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☆ The 'hushed hybrid' work schedule is the latest way employees are getting around a return to the office
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-03 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It's called working a "hushed hybrid" schedule, and unlike other forms of sneakily evading a return to the office, you actually want — no, need — your boss to know about this one to make it work. Hushed hybrid refers to employees working from home more often than companywide policies would otherwise permit them to, thanks to the flexibility of their managers. AdvertisementWhile some workers could benefit from working "hushed hybrid," uneven enforcement of work policies could raise questions of favoritism. That could help eliminate the need for "hushed hybrid" working. Depending on how companies track attendance at the office, some managers may not be able to cover up for their employees' remote work.

Persons: —, Shelley Majors, Hatim Rahman, Rahman, Majors Organizations: Service, Business, Boardwalk HR, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management

☆ Microsoft confirms layoffs in mixed reality but will keep selling HoloLens 2 headsets
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft will lay off some employees who work on mixed reality, a spokesperson told CNBC on Monday. Although the cuts will affect the department that contributes to the HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset, Microsoft plans to continue selling the device. "Earlier today we announced a restructuring of the Microsoft's Mixed Reality organization," the spokesperson said in an email. In addition, we will continue to invest in W365 to reach the broader Mixed Reality hardware ecosystem. In December, Microsoft further reduced investment in augmented reality and virtual reality, which blocks out the surrounding world, when it deprecated Windows Mixed Reality, which included tools for running applications in head-mounted displays.

Persons: Satya Nadella, Apple Organizations: Microsoft, CNBC, Department, U.S . Defense Department, Bloomberg, Nvidia, Vision, Microsoft Ignite, Meta Locations: Redmond , Washington, Seattle

☆ More OpenAI chaos puts Sam Altman on the back foot
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementIt's a rare admission from Altman, who has worked hard to cultivate an image of being relatively calm amid OpenAI's ongoing chaos. Safety team implosionOpenAI has been in full damage control mode following the exit of key employees working on AI safety. He said the safety team was left "struggling for compute, and it was getting harder and harder to get this crucial research done." Silenced employeesThe implosion of the safety team is a blow for Altman, who has been keen to show he's safety-conscious when it comes to developing super-intelligent AI. The usually reserved Altman even appeared to shade Google, which demoed new AI products the following day.

Persons: —, Jan Leike, Ilya Sutskever, Sam Altman, Altman, Leike, Leopold Aschenbrenner, Pavel Izmailov, Daniel Kokotajlo, William Saunders, Cullen O'Keefe, Kokotajlo, Vox, OpenAI, Joe Rogan's, Neel Nanda, i've, Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI didn't Organizations: Service, Business, AGI

☆ What the proxy fight at Norfolk Southern means for railroad safety
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The fight has split the railroad’s unions, who disagree which management team – the current Norfolk Southern leadership or one proposed by activist investor Ancora Holdings – would be best for safety and the railroad’s employees. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, third from left, listens to testimony during a hearing held by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on March 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony on "Improving Rail Safety in response to the East Palestine Derailment." BLET said that Orr’s appointment shows that Norfolk Southern is committed to additional use of PSR, no matter which side wins the the proxy fight. On February 3rd, a Norfolk Southern Railways train carrying toxic chemicals derailed causing an environmental disaster.

Persons: Alan Shaw, Amit Bose, Win McNamee, Bose, ”, “, Jeremy Ferguson, Shaw, “ Shaw, Jerry Sturdivant, John Orr, BLET, Michael Swensen, Jim Barber, Glass Lewis, Ancora Organizations: New, New York CNN, Norfolk, Norfolk Southern, Ancora Holdings, PSR, Federal Railroad Administration, Senate Commerce, Science, Transportation, Shaw, SMART, of Locomotive Engineers, Trainmen, NS, Canadian Pacific, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Way Employees, Norfolk Southern Railways, Teamsters, UPS, CSX, Union Pacific Locations: New York, Norfolk Southern, Atlanta, East Palestine , Ohio, Norfolk, East Palestine, Washington ,, Canadian Pacific Kansas, Palestine, ”, NS

