Thursday 30 September 2021
Abortion Limits Are China's Latest Bid to Boost Lagging Birth Rate
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AT&T is requiring more than 150,000 unionized employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before entering the workplace
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- AT&T said it's requiring staff represented by the CWA union to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
- The CWA union says it represents more than 150,000 AT&T employees.
- This follows a mandate in August that required most AT&T managers to be vaccinated by October 11.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
AT&T announced on Wednesday that it would require most of its unionized employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before entering the workplace.
The wireless carrier, one the largest employers of union-represented workers, said in a statement that employees who were members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union must be fully vaccinated by February 1, 2022.
CWA represents more than 150,000 staff at AT&T, the union says on its website.
This follows a mandate implemented in August that required most of AT&T's management employees to be vaccinated by October 11.
Insider has reached out to CWA for comment on the mandate.
AT&T said in its latest annual report that it had around 230,000 employees as of January 31, and that as of that date, just over a third were unionized. These workers were represented by the CWA and other unions, it said.
President Joe Biden's vaccine rules, announced September 9, require businesses with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccines or weekly testing. The administration has not said when this rule will come into effect.
Big Tech companies including Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, as well as major US airlines such as United and Delta, have also mandated vaccines for employees.
Some companies have incentivized employees to get vaccinated through bonuses and other benefits. Amazon announced in August a contest giving frontline workers the chance to win $500,000 in cash, cars, and vacation packages if they're vaccinated against COVID-19.
Meat company Tyson Foods said in early September that labor unions had agreed to support its requirement for US employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by November 1, adding it would offer new benefits to staff, including 20 hours of paid sick leave.
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Chamath Palihapitiya reveals he's put hundreds of millions into bitcoin - and says cryptocurrencies are hard to kill
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- Chamath Palihapitiya has put hundreds of millions into bitcoin, he told CNBC on Wednesday.
- The billionaire said it's hard for regulators to kill crypto, calling it "the most profound iteration of the internet."
- He was reluctant to reiterate his previous bitcoin price prediction, saying it's hard to do so.
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
Chamath Palihapitiya has invested hundreds of millions into bitcoin, and believes it's tough to impose a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies, he said in an interview with CNBC's Scott Wapner on Wednesday.
The billionaire investor was asked what he thinks of SEC Chair Gary Gensler saying the crypto market is "rife with fraud" and Ray Dalio saying regulators will try to "kill" bitcoin if it becomes really successful.
"I think it's very hard to kill," Palihapitiya said. "So technically, it's very difficult. Just the way that it's architected, it is the most profound iteration of the internet that we've seen."
Google and Facebook dominated the first two versions of the internet by creating, or organizing, everything that now exists on it, while decentralized finance and cryptocurrencies are part of the next stage of the evolution to what is known as Web 3.0, he said. The problem with Big Tech's dominance of the internet, according to him, is that it's down to two companies.
The third version "is rebuilding all of that stuff without an obvious leader. It's completely headless. It's entirely peer-to-peer. And I think that that's both scary and exhilarating," he said.
Still, SEC's Gensler has continued to ramp up his calls for regulating cryptocurrencies and DeFi. This shows that Wall Street's top regulator is keen to create a set of rules to oversee the volatile markets while balancing the interests of American innovators and investors at the same time.
The Social Capital founder said he's been studying the crypto market for the last 18 months in particular, making him a "huge intellectual bull" in the space. But his holdings seem to be mostly limited to bitcoin.
"I haven't put a lot of money outside of bitcoin obviously," he said. "You know, tens of millions, hundreds of millions - like small capital right now. It could get very big. But irrespective of what I do, I will say is we all need to pay attention to it, because I think the implications are enormous."
Palihapitiya has been a bitcoin enthusiast for about a decade now. He began investing in it in 2012, only a few years after its inception. Early this year, he predicted the coin could hit $200,000 in five years. But on Wednesday, he said it's hard to predict where the price could go.
"It's very hard for me sitting here to give you a price prediction," he told CNBC. "But I can pretty confidently say that bitcoin, I think, has effectively replaced gold. And it will continue to do so. And so that market cap is just going to grow."
Bitcoin was last trading 3% higher on the day at $43,073 per coin on Thursday, according to data from CoinDesk. It's risen about 50% so far this year, according to Coinbase data.
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10 things in tech you need to know today
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Good morning and welcome to 10 Things in Tech. If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Plus, download Insider's app for news on the go - click here for iOS and here for Android.
Let's get started.
1. YouTube is banning all anti-vaxx content. The company announced it will ban all content that claims approved vaccines do not work or are harmful - not just misinformation about COVID-19 shots. Still, Insider found at least two people from the "Disinformation Dozen" are on the platform. More on the ban, which diverges from the industry's traditionally hands-off approach.
2. Slack wants its execs to limit their office days to three a week. The company wants its senior leadership to come to the office less often to encourage other staff to work from home. Plus, it will no longer have executive-only floors. Why Slack wants execs to "lead by example."
