Qualcomm Wants Consortium of Rivals to Ensure Arm Remains Independent

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Qualcomm Wants Consortium of Rivals to Ensure Arm Remains Independent

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon wants his company to be part of a consortium of rivals that would invest in Arm and ensure its independence.

Arm Holdings is one of the leading semiconductor design firms, with companies around the globe licensing its designs to serve as the basis for their chips. Apple’s A-series and M1 line of chips are prime examples. The company was recently in talks to be acquired by Nvidia, but that deal fell through over concerns that owning Arm would give Nvidia an unfair advantage. Amon wants to make sure that scenario is never again a possibility.

SoftBank, Arm’s current owner, is now looking to spin-off Arm as an independent company following the failure of the Nvidia deal. Amon told Financial Times, via Ars Technica, he wants many companies to invest in Arm to ensure no one company could gain an unfair advantage.

“We’re an interested party in investing,” Amon said in an interview. “It’s a very important asset and it’s an asset which is going to be essential to the development of our industry.”

“You’d need to have many companies participating so they have a net effect that Arm is independent,” he added.

Amon sees this strategy as a way for Arm to return to its roots and do business the way it did before SoftBank acquired it.

“Arm has won everywhere because of the collective investment of the entire ecosystem, from companies like Apple and Qualcomm and many others, and that’s because it was an independent, open architecture that everybody could invest in,” said Amon, referring to the pre-SoftBank period.

Given Arm’s importance to the industry, it’s a safe bet his sentiments will be echoed by many of Arm’s customers. In fact, Intel has expressed similar interest in a consortium to purchase Arm.

Qualcomm Wants Consortium of Rivals to Ensure Arm Remains Independent
Matt Milano

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Judge Orders IBM to Pay BMC $1.6 Billion

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Judge Orders IBM to Pay BMC $1.6 Billion

A federal judge has ordered IBM to pay BMC $1.6 billion for “intentional wrongdoing” when it poached mutual clients from the latter.

According to Bloomberg, IBM and BMC had an agreement that governed how they would operate, especially when it came to mutual clients. The agreement forbade IBM from trying to poach those clients, but BMC accused IBM of doing just that. In particular, BMC accused IBM of swapping out its software when servicing AT&T, their mutual customer. A judge agreed, fining IBM $1.6 billion.

IBM tried to claim that AT&T voluntarily dropped BMC and switched to its software on its own accord. If that were true, IBM claimed it would be allowed under the terms of the agreement. The judge didn’t buy IBM’s argument, saying its actions “smacked of intentional wrongdoing.”

US District Judge Gray Miller had harsh words for IBM, saying the company “believed — especially in light of BMC’s reluctance to engage in litigation — that it could ‘always settle for a small percentage of the claim’ or for ‘pennies on the dollar.’” The judge continued, saying “IBM’s conduct vis-à-vis BMC offends the sense of justice and propriety the public expects from American business.”

Judge Orders IBM to Pay BMC $1.6 Billion
Matt Milano

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Apple AR/VR Headset Still a Year Away

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Apple AR/VR Headset Still a Year Away

Despite rumors saying Apple will release its long-rumored AR/VR headset at this year’s WWDC, a new report says it won’t appear until next year.

Apple has been working on an AR/VR headset for some time, eager to spread its vision of how the metaverse should work. According to well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s headset won’t be released until next year.

It still takes some time before Apple AR/MR headset enters mass production, so I don’t think Apple will release AR/MR headset and rumored realityOS at WWDC this year. Apple’s competitors worldwide can’t wait to see the hardware spec and OS design for Apple’s AR/MR headset. — Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo), May 31, 2022

I’m sure that if Apple announces AR/MR headset and its OS at WWDC, competitors will immediately kick off copycat projects and happily copy Apple’s excellent ideas, and hit the store shelves before Apple launches in 2023. — Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo), May 31, 2022

Unlike some some companies, with a focus primarily on VR, Apple believes AR is the key, since it encourages interaction with the physical world. As a result, it’s a safe bet Apple’s headset will offer a unique take, compared to competitors’.

Earlier reports indicated that Apple’s headset might be released at WWDC 2022. One of the supporting factors was the registration of a trademark for “realityOS” by a shell corporation likely tied to Apple. The trademark is being filed worldwide on June 8, coinciding with WWDC, which begins June 6.

Despite that clue, Kuo has a well-earned reputation for accuracy, so it’s a safe bet we won’t see the headset this year.

Apple AR/VR Headset Still a Year Away
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J.P. Morgan: Meta Will Tap Broadcom For Its Metaverse Hardware

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J.P. Morgan: Meta Will Tap Broadcom For Its Metaverse Hardware

Broadcom is reportedly on the verge of receiving a major boost, thanks to Meta’s efforts to build out the necessary hardware to power the metaverse.

Broadcom is a leading semiconductor maker, with its chips used in a wide array of industries, including networking. According to Reuters, J.P. Morgan analysts believe Meta is poised to become Broadcom’s next billion-dollar customer.

The deal will revolve around ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chips. Between Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet, ASIC could be worth some $2 billion to $2.5 billion in revenue for Broadcom in 2022.

“We believe these wins are primarily at 5 nanometre and 3 nanometre and will be used to power Meta’s metaverse hardware architecture that it will deploy over the next few years,” analyst Harlan Sur said.

Meta, specifically, will become Broadcom’s next $1 billion-a-year customers over the course of the next several years.

J.P. Morgan: Meta Will Tap Broadcom For Its Metaverse Hardware
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How to Increase Customer Satisfaction Through Agent Coaching

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How to Increase Customer Satisfaction Through Agent Coaching

Good customer service is a cornerstone of successful businesses, so it makes sense that business leaders want their employees to deliver the best customer service possible. Many of the processes and tools supervisors use are outdated, which makes it difficult to scale customer service satisfaction beyond a fraction of interactions. Giving your employees the tools, resources, and inspiration to deliver exceptional service is a great strategy to keep your clients happy and loyal. In this article, we’ll explain how to increase customer satisfaction through CS (Customer Service) agent coaching.

Customer service is one of the greatest factors in customer acquisition and retention. Great customer service makes businesses stand out among competitors and inspires word-of-mouth brand equity. Businesses use a variety of metrics to evaluate their customer service, and regular training teaches CS agents how to provide great service. But training, while critical, tends to be one-size-fits-all, and metrics such as average handle time (AHT) don’t always address pain points that lead to frustrated customers. This is where good CS agent coaching comes in.  

Building Tools for Success

In a world where personalization is expected, it’s not just customers who want personalized support. CS agents also need personalized feedback so they understand how to make customers happy. There are a few steps business leaders can take to make this happen.

First is collecting and analyzing the right data. This is best done using a coaching and quality assurance software such as MaestroQA, which brings all aspects of coaching into one platform. Using a cohesive platform gives agents personalized tools for success by allowing them to track their own analytics. It also allows business leaders to focus on the right metrics. 

With the MaestroQA platform, collecting and analyzing data impacting customer happiness is key. For example, while a high first contact resolution rate (FCR) is typically good news, it may not matter as much for a company where customers value relationship-building. If your product boasts individualized customer support, multiple contacts — or follow-up emails saying “Thank you” — may throw off the data. Instead, quality assurance (QA) scorecards should be central to operations, in addition to company-specific metrics. 

Once you know you have the data you need, creating a customized data dashboard gets everyone on the same page. It allows agents to practice self-accountability and empowers them to understand their own analytics, leading to a culture of meaningful improvement.

Additionally, automating repetitive aspects of QA scoring enables your team to score more interactions with more efficiency. This also increases the customer support team’s trust of QA data. More QA data points mean more insight on how to satisfy customers. 

