Tech:NYC Digest: August 16

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Monday, August 16, 2021

In today’s digest, booster doses available for immunocompromised New Yorkers, NYC’s indoor vax mandate takes effect tomorrow, and what remote work means for the future of pay and benefits.

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By the numbers:

• New positive cases statewide: 3,575

  • New positive cases, NYC: 1,506

• Statewide Fatalities: 11

• NYC Positivity Rate: 2.6 percent 

• Statewide Vaccine Progress:

  • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 77.6 percent

  • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 65.2 percent

(For fuller breakdowns, find the state’s numbers here and the city’s numbers here.)

Today’s latest:

Beginning today, New York City-run vaccination sites will offer third “booster” doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to immunocompromised New Yorkers. (ABC New York)

• People who are 12 years or older, have a qualifying condition that moderately or severely weakens their immune system, and previously received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine are eligible for a third dose.

• A third dose for immunocompromised people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is not yet authorized by the FDA, though approval is expected soon.

• Eligible people should get their third dose no sooner than four weeks after the second dose, and it’s recommended that it be the same brand as the original two doses.

Third doses will be administered via self-attestation — New Yorkers won’t be required to show any qualifying documentation or go to their original vaccination site.

• Third doses are available through both walk-ins and appointments at city-run sites, as well as Walgreens and CVS locations. 

Here’s a helpful FAQ from the city’s Dept. of Health on booster shots and how to determine eligibility.

In other news:

• New York City reported its one millionth COVID-19 case since the start of the pandemic. The number of hospitalizations across the five boroughs stands at 117,496, according to the Health Department. (New York Daily News)

• Beginning tomorrow, workers and customers will be required to show proof of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to enter indoor dining, gyms, entertainment venues, and other activities anywhere in the city. Full enforcement will begin on Sept. 13, following expected school and office reopenings. (NBC New York)

  • The vaccine mandate includes visitors and employees at the city’s museums, concert halls, aquariums, and zoos. Children younger than age 12, who are not eligible to be vaccinated, will have to be accompanied by a vaccinated person and will be encouraged to wear masks. (New York Times)

  • See a list of all the affected business types here.

• Gov. Cuomo announced all healthcare workers in New York, including staff at hospitals, nursing homes, and long-term care facilities, will have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 27. There is no regular testing alternative workers can opt for instead, and there are "limited exceptions for those with religious or medical reasons." (Times Union)

• The star-studded concert series aimed to celebrate the city's progress in the COVID-19 pandemic kicks off today with KRS One, Slick Rick, and Remy Ma in the Bronx. Big events planned in the five boroughs will lead up to "We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert" taking place on Saturday, Aug. 21 in Central Park. The concerts are meant as a "New York City is back" message to the world, and some of the city's favorite icons will perform. (NBC New York)

An opportunity to help: This weekend saw two tragedies, the earthquake devastation in Haiti and the political overthrow in Afghanistan. The Mayor’s Fund to Advance NYC is encouraging New Yorkers to direct their support to these Haitian organizations leading recovery efforts there. And Women for Afghan Women, an Afghan-led nonprofit organization serving New York’s Afghan community, is accepting donations to assist the people of Afghanistan.

While tech companies are by-and-large delaying office returns and extending remote work options for now, the question becomes: will talented people ever be willing to return? (Bloomberg)

A lot of workers want to avoid the office so badly that, according to a recent survey, nearly two-thirds of employees would accept a five percent pay cut if it meant they never had to go back. It’s a possibility already showing up across the sector.

• Google employees could see changes in pay if they switch to working from home permanently, with long commuters hit harder. (Reuters) The company has rolled out a new internal calculator to explain potential pay adjustments to employees who choose to work remotely — and early results suggest it will penalize its suburban staffers. (New York Post)

• Facebook and Twitter also adjusted pay for remote employees who move to less expensive areas, while smaller companies including Reddit and Zillow have location-agnostic pay models.

• Some companies are also reevaluating the benefits they provide, such as more defined (and even mandated) time-off policies, “home leave” days, making home office stipends permanent, and even pet insurance. (Wall Street Journal)

But just because workers would be willing to take a pay cut doesn’t mean they should. Employment experts said threatening to cut remote workers' compensation could be counterproductive and hurt companies' ability to retain talent in a competitive labor market. (CBS News)

• By offering in-office workers better pay and benefits, a company is also making its values clear. However, employers could also run afoul of equal pay laws if they paid remote employees less to do the same work as their in-office peers — especially if more women than men opt to work from home. 

In other reading:

• Most Return-to-Office Plans Unchanged, for Now (New York Times)

• In A Hybrid Office, Remote Workers Will Be Left Behind (Wall Street Journal)

• How to negotiate a flexible work schedule during a job interview (CNBC)

• There’s no one right path to work–life balance — but there are plenty of wrong ones (Fast Company)

• Honest Networks, a New York-based provider of residential internet services, raised $100 million in new funding led by Newlight Partners, with Fifth Wall also participating. (MarketWatch)

• Retrain.ai, a New York City-based training and upskilling platform, raised $7 million from current investors and Splunk Ventures. (TechCrunch)

• August 17: Virtual: A Better Meeting, with Calendly chief product officer Annie Pearl, Mural CEO Mariano Suarez-Battan, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

• August 18: Virtual: The New Landscape of Going Public, with Benchmark general partner Bill Gurley and Nasdaq Stock Exchange president Nelson Griggs. Hosted by Axios. Register here.

• October 6: In-Person Outdoors: 2021 Propelify Innovation Festival, with Tech:NYC founder and executive director Julie Samuels, Capsule CEO Eric Kinariwala, Noom CEO Saeju Jeong, Bowery Farming CEO Irving Fain, and others. Hosted by TechUnited:NJ. Use code WeInventTheFuture to register for a free general admission ticket for a limited time here.

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