3. Insiders who worked on Amazon's home robot share mixed feelings. Depending on who you ask, Astro is either the world's greatest tech innovation or Amazon's biggest flop, a gimmicky product that some say will "almost certainly throw itself down a flight of stairs." See what else employees are saying about Astro.
4. LinkedIn is removing journalists' profiles on its Chinese website over "prohibited content." LinkedIn, which said it has to adhere to Chinese laws to operate there, didn't give users any specifics about why their profiles were banned. What we know so far.
5. Leaked Facebook docs show the company saw pre-teens as an "untapped" audience. Documents found by The Wall Street Journal reveal the company's plans to lure in kids, including "leveraging playdates" to get more children using the Messenger Kids app. Here's how else Facebook worked to get "tweens" - children aged between 10 and 12 - onto its platform.
6. The power players behind Web Summit have fallen out and are in a legal fight in California. David Kelly and Patrick Cosgrave, two of the tech conference's cofounders, are on opposite sides of a dispute over their VC fund. Read more about the falling out here.
7. Netflix has acquired a video-game studio in a major move to further its gaming ambitions. The streaming giant announced its purchase of Night School Studio, a games developer known for "Oxenfree," a 2016 supernatural thriller game. The purchase brings it one step closer to offering video games alongside its films and TV shows.
8. Apple's former design chief is reportedly helping Ferrari design its first electric car. A firm headed by Jony Ive, who designed iconic Apple products like the iPhone, Mac, and iPod, is collaborating with the luxury carmaker to produce its first-ever EV. Get the latest on Ferrari's EV.
9. Elon Musk is devoting his time to a fully reusable SpaceX rocket. Musk called the project, known as Starship, "the holy grail" - and said it could cost less than $1 million. Here's what we know about his lofty plans for a reusable rocket.
10. We identified the 72 most powerful people at Amazon Web Services under new CEO Adam Selipsky. Using a leaked official org chart, we pieced together all the people helping Selipsky run AWS, the most dominant cloud platform on the market. Take a look at our exclusive org chart.
Wait, before you go - We're publishing new crosswords through Oct. 8. Solve today's here.
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Motherhood on Wall Street - Pension funds invest in offices - Bloomberg courts quants
Welcome to Insider Finance. If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Plus, download Insider's app for news on the go - click here for iOS and here for Android.
On the agenda today:
- Moms on Wall Street open up about balancing work, the pandemic, and parenthood.
- Pension funds have their fingers crossed that the office isn't dead.
- Citizens on the hunt for more deals in healthcare and infrastructure.
Let's get started.
Moms in finance open up about the pandemic and parenthood
We asked five moms working on Wall Street to share their experiences juggling work and parenthood throughout the pandemic. From being there for a child's first steps to doing laundry in the middle of the night, women on Wall Street detail how they've balanced work and motherhood for the past year and a half.
Pension funds are betting that the office isn't dead
The market for office space in metro areas like New York City and San Francisco has floundered since the start of the pandemic, but that's not keeping pension investors from scooping up deals. Why investors are ignoring the narrative - and going bargain hunting instead.
Big investors are divided over China
Britta Pedersen / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
The world's biggest investors are split over whether to invest in China, with the Evergrande crisis fueling debate. Ray Dalio and Elon Musk see the country as a big opportunity for investors, while others are questioning the idea that China is an "investable" market. Here's what they're saying as the Evergrande crisis unfolds.
Citizens on the hunt for more deals
Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Shortly after snapping up San Francisco-based advisory firm JMP, Citizens is looking to build out its investment bank. Among other hot sectors, the bank is eyeing acquisitions in healthcare and infrastructure. More on its push for deals.
Merrill Lynch is rolling out a new app
Brian Ach/AP Images for Bank of America Merrill Lynch
As it looks for new ways to keep financial advisors from jumping ship, Merrill Lynch is launching a new app and adding trust- and estate-focused employees to help advisors. More on the updates intended to help retain advisors.
Scotiabank is moving workloads to Google Cloud
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After tapping Google Cloud to be its preferred cloud provider for its customer data, Scotiabank is "aggressively" transferring workloads to the cloud. We spoke with Scotiabank's chief analytics officer, who described how the partnership will help the bank better anticipate customers' needs.
Bloomberg is launching a new tool to keep quant clients happy
Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
For years, Bloomberg has been working on reshaping its ubiquitous terminal for a new type of user: quants. Now, with the launch of its new tool, BQuant Enterprise, Bloomberg is hoping to woo quant analysts and coders. A Bloomberg exec walked us through the tool and explained why leveraging the cloud was key.
On our radar:
- After a damning New York Times article, an Ozy investor and advertisers are demanding answers. Get the rundown here.
- New data shows that U.K. investment banks pay women 56% of what their male colleagues make, Bloomberg reports. More on the latest data.
