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☆ Salesforce's Marc Benioff has revised a plan to stack rank a bottom 5% and ordered employees back to the office, according to leaked messages
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Ellen Thomas | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has made revisions to the company's annual strategic plan, including return-to-office mandates and policies that would have implemented stack ranking, according to an internal Slack message viewed by Insider. "He's still pushing performance culture," a Salesforce employee who read the revised draft told Insider. It currently requires three days a week in the office for non-remote employees and four days a week for employees in "non-remote" and "customer-facing" roles. Revenue for fiscal 2022 grew 25%, to $26.5 billion, according to the company's annual report. Or, as an employee previously posted in a Slack channel, "Can execs commit to never referring to Salesforce employees as 'family' again?

☆ Larry Fink has a new chief of staff, an under-the-radar position that's become a powerful post at BlackRock
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has named executive Willie Alford as his new chief of staff. Sarah Schaffer, an executive and Fink's prior chief of staff, will take on a new role at BlackRock. This may be especially true if you worked directly with Larry Fink, the firm's chief executive and among the most powerful people on Wall Street. Fink's chief of staff position has vaulted executives into new heights. A more common C-suite roleThe chief of staff role has taken off across corporations and beyond the position's roots in government and military operations.

☆ Retailers are hoarding labor even as tech layoffs mount
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some retailers are bucking the trend of layoffs and holding on to workers. But on the store level, retailers are holding on tight to their workers, even seasonal workers who they typically would have dismissed by now, in a practice known as "labor hoarding." "The concept of labor hoarding is alive and well," Kenneth Kim, a senior economist at KPMG, told Insider. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesThose layoffs don't seem to be an emerging trend in the retail sector, Kim from KPMG said. And while there were 417,000 job cuts in January, the official models were accounting for a lot more, since that's when many retailers typically begin laying off seasonal workers.

☆ The House Ethics Committee may not go after 'loyal soldier' George Santos, ethics experts warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The House Ethics Committee could investigate George Santos over his alleged malfeasance. But ethics experts warn that the evenly-divided committee — composed of five Republicans and five Democrats — is unlikely to move swiftly or even take significant action on Santos. That's where the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) — a separate investigative entity run by a non-partisan staff — could step in. And the Department of Justice could simply ask both the Ethics Committee and OCE to stand down, as they've already reportedly done with the Federal Election Commission. The office frequently makes preliminary investigations of complaints against members of Congress, making a referral to the House Ethics Committee if they determine the offense to warrant further inquiry.

“If it’s a room of five people, Anita and Bob are two of them,” said a former White House aide, who asked to remain anonymous because the person was not authorized to speak on the record about White House business. The White House declined to comment for this piece. The group of White House aides that were looped in on the discovery immediately was slightly larger and included Dunn, this person said. “Whatever strategy they had has not served him well — the lack of transparency from November to January,” said a second former White House official. Bauer, who didn’t join the administration, has acted as a sounding board for White House lawyers on potential hires.

☆ House Republicans launch investigation into DOJ's probe of Biden's classified records
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan is opening his own investigation into the Biden files. Jordan wants Attorney General Merrick Garland to share information about the DOJ probe. Jordan laid out his myriad concerns about Biden's treatment of sensitive records during his tenure as vice president in a three-page letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland. Jordan's swift action comes as the newly-empowered House GOP leaders plot an ambitious oversight agenda while rank-and-file members are giddily picking out impeachment targets. Jordan gave Garland until January 27 to provide the requested information.

☆ Putin is fighting an 'internal power struggle' to weaken critics amid Russia's mounting military failures in Ukraine, war experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Putin is likely moving to silence critics with this move as he fights an internal power struggle, analysts say. Ukrainian intelligence has also suggested that Surovkin is a rival of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, ISW said. ISW said Gerasimov's appointment was also designed to "support an intended decisive Russian military effort in 2023, likely in the form of resumed Russian offensive operations." After failing to take Kyiv in the early months of the war, Russia turned its attention to Ukraine's east. It's unclear whether the recent change in leadership in Ukraine will drastically alter Russia's narrowing options on the battlefield.

☆ Premarket stocks: Bruised tech investors are hedging their bets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —There are two certainties in today’s market: The tech sector has been beaten down and interest rates are higher. What’s happening: Investors are purchasing put options, a bearish bet that a stock will fall during a set period of time, on certain tech stocks at historic rates. The losses also created a booming market for investors who hold put option contracts that allow investors to sell shares of these stocks at a price higher than their current levels. Rising interest rates also dried up the easy money tech companies relied on to fuel big bets on future innovations, and cut into their sky-high valuations. Beyond that, the growing number of layoffs may also give certain tech companies some cover to take more severe steps to trim costs now than they may have otherwise done.

