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☆ A return to the roots of presidential debates
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —CNN’s presidential debate will feel like something new for most Americans, but it is actually a return to the roots of presidential debates. J. David Ake/AFP/Getty Images Monica Moorehead, a presidential candidate from the Workers World Party, disrupts a presidential debate in Washington, DC, in 1996. Gerald Herbert/AP Barack Obama, right, and John McCain shake hands at the start of a presidential debate in 2008. Joseph Kaczmarek/AP Obama hugs his wife, Michelle, as Romney kisses his wife, Ann, after their third presidential debate in 2012. Ultimately, the commission was formed to create a nonpartisan framework for presidential debates – something that has been exported to other countries.

Persons: CNN —, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Jake Tapper, Dana Bash, Sen, John F, Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Nixon, Howard K, Smith, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Carter, Jerry Mosey, Betty, David Hume Kennerly, John B, Ronald Reagan, Anderson, AP Carter, Reagan, Walter Mondale, George H.W, Bush, Michael Dukakis, Dennis Cook, Ross Perot, Bill Clinton, Clinton, Ron Edmonds, AP Clinton, Bob Dole, J, David Ake, Monica Moorehead, Joe Marquette, Mark Penn, Lorenzo Alvarez, Angelica, George W, Al Gore, Joe Raedle, Jim Lehrer, Gore, John Kerry, Gerald Herbert, Barack Obama, John McCain, Charles Dharapak, Obama, Mary Jackson's, Mitt Romney, Joseph Kaczmarek, Michelle, Romney, Ann, David Goldman, Hillary Clinton, Patrick Semansky, Salwan Georges, Biden, Chip Somodevilla, Alan Schroeder, ” Kennedy, Schroeder, “, Ford, John Anderson, sidestep, Trump, ” Schroeder, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, Douglas, Read, haven’t, “ They’re, ” Organizations: CNN, Commission, CNN’s Atlanta, CBS, Getty, State University of New, Ford, Anderson, Cleveland Convention Center, AP, Music, Bettmann, Bushnell, Theater, Workers World Party, AP Workers, Hofstra University, AP Trump, Washington Post, Trump, Northeastern University, House, Republican, Republican National Convention, Biden, Lincoln, White, Illinois Senate, ABC News Locations: Los Angeles, New York, State University of New York, Albany, Cleveland, Hartford , Connecticut, Washington , DC, San Diego, El Paso , Texas, Hempstead , New York, Detroit, Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Lincoln, Illinois

☆ The US immigration surge saved the economy, record credit-card debt isn't an issue, and 4 other surprising takeaways from JPMorgan Asset Management's latest quarterly guide
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

For a while, Kelly couldn't figure out whether there would be a recession, given how mixed signals were muddying the waters. Most economists now agree that there won't be a downturn, but one of the main explanations Kelly gave as to why may be shocking. Besides adding jobs, which tends to boost economic growth, Kelly noted that the presence of cheap workers has kept a lid on wage growth and, by extension, inflation. "But you could say that it has widened the runway for the soft landing. It's made it easier for us to achieve a soft landing."

Persons: Kelly couldn't, Kelly, —, he's Organizations: Management, US Department of Homeland Security, Pew Research Center

☆ OpenAI and the Loss of a Founder - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Businesses have come up with workarounds that protect individuals’ liberty while giving investors the assurance they need to commit lots of money to companies. Two years ago, I wrote about how noncompete agreements have been abused to trap workers and suppress wages of mid- and low-level workers, such as employees of fast-food restaurants. For high-level executives such as Altman and Brockman, there is a stronger argument for noncompete agreements. Bloomberg reported in October that OpenAI was in talks to sell existing employees’ shares at a price that would value the overall company at $86 billion. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in objecting to the F.T.C.’s proposed rule about noncompete agreements, cited its economist John McAdams, who wrote in 2019 in a research paper for the F.T.C.

