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☆ Bob Iger announced exciting plans for Apple's Vision Pro headset, but after wide cuts, some are questioning Disney's appetite for 'rebellious innovation'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Disney's Apple Vision Pro partnership has stoked excitement and concern at the media company. "Mandalorian" footage in the Vision Pro demo. AppleBut an innovation team that worked on Disney's Apple Vision Pro offering is being disbanded, with its founder and leader exiting the company as part of the cuts. Disney's Vision Pro partnership was its latest project. A source with knowledge of Disney's Vision Pro work said it's still ongoing and that there are other teams at Disney still working on that project.

Persons: Bob Iger, Iger, Dave Lankford, WWDC, Disney's, Dirk Van Dall, Mike White, it's, Aaron LaBerge, Jeremy Doig, Bob Chapek, DMED Organizations: Apple Vision, Insiders, Disney, DMED, Apple, Apple's Worldwide, Conference, Iger, Vision, Advanced, Netflix, Disney's, Hollywood, ESPN, Marvel, Geographic Locations: verticals

☆ The CEO of software giant Intuit, which has avoided mass layoffs, says tech firms axed jobs because they misread the pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Shona Ghosh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Almost 300,000 staff have been laid off by tech firms since the start of 2022, per Layoffs.fyi. Those mass layoffs are down to companies misunderstanding the pandemic, says Intuit's CEO. "There's nothing for these people to do — they're really — it's all fake work," Rabois said at the time. However, Goodarzi told Insider that mass layoffs had in fact unnerved the remaining star talent at major tech firms, particularly in AI. Hiring, he said, had "actually become easier because of all the tech layoffs, because of the uncertainty the layoffs have caused."

Persons: miscalculating, Sasan Goodarzi, Goodarzi, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Keith Rabois, Elon Musk, Rabois Organizations: Intuit, Companies, Meta, Google, Facebook, Twitter

☆ Journalists at the nation’s largest newspaper chain are walking off the job in a showdown with its CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The biggest newspaper chain in the country is about to be rocked by the biggest walkout of its staff in history. On Monday, hundreds of Gannett journalists plan to stage a one-day strike during the media company’s annual shareholder meeting. The journalists want shareholders to take a vote of no-confidence against Mike Reed, Gannett’s chief executive. In a Thursday statement, Gannett referenced some of the industry challenges it has faced and strongly contested the allegations the NewsGuild-CWA are leveling against it. “Our leadership is focused on investing in local newsrooms and monetizing our content as we continue to negotiate fairly and in good faith with the NewsGuild.

Persons: Mike Reed, Reed, “ Reed, ”, Jon Schleuss, “, ” Cheryl Makin, “ We’re, Kaitlyn Kanzler Organizations: CNN, Gannett, CWA, Austin American, Statesman, Rochester Democrat, Chronicle, Morale, Home News Tribune Locations: Arizona Republic, Rochester, axing

☆ Novavax says it is axing 25% of its workforce to cut costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Novavax is laying off 25% of its workforce to slash expenses, the biotech company said Tuesday. Still, the Maryland-based company said it’s focused on updating its Covid vaccine for the fall vaccine season, citing a modified US government agreement for up to 1.5 million additional doses of its Covid vaccine for delivery this year. Novavax expects its broader cost reduction plan, which also includes measures to consolidate facilities and infrastructure, to cut costs by 40% to 50% compared to the previous fiscal year. The US public health emergency is set to end on May 11, meaning Americans could have to start paying out of pocket for Covid testing and treatment. Novavax is the latest company to reduce its headcount to cut costs as companies brace for a possible recession and scale back their workforce after pandemic-era hiring sprees.

☆ Vice staffers fear salary and severance payments could be impacted as the company moves closer to bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Vice is expected to file for bankruptcy, and some staffers fear salary or severance payments could be affected. The WGA East represents the Vice Union and said it will work to ensure members receive "everything owed." Vice has cut dozens of staff along with canceling its cable show "Vice News Tonight." Last month Vice said it was axing "Vice News Tonight," which once aired on HBO but shifted in 2019 to Vice's own cable channel, Vice TV. A second Vice insider said: "Hundreds of people lose their jobs and Shane gets his back?

