Tech:NYC Digest: July 13

Tech:NYC Digest: July 13

July 13, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Wednesday, July 13, 2022 

In today’s digest, a new campaign to distribute COVID medications citywide, monkeypox cases in NYC see yet another record spike, and why job title inflation is the new weapon in the war for talent.

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 6,159 

    • New positive cases, NYC: 3,502

  • NYC Positivity Rate (Daily): 8.8 percent

    • NYC Positivity Rate (7-Day Average): 9.5 percent 

In today’s latest: 

  • New York state is launching a $1 million campaign to bring attention to free treatment options, as well as a new 24-hour hotline, for people who have tested positive for COVID-19. (Spectrum News)

    • Free at-home COVID tests are now also being distributed at 57 parks, public pools, and recreation centers across the city. More info here.

  • The number of monkeypox cases in NYC has climbed to 336 as of today, more than double the number a week ago, and the website for scheduling vaccine appointments crashed a second time due to high demand. (Gothamist)

    • NYC is recording 30 percent of all monkeypox cases nationally but receiving only 10 percent of national vaccine supply to protect against it.

    • Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine is calling on officials to set up a pre-registration system for New Yorkers to be notified when appointments can be distributed equitably, instead of forcing them to constantly refresh an online portal the same way we did for COVID-19 vaccines.

  • In news everyone was worried could happen: Inflation rose again in June by 9.1 percent, a jump even higher than experts expected. (CNBC) Businesses across the country are creating a new playbook for adjusting to consistently rising prices on goods like food and energy.

In other reading:

  • How Quickly Does BA.5 Reinfect? Do NYers Really Need Masks Again? Here’s what Fauci Says. (NBC New York)

  • Why City Workers in New York Are Quitting in Droves (New York Times)

  • The Best Ice Cream for Summer in NYC (Grub Street)

What’s in the name — or rather, a title? In a talent market where every bargaining chip matters, companies are losing candidates — and employees — to competitors willing to get creative with job titles. (Protocol)

  • Companies “do all sorts of things to put together attractive overall compensation packages” in an unusually tight labor market, Andy Challenger, senior vice president at executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, told Bloomberg. “And one of those things is your title.”

“Job-title inflation” used to be limited to mostly startups, but it has gone increasingly mainstream, particularly during the pandemic as companies competed for talent in the COVID-19 economy and fill a gap when raises or higher salaries are an option. (Forbes)

  • A review of US job postings from LinkUp, a global job-market data and analytics firm, found that before the pandemic, listings with “senior” in the title hovered around 3.9 percent of US jobs. That number grew rapidly during the pandemic, peaking at 6.2 percent this spring, a 60 percent surge. 

Negotiating job titles can be a good recruitment strategy, but sometimes, it just gets out of control: Are you interested in being the next “director of vibes” at your startup? 

In other reading:

  • Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman of why it’s the poster child of remote work (Protocol)

  • Lean Out: Employees Are Accepting Lower Pay In Order To Work Remotely (NPR)

  • Five Signs Workers Still Have Power in This Job Market (Wall Street Journal)

  • Kins, a NYC-based virtual physical therapy startup, raised $4 million in seed funding. W Health Ventures led the round and was joined by Redesign Health and a group of angels. (FinSMEs)

  • Pattern Brands, a NYC-based family of online home goods and lifestyle brands, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Participating investors include Toba Capital, Verlinves, and BAM Elevate, alongside existing investors Primary, RRE Ventures, and Victory Park Capital. (Businesswire)

  • Syrup Tech, a NYC-based inventory management startup, raised $6.3m. Gradient Ventures led, and was joined by Flybridge Capital, Firstminute Capital and Rackhouse Ventures. (TechCrunch)

  • July 14: Virtual: How VCs Can Help Founders During a Downturn, with H/L Ventures managing partner Oliver Libby, 8VC executive in residence Lauren DeMeuse, and Build Talent cofounder Jose Guardado. Hosted by Getro. Register here.

  • July 18: In-person: New York’s New Jobs Engine: The Launch of Innovation Indicators, with Mayor Eric Adams, Maven founder and CEO Kate Ryder, Harlem Capital co-founder and managing partner Jarrid Tingle, Brooklyn Navy Yard president and CEO Lindsay Greene, and others. Hosted by Tech:NYC and Center for an Urban Future. Register here.

  • July 19: In-person: Bloomberg Crypto Summit, with FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Uniswap Labs COO Mary-Catherine Lader, Grayscale chief legal officer Craig Salm, and others. Hosted by Bloomberg. Register here.

  • July 20: In-person: The City’s Path to Becoming the World’s Crypto Capital, with New York State Dept. of Financial Services Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris, eToro US CEO Lule Demmissie, Genesis CEO Michael Moro, and others. Hosted by Crain’s New York Business. Register here.

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