Ultimately, you want to find a QA program that aligns with your customer service philosophy and values.

Providing Resources Via Coaching

Next comes setting up 1:1 coaching sessions. These should be regularly scheduled to prevent agents from slipping through the cracks or feeling ambushed when things aren’t going well. Every agent needs to expect and receive coaching, however frequency of coaching depends on each agent. Early sessions should include a plan for how to process and implement coaching, taking into account each agents’ learning styles and strengths. Ongoing sessions should be tailored to both agent and customer needs.

To prepare for coaching sessions, QA analysis is helpful. This is because it refers back to actual data from customers. Screen recording also provides valuable insight into what CS agents need. This can reveal simple steps to improve response time and solve customer issues quickly. For example, customers directly benefit from an agent being able to quickly locate relevant internal articles. Discovering gaps in preparation for coaching means you’ll know how to best update your knowledge-base tool or learning management software (LMS), too. 

A few times coaching is especially beneficial: 

1. When onboarding new employees

Training is critical for employee success. However, early coaching can provide scenario-based opportunities for agents to apply training in real-time. Early interventions can prevent bad habits and enhance agent job satisfaction. Early personalized feedback means customers are more likely to get a seasoned agent, thus improving overall statistics.

2. When customer satisfaction is trending downward

Using a holistic analytics and coaching tool makes it easier to catch issues with customer satisfaction. The root cause of problems should guide coaching sessions and guide toward best practices. Resources can also be provided to individual agents to curb low CSAT scores.  

3. When implementing new systems

Providing coaching sessions when implementing new CS systems is crucial, especially as agent roles change to align with new digital solutions. Automation is the future, and agents need to understand how they fit into the customer experience. Customers may bring frustration if they’ve already interacted with a bot and received a bad answer. They may also bring more complex questions if the bot does its job of answering simple frontline questions. Coaching helps agents efficiently adjust to new technologies. 

Inspiring CS Agent Success

The well-known StrengthsFinder assessment is based on the formula Talent x Investment = Strength. Taking this formula and applying it to coaching develops agents’ strengths that may have less obvious CS applications, but help in the long run. Finding out what makes employees tick, and what reward systems motivate them, can also inspire excellence. 

Tracking individuals’ progress over time is the final step in coaching. If your company already has a smooth annual review system, it may be easiest to borrow elements of that system. If not, start by creating a file for each agent with ongoing coaching session notes, goals, and wins.

Allowing Coaching to Guide Culture

Coaching provides room for honest feedback from agents as well as coaches. It shows agents that supervisors aren’t out of touch with daily realities. Agents should be encouraged to bring concerns about workload, morale, and pain points to coaching sessions. When coaching leads to positive change in both customer happiness and organizational function, it inspires greater buy-in.

Coaching analytics, in turn, provide insight into low CSAT scores and help turn around uninspiring QA performance. Using coaching to improve customer experience leads to happier agents and, ultimately, customers. In the end, everyone wins. 

How to Increase Customer Satisfaction Through Agent Coaching
Brian Wallace

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realityOS: Apple’s AR/VR Plans Take Shape

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realityOS: Apple’s AR/VR Plans Take Shape

On the verge of Apple’s WWDC 2022, a new trademark finally offers a glimpse into Apple’s augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) plans.

First spotted by The Verge journalist Parker Ortolani, a trademark for “realityOS” has been filed by a shell company that has provided no proof of use.

It cannot be a coincidence that the “realityOS” trademark owned by a company that seemingly doesn’t exist and is specifically for “wearable computer hardware” is being filed around the world on June 8, 2022 — Parker Ortolani (@ParkerOrtolani), May 28, 2022

Apple has been rumored to be working on an AR/VR headset, and it is widely believed the company will be revealing it at WWDC. While “realityOS” has showed up in some of Apple’s source code, the trademark filing indicates it’s more than a codename, and likely the official name Apple will use for the version of iOS that will power its headset.

realityOS: Apple’s AR/VR Plans Take Shape
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Why Your Content Isn’t Ranking

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Why Your Content Isn’t Ranking

It happens all the time—you spend hours creating what you think is an amazing piece of content. You post it, and then weeks or months later, it’s still not ranking. If your content doesn’t rank, your audience doesn’t see it, and you can feel like your efforts were wasted. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the main goal of content creation. You want your content to rank organically and ideally as high as possible on the first page. 

Even well-written content doesn’t always rank, though, so why is that?

Below we explore some of the potential reasons a piece of content may not perform well organically after you post it. 

Understanding Content’s Ranking Potential 

In general, the more content you publish that’s high-quality on your site, the more likely you are to rank for keywords across the entire site. Google likes to see a lot of content because then the algorithms that fuel the search engine have more context, and they’re better able to understand what your site is about. 

Each time you publish a new piece of content, Google is getting more keywords, and that means more understanding of your brand. 

That’s why optimizing all of your content with semantically relevant keywords in your headers, descriptions, and titles is essential. 

That doesn’t mean you go for quantity over quality, however. Google can actually end up not only ignoring your content if it’s not high-quality—you could also be penalized. 

Along with the words you use in your content creating ranking opportunities, you’re also able to optimize your images. The way you optimize images is going to be a major ranking factor that drives traffic. 

So what if you’re in a situation where you know you’re creating great content that you feel is properly optimized, and you still aren’t ranking?

We’ll cover these situations below. 

Your Keywords Are Too Competitive

Probably one of the biggest reasons your content isn’t ranking is that you’re targeting keywords that are too competitive. Yes, they have a lot of volumes, and that can make them a shiny target, but to rank for keywords that are extremely competitive is going to be almost impossible for a new piece of content. 

First of all, stop with the one and two-word targeted keywords. Instead, look for long-tail, less competitive keywords. 

You should do a keyword search on everything you’re thinking about using for your content. Under a search box, if you type your targeted keyword in, you’ll see gray text that lets you know how many results it brings up. You can also use keyword tools to figure out the competitiveness of any given word or phrase. 

Irrelevant Content

You might create content that you think your ideal audience wants to see, but you might be wrong here. 

You have to think carefully about why you’re creating every piece of content before you spend time and effort on it. You also want to consider if you’re going to be able to truly add value to the lives of your readers with what you’re producing. 

If you’re not thinking carefully about creating value, you’re going to have weak, shallow content that doesn’t get much engagement.

The Content Is Outdated

If you have a lot of content on your site already and you don’t think it’s ranking as well as it should be, you need to consider whether it’s outdated. You need to update your old content on a regular basis, and that can help you boost its ranking. 

If you’re overwhelmed and have a lot of content, start with an audit. Go over your current content by performance, and then from there, look at your oldest and underperforming pieces of content to figure out if you could make changes that would help them be more relevant or updated. 

Your Site Has Technical Problems

If your site as a whole has technical issues, it’s going to prevent individual pieces of content from ranking. 

Common technical SEO problems include not having an XML sitemap, broken links, coding errors, privacy concerns, or Google not indexing your site. 

You may need to work with a developer if you think your problem stems from your technical SEO. 

Similar to some of the technical issues already mentioned, you also need to ensure your site is fast and mobile-friendly. Google has outright said that its priority in indexing content and sites is mobile-first. You can check using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test, and if your site isn’t responsive, you need to work on redesigning it. 

Similarly, site speed is also a critical ranking factor. If your site is too slow, you may need to invest in updates such as getting better hosting service or compressing your media files. 

Short, Thin Content

Just like Google wants to see updated and highly relevant content that’s tailored to the needs of your audience, you also want to make sure that your content is long enough. There’s a reason this matters.

First, when you have longer content, it gives Google more content to crawl. 