Persons: Sam Altman, ”, Altman, Brockman, OpenAI, John McAdams Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, Bloomberg, U.S . Chamber of Commerce Locations: California

☆ Snap workers say they're being closely 'tracked' to enforce compliance with the RTO mandate
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Snap is doing what it can to get employees working in the office again. The Snapchat parent at the start of September enacted its return to office mandate , requiring workers to be in an office at least four days a week. Besides that, Snap is also "badge tracking," the people familiar said. Snap workers' adherence to RTO rules will become part of their performance reviews going forward, the people familiar added. Snap's attempts to enforce the RTO mandate come alongside piecemeal layoffs , executive departures , ongoing business struggles, and advertising woes.

Persons: It's, Snap's, Evan Spiegel, Evan, Spiegel, he's, We're Organizations: Business, Meta

About 1 in 5 American workers, nearly 30 million people, are bound by noncompete agreements, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Horror stories about companies using noncompete agreements to trap workers in middling jobs or punish them for taking their skills elsewhere for better pay prompted New York legislators to pass a bill last June that would ban noncompete agreements. "But the fact that I had to spend a year fighting off my former employer was just wrong.”A handful of states, including California, already ban noncompete agreements. Other states, including Minnesota and Oklahoma, have laws that void noncompete agreements if a person is laid off. Advocates for the bill argue that striking noncompete agreements will actually be good for innovation.

Persons: Kathy Hochul hasn't, Richard Tatum, “, Tatum, Joe Biden, she’s, ”, Paul Zuber, Sean Ryan, ” Ryan, ” ___, Khan, Maysoon Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, New, Public Policy Institute, Business Council, New York City, Hochul, Democrat, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America, Twitter Locations: ALBANY, N.Y, New York, California, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Florida, Texas, Silicon Valley

☆ Elon Musk says people are 'already cyborgs' because machines maintain our memory for us
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The billionaire tweeted that humans depend on machines to maintain their memory. His comments come as the rise of AI has raised questions about how replaceable humans are. Elon Musk said people are "already cyborgs" because of humanity's dependence on machines to maintain memory. Musk tweeted: "We are already cyborgs. In his tweet, Musk tried to outline the current differences between humans and AI machines.

Persons: Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, Musk, cofound Organizations: Microsoft

☆ Pay in tech is dropping fast as firms like Microsoft, Snap and more use layoffs and a looming recession to wrest power from workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Pay is getting lower, stock grants smaller and offers, if they come at all, are take it or leave it. In November, Snap employees heard some frank talk from CEO Evan Spiegel on his plans for compensation after enacting a mass layoff a couple of months before. "In general, we've noticed a decrease in pay across the entire tech industry," said Zuhayeer Musa, founder of Levels.fyi, a platform that collects data on tech compensation. Aalap Shah, a managing director at Pearl Meyer who advises tech companies, said he's been expecting such a retreat on pay. An estimated 200,000 tech employees have been laid off since last year, according to Layoffs.fyi, which compiles data on hiring in tech and is not part of Levels.fyi.

☆ From 'labor hoarding' to layoffs: Get ready for a brutal U-turn in the job market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( George Pearkes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

This desire for positivity may explain the popularity of a hot, new theory about the job market: labor hoarding. A bet on the futureThe idea of labor hoarding is basically an assumption about the bet that companies are making on the future of the labor market and customer demand. Another helpful tool to see how businesses are adapting to the labor market is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' quarterly Business Employment Dynamics report. Instead, we're seeing a more-balanced response consistent with a tight labor market that is losing some steam. So when the real pain starts, there's a good chance the US will quickly shift from labor hoarding to layoffs.

Earlier this summer, Snap executives told managers they should put at least 10% of their teams on performance improvement plans. In a few weeks, Snap employees have gone from feeling relatively stable to joking that they now work at "Snapazon," a reference to the sometimes grueling, metric-heavy approach of Amazon. Snap is chopping the Snap Pixy mini drone, its accelerator program, Snap Originals, Snap Minis and its Games vertical. Other Snap workers expressed similar doubts about the company's acquisition strategy. AR likely will not be a major success story, despite Snap's leadership in the area.

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