3 Noticias economicas ingles

The FTC chair’s position is crucial to understanding the rise of large tech platforms

Plus, reasons to worry about ESG ETFs, Italian ‘ecobonus’ scheme, and the trouble with ESG’s ‘G’

Inside a new and nearly finished coffee roasting facility in Washington D.C., Joel Shetterly is animatedly leading a video tour through the building. As head of design for Compass Coffee, a seven-year-old company with 13 cafe locations and bagged beans in stores across the D.C. region, Shetterly is eager to show off the 65,000 square foot building’s new roasters, packaging equipment, and lots of welded steel.

He’s excited about how the largely automated new space works, and also excited about how it can help the small coffee chain expand to new locations and retail opportunities. But mostly he’s excited about who made it all possible. “We have motors hanging from the ceiling, pipes crossing through one another and dropping through the floor to the level below,” Shetterly says, panning across the room. “This was all installed by baristas.”

[Photo: Courtesy Compass Coffee]

The multi-million dollar roasting facility, unlike probably any other, was largely built by employees of Compass Coffee’s cafes.

“We realized at the start of COVID it was going to be very bad for the cafes. Our business was down 90%,” Shetterly says. About 80% of employees were laid off in early March. “Rather than laying everybody off, we said for people who wanted to come learn construction and equipment installation and rigging, that they could come to the facility and we would put everyone to work.”

About 20 cafe workers agreed. Because it was a renovation of a former tomato cannery, most of the structural work on the building was already completed, but much of the interior was an empty space. Shetterly, who has led the construction management on all of Compass Coffee’s cafes, became a kind of teacher-slash-foreman, showing cafe managers, espresso techs, and delivery drivers how to weld, guiding them in installing wiring, and helping get all the facility’s new equipment in place. Instead of pulling espresso shots and foaming milk for lattes, they were driving scissor lifts and framing walls. “Literally none of this was in here a year ago,” Shetterly says, walking through the facility. “This is entirely the product of work put in by our team during COVID.”

[Photo: Courtesy Compass Coffee]

After some basic training, the unconventional construction crew started building. Shetterly says he brought the team in every morning and walked them through a digital model of the project, showing which parts of the building they’d be working on that day. The model, made using technology from Autodesk, “is the only way it was possible to build this incredibly complex factory using people who had never worked in construction before,” Shetterly says. “There’s no doubt that it required a ton of oversight, and really good coordination.”

Nicolas Mangon, a vice president at Autodesk, says that during the pandemic, the company’s digital design tools were being used by a lot of people who were new to construction and trying to adjust their physical spaces to accommodate new distancing and safety requirements. “We saw a lot of companies use similar technology to reconfigure spaces, to organize restaurants, to organize stores and facilitate how people were moving through,” he says. It’s not unheard of for non-designers to use these kinds of design tools, he says. The U.S. Navy Seals reportedly used Autodesk modeling tools to plan out the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.

The stakes were somewhat lower for Compass Coffee’s project, but not completely risk-free. The company wouldn’t disclose how much it spent on the project, but has characterized it as a make-or-break investment for a growing business trying to survive the pandemic. “We had to finish this. We couldn’t not work on this for a year,” Shetterly says. Trusting inexperienced baristas was worth the risk.

[Photo: Courtesy Compass Coffee]

That doesn’t mean it all went smoothly. Shetterly says the construction and installation was slow, and certain things like bending sheet metal for ductwork proved too complicated. “There’s no question that it took longer than it would have if we’d thrown millions of dollars at a general contractor with a specialized equipment installer. But at the end of the day we’re a really small company. We don’t have a tremendous amount of cash. Building something like this is really expensive,” he says.

To help the company survive, every employee from bottom to top took a pay cut to $15 an hour right at the start of the pandemic. Shetterly says pay was gradually increased and is now back at pre-pandemic levels. All but three of the company’s cafes are now open, and the company is hiring.

Now that the facility is nearly complete and cafes are reopening, will all the baristas moonlighting as builders ditch their hardhats and get behind the bar? Shetterly says Compass Coffee does all of its cafe construction and furniture making in house, so as long as the company keeps growing, the new skills people picked up can be put to use. “For people who want to stay on board, we’re going to be able to find opportunities for them to continue working in fabrication and construction,” he says.

