Tag: Layoffs

. This week in the tech sector has been an eventful one: regulators suspended operations of First Republic Bank, JP Morgan's $330 billion asset purchase, startups losing banking partners, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Chegg's edtech industry decrement, Pitch Deck Teardown, Shopify's layoffs and Kenya targeting cryptos and influencers platforms, to name a few. Join us in exploring the biggest news, trends and industry staples of this week.

Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform, connecting businesses with customers across the globe. Founded in 2004 by Tobi Lütke, its estimated market value has grown to over $82 billion. Despite its success, it recently laid off 20% of its global workforce due to divestment of its in-house logistics arm. CEO Tobi Lütke noted that the decision was made to invest more energy towards the mission. Unfortunately, this letter was seen as insensitive by many of its “Shopifolk”. With generous packages of 16 weeks of severance, medical benefits and etc, Shopify aims to care for those affected by the downsizing.

Amazon is making a comeback with their Alexa voice assistant in 2021 by leveraging their own AI technology, Alexa Teacher Model. Digital entertainment, storytelling, and personalized news&Q&A content will make Alexa the world's best personal assistant. Enhanced user experiences with accurate search results, one-liner summaries, and video streaming subscriptions are just a few of the special features!

Artificial Intelligence worries many tech workers of their job security. Last year, ChatGPT stirred the pot & thousands of tech workers took refuge in Blind to discuss how this tech advances puts them at risk of losing their jobs. However, others are optimistic and debate how AI can be beneficial for software engineers. Let's explore this discourse and agree on a brighter vision for tech workers.

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook and one of the world's richest people achieved a milestone with an impressive wealth increase of $10 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. His $87 billion net worth secured him the 12th spot among the world's wealthiest, surpassing Asia's top billionaire Mukesh Ambani. His money is largely from tech giant 'Meta' which reported better-than-expected first-quarter revenue of $28.6 billion. Despite his wealth, Mark is reported to lead a relatively down-to-earth life with fondness for Italian sports cars and Hawaiian real estate.