Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks on stage during the annual Google I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California, May 8, 2018.
Stephen Lam | Reuters
Google, one of the first major U.S. companies to send employees home last year because of the coronavirus, is setting new remote work guidelines as it speeds up plans to get staffers back to the office.
As millions more Americans get vaccinated by the day, Google is accelerating reopening plans in some parts of the U.S. on a volunteer basis ahead of the Sept. 1 return deadline, according to internal documents viewed by CNBC. Offices will reopen in a limited capacity in April based on vaccine availability and a downward trend in Covid-19 cases.
"It's now been a year since many of us have been working from home, and the thought of returning to the office might inspire different emotions," wrote Fiona Cicconi, Google's new head of people operations, in a companywide email on Wednesday. Cicconi advised employees to get the Covid-19 vaccine but said it's not mandatory.
If employees want to work remotely after Sept. 1, they're required to apply for a maximum of 14 days remote per year, according to a separate note marked "Need to know." They can apply for up to 12 months in "the most exceptional circumstances." The company could, however, call employees back to their assigned office at any point, the note said.
Google is preparing for a broad reopening in September, when employees will be expected to show up in person three days a week. The company is taking a different approach from industry peers such as Facebook and Twitter, which vowed to allow most remote work indefinitely.
In an emailed statement to CNBC, Google confirmed the memos and added that "permanent moves for personal reasons are still on hold."
CNBC first reported in December that Google axed the idea of remote work and that it expects workers to "live within commuting distance" of offices.
Cicconi wrote in Wednesday's email that employees will return to rejiggered offices that will allow owners to bring their dogs. She said the planning work was led by the company's Real Estate and Workplace Services groups.
"The offices won't look exactly the way you remember them, but our amazing REWS teams are doing their best to make them comfortable, including providing meals, snacks and amenities where possible," Cicconi said. "We will even be welcoming our Dooglers back."
Cicconi warned employees to "stay vigilant to prevent a new wave of the virus," adding that Brazil is seeing "significant hardship" with rising cases.
Those staffers who left the Bay Area during the pandemic for less stress and perhaps to save money may have an incentive to return. In one of the notes on Wednesday, the company said it may adjust employees' salaries based on where they work.
Axios reported earlier on Google's plans to have some employees return in April.
Tucked between rows of apartments at the edge of the Carmel Arts & Design District is the Kuaba Gallery, which primarily features modern work by African artists.
Jayne During pauses in the Kuaba Gallery on Carmel’s Main Street. (Submitted photo)
Born in the western African nation of Ghana, gallery founder Jayne During moved to Indiana 31 years ago to attend college at Purdue University. After losing her job, During decided to draw on her passion for art and open the Kuaba Gallery, which debuted in 2001 in downtown Indianapolis. In 2019, the gallery moved to Carmel.
“Art is the greatest gift given to humans,” said During, who is not a professional artist herself. “It communicates to me. I’m blessed to be able to walk into work every day and see these pieces and escape to each one. Though every piece of art is different, its meaning is universal.”
A Carmel resident, During represents artists from diverse, international backgrounds, with most pieces highlighting societal issues the artists have encountered.
Nigerian artist Chika Idu is among the artists with work on display at the Kuaba Gallery. (Submitted photo)
For example, on display in the main room of During’s gallery is an acrylic series by Nigerian artist Chika Idu, who created the work after noticing that children were jumping and swimming in the same water used for cooking and defecating. He also created a series on women wearing masks, a reflection on the secularization of women and how culture forces them to wear different façades.
“Art is everything,” Idu said. “It’s an escape, like a psychological shelter, not just for the artist, but also to those who appreciate it. It’s a quiet shout without shouting.”
Also in the gallery is a stone sculpture of a woman swinging her child created by Dominic Benhura, an artist from Zimbabwe who began his career at age 12. Initially inspired by animals, he later shifted his focus to women and children. His sculptures are renowned for their movement and playfulness.
“Everyone can see a child smiling. In the same way we share this world,” Benhura said. “Despite our color, we can all celebrate life.”
