Tech:NYC Digest: December 13

Tech:NYC Digest: December 13

December 13, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Monday, December 13, 2021

In today’s digest, new mask and vax check mandates go into effect, Pfizer vax significantly stronger against Omicron after booster shot, and Glassdoor’s top 2022 workplace predictions. 

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By the numbers:

  • New positive cases statewide: 8,993

    • New positive cases, NYC: 2,408

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 2.8 percent (+0.1 percent)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 93.4 percent

    • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 81.0 percent

Today’s latest: 

  • Two COVID rule reminders for you this week:

    • The statewide mandate to wear masks inside public settings without vaccination requirements takes effect today. (ABC New York) You won’t notice any changes at restaurants and theaters in the city, for example, but places that don’t screen for vaccination like grocery stores, bodegas, pharmacies, and laundromats will now require masks.

    • And beginning tomorrow, current proof of vaccination rules for restaurants and theaters will apply to everyone ages five and older.

  • Early estimates in a new study show two doses of the Pfizer vaccine are only about 30 percent effective against Omicron, but a booster shot increases effectiveness to 70-75 percent. (Axios) Compared to the Delta variant, the risk of reinfection is three to eight times higher, but more mildly so.

  • Eager to boost ridership, the MTA will enact a “fare cap” program beginning March 1. (New York Times)

    • Passengers that use the OMNY tap-and-go system currently pay $2.75 for every trip, but under the program, users would get unlimited rides once they hit a $33 threshold during a seven-day period — the equivalent cost of a weekly unlimited MetroCard.

  • This afternoon, the Supreme Court declined to block New York’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, which allows for medical, but not religious, exemptions. (New York Times)

In other reading:

The uncertainty of the Omicron variant means it’s still anyone’s guess what the new year holds for return-to-office plans, but that hasn’t stopped companies from trying anyways.

Glassdoor released its predictions for 2022 workplace trends, and for the most part, they look a lot like 2021. The platform’s senior economist Daniel Zhao reviewed its trove of reviews, salary data, and other economic trends data to help companies and workers prepare. (Protocol) Among the trends they foresee:

Recruiting will be difficult. For tech companies, that means the race to find and retain top engineering talent will continue through the next year.

  • Competition in the labor market means wages are also going up, but that isn’t translating to significantly faster jobs growth.

On the other hand, remote work could mean a larger talent pool, but at more cost. People want to continue working remotely, but they want to be paid New York and San Francisco rates.

  • The strategy of some companies to shift to location-based pay scales for their remote employees has mostly vanished. And more than competitive salaries, companies should look at benefits too, with Glassdoor reporting double the mentions of mental health and burnout in reviews.

Employers will step up their DEI audit goals. Louder calls from tech workers and industry leaders will push more companies to release their diversity data and find standardized ways to do it.

  • Glassdoor hopes that will include not just racial and gender employee breakdowns, but other metrics like disability and veteran status. The platform is also encouraging more demographic breakdowns of promotion rates.

Workers will need new ways to form community. Even for the companies that hope to reopen fully in 2022, more creative and inclusive ways to sustain company culture will be critical.

  • The reality of giving employees flexibility is that some will choose in-person work full-time, some fully remote, and some in between. Addressing that imbalance to make them all feel connected to their teams and equally valued will be a challenge executives will face. 

Does your company have plans for its 2022 workplace? We’d love to hear about them.

In other reading:

  • What Is the Perfect Date to Bring Workers Back to the Office? (New York Times)

  • Why some telecommuters miss working from the office (Salon)

  • Insider Mastercard’s redesigned NYC tech office, with tons of plants, arcade games, and high-tech Zoom rooms (Insider)

  • Closed Loop Ventures Group, the New York-based venture arm of circular economy firm Closed Loop Partners, raised $50 million for its second fund. (Newswire)

  • Nuvocargo, a New York-based freight logistics platform, raised $20.5 million in new venture funding. Tiger Global Management led the round and was joined by The Flexport Fund. (TechCrunch)

  • PetPlate, a New York-based pet food company, raised $19 million in Series B funding. Pendulum led the round and was joined by D.F. Enterprises, 301 INC, Conversion Venture Capital, Marco Polo, Fernbrook Capital Management, and Amity Supply. (Crain's New York)

  • December 14: Virtual: How I Raised My Seed, with Chill Pill CEO Hayley Caddes, ShelfLife CEO Lillian Cartwright, and Day One CEO Andrew Hutton. Hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. Register here. 

  • December 14: In-person: A Fireside Chat with NYC Crypto Crew, featuring Zapper and DeFrag co-founder Nodar Janashia. Hosted by Decent Labs. Register here.

  • December 14 – 15: Virtual: Bloomberg Technology Summit, with K Health CEO Allon Bloch, Coinbase president and COO Emilie Choi, Lux Capital partner Deena Shakir, and others. Hosted by Bloomberg. Register here.

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