Tech:NYC Digest: January 18

Tech:NYC Digest: January 18

January 18, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Welcome back! In today’s digest, the federal government’s at-home test kit website launches a day early, what jobseekers are looking for in their next role, and NYC Restaurant Week returns. 

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

By the numbers: 

  • New positive cases statewide: 22,312 (-4,460)

    • New positive cases, NYC: 10,888 (-2,923)

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 13.5 percent (-0.8 percent)

  • NYC Hospitalizations: 5,937 (+90)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • Percentage of all New Yorkers with least one dose: 86.1 percent

    • Percentage of all New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 73.0 percent

Today’s latest: 

  • New York’s COVID-19 case counts continued to quickly drop over the long weekend, and the city’s positivity rate is now lower than any day since Christmas. (NBC New York)

    • Average daily cases in NYC have fallen by 31 percent over the past week.

    • The city has fared the best in reversing the post-holiday surge, with a 13.5 percent positivity rate, now the lowest in the state.

  • The White House planned to officially launch COVIDtests.gov tomorrow, its new website for ordering free at-home COVID-19 tests. Up to four tests per household can be requested, and shipments are expected to go out within seven to 12 days. (Protocol)

  • Amtrak will temporarily reduce service on some trains because of Omicron-related staffing challenges. The agency will suspend eight percent of its Northeast region departures over the next ten weeks. (New York Times)

  • Gov. Hochul released her statewide budget plan for the next fiscal year, totaling a record $216 billion. (New York Times) The proposal prioritizes pandemic relief, and thanks to an influx of federal aid, officials are projecting balanced budgets through 2027. For the wonkier readers among us, the full 80-page report is here.

In other reading:

  • How to Find a Quality Mask (and Avoid Counterfeits) (New York Times)

  • 12 Signs You Have a Fake N95, KN95, or KF4 Mask (Wirecutter)

  • Lonely? Get in Line. A Covid Test Line. (New York Times)

  • We’ll never have a normal flu season again (Vox)

The pandemic-fueled competition for talent has forced companies to get more creative with how they use job search tools — and the builders of those tools have noticed.

LinkedIn is perhaps the largest where companies are vying for attention, making it a good source for identifying new recruitment trends. For its 10th annual 2022 Global Talent Trends Report, the company started tracking how different keywords affect engagement on corporate posts.

  • Phrases like "flexibility," "well-being," and "culture" all appear in LinkedIn posts more frequently than they did in 2019, and company posts that use those terms attracted more engagement than those that didn’t.

Other findings confirm just how important flexibility and company culture are to younger employees. (Protocol)

  • Flexibility: LinkedIn found the word appeared in 83% more job listings in 2021 vs. 2019, particularly for Gen Z (77%) and millennial (30%) users.

  • Well-being: Similarly, “well-being” showed up in 147% more job listings in 2021 than in 2019, and LinkedIn found women in particular engaged with posts mentioning the word 41% more.

  • Company culture: LinkedIn users said companies should focus more effort on professional development opportunities (59%), flexible work support (48%), and mental health and wellness (42%). Thirty-five percent said they want to see more attention paid to “training managers to lead remote and hybrid teams.”

In other reading: 

  • Castiron, a New York City-based e-commerce platform for independent chefs and artisans, raised $6 million in seed funding. Investors included Bowery Capital, Foundry Group, and High Alpha. (TechCrunch)

  • Chatdesk, a New York City-based customer experience app developer, raised $7 million in Series A funding. Cultivation Capital led the round and was joined by Harlem Capital, Serena Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Stormbreaker, and Fika Ventures. (Chatdesk)

  • Lukka, a New York City-based crypto-asset software and data provider, raised $110 million in Series E funding at a $1.3 billion valuation. Marshall Wace led the round and was joined by Miami International Holdings, Summer Capital, SiriusPoint, Soros Fund Management, Liberty City Ventures, S&P Global, and CPA.com. (The Block)

  • Pinwheel, a New York City-based payroll API, raised $50 million in Series B funding. GGV Capital led the round and was joined by First Round Capital, Coatue, Upfront Ventures, American Express, Indeed, Kraken Ventures, and Franklin Templeton. (TechCrunch)

  • Yuvo Health, a New York City-based managed-care solution for community health centers, raised $7.3 million in seed funding. AlleyCorp led the round and was joined by AV8 Ventures, New York Ventures, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, and Dr. Melynda Barnes. (Newswire)

  • January 20: Virtual: How Snap Inc. Is Future Proofing Its Family Benefits for a New World of Work, with Snap Inc. senior manager of benefits Rahab Hammad and Maven SVP of People Karsten Vagner. Hosted by Maven. Register here.

  • January 25: Virtual: The Future of Community, with Flybridge Capital and Community Fund VC general partner Jesse Middleton. Register here.

  • January 26: Virtual: Tech Regulation is Coming. How Does Big Tech Respond?, with Microsoft chief privacy officer Julie Brill, TechNet president and CEO Linda Moore, Consumer Reports director of privacy and technology policy Justin Brookman, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here. 

  • February 1: Virtual: Hospitality in the Digital Age, with Olo founder and CEO Noah Glass. Hosted by Savills. Register here.

NYC Restaurant Week returns today for its winter edition! Running until Feb. 13, you can grab special 2-course lunch or 3-course menu deals at hundreds of participating restaurants. View the full list of participating restaurants 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.