Dominic Benhura, an artist from Zimbabwe, is among artists with work on display at the Kuaba Gallery. (Submitted photo)
The City of Carmel is working with During and the Kuaba Gallery to install a sculpture by Benhura along Main Street near the Carmel Chocolate Cafe later this year. The sculpture is funded by Clay Township.
Nancy Heck, City of Carmel director of community relations and economic development, said the gallery has been a welcome addition to Carmel, and the city’s mission to promote the arts.
“Jayne makes it unique because (the gallery) is her personality,” Heck said. “From the space to the diverse number of artists she attracts, During’s gallery reflects unmatched zealousness. She lends her platform to these artists, allowing them to share their work and voice, transcending bonds between people and bringing art to every corner of society.”
During plans for the Kuaba Gallery to continue building bonds with the community by hosting several events in the coming months. Idu and artists Christine Drummond and Patrick Tagoe will visit as their work is exhibited, and Benhura will hold a workshop in May.
During encourages Carmel residents and visitors to learn about different cultures around the world through the art in her gallery.
“The best part about (the gallery) is that each time people come in, they see something new and experience a different message that they didn’t before,” she said. “It’s, in a way, intoxicating.”
A portion of During’s sales benefit the Kuaba Humanitarian Foundation, which serves African families through sustainable development projects.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, those interested in visiting the gallery should schedule a private viewing by calling During at 317-9565-8405 or emailing kuabagallery@gmail.com. Some featured paintings are on the gallery’s website, kuaba.com. The gallery, at 404 W. Main St., is open Monday through Sunday between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The Kuaba Gallery features work from a variety of international artists. (Photo by Sophia Ling)
#myINcrowd
Jayne During, owner of Carmel’s Kuaba gallery, is one of six Hoosiers featured in the #myINcrowd campaign, which is highlighting six Indiana residents on the national stage during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
The campaign, organized by the Indiana Destination Development Corp. and presented by famous Hoosiers David Letterman and Sage Steele, aims to shine a light on positive stories in Indiana at a time when the state is in the national spotlight hosting all games in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
“With March Madness shining a national spotlight on Indiana, we want to showcase diverse Hoosiers from around the state who are doing amazing work,” Gov. Eric Holcomb stated in a press release. “This campaign tells the stories of unique and successful people who call our great state home.”
Nearly a year after the postponement of a Philip Guston retrospective roiled the art world, some of the modernist painter’s controversial paintings of cartoonish Ku Klux Klan figures will be displayed in New York in September.
Hauser & Wirth, which represents the Guston estate, will exhibit the paintings from the artist’s Klansmen series as part of “Philip Guston, 1969-1979.” The exhibition will run from Sept. 9 to Oct. 30 in their New York gallery and will showcase work from the final decade of his career. (Guston died in 1980.)
The timing “is urgent because of the art’s relevance to our cultural context today,” Marc Payot, the president of the gallery, said in an email on Wednesday, though he said the show was not organized in response to the postponement of the Guston retrospective at four major museums last year.
Mr. Payot mentioned the “racial reckoning and widespread calls for social justice” after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor last summer, and how they “echo the context in which Guston made these late works.”
Last year, three museums in the United States and one in Britain had delayed programming a Guston retrospective, the first in more than 15 years, that included images with the painter’s motif of cartoonish Klansmen because organizers determined the images needed to be better contextualized for the current political moment.
Though Guston intended the Klan imagery to criticize racism, anti-Semitism and bigotry, organizers said they worried it could upset viewers and that the works could be “misinterpreted.”
The touring exhibition was supposed to open on June 7, 2020, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, before moving to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, then to Tate Modern in London, and finally, to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The directors of the museums announced in a joint statement last fall that the retrospective would now open in 2022 — they had initially delayed the exhibition until 2024 — and that “additional perspectives and voices” would be needed before the work could be displayed.
Some in the art world called the decision a necessary step back amid the racial justice protests, while others condemned it for avoiding challenging works of art.
But the National Gallery had the support of its board of trustees, including Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, a philanthropic giant. He told The New York Times in September that if museums had not taken a step back to re-examine the exhibition, it would have appeared “tone deaf.”
“What those who criticize this decision do not understand,” Mr. Walker said, “is that in the past few months, the context in the U.S. has fundamentally, profoundly changed on issues of incendiary and toxic racist imagery in art, regardless of the virtue or intention of the artist who created it.”