Also, long-form content tends to provide a very in-depth view of a topic, and that’s more likely to be high in value for a reader compared to short or thin content. 

This doesn’t mean you fill your content with meaningless fluff to try and up the word count, though. Don’t go overboard trying to have a longer article to the point that you’re no longer adding value. 

When you have in-depth content that’s relevant and valuable, this can help reduce your bounce rate because people are going to spend additional time browsing your site. That can in and of itself be a ranking factor for Google. 

You Don’t Have Enough Links

Finally, Google’s algorithm analyzes your site’s relevancy and domain authority when determining how to rank your site for particular keywords and phrases. The term domain authority was initially created by Moz, and it’s a prediction of how well your site will rank on search engines, with a score that ranges from 1-to 100. 

The number of links pointing to your site is part of this. If you don’t have a lot of backlinks to your site as a whole and also to individual pieces of content, it’s going to be tougher for you to rank. 

You need to use link-building strategies through relationship building and creating quality content. You should also send guest blog and content pitches to sites and publications or outsource the work to a professional link-building company.

Why Your Content Isn’t Ranking
Brian Wallace

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NFTs and the creator economy are on a collision course

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NFTs are accelerating the clash between the centralized and decentralized worlds, pitting big tech firms against creators.Read More

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What Does My Business Website Need to Succeed In 2022?

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What Does My Business Website Need to Succeed In 2022?

It’s reckoned there are around 2 billion websites in the world today. While only 200 million of them are active, that’s still a hell of a lot of content. And if you run a business, a lot of competition! So, having a great website for your operation is paramount. You’ve often got one chance to make a good impression, and if you blow your opportunity, it’s unlikely you’ll get a second go. You might think you’ve got a great site, but it might be a turn-off for your audience in reality. Read on and discover what your business website needs to succeed in 2022.

Goals

Business websites are digital shop windows. If you’re not sure what the purpose of your website should be, then you can be certain your audience won’t either. You must show them who you are, what you do and what you offer. Seems an obvious thing to say, but millions of sites out there never get this right at the outset. It’s not enough just to have a site – it needs to say something! Once you know what you want, then you’re off to a solid start and you can build from there.

Know Your Audience

So, you’ve established what you want. But what does what your audience want? If your site doesn’t match their needs, then you’ve a recipe for poor sales. Creating a good site takes time, money and energy – so you must ensure you’re hitting and attracting the right people. If your site is already up and running, then you’ll already have some key data sitting in Google Analytics, waiting to be tapped. If you’re not using this, then do not delay – it’s packed with priceless data on who is looking at your site and their behavior while they’re with you. It’s a brilliant place to get customer insights, and it’s free. Away from Google Analytics, you should look at your competitors. Who are they attracting? What are they doing? Once you understand your audience, you can design your content to suit.

Easy Navigation

Now your audience is identified, the next step is to ensure your site is structured in a way that makes navigating around it easy. It’s not a time for puzzles – people are time-poor and information-hungry. Satisfy both demands with a logically constructed site, with clear page categories and sections. It is very easy to get this design element wrong – you can have the best content and the best deals, but if they aren’t easy to find, they’re useless. It’s no surprise that millions of businesses make sure they get this right by using custom web development services for their sites.

Content

With your design confirmed, it’s now time to populate your site with the engaging, compelling content you need to reel customers in and keep them coming back for more. Original content is a must too – it is this which will help you stand out from the crowd and build your brand. Having a blog section is a great way to deliver informative content and establish your expertise. Blogs can cover all sorts of relevant subjects. It can be a bit of news about your company, an industry development, a new product, an event or even a “guest” blog from one of your suppliers or partners!

Use sensible fonts that are easy to read and aren’t jarring to look at. Always use the right words. Make everything clear and to the point and use a range of word lengths for your blogs and articles. Some topics need more detail than others! 

Eye-catching imagery is a must – it has been long established that humans respond more strongly to visuals than text. Bland or poorly chosen images can make your website look amateurish. Always use visuals that reflect the brand images you want to promote. First impressions matter and your audience will see the pictures before they decide to read the text. Getting your words and images right on your site will not only satisfy your audience but will give your SEO (search engine optimisation) a boost. Vital to get your site shooting up the Google rankings!

Speed

We’ve all clicked through to a website that takes too long to load. And we all do the same thing – click straight back out, often never to return. Slow loading pages are a disaster for websites, and you’ve about 2-3 seconds grace before user frustration sets in. It strikes a hammer blow to your SEO efforts too. There are plenty of free online speed loading analysis tools so make sure you check regularly. Make sure you keep file sizes down (particularly images) and if you’re still encountering issues, you should think about speaking to a web development team.

Think Mobile!

Smartphones are used for everything now – gaming, streaming and browsing the web. While your site might look resplendent on your desktop and be packed with sticky content and great offers, it does not mean it will do so on smartphones (or tablets!). These days, more people access the internet on their phones than on desktops, so you ignore this at your peril. Make sure your site is optimized to look fantastic across mobile, desktop and tablet. You’ll simply bleed traffic otherwise.   

What Does My Business Website Need to Succeed In 2022?
Brian Wallace

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Bipartisan Group of Senators Want Biden to Maintain Trump-Era China Tariffs

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Bipartisan Group of Senators Want Biden to Maintain Trump-Era China Tariffs

A bipartisan group of senators is urging President Joe Biden not to end tariffs on China, making the case the tariffs are not responsible for growing inflation.

Cracking down on China was one of the hallmark promises of the Trump presidency, with tariffs designed to reshape the economic relationship between the two countries and hold China responsible for unfair trade practices. Despite soaring unemployment, senators want Biden to hold the line.

The letter was signed by Sentators Rob Portman, Mitt Romney, Sherrod Brown, Bob Casey, Rick Scott, Jim Inhofe, Elizabeth Warren, Mike Braun, and Kevin Cramer.

“We write to express our continued support for the trade action taken against China pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. We share long-standing concerns about the ways in which China’s acts, policies, and practices have discriminated against U.S. exports and contributed to the offshoring of U.S. jobs, manufacturing, and innovation, all of which has undermined the competitiveness of our country. As you consider the future of the Section 301 action, we urge you to substantially maintain the tariffs in their current form. Rolling back the tariffs on China would undermine the U.S. position in negotiations, expose many U.S. companies and workers to a sudden flood of imports, and signal to China that waiting out the United States is preferable to changing their non-market behavior or complying with the Phase One Agreement,” said the senators.

The senators made the case that ending the tariffs now would only weaken negotiations in the future:

“Rather than lifting the tariffs, the United States should use the enforcement tools guaranteed by that agreement to make clear that we are serious about rectifying its violations. We need to make clear to China that dialogue leads to commitments—and failure to adhere to these commitments are followed by robust enforcement. If we do not exercise the legal rights under the Phase One Agreement, it will only make it more difficult to make progress with China on the subsidies, state-owned enterprises, suppression of labor rights, and other unfair behaviors that are the core of the structural obstacles to a level playing field in bilateral trade.”

The senators also addressed one of the biggest concerns on the minds of Americans, making it clear that tariffs on China are not one of the driving factors behind growing inflation:

“In closing, we note that the tariffs are not a driver of today’s inflation. Not only do the tariffs predate the current inflation by over three years, but Chinese imports make up only 2 percent of goods included in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and would not materially reduce inflation. Indeed, much of the inflation we are seeing relates to fuel and food—sectors that are unrelated to imports from China.”

It remains to be seen what action President Biden will take, but he clearly has bipartisan support for continuing to take a tough stance on China.

