Tech:NYC Digest: August 15

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Monday, August 15, 2022 

In today’s digest, the CDC turns a new chapter on COVID, early voting in NYC, and the “diversity nudges” that can keep your company’s DEI goals on track.

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By the numbers:  

• New positive cases statewide: 3,356    

  • New positive cases, NYC: 1,670 

• NYC Positivity Rate (Daily): 3.6%

  • NYC Positivity Rate (7-Day Average): 5.2%

In today’s latest: 

• The CDC loosened its COVID-19 guidelines over the weekend, marking a significant shift in the country’s approach to the pandemic. (New York Times)

  • According to the new guidelines, people who are exposed to the virus no longer need to quarantine at home regardless of their vaccination status, unless they test positive. Here are the latest rules on recommended isolation periods.

  • Contact tracing and routine testing of people without symptoms are no longer recommended in most settings.

  • Here’s a good FAQ about what the change in guidance means for you.

• The city will close its municipal-run COVID-19 vaccination sites for children younger than 5 years old next week, citing a decrease in demand and greater availability of the shots via pediatricians and other health providers. The sites are pivoting to monkeypox vaccine administration. (Gothamist)

• The polio virus has been detected in NYC wastewater, suggesting that there’s community transmission in the five boroughs. Since polio can lead to paralysis and even death, officials are urging unvaccinated New Yorkers to get vaccinated now. (CNN)

• Early voting is underway for the second round of primary elections in New York, for which voters are selecting their congressional representatives and state senators. (New York Times)  Early voting sites are open through Aug. 21, and Election Day is Aug. 23. Confirm your voting site and see your sample ballot here. 

In other reading:

• Are We in a Recession or a Vibecession? (New York Magazine)

• Voyage of the Gross (Curbed)

• The Best New Bakeries in New York City (Bloomberg)

Tech leaders have made it plain that they support robust DEI efforts, but so far, there have been slight improvements in recruiting women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups as engineers.

• The good news is that NYC already has a head start: Tech:NYC’s Innovation Indicators research found that 20.8% of the New York tech workforce is Black and/or Hispanic, more than the other two leading tech hubs, San Francisco (8.5%) and Boston (9.7%), combined.

There’s more to do: Of course, NYC’s tech workforce numbers are still far off from reflecting the city’s broader demographic data, and the myth that it’s harder to source underrepresented talent has managed to stick around.

To answer this, LinkedIn released a new feature called “Diversity Nudges” for its recruiting platform to challenge that “hard to find” myth. Here’s how it works:

• If a recruiter’s search results skew either too male or female, the nudge feature will recommend ways to broaden the pool of results.

• Hiring managers may also receive suggestions for parameters they can add to your search to increase the gender balance, such as Skills, Locations, and Companies.

“Our world is becoming a multicultural space and companies that move forward without diversity will not sustain,” Netta Jenkins, Unqork’s vice president of global inclusion, told LinkedIn. “Diversity yields a culture of energy, productivity, performance, and profitability … [and] these new tools in LinkedIn Recruiter will help companies create a more diverse talent pipeline.”

Tools like this may feel inconsequential, but they can go a long way in countering recruiter bias. (Protocol)

• It makes it more difficult for executives to use the excuse that "they're hard to find" and provides another means of holding businesses responsible for their DEI commitments. Recruiters may not be conscious of how they could be hindering their diversity goals with the way they conduct day-to-day applicant searches.

In other reading:

• Gen Z workers demand flexibility, don’t want to be stuffed in a cubicle (Washington Post)

• Business Is Booming for Layoff Specialists: ‘Never Seen Anything Like This’ (Vice)

• The Work-From-Home Revolution Is Also a Trap for Women (Bloomberg)

• Craniometrix, a NYC-based D2C Alzheimer’s care company, raised $6 million in seed funding. Quiet Capital led the round and was joined by YC, defy.vc, Olive Tree Capital, Rebel Fund, J Ventures, and Cathexis Ventures. (TechCrunch)

• Farther, a NYC-based wealth management company, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Bessemer Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Khosla Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Moneta Venture Capital, Context Ventures, and Cota Capital. (TechCrunch)

• Fora, a NYC-based travel agency, raised $13.5 million in Series A funding. Heartcore Capital and Forerunner co-led the round. (Businesswire)

• Modern Life, a NYC-based life insurance brokerage company for advisors, raised $15 million in seed funding. Thrive Capital led the round and was joined by other angels. (FinSMEs)

• Stark, a NYC-based accessibility software company, raised $6 million in seed funding. Uncork Capital led the round and was joined by Darling Ventures, Indicator Ventures, and other angels. (TechCrunch)

• August 16: Virtual: The Path Forward: Health Care, with Maven founder and CEO Kate Ryder. Hosted by the Washington Post. Register here.

• August 16: In-person and virtual: Diversity in NYC Tech: Challenges for Industry and Entrepreneurship. Hosted by Microsoft and NYC Civic Engagement Commission. Register here.

• September 21 – 24: In-person and virtual: Unfinished Live 2022, with Circle chief strategy officer Dante Disparte, Future\Perfect Ventures managing partner Jalak Jobanputra, Protocol Labs general counsel Marta Belcher, and others. Register here.

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