Mr. Payot said on Wednesday that Hauser & Wirth had planned its exhibition “for quite some time.” The show will focus on Guston’s figurative paintings and will include works that have never been exhibited before. It will also be accompanied by public programs.
Mr. Payot acknowledged the works were challenging. “But as Guston’s daughter, Musa Mayer, has said, ‘These paintings meet the moment we are in today. The danger is not in looking at Philip Guston’s work, but in looking away.’”
The gallery was still making final selections for the show, but Mr. Payot said that it would include the 1969 painting “Blackboard,” which depicts three hooded Klansmen. He called the painting “an astonishing work, heartbreaking in what it says about the way we teach racism to perpetuate it in America.”
“It’s a rarely seen canvas by an artist at the height of his powers,” he said. “And we are honored to be able to show it.”
The Lafayette Transist System will not run Daytime or Night Owl bus routes or paratransit service on Good Friday, April 2. Bus routes and paratransit rides will resume the following day on Saturday, April 3.
Garbage and Recycling Schedule
Garbage and recycling collection will run as usual on Good Friday. Residents who generate more garbage than usual over the holiday can put excess waste outside their carts for collection following Easter Sunday. The compost facility will be closed on Friday and Saturday.
Juneteenth, which has long been celebrated by African Americans, gained attention last summer as racial justice demonstrations occurred across the country. Several Maryland institutions, including the state’s flagship university in College Park, gave employees the day off last year.
“The granting of leave came in the emotionally raw weeks following the killing of George Floyd, and was meant to help us confront the pain and indignity that slavery has left behind,” Jay A. Perman, chancellor of the state university system, said in a statement.
As the day becomes an institutional holiday for the system’s 12 universities and three higher-education centers, Perman said Juneteenth remains a day of reckoning. He added that he hopes the day will provide time for students and employees to reflect on the work that remains to “examine and redress our part in anti-Black racism and systemic inequities.”
Darryll J. Pines, who became president of the University of Maryland at College Park amid last summer’s unrest, said the move underscores his commitment to diversity and inclusion.
“Since becoming president, my administration has worked with our community to prioritize and amplify this work: partnering with many student leaders on critical issues, honoring Maryland trailblazers and pursuing an anti-racist agenda,” Pines said in a message to the university community.
Pines late last year unveiled plans to name new residence halls after four former students, including Hiram Whittle and Elaine Johnson Coates, the first African American man to be admitted to the university and the first African American woman to graduate from U-Md. with an undergraduate degree, respectively.
Earlier this month, the U-Md. president announced that the school was on the cusp of receiving record-high applications from Black and Latinx students, and unveiled measures designed to increase access to the university — including the extension of a test-optional admissions practice through spring and fall of 2022 and 2023.
“We remain committed to finding more ways to celebrate Black history and culture,” Pines wrote. “Let’s use this time to reflect on both our history and recent events, and how we continue to work to eradicate anti-Black racism — and racism in all its forms — together.”
The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee has approved 11 game officials recommended by J.D. Collins, the national coordinator of officiating, to work Saturday’s two national semifinal games and Monday’s national championship game. A three-man crew will work each Final Four game, while two officials will serve as the standby officials for all three contests.
The NCAA has notified these 11 individuals selected to work the 2021 Final Four, which will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana:
Pat Adams, Mobile, Alabama
Jeff Anderson, West Henrietta, New York
Bo Boroski, Indianapolis, Indiana
James Breeding, Louisville, Kentucky
Ron Groover, Newnan, Georgia
Keith Kimble, Arlington, Texas
Randy McCall, Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Gerry Pollard, Wentzville, Missouri
Chris Rastatter, Tucson, Arizona
Larry Scirotto, Dallas, Texas
Doug Sirmons, Virginia Beach, Virginia
“The 2021 NCAA tournament officials have collectively done an outstanding job of officiating the tournament,” said Collins. “We are fortunate to have a very qualified pool of officials. There are many qualified officials that could be working the 2021 Final Four. Getting the chance to officiate the Final Four is an honor and a privilege for these 11 men. The sacrifice that all of the tournament officials have made to be in the controlled environment during the tournament and during the regular season is nothing short of fantastic. These officials have gone above and beyond to help make this tournament safe and successful for the student-athletes, coaches and teams. The officials working the Final Four reflect the efforts of all their peers. I am both happy for them and proud of each of them.”