☆ Big Tech jobs are on the line after Google, IBM, and Dropbox say they're leaning into AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A number of corporations across tech, media, and finance have made major staff cuts this year. At the same, many companies are pivoting to invest more in AI — some even citing it as a reason for cutting jobs. Here are how some major companies are pivoting — and axing jobs — as part of an AI push. At the same time, the focus on AI could mean some jobs are wiped out entirely. It's hard to ignore that AI tools have already become proficient at several professional tasks that once fell under the domain of humans like writing emails, analyzing data, and even coding.

☆ UniCredit to use 300 mln euro charges for staff exits-sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly results, UniCredit on Wednesday raised its 2023 profit goal above 6.5 billion euros ($7.2 billion) and said the figure included 300 million euros in restructuring charges it would book mostly in the second quarter. UniCredit last year invited applications from staff who wanted to retire early and were within five years of qualifying for a pension. On Dec. 1 it signed an accord with unions and booked 239 million euros in charges to fund voluntary exits to be replaced by younger hires. Eager to protect its branch network, UniCredit allocated 80% of the 2022 early retirement packages to people from its central offices, raising complaints from unions, the source added. UniCredit underwent years of restructuring under CEO Jean Pierre Mustier, but cost cuts remain a key plank of new CEO Andrea Orcel's strategy.

☆ CEO of fitness band maker Whoop mocks the demise of Amazon's Halo health device
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The CEO of Whoop, a fitness band favored by athletes, is claiming victory over Amazon after the e-retailer pulled the plug on its line of Halo devices. Amazon said last week it will discontinue its Halo health and fitness devices, and shut down the Halo program, resulting in some employees being let go. Whoop CEO Will Ahmed said he views the demise of Halo as a win for his startup. He claimed the Halo wristband, which tracks users' physical activity, sleep and mood, was a knockoff of Whoop's own device. Whoop launched its first product, the Whoop 1.0, in 2015.

NatWest said the reduction in its deposits, however, mainly reflected the axing of its underperforming Irish arm Ulster and higher customer tax bills. Deposits across its consumer, business and private bank nonetheless fell 11.1 billion pounds. NatWest, meanwhile, reported pretax profit that leapt 49% to 1.8 billion pounds ($2.24 billion), above an average of analyst forecasts of 1.6 billion pounds. Rising interest rates boosted NatWest's income by 29% to 3.9 billion pounds, but analysts said this narrowly missed expectations and they had hoped for an upgraded outlook. ($1 = 0.8028 pounds)Reporting by Iain Withers, Editing by Sinead Cruise and Lawrence WhiteOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Big Tech's employee culls and 'year of efficiency' are working
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tech's 'year of efficiency' is showing early signs of working. It's about the current crop of tech CEOs showing investors they can run a tight ship well into the future. Meta has also started to see some payoff from its recent efforts to curb costs and bet on AI too. The positive results come after tech firms talked up 2023 as a year of efficiency. Insider analysis has found many of tech's most brutal job-choppers expanded rapidly through the pandemic, at the cost of efficiency.

☆ The 7 theories for why Tucker Carlson got fired from Fox News
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Tucker Carlson was axed by Fox News Monday, days after it settled Dominion's defamation lawsuit. Here are seven theories for why Fox News decided to part ways with Carlson. Since then, media industry insiders have been buzzing with different theories for why Carlson was pushed out. The C-wordWithin the Dominion lawsuit, there emerged a pattern of vulgar language spewed by Carlson throughout his time at Fox News. Rupert Murdoch (right) and Lachlan Murdoch at the US Open in 2018.

