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🎉 How to prevent layoffs
Read time: 2.5 minutes
Good Afternoon Party People! 🎉
ICYMI - OpenAI recently rolled out Sora, a text-to-video platform. And it’s scary good. Check out some of the videos generated by Sora here.
Not everyone is excited about it…Here’s what one user had to say on OpenAI’s user forum.
“You guys are going to end so many careers for people. Photographers, artists, animators, filmmakers, and possibly even actors. Being in these industry’s is hard already, and now with this people might not have jobs anymore.”
It’s still noticeably AI-generated. But the quality is increasing at a rapid rate…
PARTY PLAN 🎉
📉 How to prevent layoffs…
💔 Valentine’s Day strike
âť“ Coupons over bonuses?!
And, of course, MEMES!
MEME OF THE DAY
LAYOFFS
How to Prevent Layoffs
Rounds of layoffs in tech, media, and finance have rocked the workforce to start the year.
Over 130,000 jobs have been cut since the start of 2024.
Some video game fans (and parents) are reminiscing about the former Nintendo CEO, Satoru Iwata. Iwata served as the CEO of the Japan-based video game company from 2002 until he died in 2015.
The Wii took the world by storm. They sold out everywhere. If you had one, you were cool. If not, well…
But in 2013, Nintendo released the Wii U as a successor to the ultra-popular Wii. It was a massive failure and sent the company into huge losses.
Most companies would use the miscalculation as a way to reduce headcount. But not Iwata.
To avoid layoffs, Iwata took a 50% pay cut to help pay employee salaries. His idea was that a fully staffed company had a better chance of rebounding.
Legend.
“If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results, employee morale will decrease, and I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world.”
And Nintendo did, in fact, rebound. The stock price bottomed out around $2.28 in 2013, climbed to $3.30 in 2014, and has since hit all-time highs of $16.10 in 2020.
Pour one out for Iwata today.
Some more companies should take note.
WORKFORCE
V-Day Strike
Did you have a tough time ordering DoorDash this past week?
Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash drivers across the country went on strike on Valentine’s Day to raise awareness and demand better working conditions, according to a coalition that represents over 130,000 drivers.
During Valentine’s Day, drivers refused to take rides to or from airports in Austin, Chicago, Hartford, Miami, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, and Tampa.
Sucks for anyone that had a date!
“Uber, Lyft and delivery drivers are TIRED of being mistreated by the app companies. We’re sick of working 80 hours/week just to make ends meet, being constantly scared for our safety, and worrying about being deactivated with the click of a button.”
Last year, the median Lyft driver made $30.68/hour and $23.46/hour after expenses (that’s almost half of California’s new $50 minimum wage proposal!).
Tip your Uber drivers, Lyfters, and DoorDashers, people!
PAY
Coupons Over Bonuses?!
Job-hopping is at an all-time high, and companies are searching for ways to keep employees happy, interested, and engaged with work.
Some companies take the simple approach of giving employees raises, but other companies may be forced to come up with more creative incentives like free food, or small prizes to boost morale.
There’s usually some sort of internal controversy that surrounds companies’ attempts at boosting morale. Nobody wants a pizza party at 2:00 on Friday. And an extra ping-pong table in the break room isn’t exactly every employee’s dream…
But Chili’s has divided social media users with their latest attempt at recognizing their employees.
In a video with close to 2 million views, a server at Chili’s explains the concept of “Chili’s bucks,” which are earned for good performance and can be exchanged for gifts.
“Those are just as good as money. Those are IOUs”.
“Basically, you can save them (Chili Bucks) up and redeem them for different things like sweatshirts, hats, fanny packs, all with Chili’s logos and stuff,” the TikToker explains.
The girl in the video said she used her Chili’s bucks to buy $25 worth of PetsMart gift cards which she used to buy food for her pet.
At first, people responded to the video with enthusiasm…
“Okay but honestly, this typa compensation from a job would keep me motivated to go.”
“Bro you don’t even know [how] hard I’d work if we had a little reward system like this.”
But other commenters said they’d rather just receive real money.
“That means your job is broke,” declared a user. “They’re not trying to pay you more.”
“Orrrr they can just give you a raise.”
In a follow-up video, the girl explained that she wasn’t trying to cause controversy and that she actually really appreciated the recognition from her employer.
It’s definitely better than nothing!
Chili Bucks?! |
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