Tech:NYC Digest: February 4

Tech:NYC Digest: February 4

February 04, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Friday, February 4, 2022

Hope you’re staying warm and dry! ☔ In today’s digest, NYC public schools go vegan, Feb. 11 vax deadline for city workers approaches, and why the latest Great Resignation solution is to recruit the workers you already have.

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 7,759 

    • New positive cases, NYC: 2,632

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 3.4 percent (-0.2 percent)

  • NYC Hospitalizations: 2,467 (-166)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • Percentage of all New Yorkers with least one dose: 87.8 percent

    • Percentage of all New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 74.3 percent

Today’s latest: 

  • Gov. Hochul signed off yesterday evening on newly redrawn congressional districts previously approved by the state legislature. (NBC New York) As expected, a lawsuit was filed shortly thereafter to challenge the new boundaries. (New York Times)

  • Mayor Eric Adams said today he would stick with former Mayor de Blasio’s timeline requiring city workers to be vaccinated by Feb. 11 or face termination. (NY1)

  • Mayor Adams, a vegan, is keeping a unique campaign promise: beginning today, NYC public schools are introducing “Vegan Fridays” for the academic term. (Gothamist)

  • And once again, stay dry out there this weekend: the NYC Emergency Management Department has issued a travel warning due to heavy rain and sleet, in effect until Saturday morning. (New York Post)

In other reading:

  • I Just Had COVID. Do I Need a Booster? (New York Times)

  • Do you still need a mask? Here's how the CDC determines if you should wear one (NBC News)

  • Internet service plans will soon come with ‘nutrition’ labels. Here’s what to know (Washington Post)

We’ve heard a lot about the “Great Resignation” — although others argue that’s not quite accurate, and instead describe what’s happening in the labor market as a “Great Reset” or a “Great Reshuffle.”

But in a silver lining for HR leaders, maybe it’s also a “Great Reorganization,” writes Axios.

  • According to a new study from Gartner’s HR practice, one in three candidates who explored a new job in the last year searched internally first.

  • BetterUp vice president Shonna Waters said this could be a win-win for employers and employees: Internal applicants have already gone through onboarding and are familiar with the company, and while they may want a change at work, they also want to retain the friendships and reputation they’ve built at the company.

There’s certainly no squeeze on job openings right now, but Gartner’s head of research Brian Kopp said hiring internally could still be hard:

  • Just 17 percent of candidates applying internally say their managers are helpful in the process. “Most companies sadly have such little knowledge about the skills and capabilities of their existing workforce,” he said.

One idea to solve this: Make job listings visible a week early just to existing employees to gauge and encourage interest in internal moves.

In other workplace news:

  • BNY Mellon, which has 5,400 employees in New York, announced a March 7 reopening date, and American Express will also require workers to return to the office in March under a previously announced hybrid model. (New York Times)

  • In an address to business leaders, Gov. Kathy Hochul encouraged companies to give employees a bonus to “burn the Zoom app” and come back into the office. (Crain’s New York)

In other reading: 

  • The Next Wave in Remote Work: Flexibility in Location—and Hours (Wall Street Journal)

  • Professor who predicted the “Great Resignation” shares three trends that will dominate work in 2022 (CNBC)

  • Pitch and Run NYC offers a workout — and a chance to sell your startup (Crain’s New York)

  • ConcertoCare, a New York City-based care provider of virtual and at-home care for seniors, raised $105 million in Series B funding. Wells Fargo Strategic Capital led the round and was joined by Obvious Ventures, Vast Ventures,The Schusterman Family Foundation, SteelSky Ventures, Pennington Partners, and Deerfield Management. (Pitchbook)

  • Headout, a New York City-based travel discovery and booking app, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Glade Brook led the round and was joined by insiders Nexus Venture Partners, FJ Labs, and 500 Startups. (TechCrunch)

  • nfinite, a New York City-based visualization and e-commerce merchandising startup, raised $15 million in Series A funding. USVP led the round. (FinSMEs)

  • Ramp, a New York City-based corporate card and spend management platform, raised $200 million at an $8 billion valuation. Insider Founders Fund led the round. (The Information)

  • Vendelux, a New York City-based events marketing startup, raised $2.4 million in seed funding. Tenacity Venture Capital led the round and was joined by Earl Grey, Pareto Holdings, and strategic angel investors including Shafqat Islam and Avi Muchnik. (TechCrunch)

  • February 8: Virtual: February Fundraising Workshop, with Lerer Hippeau investor and Gen Z VC founder Meagan Loyst. Hosted by Silicon Valley Bank. Register here. 

  • February 8: Virtual: Spearheading A Safer Internet, with TikTok head of US safety Eric Han, National Cybersecurity Alliance executive director Lisa Plaggmier, and others. Hosted by Axios. Register here.

  • February 9: Virtual: Crypto regulation: from buyer beware to federal oversight, with Blockchain Association executive director Kristin Smith, Inx general counsel Cathy Yoon, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

  • February 10: Virtual: How to Raise Funding and Scale a Startup, with New York Angels founder David S. Rose, Caribu CEO Maxeme Tuchman, and more. Hosted by DownToDash and Innovatemap. Register here.

Girl Scout Troop 6000 was founded in 2017 for girls living in NYC’s homeless shelters, and it still meets weekly in more than 20 shelters across the five boroughs. Now it’s Girl Scout cookie season, and 100 percent of proceeds from the troop’s sales go toward its badge activities, uniforms, and field trips. You know what to do.

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