Bipartisan Group of Senators Want Biden to Maintain Trump-Era China Tariffs
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Apple Significantly Raises Starting Pay For Hourly Employees

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Apple Significantly Raises Starting Pay For Hourly Employees

Apple is significantly raising its starting pay for hourly employees, some 45% over 2018 levels.

Like many companies, Apple is working to retain its workforce and attract new talent amid a market that is being squeezed by rising costs, soaring inflation, and increased competition among rivals. In response, according to The Wall Street Journal, via Ars Technica, the company is raising the starting pay of hourly employees to $22, although it may be even higher in some markets.

In addition, the company said it would move up some annual reviews by as much as several months in an effort to open the door for existing employees to get pay increases faster.

“Supporting and retaining the best team members in the world enables us to deliver the best, most innovative, products and services for our customers,” a spokesperson told WSJ. “This year as part of our annual performance review process, we’re increasing our overall compensation budget.”

Read more: Apple Delays Increased In-Person Work Indefinitely

The move is not surprising, given the overall state of the market. Microsoft recently doubled its salary budget, following similar moves by Amazon.

To complicate matters even further, Apple has been struggling more than some of its tech rivals with getting employees back to the office. After a couple of years of groundbreaking product releases and record-breaking quarters, many employees see no need to be forced back to the office an arbitrary number of days. Apple’s employees have already penned numerous letters in protest and some have quit, with the company’s AI chief being the most high-profile loss over its back-to-office policies.

One thing is clear: Apple is pulling out the stops to keep employees happy, although it remains to be seen if it will pull out the stop most people want, and let employees continue to work remotely.

Apple Significantly Raises Starting Pay For Hourly Employees
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JPMorgan Taps Blockchain for Collateral Settlements

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JPMorgan Taps Blockchain for Collateral Settlements

As companies race to adopt blockchain technology, JPMorgan is experimenting with using it for collateral settlements.

Despite being synonymous with cryptocurrency, blockchain has applications far beyond bitcoin and company. Thanks to its decentralized and immutable nature, financial institutions are eager to find ways to incorporate it in their operations. JPMorgan is looking to blockchain to handle collateral settlements, handling its first transaction on May 20.

According to Bloomberg, two of JPMorgan’s entities used the token representation of money market fund shares from BlackRock as collateral, transferring it on its private blockchain. The company sees an opportunity to give investors more flexibility with the kind of assets they can use for collateral, as well as when they can use them.

“What we’ve achieved is the friction-less transfer of collateral assets on an instantaneous basis,” Ben Challice, JPMorgan’s global head of trading services, told Bloomberg in an interview. Interestingly, despite BlackRock not being a counterparty, “they have been heavily involved since Day One, and are exploring use of this technology.”

JPMorgan has been blazing a trail in the financial world, being among the first to embrace new technologies. The company recently opened offices in the metaverse, becoming the first major bank to do so. With its use of blockchain, JPMorgan is continuing to innovate and embrace the changes new technology is bringing.

JPMorgan Taps Blockchain for Collateral Settlements
Matt Milano

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Google Faces Another UK Competition Probe

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Google Faces Another UK Competition Probe

Google is facing another probe from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over whether the company illegally favors its own services.

Google has been under increasing pressure in multiple jurisdictions, with probes and lawsuits over how it conducts business. The CMA was already investigating Google over its ad deal with Facebook, but BBC News is reporting the watchdog is now investigating whether Google illegally used its dominance in the ad business to push its own services.

The investigation is focused on the “ad-tech stack,” of which Google dominates all aspects. In fact, Google’s control of the entire ad stack has been a growing concern in the US as well. Senators recently introduced a bill that would prohibit a company of Google’s size from owning more than one part of the ad ecosystem.

In the meantime, BBC News quoted a Google spokesperson saying the company welcomes the opportunity to work with the CMA:

“We will continue to work with the CMA to answer their questions and share the details on how our systems work.

“Advertising tools from Google and many competitors help websites and apps fund their content – and help businesses of all sizes effectively reach their customers.

“Google’s tools alone have supported an estimated £55bn in economic activity for over 700,000 businesses in the UK – and when publishers choose to use our advertising services, they keep the majority of revenue.”

Google Faces Another UK Competition Probe
Matt Milano

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How Veterans Can Take Charge Of Their Finances

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How Veterans Can Take Charge Of Their Finances

When you’re a member of the armed forces, life can be pretty formulaic. Career paths and decisions, duties, and responsibilities are often predictable. 

Once a service member is honorably discharged and transforms into a veteran, though, it’s up to them to maintain the momentum — including with their finances. This can feel intimidating at first, but there are several steps that a vet can take in order to recapture that energy. 

If you’re a vet, use the tips below to take charge of your finances and set yourself up for a comfortable future.

1. Start With the Basics

Before you get too complicated, make sure you have the basic elements in place. This starts with a budget.

If you haven’t reworked your budget recently (or you don’t have one in the first place) take some time to do that now. 

Start with income. In the past, you could use something like a military pay calculator to get a solid idea of what your income would be. As a vet, you may have a less predictable timeline for your income. All the same, do your best to create a conservative estimate of what your income will be moving forward.

Once you know your income, you can create a budget. List out your expenses and make sure that you’re living within your means and are paying down debt on a regular basis.

2. Check Your Credit

As a vet, you have access to things like VA loans. Even so, it’s a good idea to check the condition of your credit.

Start by checking your credit score. A good score is typically anything over 670. 

If you’re below that point, you should make a plan to improve your credit. You can do this in many different ways, such as paying down credit and making sure you don’t miss any payments.

It’s also a good idea to review your credit reports for any errors. Get a free copy of your reports from the three credit bureaus and then give them a once over. If you find any errors, you can dispute them by contacting the bureaus.

3. Reduce Expenses and Attack Debt

Next up, look for ways to reduce your expenses. This is a great exercise to plan on every few months.

You can cut savings in countless different ways. For instance, review your streaming subscriptions and see if you can reduce them to one or two at a time.

You can also adopt the “30-Day Rule.” All it requires is deferring any non-essential purchases for 30 days to see if an item or service is really something you want to buy.

As you free up cash, look for ways to redirect it toward things like debt and savings.

4. Plan for the Short- and Long-Term

As you regain control of your finances, make sure to plan for both the short and the long term.

For instance, as you break down your budget and cut expenses, consider setting up a rainy day fund. Ideally, a fund like this should be at least three months of living expenses, so it can take some time.

You can also direct some of your extra funds toward long-term savings. The most obvious candidate here is retirement, but you can also set other goals. Does your child need to go to college? Do you want to pay off certain debts?

Keeping your short- and long-term financial health in mind at the same time is always a good idea.

5. Use the Veteran-Specific Resources Available

Finally, take the time to familiarize yourself with the different veteran-specific financial resources available. 

There are a lot of options out there, and each one serves a different purpose. From emergency assistance to personal fundraising to debt management support, it never hurts to stay up-to-date on the financial resources you can tap as a veteran.

It can be hard recapturing the momentum of your personal finances as a veteran. The good news is that you’re not alone. There are thousands of vets just like you trying to take charge — many with tremendous success.

Use the tips above to realign yourself and establish a financial strategy. Then apply yourself with grit and determination, and before long, you’ll start to see the results.

How Veterans Can Take Charge Of Their Finances
Brian Wallace

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AMD and Google Cloud Deliver EPYC-Based Confidential Computing

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AMD and Google Cloud Deliver EPYC-Based Confidential Computing

AMD and Google Cloud are expanding their partnership, applying the power of EPYC processors to confidential computing.

Confidential computing is a vital aspect of cloud security, helping to secure data while it’s being used. The technology keeps the data sequestered within the a protected enclave of the CPU, with only authorized programs cleared to access it. AMD and Google Cloud have unveiled new confidential computing virtual machines (VMs) powered by AMD’s EPYC processors.