Japanese tech group in talks to take 10% stake in Yanolja

For many employees, the pandemic was worse than any scary movie they could imagine and, by the American Psychological Association’s definition, traumatic. In layman’s terms, trauma is an emotional response to terrible, shocking, and/or life-changing events. Many of the direct effects of the pandemic, such as economic loss, prolonged social isolation or uncertainty, or death of a loved one all add to an employee’s psychological distress and could fall within this category.

Even as vaccines become more widely available, the trauma is still taking a significant toll on this country. If your employees are still feeling anxious or depressed from the pandemic, they are not alone, as a recent survey found that 47% of adults continue to report negative mental health impacts related to worry or stress from the pandemic.

As many of us heal and process these traumas and feelings of anxiety and depression, it may feel impossible to deliver 100% at work. As business leaders plan for what the future of work looks like, understanding where employees are and how the pandemic may impact their work performance is important. Here are a few things to watch for if an employee is struggling with the transition back to the office:

• Hypervigilance. If someone is suffering from anxiety, they may appear to be very alert or easily startled. This could look like someone pacing around the break room, constantly fidgeting, or getting easily startled by small sounds.
• Longer and/or more frequent breaks. It’s important for employees to take breaks in their day to keep their minds sharp, but it also could indicate someone is dealing with emotional triggers. Perhaps that employee who has been taking several bathroom breaks is actually crying in the bathroom or is looking at their phone frequently because they have a relative in the hospital.
• Spikes in sick days and used PTO. When someone is struggling with high levels of depression and anxiety, getting out of bed can feel like running a marathon. There may be days when this feels too overwhelming, and they call in sick or use extra PTO days. While many are trying to take time off to travel again, watch for employees who don’t seem to have plans or who have been calling in sick a lot.

If you think your employee has been underperforming and may be exhibiting some of these signs, it can be hard to figure out how to talk about it or what to do next. Here are a few ideas:

• Ask what the pandemic has been like for them. We have no way of knowing exactly what everyone has experienced over the last year. However, it’s important to start an open dialogue. Try saying something like, “I know the last year hasn’t been easy for me; what was it like for you?” If you can allow yourself to show a bit of vulnerability and share some examples of how you have struggled, this may open the door a bit more to meaningful communication. Active listening is also key.
• Allow the employee the flexibility to ease into a “new normal.” After working remotely for more than a year, many employees might suffer from culture shock when suddenly asked to go into the office five days a week. However, a person can slowly begin to ease back into the office through safe, gradual exposure so that there are small wins and only minor stresses to cope with. In an office setting, this might mean allowing employees to have flexible hours, so perhaps they can come into the office for a few hours at a time and gradually work their way to a longer day.
• Sit down and make plans together. Back-to-back meetings and endless to-do lists would make anyone stressed, let alone someone experiencing mental health challenges. Offer to sit down with your employee to plan their week and adjust their schedule, and get additional resources as needed. These small adjustments can really add up and make a difference in someone’s day.
• Offer resources for employees to seek professional help.
  Be proactive about sharing resources for employees to navigate yet another new normal. Is online therapy an available benefit? Are there nearby community resources that employees can leverage without having to take PTO? Are there mindfulness apps like Headspace that might be discounted for employees? These are all great resources to help people feel supported in and outside the office. It’s also important to create a safe environment to use these resources in the office. Let’s end the days of taking teletherapy appointments in our cars, and instead create private spaces where employees feel comfortable getting the help they need.

We have all gone through a lot over the last year. It’s important to take steps to show compassion for employees (and yourself), as we reflect on the impact of what’s happened and get accustomed to what the future of work looks like. Consider these warning signs and suggestions to create a healthier work environment, where employees feel comfortable and ready to innovate. Who knows, the employee who is struggling now could turn out to be one of your top performers later on.

Dr. James Wantuck is the cofounder and chief medical officer at PlushCare, a company offering virtual healthcare.

Melissa Dowd is a licensed marriage and family therapist, as well as the therapy lead at PlushCare.

A mismatch between available workers and job openings is plaguing the labor market as potential employees leave cities or industries where businesses need them most.

When we marvel at female athletes beating world records at the Olympics, few of us stop to ask: Who’s watching their kids right now?

