Tech:NYC Digest: January 4

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Tuesday, January 4, 2022

In today’s digest, NYC hospitalizations are rising but patients are vastly unvaccinated, why Mayor Adams wants schools and businesses to stay open, and how tech leaders are planning for the unplannable in 2022.

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By the numbers: 

• New positive cases statewide: 53,276

  • New positive cases, NYC: 30,854

• NYC Positivity Rate: 22.5 percent

• Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

  • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 95.0 percent

  • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 84.0 percent

Today in COVID: 

• Yesterday, more than one million people in the US were diagnosed with COVID-19, the largest-ever daily record — by a large margin — that any country has ever reported. (Bloomberg)

• Here in New York, record cases numbers due to Omicron contrast with relatively flat hospitalization and death rates (at least among the vaccinated). But more notable jumps have been recorded in the last few days, and statewide hospitalizations have now surpassed 10,000 for the first time since May 2020. (NBC New York)

  • In NYC, there are now 5,495 COVID-related hospitalizations, with 932 new admissions in the past day. But let’s be clear about who those people are: almost all unvaccinated.

• Despite Mayor Adams' plan to move forward with stronger testing protocols to keep school open following the break, many still faced staffing issues and higher-than-usual absenteeism among students. (Chalkbeat New York)

  • Mayor Adams is now weighing a booster mandate for the city’s municipal workforce, which would include public schools teachers and staff.

• Mayor Adams is encouraging businesses to get employees back in the office sooner, saying, “We have to open up.” The new mayor also announced an executive order directing city agencies to identify and remedy burdensome fines and regulations impacting small businesses to help them recover faster. (ABC New York)

In related reading:

• Why Cloth Masks Might Not Be Enough as Omicron Spreads (Wall Street Journal)

• The Plane is Boarding, Where Are Your Test Results? (New York Times)

• Apps for Travelers Dreaming of Their Next Trip (New York Times)

In case you’re interested

: Gov. Kathy Hochul will deliver her first State of the State Address tomorrow at 1pm. She is expected to lay out her 2022 COVID response plans and several other policy priorities for her office and the New York State Legislature.

Tune in live here

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Two years of a pandemic, another round of uncertainty with the Omicron variant, ongoing supply chain issues, and the “Great Resignation”  have certainly upended companies’ plans for 2022. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t still making them.

Protocol asked tech and business leaders to share their priorities and predictions for the year ahead, even in one that seems … unpredictable. Here’s some of what they said:

More time and cost-efficient ways for learners to remain nimble in the tech, data and design sectors: Last year, we saw a mass exodus of talent from every industry looking to find meaningful work in high-wage, high-growth career paths.

• General Assembly CEO Lisa Lewin said with the global workforce under significant strain due to the pandemic, we are only just beginning to understand its repercussions. In the US, student loan repayments are restarting, parents continue struggling with a child care shortage, and new COVID-19 variants continue to disrupt industries. 

An overhaul of the compensation strategy: Widespread hybrid work, increased employee turnover, and pay equity concerns will all place immense pressure on organizations to evolve the way they compensate and reward employees for their work.

• Dave Carhart, vice president of people at Lattice, said organizations will need to invest in compensation capabilities and new sources of benchmarking to ensure limited funds are allocated most effectively. 

The visual economy boom will continue: Teams of every size across almost every industry tackle the ever-changing future of work. 

• Cameron Adams, co-founder and chief product executive at Canva, said flexibility is still going to be the most valuable skill that we’ll be exercising. In this hybrid, WFH, distributed , and asynchronous situation, visual communication will be a secret superpower. The way we communicate is no longer limited to just words: it’s now about photos, illustrations, videos, and even sound. 

In other reading:

• So, You Cried at Work (Harvard Business Review)

• Job Openings on Track for New High Ahead of Omicron Wave (Wall Street Journal)

• The ‘touchy-feely’ groups where CEOs learn to emote (Protocol)

• Office Attire That Makes a Statement: ‘OK, Let’s Hug’ (New York Times)

• Adventr, a New York City-based video communications software platform, raised $5 million in seed funding. Paladin Capital led the round and was joined by Reinventure Capital, Invisible Ventures, and John Legend. (TechCrunch)

• Human Security, a New York City-based cybersecurity company focused on sophisticated bot attacks, raised $100 million in growth funding. WestCap led the round and was joined by NightDragon. (VentureBeat)

• Tibles, a Brooklyn-based ecosystem for digital collectibles, has raised $3 million in seed funding. Cadenza Ventures led the round and was joined by CoinFund, Dapper Labs, and Warburg Serres Investments. (TechCrunch)

• Veho, a New York City-based next-day package delivery startup, raised $125 million in Series A funding at a $1 billion valuation. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Construct Capital, Bling Capital, Industry Ventures, Fontinalis Partners, and Origin Ventures. (TechCrunch)

• Voyant Photonics, a Long Island City-based light detection manufacturer, raised $15.4 million in Series A funding. UP.Partners led the round and was joined by LDV Capital and Contour Ventures. (FinSMEs)

• January 11: Virtual: 5 Ways to Sharpen Your 2022 Employee Communications, with Lyft senior director of internal communications Denise Bertuccelli. Hosted by Axios. Register here.

• January 12: Virtual: The Future of Work Summit, with Zoom CTO Brendan Ittelson, Salesforce Service Cloud CEO Clara Shih, Moveworks CEO Bhanvin Shah, and others. Hosted by VentureBeat. Register here.

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

A software engineer in Brooklyn made an online word game meant just for his partner. Now it’s a viral hit. For your new favorite internet distraction, please let us introduce Wordle.

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