receive packages within two to three days. But there are still limitations.
As it turns out, two-day delivery is no longer enough, not for consumers or for e-commerce leaders wanting to provide the ultimate customer experience. The aspiration now is for near-instant delivery and at no extra charge. READ MORE
A giant donut-shaped machine just proved a near-limitless clean power source is possible
There's no silver bullet to the climate crisis, but nuclear fusion may be the closest thing to it. In the quest for a near-limitless, zero-carbon source of reliable power, scientists have generated fusion energy before, but they have struggled for decades to sustain it for very long. READ MORE