☆ Google's new AI-powered wingman highlights the challenges of using a tool that could eventually replace you
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. In today’s big story, we’re looking at Google’s new internal AI model aimed at improving worker efficiency. The big storyAI assistanceCBS Photo Archive/Getty ImagesGoogle employees are getting an AI-powered wingman in the company’s bid to improve efficiency. Goose can answer questions about Google's tech and write and edit code, according to an internal summary of the model. Tech companies have tested inventions on their own employees for years in a process known as "dogfooding," writes BI's Alistair Barr.

Persons: —, Denny's, customizations, Hugh Langley, Tom Cruise’s copilot, Alistair Barr, Tyler Lee, “, Bryan R, Smith, Wall, Gary Gensler, We’re, Société, Elad Gil, Gil, ChatGPT, it’s, Uber, Nomura, Young homebuyers, Meredith Whitney, Donald Trump, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb, George Glover Organizations: Business, Service, CBS, Getty, Microsoft, OpenAI, Tech, Google, Big Tech, Fed, UBS, SEC, Silicon Valley’s, BI, Xbox, Dragon, Workers, Wall Locations: China, New York, London

☆ Google quietly launches internal AI model named 'Goose' to help employees write code faster, leaked documents show
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It is designed to assist with building new products, according to internal documents reviewed by Business Insider. “It can answer questions around Google-specific technologies, write code using internal tech stacks and supports novel capabilities such as editing code based on natural language prompts,” an internal summary of Goose reads. The documents note that the creation of Goose was a collaborative effort between Google Brain, DeepMind, and Google's internal infrastructure teams. And Goose isn't the only example of Google using AI to be more efficient. AdvertisementAnd if Googlers have specific development questions while using Goose, they're encouraged to turn to the company's internal chatbot, named Duckie.

Persons: —, it’s, Gemini, “, Ruth Porat, Goose, TKTKTK Goose, DeepMind, ”, Philipp Schindler, Business Insider’s, they're Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Microsoft

☆ Ukraine’s railways are still running after two years of war. Here’s how
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Ben Jones | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Ukraine’s rail network, known as Ukrzaliznytsia or UZ for short, has always been a source of pride and practicality in the eastern European nation, even before the war. ‘Constant threat’Ukraine's rail network, known as Ukrzaliznytsia or UZ for short, has always been a source of pride and practicality in the eastern European nation. UZ says a further $9 billlon is likely required to repair and modernize the existing UZ network, which at 19,700 kilometers is one of the world’s longest. “Our responsibility is to be a stable partner.”Indeed, despite the war, UZ says it has repaired and renewed 289 kilometers of track in 2023, rebuilt 15 bridges, built 528 new freight cars and repaired around 9,000 others. Britain’s Network Rail and Swiss Federal Railways are providing engineering support to help rebuild damaged infrastructure, while the Global Ukraine Rail Task Force (GURTF) was established in 2022 to raise funds to support Ukrainian rail workers and their families.

Persons: UZ, – UZ, ”, Jeff J Mitchell, Yarema Dul, “, ” UZ, it’s, Ukraine’s, Olena Zelenska, Dul, Transport Network Mykola Panov, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, Yevhen Liaschenko, ” Liaschenko, GURTF, Andy Bagnall Organizations: CNN, UNICEF, Russia, UZ’s, Transformation Department, Transport Network Mykola, CNN Travel, “, ” Railway, Publishing, Transport Network, Britain’s, Rail, Swiss Federal Railways, Global Ukraine Rail Task Force, Rail Partners Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, Lviv, Warsaw, Vienna, Panama7, Odesa, Kharkiv, Russian, Poland, Germany, Soviet Union, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, Hungary

Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a 3-2 decision issued last year by the National Labor Relations Board, which had said Tesla couldn’t prohibit union attire. The court opinion noted that Tesla allowed workers to affix “any number or size” of pro-union stickers to company-issued clothing. “We may have concluded differently had Tesla prohibited union insignia," read the opinion issued Tuesday by a unanimous panel of three 5th Circuit judges. The opinion comes as the 5th Circuit prepares for arguments in another union-related matter involving Tesla, NLRB and the assembly plant in Fremont, California. But that order was vacated after the full 5th Circuit, currently with 16 full-time judges, voted to hear the matter.

Persons: Tesla, didn't, ”, Jerry Smith, Elon Musk, Musk, Smith, Ronald Reagan, Leslie Southwick, George W ., Stephen Higginson, Barack Obama Organizations: ORLEANS, United Auto Workers, U.S, Circuit, National Labor Relations Board, Associated Press, UAW, NLRB, Twitter Locations: California, Fremont , California

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's government deployed army troops at railroad stations as railway employees continued with their strike that paralyzed train services across the country for a second day Wednesday, a day after two passengers were killed while attempting to travel on a packed train. Tens of thousands of passengers have been greatly inconvenienced because of the strike. The strike was launched by the Sri Lanka Locomotive Operating Engineers Union, which includes engine drivers. Sri Lanka's train services are substandard, with poorly maintained compartments and tracks because of years of mismanagement and a lack of proper planning. Ravi Herath said armed troops were deployed “to provide security for the public, railway passengers, employees of the railway and also to protect the government property.”

Persons: Bandula Gunawardena, S.R, Senanayake, Ravi Herath, ” Organizations: Passengers, Sri, Sri Lanka Locomotive Operating Engineers Union, Trade, Military Locations: COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Sri

MUMBAI, July 7 (Reuters) - India's federal police have arrested three railway employees on Friday in connection with the country's deadliest train crash in two decades that killed 292 people last month, the crime agency said in a statement. It is India's worst train crash in more than two decades. The accident happened when a passenger train hit a stationary freight train, jumped off the tracks and hit another passenger train coming from the opposite direction. Reuters reported earlier this week that workers repairing a rail-road barrier had made faulty connections in the automated signalling system on the network. The malfunctioning system directed the passenger train onto the path of the freight train, it said.

Persons: Narendra Modi's, Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Krishn Kaushik, Jatindra, Shivam Patel, YP Rajesh, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, Reuters, of Railway Safety, CRS, Local, Indian Railways, Railway Board, Railways Ministry, YP, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Bahanaga Bazar, Odisha

Indian and international media have previously reported that a possible malfunction in the automated signalling system may have led to the crash. However, details of the frequent malfunctions at the nearby rail-road barrier and its possible connection to a manual bypass of the signalling system are reported by Reuters for the first time. A spokesman for Indian Railways said "repair works keep happening as per requirements" but tampering with the automated system is not allowed. "(Indian) Railways believes the system was tampered with," said the second source, who has access to briefings on the investigation. The Indian Railways spokesman did not directly address the authorisation issue and only said it is not allowed under Indian Railways rules.

Persons: Amitabh Sharma, Sharma, Soubhagya Ranjan Sarangi, Narendra Modi's, Jaya Varma Sinha, Sinha, Sandeep Mathur, Mathur, Sudhanshu Mishra, Krishn Kaushik, Jatindra, Sarita Chaganti Singh, YP Rajesh, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Railways, Reuters, of Railway Safety, CRS, Railway Board, Railways Ministry, Indian Railways, police’s Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, Coromandel Express, Express, YP, Thomson Locations: India, DELHI, Bahanaga Bazar, Balasore, Odisha, Bahanaga, Niranjan, Chennai, Kolkata, New Delhi

☆ Qantas now permits long hair and makeup on cabin crew members of any gender
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

From now on, staff – including cabin crew members – can have long hair (provided it’s worn in a low bun or ponytail), wear makeup or not wear makeup as they choose, wear glasses instead of contact lenses (provided they have clear lenses) and sport flat shoes. Crew members who opt to wear dresses or skirts will be required to wear hosiery. And while it’s okay for crew members to have tattoos, they must cover up their ink while working. The airline also introduced an option for crew members to include their pronouns on their name tags. In 2022, British Airways announced it would allow all cabin crew members to sport makeup, face stubble, piercings, jewelry and nail polish alongside their uniforms.