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Charlie Bell speaks, Amazon RTO, and the lucrative side of teaching ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon needs to watch out for Charlie Bell. A founder of Amazon Web Services and the firm's "best person in the room," Bell shook the industry last September when he joined Microsoft. Bell will be overseeing a new cybersecurity division at Microsoft — but insiders at both Amazon and Microsoft wonder if he'll go more directly up against his former employer. My colleague Ashley Stewart examines the growing threat of Microsoft now that Bell is free from his noncompete purgatory. Look into the future here for Bell — and Microsoft — without Amazon's restrictions.

☆ Get America's cheapest electric car while you still can
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Launched in 2016, the Bolt EV is the cheapest electric car in America. General Motors is axing the electric hatchback (and its SUV relative, the Bolt EUV) from its lineup this year, it announced Tuesday. The Chevrolet Bolt EV electric hatchback. The Bolt EV, which launched in 2016, is America's cheapest EV at $26,500 (or $19,000 after a $7,500 federal tax credit). The 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV.

☆ Wall Street veteran Michael Klein is the latest casualty of the banking crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Carter Johnson | Kaja Whitehouse | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Michael Klein was tapped last year as CEO of CS First Boston, Credit Suisse's investment banking spinoff. There's a new casualty of the banking crisis: Wall Street deals veteran Michael Klein. Credit Suisse and Klein "have mutually agreed to terminate the acquisition of The Klein Group," the company said in its first-quarter earnings announcement. It marks the latest blow for Credit Suisse's investment bankers. Here's everything you need to know about Klein and what the scuttling of the deal means for Credit Suisse's investment bankers.

☆ Meta is one of the most brutal tech job-choppers so far, axing about a quarter of employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The major tech firms are conducting ongoing, brutal layoffs. We crunched the numbers to see which major tech firms have reduced their headcount the most. According to Insider analysis, Meta follows after announcing cuts that amount to almost a quarter of its workforce, which was around 87,000 staff in 2022. Our analysis doesn't include the third round of Meta job cuts which began this week, reportedly numbering in the thousands. A recent Insider analysis shows that revenue per employee dropped at many of the major tech firms now chopping jobs.

☆ Amazon-owned Whole Foods is laying off hundreds of corporate employees and axing some regional offices
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Whole Foods is laying off several hundred corporate employees, CNBC reported Thursday. The cuts will affect "less than half of a percent" of Whole Foods' global workforce, CNBC reported, citing a Whole Foods spokesperson. Positions at Whole Foods stores and distribution centers aren't affected by the layoffs, according to the memo. The layoffs and reorganization will "further simplify our operations, make processes easier, and improve how we support our stores," according to the memo. Among them are cutting prices on frequently purchased grocery items and giving corporate teams more say over matters once delegated to regional staff.

☆ CNN is axing Laura Coates' 11 p.m. anchor slot to save on costs, according to sources, and insiders are concerned about on-air representation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

CNN is still shifting its late night lineup, and Laura Coates will no longer anchor solo at 11 p.m.Coates is said to be "stunned" and "disappointed" by losing the opportunity. On paper, Coates would seem like the ideal figure to fill the network's 11 p.m. slot, particularly as CNN already shared a press release about her appointment to the role in January. CNN and news industry insiders who commented for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to speak to the press. "They pulled her off to save money," said one person familiar with internal conversations at CNN. The network's only Black solo anchors now are Abby Phillip, who helms the high-profile "Inside Politics Sunday," and Fredricka Whitfield, who also hosts a weekend show.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter is roughly breaking even. That looks like vindication for his haphazard management but he'll need a sharper plan to get to profitability.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk's reign of chaos at Twitter may have saved it from collapse, but there's a long way to go. This was better than the $1.1 billion Twitter lost in 2020, but still indicative of the firm's struggle for consistent profitability. Another, possibly terminal, issue: Musk seems not to have quite figured out what he wants Twitter to be. But if he wants Twitter to make money consistently, Musk needs users coming back for the long run. Chaos won't do that.