☆ Stitch Fix lays off 20% of workforce and its CEO steps down
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Stitch Fix, facing economic turbulence, announced a double whammy on Thursday: CEO Elizabeth Spaulding is stepping down and the company planned to lay off 20% of its salaried staff. “We will be losing many talented team members from across the company and I am truly sorry,” Stitch Fix (SFIX)founder and former CEO Katrina Lake wrote in a blog post. Shares of Stitch Fix rose 6% on the news. Elizabeth Spaulding, CEO of Stitch Fix, announced she was stepping down on Thursday. But Stitch Fix has struggled as more shoppers return to in-person buying at stores and pull back on their online spending.

☆ Salesforce's massive layoffs are a sign for Silicon Valley that the worst is yet to come
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Matt Weinberger | Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Cloud companies took a hit in 2022 and saw massive cuts in public and private valuations. Analysts say that Salesforce, Microsoft, and other business-oriented tech companies are staring down the barrel of customers cutting their IT budgets. The rush to remote working at the beginning of the pandemic meant companies purchased tons of new cloud software tools. For software vendors, any company that's offering a single tool versus a platform is likely to see cuts, RBC said. RBC analysts are expecting more layoffs ahead.

☆ Jan. 6 transcripts detail numerous warning signs of potential for violence before Capitol attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Ryan J. Reilly Is A Justice Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

WASHINGTON — Transcripts of interviews with law enforcement officials released this week by the Jan. 6 committee reveal the panel learned that numerous security concerns had been raised in the days leading up to the attack on the Capitol. For the most part, Jan. 6 committee leaders decided against focusing the final report on how law enforcement came to be so underprepared for the attack. The Jan. 6 committee transcripts detailed the challenges facing the FBI in the lead-up to Jan. 6. An FBI intelligence analyst raised concerns about that on New Year's Eve, as threats about Jan. 6 continued to increase. “He said it was intelligence failure," Harvin said.

☆ 14 business leaders making corporate America more inclusive in an increasingly polarized society
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Insider is proud to present its third-annual list of diversity trailblazers in corporate America. These leaders, ranging from execs at Bank of America to Google, are advancing equity in business. Inflation, worker shortages, and worries about potential recession are topping corporate leaders' lists of concerns. Insider is pleased to present its third-annual list of notable diversity officers changing their companies. Collectively, these executives are helping break barriers for an untold number of workers while also pushing their fellow corporate leaders to make their businesses more inclusive.

☆ The Biggest Debates and Opinions in 2022 - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +30 min

Opinion The 22 Debates That Made Us Rage, Roll Our Eyes, and Change Our Minds in 2022Debating is what we do here at Times Opinion. To many, she was an icon: She ruled for 70 years, presided over the transition from empire to commonwealth and served as a living link to the generation that won World War II. (Though Ben Bernanke, a former Fed chairman himself, wrote in The Times that that wasn’t going to happen.) The United States and its European allies poured weapons and aid into Ukraine, but how was this going to end? As 2022 draws to a close, the fighting continues and peace talks look as distant as ever — which probably means that the debates will continue.

☆ Goldman Sachs to lay off up to 8% of its workforce
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Goldman Sachs plans to lay off up to 8% of its employees. CEO David Solomon previously said the firm is seeing "headwinds on our expense lines." Goldman Sachs has also been hit by losses to its burgeoning consumer banking division. This month, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon suggested that tough decisions could be ahead, saying at the firm's financial services conference that the firm wasn't immune to economic forces. Goldman Sachs previously laid off a number of bankers and others across departments including its tech, health care and media teams, Insider previously reported in September.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

☆ Companies are too quick to lay off employees in a recession, one entrepreneur says. Instead, they should focus on retaining valuable 'human capital.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Instead, he said, business owners should look at other ways to cut costs. This article is part of Talent Insider, a series containing expert advice to help small business owners tackle a range of hiring challenges. He attributed that outcome to the closer relationships business owners have with their employees. But Niddel said it's not enough to ask employees to take a pay cut if the founder isn't doing so as well. For example, Luzio and her chief operating officer took larger pay cuts than the rest of the staff.

☆ Inside the turbulent, doomed campaign of Herschel Walker
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +14 min

Republican candidate Herschel Walker's campaign was starved for cash as it faced Sen. Raphael Warnock and his deep-pocketed Democratic allies. Beyond highlighting an intense clash in a nationally watched political campaign’s crucible, the blowup underscored the core problem of Walker’s campaign: Walker. The so-called “oppo” book, however, didn’t have information about the abortion story, which rocked Walker’s campaign. And despite the damaging information that could come out in a campaign, Walker decided to run anyway. By Election Day, Walker campaign staffers knew they were likely to lose.