“AMD has worked collaboratively with Google Cloud and Google’s security experts to provide customers access to advanced security technology while still achieving high performance in their workloads,” said Lynn Comp, corporate vice president, Cloud Business Unit, AMD. “With 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors powering the new confidential computing offerings from Google Cloud, customers can continue to enjoy the general purpose and compute optimized workload capabilities they’ve had from Google Cloud, all while feeling confident in the security of their data.”

“By providing our customers with advanced security technology from 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors, we’re not only delivering more performance, but also optimizing Confidential Computing for more types of workloads,” said Nelly Porter, Group Product Manager, Google Cloud. “At Google Cloud, we believe that continuously investing in emerging technologies like Confidential Computing with partners like AMD will help us address our customers’ most pressing privacy concerns.”

The news is a big win for AMD as the company continues to eat into Intel’s lead in the server market. After three years of gains, AMD’s share recently came in at 11.6%, driven largely by the success of its EPYC line.

AMD says the new confidential computing VMs are available in regions around the globe.

AMD and Google Cloud Deliver EPYC-Based Confidential Computing
Matt Milano

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Amazon Shareholders Shoot Down All Investor-Led Proposals

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Amazon Shareholders Shoot Down All Investor-Led Proposals

Amazon’s leadership received a major vote of confidence with shareholders shooting down investor-led proposals.

Investor activisim has been a growing issue for many companies, with investors leading the charge to force companies to change their habits, embrace causes, and more. According to Reuters, Amazon investors had 15 proposals, all of which were voted down.

Among other things, investors wanted to address Amazon’s use of plastics, as well as challenge concealment clauses in its contracts. While shareholders did strike down the investors’ proposals, they did approve board members, executive compensation, and a stock split.

Amazon Shareholders Shoot Down All Investor-Led Proposals
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5 Digital Marketing Mistakes Beginners Keep Making

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5 Digital Marketing Mistakes Beginners Keep Making

From the local grocery shop to conglomerates – every business needs digital marketing. And the beginning is the most difficult part.

People new to digital marketing often find themselves stunned by its size and complexity. That is why we are going to talk about the most common digital marketing mistakes beginners make.

Let’s jump right into it!

1.   Not using social media

Everyone is on social media today. In the last decade, social media has become the most influential channel for digital marketing – both for new brands and for well-established ones.

So, why do beginners fail to utilize this powerful tool?

The short answer is that people new to social media don’t understand the power of following through. For example, brands new to Instagram start out great. They create a nice tone of voice, followed by pleasant aesthetics. They gain some traction, and boom – radio silence for days, even weeks, making the brand lose its chance to promote itself.

The key to preventing this from happening is planning your content upfront and posting consistently.

2.   Overlooking cybersecurity

Since virtually everything online is automated, we often overlook things like cybersecurity.

Now, when it comes to digital marketing, you will probably deal with a lot of different platforms at the same time. The larger your brand is, the more work needs to be done cybersecurity-wise.

Losing access to your accounts (e.g., Instagram or WordPress) can set you back to square one.

But, it’s not all that bad. You just need to take a proactive stance toward cybersecurity. Here’s where you can start:

●          Sync your accounts whenever possible.

●          Use 2FA (2-factor authentication).

●          Get a VPN to help you browse the web safely.

●          Triple-check the links you open to avoid phishing and other scams.

●          Make sure you have a clear list of people who have access to your brand’s accounts, and keep it as short as possible.

3.  Trying too hard

Contrary to the not-following-through concept, we have tried-too-hard as another common mistake in digital marketing. While we can’t exactly put a definition on trying too hard, we can outline what it means in terms of digital marketing.

Brands often try to stay relevant by using memes and writing witty copy based on current events. This may sound great at first, but it leads brands (especially new ones) into risky territory. If your brand isn’t about memes and news, you should steer clear of these methods as marketing strategies.

One more trap beginners often fall into is posting about the product/service they’re offering exclusively. If your digital presence revolves entirely around your product, you won’t provide actual value for your followers. Add a human touch to your posts, share a story, a testimonial, or some kind of interactive content.

4.   Failing to keep track of stats

Reaping rewards from your ad campaigns feels great. But the real power lies in documenting both failure and success.

Most digital marketing work revolves around trial and error and the concept of A/B testing. This means you should write down the results so you can repeat what works and avoid what doesn’t.

You will feel the full effect of well-done documentation a few years down the line, but it will certainly be worth it.

5.   Not taking breaks

Lastly, we need to talk about the exhaustion and fatigue that digital marketers face all the time. As you probably know, digital marketers are the modern-day jack of all traders. Trends change almost daily, new platforms emerge every year, and all this can lead to burnout faster than you can say “conversion”.

The cure to digital burnout is time away from your laptop and work. Plan a time of the day when you can disconnect from the world. Meditate (you can find guided meditations on YouTube or on apps like Yours App), go for a walk, cook a three-course meal, or play with your pet.

The stress that digital marketing brings is rarely sudden. It’s rather a cumulative effect of all the small things you have to do and keep track of on a daily basis.

It’s ok to make mistakes

Every beginning is difficult, but there’s no need to be discouraged by possible bumps along the way.

It’s good to talk about the most frequent mistakes beginners keep making. The world of digital marketing looks intimidating as is, and it’s expected for newbies to make mistakes. Hopefully, this article will help you prevent some of them!

Just remember to stay safe and to take breaks. Good luck!

5 Digital Marketing Mistakes Beginners Keep Making
Brian Wallace

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4 Types of Investments You Should Be Considering

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4 Types of Investments You Should Be Considering

Smart investors create diversified investment portfolios. With diversified holdings, investors can weather the ups and downs of markets and spread risk.

Developing a diversified portfolio requires diligence, planning, and research. However, the hard work is likely to pay off for investors who put in the time.

Defining Portfolio Diversification

Diversification is a commonly used investment strategy. Investors spread their investments across different types of securities and other assets to lower the risk of market volatility. Another phrase for portfolio diversification is asset allocation. You’ll want to spread your available investment capital across asset types. Stocks, bonds, and cash are among the most common assets in a portfolio. Increasingly, investors are also using alternative investments as part of a portfolio diversification strategy.

One goal of portfolio diversification is to ensure there is minimal exposure to one particular asset class. That’s why healthy portfolios will blend disparate asset types together.

Diversification helps you improve your returns as well. By not putting all your capital in one asset class, you can protect against market volatility.

Portfolio diversification is different for every investor. Each of us has a different risk tolerance, preferences, and needs depending on where we are in our lives. These factors play into how people diversify and in which ways.

Benefits of a Diversified Investment Portfolio

More than anything, portfolio diversification minimizes the risk of loss. If one investment performs poorly, you can look to other investments that may not be subject to the same downturns. Overall, you’re more likely to reduce the possible losses in your portfolio. That’s why it’s unwise to concentrate all your capital in one investment type.

A diversified portfolio also lets you preserve capital. If you are close to retirement, accumulation may not be your top investment goal. Instead, you may want to preserve capital. With a healthy investment mix, you’ll be able to do just that.

Another major investment strategy is to generate returns. Diversifying a portfolio means you are less reliant on one asset class to generate desired returns.

You also want to be able to spend time on things other than reviewing your portfolio. A diversified portfolio means you’re no longer spending time just studying the stock markets, for example. You can focus on a long-term approach and not obsess over your portfolio every day with a diversified investment strategy.

4 Types of Assets for a Diversified Portfolio

You can diversify in many ways. But the most foundational is to a portfolio with many different asset types. Here is a closer look at 4 types of assets.