Persons: –, ”, “ We’re, Vivienne Westwood Organizations: Australian, Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin, British Airways, CNN

☆ A billionaire's top advice for success? Cut out toxic people
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger doled out business and life advice. Munger's "great lesson in life" is to cut out toxic people who can hinder your path to success. Munger, in particular, stressed that toxic people could hinder someone's path to success. And one in nine US workers have said they've experienced a toxic workplace. And if that toxic manager or employee doesn't seem to be changing, per Munger's advice, it may be time to cut them loose.

☆ Employees Need Positive Feedback From Bosses. Without It, People Quit.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Molly Lipson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

A 2021 study by the global management-consulting firm McKinsey found that the top-two reasons people quit their jobs are because they don't feel valued by their company or their manager. And when employees feel happy and rewarded by their jobs, they are also more productive. How to really mean it when you give an employee praiseFor employees to really feel valued at work, it's important that they are recognized on a regular basis. While a simple acknowledgement of good work can be a powerful tool, Baumgartner told me that a simple "thank you" isn't sufficient to truly appreciate employees' work. Peer-to-peer recognition is also an important way employees can feel valued.

☆ Employees think going into the office is a 'complete waste of time and money,' CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The CEO of a flexible office company told CNBC that employees don't want to go back to the office. He said that employees see traditional offices as a "complete waste of time and money." "There's this assumption that people like commuting into a central business district," Mark Dixon, CEO of flexible office company IWG, told CNBC. After laying off thousands of workers earlier this year, the tech company has paused construction on its second headquarters in Virginia. He told CNBC that he envisions offices working like "a network of petrol stations," affording workers the opportunity to work anywhere.

☆ Leaked messages show Googlers are taking out their frustrations over layoffs on its new Bard AI chatbot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently asked employees to help test and improve its Bard chatbot. Internal message boards show Googlers asking Bard to explain the company's recent moves. In one such conversation reviewed by Insider, an employee asked Bard to imagine an IT company that has laid off 12,000 employees. In another conversation shared by an employee, Bard was asked, "Should Google fire people via email with no thank you or goodbye?" That requires training the bot to steer it away from such subjects, which is why Google asked employees to lend a hand.

☆ Bernie Sanders, White House pressure railroads on paid sick leave for union workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

a member of the committee, demanded railroad carriers offer workers at least seven paid sick days. "If they think that those [Senate members] who voted for seven days sick pay that they forgot, they got it wrong. A House amendment that guaranteed comprehensive sick leave passed the House but failed in the Senate. After the vote, Sanders and more than 70 members sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging his administration to take action to guarantee paid sick days for rail workers. The failed vote on paid sick leave led union leaders to remind politicians that votes have election consequences.

☆ Sick and family leave are top union demands post-Covid-pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Eli M. Rosenberg | Eli Rosenberg Is An Investigative Tech Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Rail workers nearly went on strike over paid sick leave. Glen Stubbe / Star Tribune via AP fileMore than 100,000 rail workers were days away from a likely strike after the rail companies refused demands for five paid sick days. Labor experts and organizers say the pandemic aimed a floodlight at the public health ramifications of in-person work, elevating for workers the importance of paid leave in contract disputes. “This was the sticking point for the railroads.”Following Congress’ resolution of the impasse, activist investors have put forth proposals to get two of the biggest rail companies, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, to offer their workers paid sick leave next year. “We appreciate the work of the negotiating teams and the mediator in reaching this agreement in principle.”Other unions are paying attention to these fights — and gearing up to make sick leave a major part of their negotiations.