- According to WSJ, nonbank lenders are having one of the biggest years ever for loan volume. Why business is booming.
- Per Bloomberg, Affirm will debut crypto offerings and debit products. More on its push to become a "super app."
Hey! Don't forget - We're publishing new crosswords through Oct. 8. Solve today's here.
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The UK economy grew much faster than expected in Q2, bolstering the chances of an interest-rate hike
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- The UK economy grew much more than previously thought in the second quarter.
- GDP grew 5.5% in the quarter, compared with a previous estimate of 4.8%.
- Economists said this bolsters the case for the Bank of England to raise interest rates sooner than expected.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The UK economy grew much faster in the second quarter than previously estimated, new figures have shown, bolstering the case that the Bank of England will raise interest rates sooner rather than later.
UK gross domestic product rose 5.5% in the period from April to June, the Office for National Statistics said Thursday, an upward revision from a preliminary estimate of 4.8%. By contrast, the economy contracted 1.4% in the first quarter.
It leaves the level of UK GDP - the most common way of measuring the size of the economy - 3.3% lower than before the pandemic.
The Bank of England last week said the case for cutting stimulus and raising interest rates was growing, in response to stronger-than-anticipated inflation.
Thursday's strong GDP growth reading adds to the case that the UK economy does not need as much support from the the central bank, economists said.
"Today's release suggests the economy is closer to its pre-pandemic level than we had previously thought and raises the risk that the Bank of England hikes interest rates sooner than our forecast of May 2022," Ruth Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics, said.
The pound had a choppy morning, but was last up 0.29% against the dollar at $1.346. London's FTSE 100 stock index was 0.42% higher.
Britain's economy grew rapidly over the summer as the rollout of coronavirus vaccines and the loosening of lockdown restrictions boosted businesses and consumer spending.
The ONS said the second-quarter GDP upgrade was partly because the health services and the arts sectors performed better than initially estimated. It also underscores the difficulties of collecting accurate data at such a volatile time for the economy.
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Facebook to face Senate grilling over protecting children and teens
Head of safety will testify after claims social media group buried research into mental health impact
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Hong Kong Retail Sales Jumped in August Thanks to Cash Vouchers
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Evergrande tries to reassure investors, claiming it has resumed work on 46 real estate projects in cities across China
Screengrab/ Evergrande Shenzhen
- Troubled Chinese real estate giant Evergrande claims it has resumed work on several real estate projects.
- Posts claiming construction work has resumed were made by the WeChat accounts of Evergrande offices in Guizhou, Shenzhen, and the Pearl River Delta.
- Timestamped images attached to the posts showed workers returning to 46 separate construction sites.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
In an attempt to shore up confidence in its real estate business, beleaguered Chinese real estate giant Evergrande has made several posts on its official social media accounts over the last week, claiming that work is resuming on its unfinished construction projects.
Evergrande is now the most indebted company in the world, and is currently facing more than $300 billion in liabilities. The company failed to pay off its debts, setting off tremors across regional and international markets and sparking a debt crisis across its real estate and wealth management arms that some analysts have termed China's "Lehman Brothers moment."
Many of the company's properties, including a $1.8 billion lotus-shaped football stadium in Guangzhou, remain partially built. Work on most of Evergrande's 800 development projects across China also hit significant roadblocks over the summer.
But Evergrande might now be attempting to restore buyers' confidence in its business through posts made on the official WeChat accounts of its local offices in the southwestern province of Guizhou, and the southern cities of Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta.
Evergrande/WeChat
The first post about work resuming on the company's construction sites was made by Evergrande's Pearl River Delta office. It contained what appear to be time-stamped images of work resuming in the morning on September 24 at Evergrande real estate properties in three cities in Guangdong province - Foshan, Heyuan, and Qingyuan.
In the post, the company's Pearl River Delta office said work had begun anew on 20 developments in the area, and vowed that the properties would be handed over to customers on time.
"We are moving forward in line with our corporate mission, and will not disappoint," the company's Pearl River Delta office said in its September 28 statement.
The company's local office in Guizhou made a WeChat post on September 29, which also included what appeared to be timestamped photos of workers at 16 different construction sites in the province going back to work on September 26.
Evergrande/WeChat
Separately, Evergrande's Shenzhen office posted an update on its WeChat account on Wednesday, that appeared to show workers at 10 different sites going back to the construction sites on September 29.
Insider was unable to independently verify that workers had returned to these sites. Additionally, Insider's search on Weibo, the country's Twitter-like platform, did not yield any photos or videos of the construction sites being taken by social media users.
"Handing over properties is Evergrande's commitment to every customer, and a responsibility we must fulfill," wrote the company's Shenzhen office in their post on September 29. "In the last few days, Evergrande has made resuming construction and delivering our properties to buyers our priority. We have done everything we can to protect the rights and interests of our customers."
Evergrande did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
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