Tech:NYC Digest: January 5

Tech:NYC Digest: January 5

January 05, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

In today’s digest, Gov. Hochul's 2022 priorities, Adrienne Adams is NYC’s first Black female Speaker, and what it costs employers to provide COVID-19 testing.

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By the numbers: 

  • New positive cases statewide: 77,859

    • New positive cases, NYC: 42,677

  • 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: 84.6 percent

Today’s latest: 

Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered her first State of the State address this afternoon, during which she outlined her 2022 COVID response plans and other priorities for state government this year. (New York Times) You can get the full report here. Among her top proposals:

  • On the tech front: More closely monitoring cryptocurrency exchanges, particularly for use in gun trafficking and other crimes; more investments in AI and machine learning; new programs to support tech talent pipelines; and expanded accessible broadband initiatives. 

  • Moving forward with a new “Interborough Express,” an above-ground rail line using existing tracks to directly connect Brooklyn and Queens, Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway, and renovations of Penn Station.

  • Permanently legalizing to-go cocktails.

  • Enacting a state-level Voting Rights Act.

In other news:

  • The CDC (again) amended its controversial COVID-19 isolation guidance, declining to recommend that those who are asymptomatic and have isolated for at least five days take a test in order to end isolation. (CNBC) Unsurprisingly, scientists and public health experts have strongly criticized the move.

  • If modeling projections from South Africa and London hold true in NYC, scientists say the city’s Omicron surge could end in a matter of weeks. (City & State) NYC’s density and high vaccination rate could result in faster herd immunity and signal a transition from pandemic to endemic by mid-January.

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul is considering letting the pandemic-related eviction moratorium lapse at its planned Jan. 15 expiration date, arguing that businesses and schools have reopened and people are returning to work. (THE CITY)

  • For the first time in the city’s history, women now hold the majority of New York City Council seats. (New York Magazine) The new, historically diverse Council today confirmed Adrienne Adams as the first Black woman to serve as Speaker. (New York Times)

The surge in positive coronavirus cases since the emergence of the Omicron variant — coupled with millions of Americans in varying stages of holiday travel — has created perhaps the highest demand for at-home COVID tests since the pandemic began. (Fortune)

  • As a result, retailers such as Walgreens and CVS have implemented strict limits on how many you can buy at a time, and the Biden administration has had to fast track plans to distribute 500 million rapid COVID-19 tests for free to Americans who request them.

  • Some states are also distributing free tests to residents, although the specific plans vary.

Soon, though, testing will become an employer problem too.

To date, some major employers across the country have bypassed much of the bureaucracy by offering free at-home COVID tests to their ranks.

  • Google began providing its 90,000 employees with free at-home COVID tests over a year ago — including those still working from home. (Wall Street Journal) Employees can receive up to 20 tests per month, freeing them from the stress of having to procure at-home tests that millions of Americans are currently experiencing. 

  • Goldman Sachs has offered employees free at-home COVID tests since October 2020. (Financial News) Employees at the company’s New York and Chicago offices are required to take the self-administered tests at least once a week.  

Providing free weekly testing for employees has its obvious advantages, but the highly coveted office perk comes at a hefty price for companies. 

For executives who insist on at least some in-person work, that cost could be unavoidable: OSHA rules requiring all employers with 100 or more employees ensure each of their workers is fully vaccinated, or pass COVID-19 tests on a weekly basis, is now in effect. (Inc.)

  • Businesses are not currently required to pay for COVID-19 tests for unvaccinated employees. However, employer coverage may be required by other laws, regulations, collective bargaining agreements, or other negotiated agreements. 

Our takeaway: We expect a mix of federal, state, and city rules on workplace safety to become more defined this year. That means employers should start making serious decisions regarding payment, provision, and internal protocols around COVID-19 testing. But as with all COVID workplace decisions, there is the all-important caveat: stay flexible.

In other reading:

  • Here are the best productivity tools and tips for hybrid teams in 2022 (Fast Company)

  • Remote Work for High-Paying Jobs to Pick Up This Year, Ladders Says (Bloomberg)

  • The Sabbatical, a Power Move for the Burnout Era (Wall Street Journal)

  • Fractal, a New York City-based AI and advanced analytics solutions company, raised $360 million in growth funding. TPG led the round. (TechCrunch)

  • OpenSea, a New York City-based peer-to-peer marketplace for crypto collectibles and NFTs, raised $300 million in Series C funding. Paradigm and Coatue co-led the round. (TechCrunch)

  • Whyline, a Brooklyn-based virtual queuing and appointment platform, was acquired by CLEAR, a New York City-based identity and biometrics company, in an all-cash deal. (MarTech)

  • 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.

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