Allyson Felix, the most decorated track and field Olympian in history, knows exactly what it’s like to be worried about childcare while she’s training and competing. So this week, she announced a partnership with her primary sponsor, Athleta, and the Women’s Sports Foundation to launch a $200,000 grant aimed at covering childcare costs for professional athletes competing during 2021. Nine athletes have already been chosen, including Olympic hammer thrower Gwen Berry and Olympic saber fencer Mariel Zagunis, each of whom will receive $10,000.

Over the past two years, Felix has become one of the most vocal advocates for female athletes. After Olympian runners Alysia Montaño and Kara Goucher broke their nondisclosure agreements with Nike to share how poorly the company had treated them while they were pregnant, Felix stepped up to do the same. In 2019, she described in a New York Times op-ed how she tried to push back against Nike’s policy of cutting female athletes’ pay during and after pregnancy. When Felix asked Nike to guarantee that she wouldn’t be punished if she didn’t perform at her best in the months surrounding childbirth, the contract negotiations ground to a standstill.

“One of my first races back after giving birth to my daughter, Camryn, was the World Championships,” Felix tells Fast Company. “Not only was I still breastfeeding and physically and mentally exhausted from being a first-time mom while training and competing — I was assigned a roommate at the competition. There was no way I could bring my daughter into a shared room with another athlete who is trying to get in her zone.”

A few months later, Felix signed a sponsorship deal with Athleta, Gap Inc.’s activewear brand. “They get that I am a whole person beyond the track,” Felix says. “They jumped right in to support my training as well as my passions and advocacy platforms. In fact, part of my contract with Athleta includes provisions for Cammy to join me whenever I am competing. ”

[Photo: Getty]But very few athletes have this kind of support from a sponsor. Felix wanted to establish this grant program so that other mom athletes could get childcare support as they compete at the highest levels. The Women’s Sports Foundation, the organization founded by tennis legend Billie Jean King in 1974, will be responsible for allocating the $200,000. Athletes from all sports can apply for a $10,000 grant through August 31, and all recipients will be announced in October. Given that most athletes headed to the Olympics don’t have big sponsorship deals, a grant like this can make a big difference.

Lora Webster, a 34-year-old Paralympic volleyball player, is among the recipients and plans to use the funds as she heads to Tokyo. Webster has three children, ages 6, 8, and 10, and says she has struggled to balance her responsibilities as a mother and an athlete. She’s traveled around the world to compete, from the Athens and Beijing Olympics to the Volleyball Masters in the Netherlands to the World Cup in Egypt. At the London Olympics in 2012, she didn’t tell her team that she was 20 weeks pregnant. “I didn’t want them to worry that they could do anything that might harm the baby,” she says.

But she says traveling to sporting events for weeks at a time with three kids at home is just as challenging as competing pregnant. Her kids miss her and she feels like she’s abandoning them. Then there’s the sheer cost, particularly since Webster doesn’t have a major corporate sponsor. She and her husband have had to pay thousands of dollars for babysitters while she’s traveling. This year, she has one less thing to worry about. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that this grant is life-changing,” Webster says. “It’s not just the money: It’s that big companies are now beginning to understand what the struggle really is for mom athletes.”

Webster says that she’s spent most of her life carefully separating her identity as a mother from her identity as an athlete. She rarely talks about her children when she’s training or interacting with her teammates because she’s concerned it might make her look weak. “As moms, there’s so much guilt leaving our babies at home to pursue our sport,” Webster says. “It’s something we can’t really talk about, because it makes us look like we’re not focused on the game.”

Felix wants to break that code of silence. As she heads to Tokyo as one of the top track and field athletes in the world—with six Olympic gold medals and 11 world championship titles—she’s using her clout not only to advocate for herself, but to start a conversation about what it’s like for professional athletes who choose to become mothers. “These grants are about showing the industry that all mom athletes need this same comprehensive support to be able to participate in their athletic endeavors,” Felix says.

And for Webster, this means a lot. “I’m floored that she has made this a priority,” Webster says. “It sends the message to all female athletes that we don’t have to choose between motherhood and our sport. We can do both.”

When it launched 40 years ago, on August 1, 1981, MTV signaled a new era where artists forged deeper connections with fans through music videos, on-air interviews, live performances, and contests. While there’s been tremendous change in every aspect of the music industry since, I’d argue that nothing has sparked the same outpouring from fans and reshaped how artists connect with their followers quite like MTV did.