1. Alternative Investments

Increasingly, investors are turning to alternative investments for portfolio diversification.

Alternative investments are assets that do not include stocks, bonds or cash. In many cases, these investments are different in several distinct ways. They typically cannot be sold easily or converted to cash.

Alternative investments include assets not found in most investor portfolios.

Private equity is one alternative investment to consider. Private equity investments provide capital for private companies. In most cases, large venture capital companies provide private equity in various stages. However, individual investors can also commit to private equity as part of an investment strategy.

Private debt investors act in the same way that banks do, providing financing that supports a company. Companies often look for private debt investors when they need additional funds to fuel business growth. In exchange for the investment, companies pay investors to repay the initial loan and interest payments.

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are an increasingly popular alternative investment. Cryptocurrency uses blockchain technology, which records each transaction in a block. It also creates a chain to show the ownership timeline. Blockchain provides a secure, trackable way to manage investments.

Other alternative investments include real estate, commodities, and hedge funds.

2. Stocks

Stocks are purchased shares in publicly held companies, which provide shares in exchange for operating capital. Stock is traded on public exchanges, or stock markets, where prices fluctuate.

There are different types of stock. Some stock classes are only offered to employees, for example. These shares often come with restrictions, such as when they can be sold.

You can diversify your portfolio by holding stocks and holding different types of stocks. For one, you can purchase stocks in different industries or sectors. Intermingling stocks of various types helps you weather variances in one sector.

Another way to diversify your stock holdings is to look at size or market capitalization. Market capitalization is the total value of a company’s issued and tradable stock shares. Investors often choose a mix of large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap stocks. Large companies tend to withstand market downturns more easily but have less growth potential. Smaller companies may have more volatile prices but can pay off richly in the long term.

3. Bonds

Bonds are loans that an investor makes, either to a government, a business, or a federal agency. In return, the investor receives interest payments over a specific term. Investors also receive repayment of the principal when the bond matures.

Bonds are secure investments but often at lower rates of return than stocks. You can buy bonds from many different entities, including the U.S. government, cities, international bodies, or corporations. There are also bond mutual funds and bonds issued by financial institutions, such as mortgage-backed securities.

Bonds help these agencies and governments support operations, build new buildings and improve infrastructure. Bond types include U.S. treasury securities, U.S. savings bonds, municipal bonds, and agency securities.

4. Mutual funds

Mutual funds are bundles of stocks, bonds, or other assets that are grouped together. Often, mutual funds share similar features, such as groups of stocks in an industry or of the same size.

Mutual funds by their very nature are a way to diversify your portfolio. They are designed to accommodate different investment strategies, risk profiles, and investor styles.

Mutual funds are managed by professionals who look to buy and trade stocks to improve their standing and returns. The funds pool money from multiple investors and invest those monies based on identified investment goals. These defined parameters and objectives guide decisions made by fund managers. The success of these funds largely depends on the skills of the fund’s managers.

The ability to diversify a portfolio helps investors stay secure, smart, and protected in their investment choices. Portfolio diversification helps meet short- and long-term investment goals and remain protected from volatility.

4 Types of Investments You Should Be Considering
Brian Wallace

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Samsung Wants a ‘Dream Team’ to Tackle Apple’s M1 in 2025

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Samsung Wants a ‘Dream Team’ to Tackle Apple’s M1 in 2025

Samsung is taking steps to tackle Apple’s M1, reportedly assembling a “dream team” to surpass Apple’s silicon in 2025.

Apple upended the industry when it unveiled the M1, a custom system-on-chip (SoC) based on the same designs that have powered the iPhone and iPad for years. At its core, the M1 is loosely based on Arm’s designs, much like chips from Samsung, Qualcomm, and others. Unfortunately for those companies, however, none of them have been able to match Apple’s performance — something Samsung wants to change with its dream team.

Read more: Intel Continues to Play From Behind Against Apple’s M1

According to Neowin, Samsung’s new team is named “Dream Platform One.” The team will be responsible for designing a new in-house chip with the sole purpose of beating Apple’s custom silicon.

Of course, beating Apple is easier said then done, especially since doing so is a moving target. Samsung is hoping to surpass the M1 in 2025, but Apple isn’t going to sit on its laurels until then. Since the M1’s introduction, the company has released the M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra, all of which have significantly improved the SoC’s performance over the base M1.

Samsung will have to pull a rabbit out of its hat if it truly wants to surpass Apple in 2025.

Samsung Wants a ‘Dream Team’ to Tackle Apple’s M1 in 2025
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DuckDuckGo Caught Giving Microsoft Trackers a Free Pass

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DuckDuckGo Caught Giving Microsoft Trackers a Free Pass

All is not what it seems with the company that labels itself a champion of privacy, with a security researcher finding that DuckDuckGo (DDG) whitelists Microsoft’s trackers.

DDG has made a name for itself as a privacy-first company, building a search engine, browser extensions, and web browsers around the premise of protecting user privacy. Unfortunately, the company hasn’t exactly been forthcoming about the terms of its deal with Microsoft.

Unlike Google, Bing, or Brave, DDG gets its search results from other engines, with the bulk of them coming from Bing. The company has long claimed to strip out any trackers from the search results it provides, although clicking an ad from Microsoft in the search results is an exception to that policy. DDG has never made a secret of the fact that clicking on those ads sends a user’s IP address to Microsoft. Unfortunately, DDG hasn’t fully disclosed the terms of its deal, or just how much information it shares with Microsoft.

Security researcher Zach Edwards first made the discovery and tweeted about it:

Sometimes you find something so disturbing during an audit, you’ve gotta check/recheck because you assume that *something* must be broken in the test. But I’m confident now. The new @DuckDuckGo browsers for iOS/Android don’t block Microsoft data flows, for LinkedIn or Bing.

— Zach Edwards (@thezedwards), May 23, 2022

Ironically, DDG doesn’t even block Microsoft’s data trackers on Workplace.com, a Facebook-owned domain that it brags about blocking Facebook’s trackers on.

Needless to say, DDG CEO Gabriel Weinberg is doing his best to put out the fire:

We’ve been working tirelessly behind the scenes to change these requirements, though our syndication agreement also has a confidentially provision that prevents disclosing details. Again, we expect to have an update soon that will include more third-party Microsoft protection.

— Gabriel Weinberg (@yegg), May 23, 2022

Of course, Weinberg might not have to put out so big a fire if his company had disclosed this issue first, rather than waiting until it was uncovered by a security researcher.

In the meantime, Shivan Kaul Sahib, Privacy Engineer for Brave, highlighted the inherent conflict of interest for a company that relies on the good graces of another company making money off of ad trackers.

This is shocking. DuckDuckGo has a search deal with Microsoft which prevents them from blocking MS trackers. And they can’t talk about it! This is why privacy products that are beholden to giant corporations can never deliver true privacy; the business model just doesn’t work.

— Shivan Kaul Sahib (@shivan_kaul), May 23, 2022

Speaking of Brave, the company is one of the only ones on the market that provides a truly independent alternative to Google and Bing. The company bought Tailcat, allowing it to build its own search engine that relies on a completely independent web index. This keeps Brave from being beholden to Microsoft, Google, or any other company.

With a privacy-focused browser and a truly independent search engine, Brave is quickly establishing itself as a much better privacy solution than DDG.

DuckDuckGo Caught Giving Microsoft Trackers a Free Pass
Matt Milano

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Amazon Is Losing Its Most Wanted Employees At An Alarming Rate

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Amazon Is Losing Its Most Wanted Employees At An Alarming Rate

Amazon has an employee retention problem, losing the employees it wants to keep at double the rate of last year.