☆ Biden signs bill averting rail worker strike despite lack of paid sick days
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The initial agreement brokered by the Biden administration was accepted by all but four rail unions, who were holding out for guaranteed paid sick leave days. A strike by rail workers so close to the holiday season — and in a period of high inflation — could potentially devastate the economy. The House on Wednesday approved a separate measure that would have added seven days of paid sick leave to the contract instead of just one. He said has long been a proponent of paid sick leave, and will still work to make it a right for all workers, not just rail workers. "It's looking like the Democrats are standing with our members and making sure that our members get sick leave.

☆ Rail union bosses warn of election consequences as Senate moves closer to vote on labor deal to prevent strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

watch nowLeaders of the rail labor unions that have voted not to ratify the tentative labor deal tell CNBC that as the Senate moves closer to a vote on Thursday afternoon on legislation to prevent a rail strike, senators need to realize this is a humanitarian issue and their members will not forget who supported them. On Wednesday, the House passed the tentative rail labor agreement and additional legislation to add seven paid sick days, which has been one of the most important issues to rail workers in the breakdown of negotiations with freight rail companies. All three union presidents say they understand why President Biden had to push Congress to pass the tentative agreement. Biden's PEB deal 'missed the mark'Ferguson said the Presidential Emergency Board rail labor deal "missed a few marks and sidestepped a few, mainly our attendance policy issues." Supply chain congestion and rail embargoesThe unions argue that precision railroading and the lack of labor are the reasons behind congestion in the supply chain.

☆ Rail union presidents: We will support those who support us now in the general election
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRail union presidents: We will support those who support us now in the general electionCNBC's Lori Ann LaRocco speaks with railroad union leaders about ongoing negotiations to avert a railroad workers strike, which could throw the United States supply chain into chaos. LaRocco speaks with Jeremy Ferguson, president of Smart-TD, Tony Cardwell, vice chairman of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division, and Michael Baldwin, president of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen.

☆ House approves tentative labor deal to avoid rail strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The House passed legislation Wednesday that would force a tentative rail labor agreement and thwart a national strike. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also plans to hold a separate vote to add seven days of paid sick leave to the agreement. He met with the four House and Senate leaders Tuesday in an effort to avoid the economic impacts of a rail strike, which the industry forecasts could cost the U.S. economy $2 billion per day. Railways and their labor unions had until Dec. 9 to reach an agreement before workers promised to strike. The tentative labor deal grants workers one additional personal day, for a total of three personal days for railroad workers.

WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote Wednesday to block a potential a U.S. rail strike after President Joe Biden warned of the dire economic consequences of a rail disruption that could happen as early as Dec. 9. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers will vote Wednesday to impose a tentative contract deal struck in September. At a White House meeting Tuesday with congressional leaders, the Democratic president was asked if he was confident he could avert a rail strike, and responded, "I am confident." Labor unions have criticized the railroads’ sick leave and attendance policies and the lack of paid sick days for short-term illness. There are no paid sick days under the tentative deal.

☆ If rail strike begins, 'I think every union' will honor picket line, says BLET president
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

One of the largest rail labor unions, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), will honor the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) strike date of December 5, the first date upon which a rail union to reject the proposed labor deal with freight railroad companies can strike. "Our members will certainly honor the picket line of BRS," BLET president Dennis Pierce told CNBC. The BRS has not announced if it would extend a cooling-off period to match a later potential strike date of Dec. 9. On Monday, SMART-TD, one of the largest rail unions, voted down the labor deal, but its first strike date is December 9. Access to time off is one of the components of the BLET agreement, and rail unions have been pushing to make federal contractor sick pay policies a permanent benefit for union members.

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