Until now, with cryptocurrency.

We are just starting to see artists of all levels experiment with their own cryptocurrencies to tap into new revenue streams and deeper fan engagement. Performers are embracing it as an alternative to the big tech-owned social media platforms that have been profiting from their labor over the past decade. And much like MTV’s early years, cryptocurrency has the same independent game-changing spirit to shake up the system and the potential to massively shift pop culture.

From its inception, MTV understood the symbiotic relationship between artists and fans and helped drive a significant change in the industry’s business model, whereby fans expected interaction with their favorite artists. During my time at MTV (and sister net CMT) from 2010 to 2018, the brand continued to expand beyond music, but that fundamental understanding was ever present in early experimentation across digital platforms.

With the O Music Awards, MTV pioneered new ways for fans and artists to connect online, including the world’s largest digital music festival and the Flaming Lips’ record-setting tour during which they performed eight concerts in 24 hours, starting in Memphis and ending in New Orleans. The launch of MTV Artists platform in 2012 marked an ambitious effort to help artists gain entryway into our corridors by self-submitting their videos to air across MTV, VH1 and CMT, while also creating a one-stop-shop where fans could listen and buy music, purchase tickets, and more. At the 2013 VMAs, we provided a new type of immersive experience, giving viewers the ability to choose camera feeds and chat with other fans from around the world. And in the last five years, CMT has pushed for equality with the “Next Women of Country” campaign, which introduces fans to up-and-coming female artists that have largely been ignored by country radio. 

While MTV was innovating during this time, social media startups, music streaming services and video platforms were taking off and showed tremendous promise in bringing fans closer to their favorite artists than ever before. Just when social media was gaining massive traction in 2013, MTV released a study called “Music to the M Power” which showed how social media was dismantling barriers between artist and fans, creating a “zero-distancing” effect. More than half of millennial respondents stated that they felt closer to their favorite acts when they shared personal information with them.

Despite the promising start, when we analyze the digital landscape today, there are still factors that cause rifts in the artist-fan relationship. Although we have the ability to access nearly all recorded music from our smartphones, we’ve sacrificed intimacy for urgency. Twitter and Instagram provide followers access to their favorite performers with the touch of a button, but there is no sense of real connection. Streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube provide a way for fans to quickly access music at an affordable price, but there is a lack of engagement and excitement through these mediums. Fans are just a number on a screen—a contributor to a listenership count.

But crypto has the potential to close this gap. Where fans have always been on the floor of the arena looking up at the artist, with crypto, for the first time ever, fans and performers earn together. Fans are holders of a token demonstrating their super fandom and can use that token as an access pass to exclusive content, NFTs, experiences, and communities of their favorite artists. Artists can offer goods and services in exchange for their own currency, and both fans and creators can participate in the growth and success of this economy. Every day with Rally, I work with creators to experiment with seemingly endless fan benefits. Rally has collaborated with Portugal The Man, who are looking to re-invent the fan club with crypto, Beyoncé’s Grammy Award winning producer !llmind, who is collaborating on new music with fans, and DJ Wax Motif, who will let you hang with him at a music festival. 

Much like music videos existed before MTV, the concept of social tokens and NFTs is not new. Over the past few years, a massive investment has been made to build out software, networks, and platforms that can mint NFTs and launch social tokens at zero or an extremely low cost. This ease of use has opened access to the technology and led to amplified experimentation by mostly emerging artists.

Crypto allows performers of all levels to own their financial relationship with fans instead of relying on the traditional record label system and/or tech giants to serve as a middleman. Artists are using NFTs to earn years worth of streaming revenue in one day and unlock unique experiences for fans without relying on a centralized platform to facilitate it. Moreover, crypto gives artists control over their own economic success. In the next few years, we’ll see crypto become core to an artist’s strategy, not only as a fan engagement tool, but as a consistent revenue generator as well. We’ll see artists build their empires around crypto: from album releases to new music videos and merch powered by their social tokens. NFTs will be used for secure ticketing, ensuring that the artists will earn even if the ticket is scalped. The power dynamic between fan and artist will shift and finally place fans on the same level as their favorite artists, creating a much-needed sense of community where artists and fans are building a brand-new digital economy together.