☆ CNN is notifying staff of layoffs as Warner Bros. Discovery seeks further cost reductions. Read CEO Chris Licht's memo to staff about the cuts.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CNN is executing a huge layoff plan starting today, according to a company memo sent out by CEO Chris Licht. CNN CEO Chris Licht notified employees today that the news organization will begin lay-offs as part of a cost reduction effort implemented by parent company Warner Bros. On Thursday, CNN employees will learn if they are impacted. Read Licht's full memo below:To my CNN colleagues,Our people are the heart and soul of this organization. Tomorrow, we will notify impacted employees, and tomorrow afternoon I will follow up with more details on these changes.

☆ AMC Networks CEO Christina Spade, who worked for just 3 months, is entitled to a payout of over $10 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AMC Networks CEO Christina Spade stepped down after only three months in her new role. She is entitled to a severance payout of at least $10.5 million. A November 28 filing details that Spade would receive the severance benefits laid out in her employment agreement. Spade, who joined AMC Networks as CFO last year and became CEO in September, had a minimum annual base salary of $1.75 million, as well as a bonus of double that salary, according to the agreement. "We of course realize that this will cause significant concern and anxiety for our employees and those who rely on AMC Networks for their livelihood," the memo said.

President Donald Trump is boxing his own shadow as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination — and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. Dan Eberhart, a Republican fundraiser who once backed Trump but now wants DeSantis to be the party’s nominee in 2024, said there's time. In the world of GOP elites, the field is quickly narrowing to Trump and DeSantis, and the Florida Republican source said there is something unique about their rivalry. “The fact is Ron is different from any other Republican who might run against Trump,” the Republican said. But more than that, he said, Republican voters are exhausted.

☆ Real-estate tech firms are getting hammered by a cataclysmic reckoning that one VC called a cross between the 2001 dot-com bust and the 2008 market crash
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The proptech sector is battling two challenges at once: a slowing housing market and a tech bust. For almost a decade, a growing group of companies have thrived by introducing tech innovations to a stubbornly analog real-estate industry. "Now we're seeing something that feels like a confluence between the 2001 dot-com bust in the venture-capital world and the 2008 market crash in real estate. Shares of both Opendoor and Redfin, which once drew investor attention to the soaring proptech industry, are worth roughly one-tenth what where they were a year ago. The company hasn't laid off any of its 300-person staff — including a roughly 50-person tech team — and doesn't plan to, Matthews said.

☆ Elizabeth Holmes' friends and family filed 130 letters asking for lenient sentencing, written by everyone like Cory Booker and Tim Draper to David Sokol and ex-Theranos staff — here are some highlight
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

"This process is a string of unlikely events that lawyers, advisors and board members all told her would never come to be." He wrote: "Liz has been called an incredible salesperson, that she wooed investors, partners, and employees with a sales pitch so compelling that they couldn't help but to be involved. Evans also shed some light on goings-on in Holmes' life during the trial. He says Holmes is, in fact, pregnant, as one witness hinted at in a recent evidentiary hearing. "The price Liz and our family pays for this process is not just the potential incarceration that you will decide.

☆ Elon Musk has 'worked every day to find new and creative ways to screw over the company's workers,' attorney suing Twitter over layoffs says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The attorney suing Twitter has filed an emergency motion to protect employees from signing away their rights. Musk sent his first email to employees on Wednesday, giving them only one day to return to office. Musk "has worked every day to find new and creative ways to screw over the company's workers," Liss-Riordan added in the statement. In the email, Musk said the company will no longer allow remote work — giving workers just one day to get back to the office. "Through this litigation, Twitter employees are going to show the richest man in the world that even he is not above the law," she added.

☆ Facebook has announced layoffs. Here's which teams are likely to be affected.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But in the tech world: There's one thing we can't seem to escape — layoffs. Elon Musk's Twitter is asking some laid-off workers if they want to come back. Meanwhile, some tech workers who have been laid off are taking to TikTok to post "get ready with me" videos wherein they film themselves — you guessed it — getting ready to be laid off. According to people familiar with the company, divisions including marketing, partnerships, HR, and engineering will be among the hardest hit. Elon Musk is looking to rehire Twitter workers.

☆ Elon Musk jokes about overpaying for Twitter and reiterates plan to charge $8 a month at confab for wealthy investors as the company enacts mass layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Musk said the layoffs will save the company $400 million a year, and presented his turnaround plan. Musk's appearance comes as he gears up to lay off as much as 50% of Twitter's 7,500 staff — one week after purchasing the struggling social media company. Musk also gave his pitch for turning the troubled social media company around, including plans to start charging verified user $8 a month. Twitter emailed staff on Thursday, warning of impending layoffs "in an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path." Former Twitter employees are flocking to social media to share their experiences.

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