Tech:NYC Digest: December 6

Tech:NYC Digest: December 6

December 06, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

In today’s digest, the CDC says New York can expect more of the same this winter, NYC’s greenest borough, and the workplace benefits tech workers will value most in 2023.

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  • The CDC said five New York counties, including the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, have returned to transmission levels that trigger its recommendations for indoor-mask wearing. The prompt is to help reduce simultaneous spread of not only COVID, but also flu, RSV, and other respiratory illnesses. (PIX11)

    • Viruses are also surging in similar urban hubs like Los Angeles County, which is considering reinstating indoor mask mandates for the winter season. (Deadline)

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul will be inaugurated and deliver her first inaugural address as governor elected to a full term on January 1. (Spectrum News) Experts expect the speech will focus on solutions to affordable housing and gun safety.

  • And fair warning: SantaCon NYC returns this weekend, even though it knows it has an image problem.

In other reading:

  • What Is New York’s Greenest Borough? Probably Not the One You Think. (New York Times)

  • ‘The Most Resilient New Yorkers’: Oysters Get Second Life in Harbor (THE CITY)

  • Quiz: Do You Know These Famous New Yorkers? (New York Magazine)

Tech companies have long been known for attractive benefits packages, but as the pandemic upended employees’ work lives, even they had to retool their offerings to remain competitive and retain talent.

That race created a new level of demand — and a whole industry of benefits startups whose customers are other startups. (Fortune) Here are the priorities experts say will have the most staying power for current employees and new hires alike in 2023:

  • Long-term flexibility: Workers have higher favorability for employers willing to get more creative about where and how they work. "If the three 'R's of 2021 and 2022 were retirement, resignation, and relocation, the three 'R's of 2023 could be returning to the office, recession, and readjustment,” said Fram Search managing director Simon Roderick.

  • Expanded benefits: With burnout, stress and other work-related mental illnesses on the rise, workers want expanded mental health benefits like an employee assistance program virtual counseling, subscription to meditation apps, and dedicated mental health PTO. Companies are also expected to counteract the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on women and parents by adding or increasing family and fertility benefits plans from providers like Maven Clinic. 

  • Greater diversity: The importance of DEI work has been evident since day one. But after a surge in prioritization in 2020, according to a HR trends report out this week, workers repeatedly survey that long-term commitments to DEI initiatives is a high priority for them in 2023.

  • Job security: Many workers, particularly Gen Z and recent college graduates, value job security in response to high-profile layoffs they've seen at larger tech employers in the last several months. 74% percent of that cohort is prioritizing job stability in their search, according to a recent Handshake survey.

In other reading: 

  • The Brilliance and Weirdness of ChatGPT (New York Times)

  • Why employee satisfaction isn’t enough for employee engagement (Fast Company)

  • Forget Zoom Calls, Remote Work Startups Want to Build a Virtual Office (Bloomberg)

  • Dandelion Energy, a New York-based home geothermal startup, raised $70 million in Series B1 funding. LENx led the round and was joined by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, NEA, GV, Collaborative Fund, and Building Ventures. (Bloomberg)

  • Pylon, a NYC-based embedded mortgage infrastructure platform, raised $8.5 million in seed funding. Conversion Capital led the round and was joined by Fifth Wall, QED Investors, Montage Ventures, Village Global, and a group of individuals. (Forbes)

  • December 8: In-person: Government Modernization Summit 2022, with NYC chief efficiency officer Melanie La Rocca, Port Authority of NY & NJ executive director Rick Cotton, CityBridge CEO Nick Colvin, and more. Hosted by City & State. Register here.

  • December 8: Virtual: The Forecast for Capital Markets, with NYSE global head of capital markets Michael Harris and Sapphire Ventures co-founder and partner Jai Das. Hosted by Axios. Register here.

  • December 13: In-person and virtual: December Fundraising Workshop, with Greycroft partner Ellie Wheeler. Hosted by Silicon Valley Bank. Register here.

  • December 15: In-person: Hardware Holiday Party, a casual gathering to celebrate the NYC hardware community. Hosted by Newlab, informal, and NY Hardware Meetup. Register here.

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