Sirmons will officiate his seventh Final Four, while McCall will be officiating his sixth, with Adams calling his fifth. This will be the fourth Final Four for Anderson, the third for Groover and Kimble while Boroski, Breeding and Rastatter all making their second appearance. Pollard and Scirotto will make their first Final Four appearance.
Saturday’s first semifinal features South Region champion and No. 1 seed Baylor facing Houston, the No. 2 seed and champion from the Midwest Region. Baylor is making its third Final Four appearance and first since the 1950 while Houston is making its sixth Final Four appearance and first since 1984 after becoming the first team to advance to the Final Four without facing a single-digit seed. Tipoff is set for 5:14 p.m. eastern time. The second semifinal game, which is scheduled to tip at 8:34 p.m., pits the East Region champion UCLA against West Region champion Gonzaga. The eleventh-seeded Bruins make their nineteenth appearance to the Final Four, after defeating the No. 1 seeded Michigan, while the overall No. 1 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs, defeated USC the sixth seed to reach their second Final Four.
The officiating assignments for each semifinal game, as well as Monday night’s national championship game, will be announced an hour before each game.
Final Four 2021: TV schedule, tip times, live stream links
The complete Final Four 2021 TV schedule with game times, live stream links and TV networks.
When the pandemic kicked into full swing in Hawaii a year ago, the daily commutes of thousands of Hawaii workers skidded to halt.
At the time, Amanda Jones, a partner at the Honolulu law firm Cades Schutte, was very concerned about the abrupt switch to remote work. She’s since changed her mind:
“I was very pleasantly surprised at how well it actually worked out,” she told Civil Beat in a phone interview, adding that she got much more work done in 2020 than in 2019.
Now, the law firm isn’t sure when or if all its staff will return to the office. While some employees whose jobs require opening mail, scanning documents and other in-person tasks are already back in the office, many attorneys have been able to work just as well at home.
“I don’t know that we will go back to how (things) were before,” Jones said.
Hawaii Electric Co.’s premises have largely been empty since pandemic shutdowns began last March. A spokesman said he doesn’t expect office life to go back to the way it was before the coronavirus pandemic. Cory Lum/Civil Beat
The pandemic forced a massive shift in how work is done nationwide and Hawaii is no different. As the COVID-19 vaccine grows in availability, local employers that went fully or partially remote are debating how and when to bring workers back to the office — and if that’s even necessary.
Companies that do plan to bring employees back are grappling with how to do so safely.
Emily Marr, assistant general counsel for the Hawaii Employers Council, said a recent survey found 37.3% of its members who reported staff were working remotely in January planned to bring their workers back to the office by the end of June. But 47.5% remained undecided as to when they might bring their virtual workers back.
Several Hawaii companies — ranging from Alexander & Baldwin to tiny nonprofits — told Civil Beat they expect to maintain virtual work as an option for many of their employees.
Lisa Maruyama, executive director of the Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, said the pandemic has made her realize that she is personally way more productive at home. But not everybody on her staff feels like they get more work done outside the office.
Maruyama said she is in no rush to make decisions about the future workplace. “If we’ve learned anything in this pandemic it’s that you’ve got to kind of take things day by day,” she said.
More than 1,100 workers — about half of the workforce of Oahu’s only electric utility — started working from home last March. Others whose jobs couldn’t be done remotely — such as workers in power plants — adopted new safety protocols such as wearing masks and maintaining safe distances to protect against the coronavirus.
“That was a massive transition,” said Peter Rosegg, spokesman for HECO, citing technology hurdles like getting employees on secure virtual private networks. He said employees won’t return to the office en masse until Aug. 2 at the earliest, and even then he expects the change to occur in phases.
Rosegg also said it’s possible many employees won’t be going back at all, or will remain working remotely at least part time.
