Tech:NYC Digest: October 25

Tech:NYC Digest: October 25

October 25, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

When it comes to deciding to work in the office or remotely, most NYC employers settled somewhere in the middle – and the City is now following suit. 🏢

  • In today’s digest, the latest trends on worker flexibility, what to know about NYC’s early voting period, and the tech powering Central Park’s recent light show.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

  • The ballot is in your court, New York. Early voting starts this Saturday for local elections, and there are a few close races to keep an eye on, especially for City Council seats in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. (THE CITY)

  • Central Park lit up with a thousand drones last weekend, showing how technology is changing the New York art world in creative ways. (New York Times)

    • The lit up drones seemed to move as a flock of birds, no mean feat of technological skill, the Times art critic writes. Drone technology from Intel powered the Dutch collective Drift’s synchronized fleet. Titled “Franchise Freedom,” the performance was the park’s largest public art piece since 2005.

In other reading:

  • The 2024 Streetery is Taking Shape (Curbed)

  • When the skyscraper you hate blocks the skyscraper you love (New York Times)

  • Now NYC Turned the World’s Biggest Garbage Dump Into a Park (Bloomberg)

LAST CALL: Tomorrow, Thursday, October 26, Tech:NYC is proud to support Child Privacy Laws and the Internet: Impacts on Vulnerable Communities, a symposium from the Information Law Institute at NYU School of Law. The symposium will feature legal experts, community leaders, and scholars on the impacts, implementation, and moral debates around the child privacy laws restricting youth access to social media and the internet.Admission is free and breakfast is provided. Please RSVP to attend here.

We now have years of data on RTO, and survey says hybrid work remains the most popular return-to-office strategy.

  • According to the latest survey of Manhattan-based employers, 58% of office workers are in the workplace on an average weekday – a statistic expected to grow just 1% long term.

  • Of the 140 employers surveyed, the majority require employees in person three days a week.

Yes, but: Thousands of NYC employees will soon have the option to work from home after Mayor Eric Adams expanded a remote work option.

  • City Hall took a cue from the private sector, and starting in December, non-union employees will be allowed to work remotely two days a week.

RTO keeps going ⬆️ : Tuesday is the most popular day workers are showing face in the office. Real estate tech firm Kastle Systems tracks badge swipes at NYC commercial office buildings, and have recorded the most on Tuesdays at 63% of pre-pandemic levels. Fridays are the least popular days, sitting at 30% of pre-pandemic levels.

We talked to Lattice chief people officer Cara Brennan Allaman today, and she told us flexible work policies remain an attractive recruitment and retention tool:

  • “It’s stating the obvious at this point, but hybrid work is here to stay. In fact, our own research has found organizations are trending towards hybrid and remote models over in-office overall – a survey Lattice conducted last year found that 54% of US employees and 64% of those in the UK are working in either hybrid or remote environments.”

  • “In tech specifically,” says Allamano, “ many forward-looking teams are starting to refocus on a very straightforward reality: At the end of the day, good management prevails, whether you’re remote, hybrid, or in-person. I’m seeing more HR leaders move on from that debate and really dig in on how they can make core programs happen that will ultimately drive business impact and help employees grow – no matter where they are working from.”

In other reading:

  • Amazon and the NBA are offering menopause benefits to keep women in the workforce (Bloomberg)

  • 3 research-backed ways to turn your to-do list into a productivity powerhouse (Fast Company)

  • 5 Questions to Get Your Project Team on the Same Page (Harvard Business Review)

  • Aleph, a NYC-based platform for pulling and managing financial data, raised $16.7 million in Series A funding. Bain Capital Ventures led the round and was joined by Khosla Ventures, Picus Capital, Y Combinator, and others.

  • OnsiteIQ, a NYC-based construction intelligence platform for commercial real estate, raised $14 million in Series B funding. Vertical Venture Partners led the round and was joined by RET Ventures and Interplay VC.

  • October 26: In-person and virtual: Child Privacy Laws and the Internet: Impacts of Vulnerable Communities, with Ali Forney Center director of technical assistance and advocacy Nadia Swanson, New Pride Agenda executive director Elisa Crespo, Techdirt editor Mike Masnick, and others. Hosted by the Information Law Institute at NYU School of Law. Register here.

  • October 26: In-person: Lattice Treats Truck Pop-up @ Madison Square Park, with treats, swag, and information on how to achieve top performance and culture with Lattice HRIS and Talent Suite. Register here.

  • October 26: Virtual: Workplace Summit 2023, with Lattice chief people officer Cara Allamano, Adobe global head of talent development Brandon Clark, Accenture chief AI officer Lan Guan, and others. Hosted by Charter. Register here.

  • November 1: Virtual: Measuring the ROI of Talent, with LLR Partners director of human capital Melanie Blaine. Hoisted by Getro. Register here.

  • November 6: In-person: Entrepreneurs Roundtable #183, with Work-Bench co-founder and general partner Jonathan Lehr. Hosted by ERA. Register here.  

  • November 14 – 15: 2023 Urban Tech Summit, with NYC chief climate officer Rit Aggarwala, Kelvin CEO Marshall Cox, Brooklyn Navy Yard CEO Lindsay Greene, Near Space Labs CEO Rema Matevosyan, and others. Hosted by Cornell Tech. Register 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.