Just like it seemed almost unfathomable that a small upstart on a fledgling new medium would forever change the landscape of music, crypto offers artists and their fans endless connection points, all while moving the business to the next level with an alternate revenue stream that brings greater value to the creator-fan relationship.

Kurt Patat is Global Head of Communications at Rally and formally SVP of Communications at MTV/CMT.

With the shift to remote work during the pandemic, many workers settled into new routines—whether that meant doing more caretaking, balancing household responsibilities, or simply adjusting to a new productivity pattern. So returning to the office isn’t as easy as simply reverting back to our 2019 selves. But that’s sometimes a good thing.

As many workers return to the office (at least part time), now’s the moment to apply the lessons learned about the power of flexibility and maximizing efficiency during remote work. These lessons can benefit a whole organization and result in happier, less-burned-out teams.

Here are three productivity tips from remote work to continue implementing as you return to your office:

1. Rein in the multitasking

Juggling multiple tasks simultaneously may feel affirming, but it rarely results in high-quality work and can lead to decreased productivity because you make more mistakes and ultimately expend more energy.

This isn’t to say multitasking isn’t alluring. Too many of us are familiar with the unfortunate sensation of having to shift away from a time-sensitive project to attend an hours-long meeting. It can be easy to tell yourself that you can do both in order to alleviate some stress later on. Multitasking can be especially tempting when working remotely, as workers are often drawn to a side activity, splintering their focus and derailing how present they are during meetings.

But during the pandemic, many learned to resist this draining temptation. And, as you begin to show up to a physical office, continue to fight the urge to multitask. Your brain is getting used to more distractions and input and will likely appreciate the chance to focus on one task at a time.

2. Reduce garbage tasks—don’t just reorganize them

One of the best time-saving strategies is cutting out low-value activities that suck up minutes, energy, and unnecessary space on your to-do list. “Developing a reductive mindset means you adopt a habit—a reflex, tendency, effortless first inclination—to cut the unnecessary,” Juliet Funt, CEO of WhiteSpace at Work, told Fast Company.

This is an especially important tip to keep in mind as you transition back to an office setting, complete with a time-sucking commute, and a limited number of hours in which to get work done. Fast Company contributor Scott Dust says when you’re running up against a fixed amount of time, it’s less about managing your hours and more about filtering things you agree to.

This involves knowing when to shut down new opportunities so you can perform your best on what is already on your plate. Granted, filtering may be difficult for less-senior employees looking to build their career. Instead of outright rejecting requests, look to tailor your meetings and invites to the most essential and constructive occasions. If these sorts of meetings are to occur in person, try to batch them together so you get the most value out of your in-office days.

3. Look out for your well-being

Overworking is a scourge to productivity and can set a bad habit where hustling for a dangerous 55 hours or more per week is normal. Working remotely allowed some employees to start as early as they wanted and end as late as they wanted—without any monitoring of or encouragement to control these impulses. “While team members may feel they’re doing the company a favor, individuals [are] setting themselves up for burnout,” writes Ed Beltran, CEO of Fierce, a training and leadership development firm.

Carry over techniques from the remote work environment such as establishing clear boundaries for when you check work communication and when you’re officially calling it quits for the day. Fast Company writer Stephanie Vozza advises creating an end-of-day ritual to signal to yourself to stop working. When working remotely that might have taken the form of a walk, or time catching up with your roommate or spouse. These rituals are easy to continue when working in person as well; by making time to chat with coworkers before leaving, or listening to your favorite podcast on your commute home, you can signal to yourself that the workday is over.

And does Chinese credit explain American bonds?

The social network is relying on artificial intelligence to solve flaws in human nature

Plus, a $30bn M&A courtroom drama signs on for another season

The scale of future growth is immense and investors need to ask where and when the tide of disruption will strike next

ASA identifies digital asset promotions as ‘red alert’ priority for oversight

The scale of future growth is immense and investors need to ask where and when the tide of disruption will strike next

Rising interest in Chinese bond market helps drive regional surge

Our correspondent donned red to cheer Denmark at Wembley stadium. For that he got middle fingers, mimed masturbation, then a punch

Congress should look at the anti-competitive details before signing on.

Democrats have become more extreme on social issues, and they aren’t prepared for the backlash.

The disturbing story of nominee Tracy Stone-Manning and Earth First!