Many workers may not return to working full-time at Alexander & Baldwin’s downtown Honolulu building. Flickr: billsoPHOTO
“Everybody now knows they can work from home without a great loss of productivity, maybe even an increase of productivity because there’s no wasted time at a water cooler,” he said.
He expects the company’s physical space to be permanently changed too: “You’re going to have fewer desks, fewer cubicles, more space will be possible.”
The same may be true at Alexander & Baldwin, a real estate company that, like HECO, has operated in Hawaii since before the U.S. annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Nearly all of Alexander & Baldwin’s employees switched to virtual work when the pandemic hit, said Derek Kanehira, senior vice president of human resources. About 90% of the company’s 130 employees on Oahu are still working remotely and the remaining 10% are working remotely part time.
“We expect that remote work will remain an option for many or most employees and are working to develop policies to accommodate a hybrid model,” Kanehira said in an email. “We will modify our office design, if necessary, to accommodate that work model.”
Going Back
The possibility of returning to the workplace also poses logistical and ethical challenges such as rearranging desks for social distancing to addressing potential concerns about vaccinations among staff.
Hundreds of companies have called ALTRES, a Hawaii human resources firm, to inquire about how to handle coronavirus vaccinations among staff, says Debbie Padello, the company’s director of operations.
Her advice is to treat the topic like politics or religion — don’t talk about it at work.
“We don’t want to distinguish who has or hasn’t taken the vaccine, that’s very dangerous,” she said, noting that people may have health or religious reasons for abstaining that they would feel uncomfortable sharing. “Don’t require anyone to be open about whether or not they’re vaccinated.”
Marr said just 1.8% of the 113 companies who replied to HEC’s recent survey plan to require the vaccine.
“What we’ve really seen is that there’s no need to mandate it,” she said. Instead, companies are providing information to employees about how to get vaccinated and when they are eligible. “The most important best practice for employers is good communication.”
Padello from ALTRES says overall, she’s noticed a trend among the 2,200 companies that ALTRES works with toward allowing a mix of remote and in-person work.
As for ALTRES itself, Padello said most of the company’s 180-person staff already has voluntarily returned to the office because the employees felt more productive and happier with their coworkers.
Downsizing
The shift to remote work has benefited some neighbor island residents who hope that the changes stick.
Barbara Franklin leads a small law firm with only two employees on Hawaii island. She misses some of the convenience of having a staff member handle the mail but overall says going virtual has made her work more efficient.
No longer does she have to fly to Honolulu for meetings or drive an hour to Kona or Hilo for court. She can just hop on her computer and get more accomplished during the day. Most of her clients are happy to meet over the phone or via Zoom.
“I haven’t had any problem feeling like my employees aren’t working,” she said. When it comes to remote work, “I think some of it is definitely going to be somewhat here to stay.”
Deborah Zysman, who leads a four-person nonprofit called Hawaii Children’s Action Network, said the pandemic has made it easier to conduct trainings and strengthen relationships with more people across multiple islands.
The pandemic has made her question whether they should extend the lease on their office, which comes out to $50,000 annually plus additional expenses for cleaning and internet.
“If we don’t have an office, I could maybe pay people more,” she said.
Larger companies may downsize too. Jones said Cades Schutte intends to survey staff about who plans to continue working remotely and who plans to return to the office. Whether to keep leasing the same amount of space in downtown Honolulu also is an open question.
“Office space is one of the larger expenses and if you don’t need as much space as you have, then why pay for it?” Jones said.
Zysman said that for her organization, the pandemic has created new opportunities. One of her staffers even moved to Virginia, the first employee to work permanently out-of-state.
“For many employers the fear is that if people are home, they will be less productive. I have not seen that at all,” Zysman said. “People I feel are realizing that you can get the work done and it doesn’t have to be between 8:30 and 4:30 sitting at a desk.”
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WASHINGTON—The White House won’t renew a ban on H-1B and other work-based visas imposed last year in response to the Covid-19 pandemic that is set to expire Wednesday, according to three people familiar with the decision.
The ban blocked foreign workers on a range of temporary work-based visas from coming into the country. The Trump administration had imposed it in June, saying it was necessary to safeguard jobs for American workers as the economy sputtered and unemployment soared because of lockdowns designed to contain the coronavirus. On Dec. 31, then-President Donald Trump renewed the ban through the end of March.
