Tech:NYC Digest: April 28

Tech:NYC Digest: April 28

April 28, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Thursday, April 28, 2022 

In today’s digest, NYC public schools now providing at-home test kits, Mayor Adams honors essential workers, and what to know about NYC’s salary transparency law. 

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 9,538        

    • New positive cases, NYC: 3,104

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 4.2 percent (-0.3 percent)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 90.1 percent

    • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 76.8 percent

In today’s latest:

  • Moderna has asked the FDA to authorize its coronavirus vaccine for children under 6, making it the first manufacturer to do so. (New York Times)

  • New York City schools are now providing four at-home COVID testing kits to all students each week and asking families to use them on a regular basis. The new policy comes as students return from spring break and cases rise again across New York City. (Chalkbeat New York)

  • New York City renters looking to sign a lease are entering a completely transformed market with fewer pandemic-related deals compared to last year, according to new data from StreetEasy. (ABC New York)

  • Mayor Adams today commemorated the contributions of essential workers who worked through the pandemic by unveiling a plaque in their honor on Broadway. (New York Daily News) 

In other reading:

  • How to Get COVID Treatments in New York City (New York Times)

  • Times Square is mounting a comeback (Axios)

  • An Awful Lot of People Seem to Have ‘Coachella Cough’ (New York Magazine)

We’ve written here before about NYC’s pay transparency law, a measure passed at the end of last year meant to ensure greater pay equity for New Yorkers.  

  • The mandate requires all businesses with five or more employees to disclose minimum and maximum salary ranges in their job postings.

What’s new: The law was originally slated to take effect in May, but the passage of a new law today by the NYC Council will push back implementation to Nov. 1. (Gothamist)

Among the other updates:

  • Positions listed as being located partially or fully outside of NYC are exempt from the disclosure requirements. That includes remote positions for NYC companies hiring talent based outside the city.

  • It requires the disclosure of base salary pay, but not benefits, stock options, and other compensation figures.

  • Only current employees can take legal action against companies not in compliance with the law, not job candidates.

The law follows what is quickly becoming a national trend: California, Colorado, and Connecticut all have salary disclosure laws on the books, and Jersey City’s version of the law went into effect last month.

  • In the new world of hybrid and remote work, with employees spread across the country, companies could find it challenging to have a uniform compensation strategy compliant with a multi-state patchwork of regulations.

  • And some business groups say it could actually make it harder to hire diverse candidates.

Our takeaway: The new law passed today is a step in the right direction — and will give tech companies the time they need to create processes to comply with the law and ensure its effectiveness.

In other reading:

  • Even in a tight job market, recruiters say these 4 red flags will cost you the offer (CNBC)

  • ‘My New Job Is Nothing Like I Expected’ (New York Magazine)

  • Here’s why tech companies are investing in learning subscriptions (Protocol)

  • Hour One, a NYC and Tel Aviv-based AI video generation company, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Galaxy Interactive, Remagine Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Semble Ventures, Cerca Partners, Digital-Horizon, and Eynat Guez. (Newswire) 

  • Movable Ink, a NYC-based content personalization startup, raised $55 million in Series D funding. Silver Lake Waterman led the round and was joined by Contour Venture Partners, Intel Capital, and others. (TechCrunch)

  • Womp, a NYC-based maker of cloud-based 3D creation software, raised $4.7 million in seed funding. Female Founders Fund and Haystack co-led the round and was joined by NEO Investment Partners and other individuals. (VentureBeat)

  • April 29: Virtual: Creating a Culture of Data Sharing, with NYC chief analytics officers Martha Norrick, NYC Council Technology Committee chair Council Member Jennifer Gutierrez, and others. Hosted by City & State. Register here.

  • May 4: Virtual: The Future of New York series, with Tech:NYC executive director Jason Myles Clark and Capalino president Travis Terry. Hosted by Capalino. Register here.

  • May 5: Virtual: Tech regulation beyond big tech, with Consumer Technology Association SVP Michael Petricone, Small Business Majority director Awesta Sarkash, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

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