Whenever there’s economic uncertainty, it’s easy to worry that your position is at risk. But what if the worst has happened: Your company has done a big layoff—and you and your team weren’t on the list? Of course, you and your direct reports may both fear that more cuts are on the horizon. And yet, there’s work to be done. How do you support your team, keep them productive and also find the opportunities in the middle of such a big disruption, especially when you may face the need to ‘do more with less’? We work with executive clients—Alisa Cohn…
Author: Staff Writer
The US government shut down once again as our public servants refused to work in a partisan fashion. Over 2.1 million civilian federal employees will be affected, with 750,000 furloughed without pay. Naturally, Congress will still receive a paycheck and their lobbying checks. The duration of the shutdown is unknown, but estimates state the bickering could cost the US economy up to $2 billion per week. Non-essential offices, websites, and services are unavailable. National parks and museums are closed to visitors. Passport processing will be delayed. The daily cost of compensating the furloughed workers is $400 million. Military members may…
Your company rolls out an AI agent to assign tasks, draft updates, and nudge overdue approvals. But within days, it’s flagging completed work, tagging the wrong people, and creating confusion instead of clarity. It’s a familiar outcome for companies that adopt agentic AI without the workflows, data, or systems to support it. New research from Wrike reinforces that disconnect: 74% of employees say their company treats data like gold, yet most don’t manage it well enough for AI to use it effectively. Even the smartest, most context-aware tools stall without strong foundations. And automation doesn’t fix broken operations—it magnifies them. …
On Tuesday, Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek announced he will step down from his leadership role after nearly two decades. Ek will serve as the company’s executive chairman, and two former co-presidents—Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström—will share the role as co-CEOs. “Over the last few years, I’ve turned over a large part of the day-to-day management and strategic direction of Spotify to Alex and Gustav—who have shaped the company from our earliest days and are now more than ready to guide our next phase,” Ek said in a news release. Ek continued: “This change simply matches titles to how…
Taiwan will lose protection if it fails to move semiconductor chip manufacturing to the United States. The nation must determine which is more valuable—US protection against Chinese threats or maintaining 95% of the world’s chip production. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) agreed to invest $100 billion in manufacturing plants in the US earlier in the year, but that has not been a sufficient deal for the current administration. Cornering 95% of the market, the US cannot risk losing its main semiconductor manufacturer in the event that China fulfills its promise to absorb Taiwan as a Chinese province. US Commerce…
Amazon is pushing deeper into the grocery aisle with the launch of Amazon Grocery, a food brand that keeps most prices under $5. The idea of buying much of anything for $5 seems like a distant memory for most shoppers these days, as President Trump’s tariffs and persistent inflation keep the price of everyday consumer goods high, with little relief in sight. Keenly aware of that, Amazon is looking to undercut the competition’s prices with its own newly unified private-label brand featuring everything from eggs and premade salads to ground beef and olive oil. The company plans to expand its…
It’s official: AOL’s dial-up internet has taken its last bow. AOL previously confirmed it would be pulling the plug on Tuesday (September 30)—writing in a brief update on its support site last month that it “routinely evaluates” its offerings and had decided to discontinue dial-up, as well as associated software “optimized for older operating systems,” from its plans. Dial-up is now no longer advertised on AOL’s website. As of Wednesday, former company help pages like “Connect to the internet with AOL Dialer” appeared unavailable—and nostalgic social media users took to the internet to say their final goodbyes. AOL, formerly America Online, introduced many households…
Not even half of the spots in the 48-team field have been claimed. The schedule of matches won’t be finalized until December. And other than host nations U.S., Canada, and Mexico, nobody has any idea where or when they’ll be playing. Millions of soccer fans worldwide evidently don’t seem to mind any of those points. Tickets to next year’s FIFA World Cup officially go on sale Wednesday. The buyers will be those who were selected, out of 4.5 million applicants in a lottery that took place last month, to have the first formal chance to purchase tickets over the next few days.…
Tesla has raised lease prices for all its vehicles in the U.S. after a $7,500 federal tax credit that helped boost electric vehicle sales expired, according to the company’s website on Wednesday. The change follows the end of tax incentives under sweeping legislation passed by Congress, which eliminated the $7,500 credit for new EV leases and purchases, as well as a $4,000 credit for used EVs, effective September 30. Tesla and its rivals had been passing these credits on to customers through competitive lease offers. The monthly lease of the electric vehicle manufacturer’s best-selling Model Y increased to a range…
Rumor has it that soda fountains at a handful of gas stations and convenience stores across the Midwest are serving a thicker, more syrupy variant — with extra sweetness. Aptly dubbed “heavy soda”, the drink option can be traced back to a singular post on the subreddit r/Soda, and a few TikTok videos. “You know when the gas station fountains have this option you’re in gods country,” creator Kate Boyer wrote in the caption of a post earlier this year. The video has since gained almost seven million view. The drink has recently been picked up by a number of…