The White House declined to comment on the ban’s expiration. Officials said President Biden doesn’t plan to speak about it publicly, instead focusing on his infrastructure package he plans to introduce Wednesday.
The decision to let the ban expire will benefit a range of companies, from technology to landscaping, that say there aren’t American workers who can fill their specific needs, especially as they plan for an improving economic outlook. Tech companies left jobs unfilled or hired preferred employees to work remotely from abroad. Seasonal employers, including landscapers, resort owners and summer camps, use other visa types covered by the ban to employ foreign workers for their busy seasons, and families use them to hire au pairs.
Even with the ban lifted, immigration experts say it will be tough for many of the blocked workers to come to the U.S., since pandemic travel restrictions remain in effect for most of Europe, Brazil, China, Iran and South Africa, and consulates in those countries for the most part won’t issue visas. Consulates in countries without blanket travel bans are still operating at reduced capacity, and in those cases, the State Department has instructed them to prioritize green cards over work visas.
PEOPLE’S RELATIONSHIP with work is complex. For all the complaining about the tedium and bureaucracy, the power-crazed bosses and recalcitrant colleagues, individuals need the security of a job. A century of research has shown that unemployment is bad for mental health, leading to depression, anxiety and reduced self-esteem. On average, it has an even greater effect than divorce.
But how much work do you need to do? A recent paper* by the Centre for Business Research at Cambridge University took the opportunity of the pandemic to examine the impact of reduced working hours on well-being. Many British employees were placed in a furlough scheme, under which their hours were reduced and their wages were subsidised by the government. “We found that people working reduced working hours or being furloughed do not have poorer mental health,” the authors conclude. This suggests that social welfare would be improved if governments adopted furlough schemes in future recessions, even when they are not triggered by a virus.
What was particularly surprising is how little work was needed to keep people happy. The threshold for good mental health was just one day a week—after that, it seemed to make little difference to individuals’ well-being if they worked eight hours or 48 hours a week. The boost from working clearly comes from the feeling of purpose, from the social status it creates and from the camaraderie of colleagues engaged in the same tasks.
A little bit of work may be satisfying but too much is not. An enterprising junior analyst at Goldman Sachs recently surveyed his peers and fashioned his report in the style of a research presentation from the investment bank itself. The survey found those first-year analysts had worked an average 98 hours a week since the start of 2021, and only managed five hours of sleep a night. It found that 77% of them had been the subject of workplace abuse, that 75% had sought, or considered seeking, counselling, and that, on average, the cohort had suffered sharp declines in mental and physical health. Unsurprisingly, the analysts thought it was unlikely they would still be working at the bank in six months’ time.
To be fair to Goldman Sachs, the survey had only 13 respondents. Discontented workers may have been the most likely to respond. And the bank’s reaction was restrained. “A year into covid, people are understandably quite stretched, and that’s why we are listening to their concerns and taking multiple steps to address them,” a spokesperson said.
Nevertheless, the general reaction to the story was remarkably unsympathetic. In some people’s eyes, the young analysts should have expected to be treated in such a fashion; after all, that is why they were being paid so well. Veterans of the investment-banking industry reminisced along the lines of “It was the same in my day. Never did me any harm.” But it is hard to see why young Goldman analysts (or indeed, anyone) should expect to suffer workplace abuse. They joined a bank, not the Mafia.
Nor does it make much business sense to have employees working so long that they only get to sleep five hours a night. They can hardly be operating at full efficiency when they are dog-tired. Surely it is better to hire more analysts, and pay each of them a little less. That junior professional staff have always worked long hours is not a good explanation for piling stress onto young people at the start of their careers. It smacks of the legendary navy motto: “The beatings will continue until morale improves.”
Clearly, economies cannot prosper if everyone works one day a week. But the need to limit excessive working hours was realised back in Victorian times. For much of the 20th century the length of the average working week fell while output continued to climb.
