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Tech News
Kickstarter Prepares to Shed ‘Up to 45-Percent’ Of Staff
Kickstarter has been transparent that, as a result of the pandemic, the number of fundraising projects on the platform is nowhere near normal. Today, the company confirmed to Gizmodo that shrinking revenues have forced it to drastically reduce staff. The economic impacts of coronavirus have been dramatic and difficult to predict: massive unemployment is an … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsAmazon
Jeff Bezos Called to Testify for Amazon’s ‘Possibly Criminally False’ Statements to Congress
It appears Jeff Bezos’s streak as the only big tech robber baron not to be grilled by Congress is coming to a close. Cutthroat tactics are par for the course at Amazon, a company as closely associated with bullying subsidies out of local governments as it is with the burnout of its own employees. So … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsAmazon
Whole Foods Workers Are Starting a Strike Fund
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to highlight the struggles of essential workers, those same workers—who are performing considerably more dangerous jobs than they signed up for—are getting more organized and more sophisticated in their organizing tactics. Case in point: Whole Worker. The grassroots group for Whole Foods employees, Whole Worker was one of many that … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSick Days
‘My Wedding Photos Are the Last Photos I Have of “Normal”‘
This is Sick Days, a series documenting how jobs are changing during the coronavirus pandemic, as told by workers themselves. This week, we hear from an audio engineer, a hotel manager, and more. If you’d like to submit a story, use this Google form and provide as much detail as you’re comfortable with; read this post … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Like Uber, Lyft Can’t Get Rid of Its Employees Fast Enough
Younger, smaller, and less recognizable, Lyft has always lived in the substantial shadow of its main competitor Uber. Now it’s dying in it too. Social distancing has put the transportation sector against impossible odds: subway ridership in my home city of New York is down at least 74-percent; total flights may drop off up to … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsCulture
The Pandemic’s First Socially Distant Ultramarathon Was Destined to End in Heartbreak
It’s likely the last runner to learn Radek Brunner had been disqualified from the the pandemic’s first virtual ultramarathon was Brunner himself. For 62 straight hours, Brunner had been livestreaming his attempt, his treadmill lit by a single overhead bulb. But seven minutes into what would be the final loop, the event’s organizers appeared on the … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
In a Flood of New Demand, Shipt Is Letting Gig Workers Drown
The coronavirus pandemic has put many low-wage workers at increased risk, gig workers especially. For Shipt customers, it no doubt came as a relief that the Target-owned platform had “secured protective equipment for all Shipt Shoppers” and was “showing [its] appreciation with increased pay (30% on average),” according to an email signed by the service’s … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSick Days
‘I Have Now Had More Physical Contact With the Deceased Than I Have With Anyone Living’
This is Sick Days, a series documenting how jobs are changing during the coronavirus pandemic, as told by workers themselves. This week, we hear from a cop, a morgue volunteer, and more. If you’d like to submit a story, use this Google form and provide as much detail as you’re able; read this post to learn … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsAmazon
Amazon’s Union-Busting Extends to Whole Foods Because of Course It Does
Unfriendliness to organized labor is one of the hallmark’s of the Amazon empire, and so it comes as no surprise that all 510 locations of its upscale grocery chain Whole Foods are reportedly subject to internal grading on their individual “risk” of unionizing. This “heat map” of organized labor activity is, according to reporting from … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSick Days
‘My Record Was 3 Weeks With the Same Mask’
This is Sick Days, a series documenting how jobs are changing during the coronavirus pandemic, as told by workers themselves. This week, we hear from healthcare workers, film industry professionals, a caterer, and more. If you’d like to submit a story, use this Google form and provide as much detail as you’re able; read this post … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Send This Professor Pictures of Medical Trash on the Streets
I’d nearly missed it, as it lay half-swallowed by a storm drain, but the familiar shade of cornflower blue was enough to make me stop. I crouched down, snapped a photo of a single latex glove with my ancient iPhone, and moved down the block hunting for more. Forty-five minutes, 1.76 miles, and four city … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsAmazon
An Amazon Warehouse Worker Has Died of Coronavirus
A worker at an Amazon facility in California has died after contracting covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Thus far, workers at more than 70 of Amazon’s warehousing and delivery facilities have confirmed cases of covid-19. Amazon confirmed that the individual, an operations manager at the DLA8 facility in Hawthorne, California died of … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
What Is the Matter With You?
I’m as thrilled as any coronavirus-fearing American that my immediate neighbors have gotten on board with using personal protective equipment outdoors. The CDC has recommended that everybody wear a mask, and in New York City at least, a lot of people seem to be following that guidance. Here’s my concern, though: If you’re all wearing … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsAmazon
Tech Workers Speak Out in Support of Amazon Warehouse Strikes
Strikes have rippled across Amazon’s vast logistics network in recent weeks, led by workers who feel the company isn’t doing nearly enough to protect and compensate them during the global coronavirus pandemic. This afternoon, their white-collar colleagues across a variety of tech firms began showing solidarity for these warehouse and grocery workers whose essential work … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsAmazon
Amazon Is Now Letting Warehouse Workers Clock In From Their Phones
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon has begrudgingly rolled out safety measures, seemingly more in response to negative media attention than concern for their workers. Those social distancing measures thankfully now include trusting associates to record their own work hours. Anecdotally, some warehouses had attempted to implement staggered shifts, to mixed success. Apparently those methods were … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSick Days
When It Feels Like Your Boss Values Your Health Less Than the Cost of a Laptop
This is Sick Days, a series documenting how jobs are changing during the coronavirus pandemic, as told by workers themselves. This week, we hear from some entertainment professionals, a credit union worker, a nanny and part-time baker, and more. If you’d like to submit a story, use this Google form and provide as much detail as … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Yelp Will Cut or Furlough a Third of Its Staff as Coronavirus Crushes Local Businesses
On the same day jobless claims in the U.S. surpassed 16 million, business review and recommendation mainstay Yelp announced it would be downsizing—by a lot—citing the economic downturn amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Local restaurants, gyms, and bars that rely on foot traffic have been some of the hardest-hit over the past weeks of public … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
NYC May Temporarily Bury Coronavirus Victims [Updated]
The ongoing nightmare of coronavirus has made commonplace what was once unthinkable, a growing list of eroded norms that now includes potentially burying the staggering number of recently deceased New Yorkers in the city’s public parks. “Soon we’ll start ‘temporary interment’. This likely will be done by using a NYC park for burials (yes you … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSick Days
Taking 911 Calls in the Age of Coronavirus
Welcome to Sick Days, a series documenting how jobs are changing during the coronavirus pandemic, as told by workers themselves. This week, we hear from a stay-at-home parent, a seamstress in a theater, an IT worker, a music school teacher, and a 911 operator. If you’d like to submit a story, use this Google form and … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
Juul Is Getting Sued by the FTC
E-cigarette manufacturer Juul was no favorite of regulators before selling a hefty chunk of itself to tobacco giant Altria Group, owing mainly to its uncertain health risks and penchant for marketing to kids. But that 2018 transaction has put Juul in the crosshairs of the Federal Trade Commission, which announced today it would sue the … Continued
By Avery Ellis