🌎 Tech workers for the chop
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Here’s what you need to know
Amazon is laying off more workers than anticipated. The tech giant is looking to cut 18,000 jobs, nearly double the 10,000 announced in November.
What to watch for
The Great Resignation isn’t over yet. After alternating between staying steady and declining for nine months, the overall quits rate grew to 2.7% in November from 2.6% in October, according to new data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The job openings and labor turnover report is the first in a series of data released this week that will give an updated picture of the US labor market, indicating which actions the Federal Reserve might take to stem inflation.
In at least one aspect, the labor market is cooling off: The hiring rate fell from 4% in October to 3.9% in November. But an increase in Americans leaving their jobs is the opposite of what Fed chair Jerome Powell wants to see. Throughout 2022, he has insisted that the job openings and quits rate should decrease and wage growth should slow to help bring down prices.
Chinese automakers are becoming shipping companies
As China’s vehicle exports boomed over the past two years, pandemic-related supply chain snarls led to overcrowded cargo ships. So what’s an electric vehicle giant like China’s BYD to do? Control the verticals of course, becoming at once ship owner and shipping logistics provider.
BYD is no stranger to vertical integration, having started out as a mobile phone battery maker before manufacturing other electronics, auto components, and finally EVs. Now, the automaker has ordered at least six massive car carriers—and the company is tapping into the other end of the process too, scouting for lithium mines in Africa and mining contracts in Chile, the better to make its own EV batteries (and supply competitors with them, too).
Other Chinese car exporters are jumping on board with their own forays into shipping. And not a moment too soon for the Chinese auto industry—there are roughly 750 car carriers in operation worldwide, and China’s only got 10 of them.
Your work is preventing you from doing your work
This week, Shopify announced a new policy for the calendar-submerged: It’s dropping meetings for employees in the new year.
Well, not all meetings. The recurring ones with more than two people will simply be removed from internal calendars, but honestly, aren’t those the worst? It’s also banning meetings on Wednesdays and for most of Thursdays, giving employees a dedicated block in which they know they’ll be able to work.
Shopify’s not the first company to do this, but should yours be the next? For Quartz at Work, Gabriela Riccardi makes the case.
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