There will be occasions when people have to work late or rise early to finish a project (Bartleby writes this on a day when the needs of The Economist required him to get up at 5am). Day after day, however, a long-hours lifestyle is bad for workers’ health. Some organisations may see the appetite for slogging it out as a sign of an employee’s willingness to put their job ahead of their families and friends. If so, they don’t need to have better employees. They need better managers.
* “Cut hours, not people: No work, furlough, short hours and mental health during the covid-19 pandemic in the UK”, by Brendan Burchell, Senhu Wang, Daiga Kamerade, Ioulia Bessa and Jill Rubery
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Their finest hours"
Lafayette Consolidated Government has announced schedule changes for transit, garbage and recycling in the parish due to the Easter Holiday.
The Lafayette transit system will not run on Friday, April 2 and garbage and recycling collection will run as usual.
See the full schedules below:
Transit Schedules
The Lafayette Transist System will not run Daytime or Night Owl bus routes or paratransit service on Good Friday, April 2. Bus routes and paratransit rides will resume the following day on Saturday, April 3.
Garbage and Recycling Schedule
Garbage and recycling collection will run as usual on Good Friday. Residents who generate more garbage than usual over the holiday can put excess waste outside their carts for collection following Easter Sunday. The compost facility will be closed on Friday and Saturday.
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The holiday will be recognized across all institutions within the University System of Maryland.
BALTIMORE — Juneteenth is now a holiday for several colleges and universities across Maryland.
Chancellor of the University System of Maryland, which includes 12 institutions in all, Jay A. Perlman, made the announcement Wednesday.
Juneteenth, June 19, is a day commemorating the end of slavery in America. The holiday gained wider attention last year following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, and the protests for social justice that followed in the summer.
Perman said that several universities within the USM recognized the holiday in 2020.
"The granting of leave came in the emotionally raw weeks following the killing of George Floyd, and was meant to help us confront the pain and indignity that slavery has left behind, to reflect on the fight for freedom and justice—then and now—and to joyfully celebrate Black history and culture, Black resistance and resilience," Perman said in a statement.
He said that going forward the holiday would be recognized across the University System of Maryland, and since June 19 falls on a Saturday in 2021, the holiday would be observed on Friday, June 18.
"I hope the hours of reflection this day provides can help us gather strength for what lies ahead—for we’re just starting our work to examine and redress our part in anti-Black racism and systemic inequities that so badly disadvantage people and communities of color," Perman said.
Juneteenth is a second Independence day for a quarter of a million Black people in Texas who were free, but did not know it. Enslaved people in Texas did not hear of the order to end slavery until 2 1/2 years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
People under 60 are accounting for the majority of new Covid-19 cases across the country — likely a testament to the success of the vaccines that have been administered to primarily older, more vulnerable Americans.
The number of cases is rising again following a steep decline and then plateauing for several weeks. During a White House Covid-19 briefing Monday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the rise in cases — an average increase of 10 percent from the previous week — gave her a sense of "impending doom."
But doctors say that patients seeking care this time around are younger and, notably, not as sick.
In New York, where cases are rising, some Covid-19 patients still require hospitalization, but the numbers of such patients are nowhere near the "astronomical" levels from a year ago, said Dr. Frederick Davis, an associate chair of emergency medicine at Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Hospital.
Now, Davis said, Covid-19 cases are mostly mild.
"The cases we are seeing are the younger groups that probably aren't eligible for vaccines just yet," Davis said.
March 30, 202106:03
More than 73 percent of people over age 65 has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly half are fully vaccinated. Monday, the CDC reported that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are 90 percent effective against Covid-19 in the real world.
The increase in immunity among older adults is illustrated in the shift in age groups most likely to seek care for Covid-19.
Nationwide, "the number of 25-to-49-year-olds visiting U.S. emergency departments for diagnosed Covid-19 is now higher than the number of visits among patients 65 and older," the CDC said in a statement to NBC News.
In Michigan, where cases have more than doubled in the past two weeks, doctors are seeing increases in patients between the ages of 10 and 60, with hospitalizations among people in their 50s rising at the fastest rate, said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state's chief medical executive.
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"Even if you may be at lower risk for getting the virus, you can still get the virus," Khaldun said. "People simply cannot let their guard down now. No one lives in a bubble."