According to a report by Business Insider, Amazon’s “regretted attrition” has doubled from last year. “Regretted attrition” is the term for losing employees a company wants to keep. Internal data seen by Insider says the company’s regretted attrition has risen to 12.1% since June 2021. In contrast, that same rate averaged 5% from 2016 till mid-2021.

Amazon and other tech companies are fighting to keep their top talent in-house. The company recently increased its maximum base salary to $350,000, prompting Microsoft to increase its own salary budget and increase employee stock compensation.

Amazon’s attrition appears to be company-wide. The Delivery Service Partner team saw a total attrition rate of 55%. Prime Air, the company’s drone delivery division, saw its attrition hit 30%, with at least one of its teams losing 71% of its employees. Even the company’s golden goose, AWS, has been hit hard, with some units losing as many as 35% of their personnel.

According to Insider, compensation was the top reason for the regretted attrition, coming in at 26.8%, with career development issues coming in at 19.5%.

It appears Amazon still has a long way to go if it wants to keep its talent and remain competitive.

Amazon Is Losing Its Most Wanted Employees At An Alarming Rate
Matt Milano

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Six States and 4 Million Households: Walmart’s Drone Services Undergoes Massive Expansion

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Six States and 4 Million Households: Walmart’s Drone Services Undergoes Massive Expansion

Walmart has announced it is expanding its drone delivering program, reaching 4 million households in six states.

Retailers have been looking for ways to improve deliveries, getting goods to customers faster and at lower costs. Numerous companies are turning to drones, including Walmart. The company partnered with DroneUp to implement a pilot program, one that is now expanding.

Walmart says it will have drone deliveries from 34 sites by the end of the year, covering up to 4 million households in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. The company expects to deliver more than 1 million packages in a year via drones.

“We continue to expand our delivery operations to help customers get the items they need when they need them, and it’s been an exciting journey,” writes David Guggina, Senior Vice President of Innovation and Automation. “From Express delivery, where customers can have items delivered to their doorsteps in as little as two hours, to InHome, where they can get those orders placed right into their refrigerators, we’re proud to offer customers multiple options that help them save time and money.”

Six States and 4 Million Households: Walmart’s Drone Services Undergoes Massive Expansion
Matt Milano

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How to Humanize the Workplace in a Startup

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How to Humanize the Workplace in a Startup

When it comes to the world of startups and entrepreneurship, there’s one thing that is certain – it’s not for the faint of heart. This lifestyle of hard work, self-starting, and brutal determination has huge payoffs, but also comes at a great cost. As much as there are highs, there are in many ways as many, if not more, lows. This all comes with the territory, and it’s always going to be seasonal, with certain seasons feeling victorious while others can feel numb, or even discouraged.

Among the many challenges and things to do with creating a startup, is setting a company culture. While some entrepreneurs may not be as wired to be excited about this as others, this is truly one of the most potentially satisfying, and gratifying parts of the job.

Why Is It A Privilege To Create a Workplace?

In order to properly understand how to humanize a workplace and create a culture of success, you have to have the right mindset. On the one hand, there will always be those things that you have to do. No amount of positive platitudes can change the fact that certain admin work and daily disciplines will never truly be a ‘get-to-do’ task, but will remain a ‘have-to-do’ task, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Some things are too necessary and important to not be done well, and regularly, but they don’t all have to have some kind of forced positivity over them. Where creating work culture, environment and space are different, is that it does take the same amount of disciplined work, and dedication, but it impacts two very important things: Your work, and your product. Humanizing the workplace involves understanding the fact that the people making your startup dreams happen are humans and have human needs.

On average, a person will spend one-third of their life in the workplace setting. Whether that’s remotely from home or their favorite coffee shop, or in a traditional brick and mortar workspace. This is an incredible amount of time that a person will spend during their life. The ability that you have in running a startup is to create a humanized workspace that empowers all of that time, and holistically improves the company and your employees. By focusing on giving your employees a workspace that has a positive effect on their lives, which will impact the other two-thirds they spend outside of work, you will create a workspace that pushes your business forward.

How Do You Make a Humanized Workspace?

So how do you create an environment where you and your employees will spend a third of their life well? What goals should you have in place and what will it take? Here are a few ways to create a workspace that creates employees that are healthier, happier, and more confident in not only impact the company in a positive way but their entire lives.

Empowerment

The number one way to create humanized enrollment is by empowering your employees. This comes down to see them as wholly human, and not just partially human. Their life experience, their talents, and their unique personalities all make them valuable. Yes, they may have different departments they excel in, but one way to empower employees is to bring them into problem-solving situations across your company.

This is often not effective when it is forced. An accountant will be using their time unwisely if forced to grapple with the problems from marketing. However, creating an environment where challenges are made known and participation is encouraged to solve those challenges can have a hugely humanizing effect. In essence, you are telling your employees that you value their thoughts, and who they are, even if they have an idea for something out of their field of profession.

Community And Listening

This goes back to the fact that your employees will spend a third of their life working for you – so create an environment where life can happen. Sometimes the lines between personal life and business can get a little blurred, or need redefining – that’s normal, and will happen. Allow your employees the chance to make work a part of their lives by structuring meetings, and interactions throughout the workweek around communication and community.

Conclusion

The road to creating a workspace that is empowering, and fulfilling for your employees to commit such a large part of their lives is hard, but it has big payoffs. GR0 is an example of a company that believes in supporting each other, clear communication, always putting the other first, and giving the benefit of the doubt. This kind of strong comradery-driven work culture has created a start-up that has quickly become a top content creator.

While creating company culture is always going to be hard, consistent work, it’s one of the most important things you can do to create a business that will last the test of time. People are what makes a startup successful, and keep a business running, so investing in creating a humanizing workspace is one of the best investments you can make.

How to Humanize the Workplace in a Startup
Brian Wallace

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Toyota to Reduce Global Production in June by 100,000 Vehicles

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Toyota to Reduce Global Production in June by 100,000 Vehicles

Toyota is planning on a massive cut to its production, reducing production in June by 100,000 vehicles as a result of the semiconductor shortage.

The semiconductor shortage has impacted industries around the world since the early days of the pandemic. The auto industry has been particularly hard hit, with many automakers resorting to shipping vehicles without their full suite of electronics.

See also: F-150 Plant Will Shut Down Due to Semiconductor Shortage

According to Reuters, Toyota is now forced to reduce its June production by 100,000, bringing the total number of vehicles slated for June to 850,000. The recent COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai has also impacted the company, causing additional supply issues.

This isn’t the first time Toyota has had to cut production as a result of supply chain issues. In September 2021, the company had to cut production by 40%.

Interestingly, the company has not altered its plan to produce 9.7 million vehicles globally by March 2023.

Toyota to Reduce Global Production in June by 100,000 Vehicles
Matt Milano

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The UK Has Fined Clearview AI $9.4 Million

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The UK Has Fined Clearview AI $9.4 Million

The hits keep on coming for Clearview AI, with the UK’s privacy watchdog fining the company $9.4 million and demanding it delete its data on UK residents.

Clearview AI is the company that took privacy-invading facial recognition to depths previously unheard of, proudly promising to deliver a more comprehensive surveillance system than China. The company scraped images from social media and countless other sites, building a massive database it claimed was only for government and law enforcement use. Those claims proved untrue, with the company being about as irresponsible with its product as one would expect, based on its shady practices.

After a string of legal setbacks, the UK has dealt the company another one, fining it millions and ordering it to stop collecting and using the images and data of UK residents, according to ZDNet. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) engaged in a two-year investigation of Clearview, in cooperation with the Office of Australian Information Commissioner.

