Tech:NYC Digest: December 3

Tech:NYC Digest: December 3

December 03, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Friday, December 3, 2021

In today’s digest, five cases of Omicron detected in New York, NYC private school employees face new vax mandate, and how Zenefits’ HR department navigated the pandemic.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

By the numbers:

  • New positive cases statewide: 11,242

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,470

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 2.2 percent (+0.1 percent)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress:

    • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 91.2 percent

    • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 78.6 percent

Today in COVID:

  • New York has confirmed its first five cases of the Omicron variant. (New York Times)

    • Four of the five cases were detected in NYC, including two in Queens residents and one in a Brooklyn resident. The fifth was detected in Suffolk County.

    • Luckily, the state is better positioned to fight the new variant compared to earlier in the pandemic, but Mayor de Blasio said New Yorkers should assume community spread is happening and to expect more Omicron cases confirmed in the coming days.

  • New York City will require employees at yeshivas, Catholic schools, and other private schools to be vaccinated for COVID-19, as part of the city’s latest push to expand vaccine mandates. Employees must get their first shot by Dec. 20. (ABC New York)

  • According to a new study of seven different vaccine brands, different combinations of shots appear to provide strong protection. (New York Times) 

    • The takeaway: don’t worry as much about the brand of vaccine for your booster, just getting one is more important.

  • Scientists in South Africa said today that the Omicron variant appears to spread more than twice as quickly as the Delta variant. The rapid spread results from a combination of contagiousness and more strength against immune defenses, but the contribution of each factor is not yet certain. (New York Times)

    • The study also indicates the Omicron variant is at least three times more likely to cause reinfection than the Delta and other previous variants. (Washington Post)

In other reading:

  • How to Carry Your Covid Health Data on a Smartphone (New York Times)

  • Omicron Won’t Ruin Your Booster (The Atlantic)

  • Biden’s winter COVID plan is what a new normal might look like (Vox)

  • Omicron Is Here. Should You Cancel Your Trip? (New York Times)

Since the pandemic began, HR teams have increasingly (and rightfully!) been invited to the leadership table to solve everything from hybrid work and pandemic protocols to tech-talent hiring gaps and the Great Resignation.

Danny Speros, VP of People Operations at Zenefits, spoke with Protocol about how people operations and human resources has evolved within tech — and the new challenges facing HR departments everywhere. 

On what’s changed in the last two years:

  • “What's really flipped, especially in the last couple of years, is that we're at the table. ... We've always been a source of listening and an advocate for the employee, but now we need to do that at scale. And we need to not just listen in conversations, but also have methods for employees to provide feedback that can be analyzed.”

On how HR teams should approach attrition:

  • “Being able to use [data] and communicate it to our leadership team in real time — and by real time I mean weeks, not months, certainly not a year — we're able to make better decisions as an organization.”

On how tech companies should characterize their employees:

  • “Historically, it's really been a one-way relationship where the companies made the rules and employees either followed along or chose to leave. And I think what tech companies are realizing in light of the Great Resignation, is it's no longer a one-way street. Companies need to deliver value to the employees in exactly the same fashion that employees need to deliver value for the organization.”

In RTO updates: 

  • Google has delayed its planned Jan. 10 return to office because of concerns over the Omicron variant and travel restrictions. While 40 percent of its staff are voluntarily back in the office currently, it has not set a new date for the official RTO. (Insider)

  • UBS is now asking its bankers in certain countries to avoid business travel as a precautionary measure surrounding the Omicron variant. (Bloomberg)

In other reading: 

  • As Google delays return-to-office again, experts say omicron may make it ‘impossible’ to set new dates (CNBC)

  • Why You Shouldn’t Use Emojis in Work Messages (Wall Street Journal)

  • Omicron may throw wrench in companies' plans to return to office (Reuters)

  • CertiK, a New York City-based blockchain security firm, raised $80 million in Series B2 funding. Sequoia led the round and was joined by Tiger Global, Coatue Management, and GL Ventures. (CoinDesk)

  • Clarity AI, a New York-based sustainability data platform, raised $50 million in new funding. SoftBank led the round and was joined by Fifth Wall, as well as insiders BlackRock, Deutsche Boerse, Kibo Ventures, Mundi Ventures, Seaya Ventures, and Founders Fund. (Reuters)

  • Fireblocks, a New York-based infrastructure provider for digital assets, raised $400 million in Series E funding. Sequoia Capital led the round. (The Information)

  • December 6: Virtual: Crypto and Institutional Investors, with Anchorage co-founder and president Diogo Mónica, Paxos head of strategy Walter Hessert, and Canvas Ventures principal Grace Isford. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

  • December 7: Virtual: 2022 Predictions in Tech: The Roaring 20s, with Tribeca Venture Partners partner Brian Hirsch, Eniac Ventures partner Hadley Harris, 645 Ventures partner Nnamdi Okike, and Work-Bench partner Jessica Lin. Hosted by Tribeca Venture Partners and Fenwick. Register here.

  • December 8 – 9: In-person: AI Summit New York, with 150+ speakers, live exhibitions, and networking events. If you’re an NYC entrepreneur or student traditionally underrepresented in tech, reach out here for a free All-Access Pass.

  • December 9: Virtual: Building in the Open, with Cockroach Labs CEO Spencer Kimball, Solo.io CEO Idit Levine, Timescale CEO Ajay Kulkarni, and others. Hosted by Work-Bench. Register here.

  • December 9: In-person and virtual: Innovations in Tech Education and Workforce Programming and Policy, with Union Square Ventures partner Fred Wilson, Hunter College president Jennifer Raab, Google NYC Tech Site Lead Aparna Pappu, and others. Register here.

Any feedback or suggestions of things to add? Get in touch here. Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to receive it directly here.