☆ Big Tech employees are getting culled. Their European colleagues get stronger labor laws and softer landings.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

European Big Tech employees have better labor protections"There are regulations in Europe that apply to collective situations, based on European law: the so-called Mass Dismissal Directive," said Dr. Jordan. But in January, Twitter employees were reported to have been paid just one month's severance, according to CNN. Twitter employees in other European hubs such as Germany, Spain, Ireland, and the UK are also pushing back, with the help of the countries' labor laws and unions. Twitter employees in Germany have also worked with the Verdi union to push Twitter into making a better severance offer, Fortune reported. The process could take months instead of weeks, Brittin added — another testament to Europe's stronger labor protections for its employees.

☆ Twitter overhauled its verified check marks this weekend — but seemingly only for The New York Times account
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The first day of Twitter's previously announced axing of "legacy" verified checks nearly passed without incident. However, Twitter CEO Elon Musk was presented with a meme about the New York Times not intending to pay to keep its check. "Oh ok, we'll take it off then," Musk said, and the Times' gold check disappeared overnight. "Oh ok, we'll take it off then," Musk said in another response Saturday night, and the Times' gold check disappeared sometime overnight. Both James and Alexander still have blue check marks as of Sunday afternoon.

☆ Humanity has decided it can say 'no' to AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The latest development in AI: humanity has decided it can say "no." Elon Musk was one of more than 1,000 people to sign an open letter calling for a six-month pause on advanced AI development. The letter cited several potential risks to humanity and society, including the spread of misinformation and automation of jobs. Bosses have forgotten how to say "good job" — and it's driving employees to quit. Big Tech's big downgrade.

☆ CHARTS: We analyzed revenue per employee to show why Amazon, Meta, and others are axing workers with brutality and speed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

One productivity metric to watch is revenue per employee, which has fallen at some big firms. Tech companies swelled in the years up to and during the pandemic, but more manpower didn't necessarily mean more money. The chart shows Amazon, Meta, and Twitter in particular hired heavily from 2018, but also experienced declining revenue per employee. Size isn't everythingAnd how have tech companies fared against each other? The chart above shows Amazon and Salesforce are producing roughly the same revenue per employee as Twitter despite having tens of thousands more workers: each employee at Amazon generated $333,550 in revenue last year, while Salesforce employees generated $394,911.

☆ Israel isn't 'out of the woods' even though Netanyahu paused the plan that pushed his country into chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( John Haltiwanger | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A judicial overhaul plan pushed by Netanyahu's government sparked a major crisis in Israel. "The crisis was deferred, but definitely not resolved," a former US ambassador to Israel told Insider. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to hit pause on a deeply controversial plan to overhaul the country's judiciary, but Israel's problems are far from over. One piece of the plan has already been passed into law, narrowing the circumstances under which a prime minister can be deemed unfit for office. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a voting session in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, Israel on March 27, 2023.

☆ A 2nd round of layoffs at Meta and Amazon shows companies are taking back their power — and they may not stop there
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Meta and Amazon have announced two series of mass layoffs in the span of months. After years of companies trying to attract and placate workers amid a labor shortage, businesses are reasserting some of their power. "We read about two rounds of layoffs now and shrug and say, 'When's the third?'" Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesIt's rare for a company to conduct multiple rounds of layoffs, according to data from Crunchbase. Amazon and Meta did it, so it won't stand out as much."

Credit Suisse staff had already been seeking to jump ship in recent weeks, sources told Reuters. "Many Credit Suisse bankers had already been talking to a lot of people for a while [about leaving the Swiss bank]. An executive at a rival London-based wealth manager said they had seen a steady flow of CVs coming in from Credit Suisse bankers. UBS told Credit Suisse wealth bankers on Monday that it was weighing financial sweeteners for them to stay, as it seeks to reassure key staff. Some experts have said Britain's financial services industry could ultimately benefit from recent bouts of turmoil in the United States and Switzerland.

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