The investigation concluded that the company illegally obtained residents’ photos without proper disclosure, had no legal basis for collecting the photos, didn’t take the proper precautions with the data it collected, and was ultimately in violation of the GDPR.

“Clearview AI Inc has collected multiple images of people all over the world, including in the UK, from a variety of websites and social media platforms, creating a database with more than 20 billion images,” said John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner.

“The company not only enables identification of those people, but effectively monitors their behaviour and offers it as a commercial service. That is unacceptable. That is why we have acted to protect people in the UK by both fining the company and issuing an enforcement notice.

“People expect that their personal information will be respected, regardless of where in the world their data is being used. That is why global companies need international enforcement.”

Hopefully the company continues to face these kind of legal setbacks.

The UK Has Fined Clearview AI $9.4 Million
Matt Milano

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How to Start Your Wedding Ecommerce Website

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How to Start Your Wedding Ecommerce Website

Businesses have undergone immense transformation moving from the traditional mortar and brick forms to virtual establishments. The wedding and jewelry industry experiences the same too. This lucrative business is something worth your investment. There are many more people interested in buying jewelry for their wedding than ever before. However, you need a strategy to succeed – own a website.

Modern businesses are now thriving online. Therefore, you will need a wedding e-commerce website to boost your jewelry business. Creating an online presence for your business is vital for growth and success in this present age of the internet and technology. In that case, you will need more than knowing what goes on in the industry.

An e-commerce website for your Wedding business

Establishing an online platform gives you organic reach to your target audience without geographical limitations. Therefore, you will gain a lot by establishing an online business for wedding accessories. Here is what you need to do to get started:

1. Pick an eCommerce platform

An e-commerce platform requires a website, which is the main tool of operations. The platform takes into account key features and hosting options. Therefore, it is vital to understand the main differences to pick what will work for the business.

2. Understand the ownership costs

With the choice of a platform, it means understanding the costs of owning it. You need a budget for that and the key features covered in the cost. These costs cover things like design fees, app development and such things as a monthly subscription.

3. User-friendliness and Flexibility

The essence of having a website is to sell your wedding products. Therefore, it is important to make the site a lot easier to use for everyone. Visitors should be able to navigate through the site with ease. Flexibility has to do with providing unrestrained bandwidth and capabilities during high traffic.

4. Check on website scalability

Everyone starts a business with the hope that it will grow. Therefore, you should not confine your site to certain lengths. Leave room for scaling up and accommodating more features and content going into the future.

Make use of free website trials before making your final choice. Testing various trials will help you know what works for your business before making the final commitment.

5. Include Omnichannel Capabilities

Having a website is good but not enough. Therefore, you should make sure that there are possibilities to integrate it with social media accounts. Connecting your website to other channels helps enhance organic traffic to your site. Most importantly, the site should provide search engine optimization (SEO) tools.

6.  Secure your website

A safe work environment is vital for business growth and development. The same applies to online platforms. Ensure that there is enough protection for your site and your client’s information as well. Your customers should feel safe transacting through your platform.

7. Specialize by picking a niche

Wedding businesses are wide to cover everything. Instead of doing everything in the industry, you could choose a niche and run with it. It works well if customers realize you have specialization in a specific area.

8. Add products to your site

Once everything is set up, it is time to add wedding products to the site. Therefore, ensure that there is enough content for people to see before publishing your site. Focus on user-friendliness and be as creative as possible. It is all about impressing your audience.

Optimize your site for mobile use so that customers can access it from their mobile gadgets. That way, they can reach you from anywhere and every part of the globe. This means working on page load speeds. That way, you will have good conversion rates within the first few seconds as is in a company like MoissaniteCo jewelry. In addition, use good quality images so that they do not slow down your site. Keep updating your content to maintain relevance.

Final Thoughts

You can make your wedding business what you like. Therefore, use this guide to go beyond any limitations. Get the help of experts and consult widely for the best solutions in the market. Most importantly, the quality of your platform, its security and the ability to scale up will be vital for the growth of your wedding business.

How to Start Your Wedding Ecommerce Website
Brian Wallace

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Explaining the Importance of the C-Suite Team in a Business

WebProNews
Explaining the Importance of the C-Suite Team in a Business

The C-Suite is a popular term used to describe the executive managers within an organization. They’re known as the C-Suite since all the crucial positions have abbreviations that begin with the letter C (CEO, CFO).

These roles are essential to the success and the working of any business, as achieving that success is their responsibility and a big part of their job description. In essence, the job of a senior executive is to create strategies and enforce them across the entire organization.

Only people with vast experience and proven leadership skills can be the ones suitable for a C-Suite position. In addition to knowledge and technical abilities, it is important they have a vision that allows them to take multiple perspectives when dealing with a work-related issue.

It’s worth mentioning that the senior executive positions are highly stressful jobs with around-the-clock work hours. For this reason, their compensations are quite rewarding and motivating.

C-Suite Executives Explained

When discussing the C-Suite, there are four positions that are the most prominent and most known:

●  CEO – Chief Executive Officer.

●  CFO – Chief Financial Officer.

●  COO – Chief Operating Officer.

●  CIO – Chief Information Officer.

However, besides these four, there are other chief positions that are a part of the C-Suite team:

●  CCO – Chief Compliance Officer.

●  CHRM – Chief Human Resources Manager.

●  CSO – Chief Security Officer.

●  CGO – Chief Green Officer.

●  CAO – Chief Analytics Officer.

●  CMO – Chief Marketing Officer.

●  CDO – Chief Data Officer.

Here are short summaries regarding some of the C-Suite positions:

CEO

The CEO is typically the highest position in the company. The person who has the position is usually the face of the company and speaks to the public in its name. However, this doesn’t mean that the CEO is calling all the shots by themselves. For most major decisions, the CEO consults with all the other chief officers in the organization and relies on their insights.

There is no formal education that is specifically required for the CEO position and successful workers from any background can potentially reach it. What most CEOs have in common though is great judgment and leadership capabilities.

CFO

The position at the top of the financial hierarchy in an organization is the CFO. Unlike the CEO, the CFO has to come from a financial background and have a significant understanding of finances and economics. The CFO role and responsibilities include things like portfolio management, performing financial analysis, conducting research for investment opportunities, and even accounting.

Additionally, staying up to date with the worldwide economy and maintaining an overall global perspective are important qualities for CFOs. In many organizational processes like investment decision-making and assessment of risks, the CEO and the CFO work together.

COO

The COO position serves as the extended hand of the CEO. COOs report directly and only to CEOs and are second in command in the company. They are responsible for the daily operations and administrative tasks across the entire organization. Some of the most important traits for COOs are good managerial abilities, an analytical mind, and strong communication.

There are some other terms that refer to this position that might be more popular than COO like “vice president” or “operations director”. More often than not, COOs work closely with the CEO, and they are the best candidate to take their place once the CEO steps down.

CIO

Also known as CTO, chief technology officers are the executives responsible for computer technology and its implementation, management, and usability within an organization. In the past, this position was not considered as important as the others in the C-Suite. However, technology has taken such an essential part in the workplace, that CIOs nowadays are among the top five executives of any company.

Business analysis, programming, management, and knowledge of mapping are the key skills that any CIO should possess. CIO’s responsibilities also include providing input into critical processes like risk management, developing business strategies, and other financial activities.

Conclusion

In addition to creating strategies and making sure that the daily operations are running smoothly the C-Suite is important for the future of the company. Executives need to constantly come up with new ideas and find new ways for the business to grow. This includes creating new business models, introducing new products, and any other way of pursuing innovation that will help the company to expand.

Explaining the Importance of the C-Suite Team in a Business
Brian Wallace

from WebProNews https://ift.tt/K7euxEO