Dr. Usamah Mossallam, an emergency department physician at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, cautioned that even younger people can get quite ill from Covid-19.
"I've also seen my fair share of people who require hospitalization and ICU admissions, and they're in their 40s," Mossallam said.
At Northwell health system in New York, Davis said that many of the Covid-19 cases are due to domestic travel.
"They went to a gathering somewhere out of state, whether it was family they hadn't seen in a long time, or maybe a wedding," Davis said. "Sometimes multiple family members come in from the same event."
Spring break may also be partly to blame for the recent rise in cases, particularly as some states have rolled back restrictions and mask mandates, said Dr. Joseph Khabbaza, a pulmonary and critical care medicine specialist at the Cleveland Clinic. But vaccinations among the highest-risk demographics may prevent hospitalizations from rising as precipitously this time as they did during previous surges, he said.
"A lot of places opened up and we saw more travel for spring break, so we certainly expected a bump in cases," Khabbaza said. "But when these people go back home to their workplace or to their loves ones and family members, at least more of the higher risk people are going to be vaccinated."
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The trend toward younger patients with milder illness is likely the reason many intensive care units are no longer inundated with severe cases.
At the pandemic's peak last year, Dr. Todd Rice, director of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's medical intensive care unit in Nashville, Tennessee, said he had 60 Covid-19 patients at once. Now, he has five.
The shift is likely because "we've changed the demographics of the people who are being affected" by the illness, Rice said.
Related
The virus itself, however, is shifting and changing. "We know that about 26 percent of all sequenced virus is now the B.1.1.7" variant, Walensky said during Monday's briefing. That variant has been shown to be more contagious.
"This variant is probably less forgiving, and more infections will occur," Walensky said.
Khabbaza said that while he remains hopeful that a new wave of infections won't be accompanied by as many hospitalizations and deaths, it's hard to predict the full impact of the variants.
"We haven't had a surge with a variant yet, so we're not really sure what to expect for these next couple weeks and months," he said.
The possibility of long-term illness combined with more transmissible variants are major reasons to get vaccinated, even as cases are trending toward younger, healthier patients.
"The good news with the variants is, they are all mostly responsive to vaccinations," said Dr. James McDeavitt, senior vice president and dean of clinical affairs at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
"We can still vaccinate our way out of this crisis."
Many tech workers say they have experienced more harassment, hostility and anxiety while working remotely during the pandemic. Wilfredo Lee/APhide caption
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Wilfredo Lee/AP
Many tech workers say they have experienced more harassment, hostility and anxiety while working remotely during the pandemic.
Wilfredo Lee/AP
Tech workers say they have experienced more harassment based on gender, age and race or ethnicity while working remotely during the pandemic, according to a survey from a nonprofit group that advocates for diversity in Silicon Valley.
The increases were highest among women, transgender and nonbinary people, and Asian, Black, Latinx and Indigenous people.
For example, more than 1 in 4 respondents said they experienced more gender-based harassment. That figure increased, when race and gender identity were accounted for, to 39% of Asian woman and nonbinary people; 38% of Latinx woman and nonbinary people; and 42% of transgender people.
The survey of nearly 3,000 people around the country was conducted between May and February by Project Include, an advocacy group founded by Ellen Pao. Pao is a tech investor who in 2012 sued her then-employer, the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, over gender discrimination. Pao lost that lawsuit and has since become a leading advocate for diversity in tech.
Pao said she wanted to do the survey when she heard early in the pandemic about people complaining of more harassment at work — even though they were no longer in the office.
"There's the assumption that once everybody went separately and you were protected in your own home, that you wouldn't see the same level of harassment," she said. "It turned out that actually wasn't the case."
Harassment, in the survey's definition, includes behavior such as yelling, uncomfortable or repeated questions about identity and appearance, and requests for dates or sex.
Workers surveyed also reported increases in workplace hostility, defined as behavior that is less abusive than harassment and may not break company rules, but still creates a harmful environment.
Women of color were the most likely to report increased race-based hostility, including 45% of women who identified as African, African American or Black and 30% of women who described themselves as Asian or Asian American. Also, 14% of the respondents reported increased age-based harassment.
Pao said the survey responses suggested that some of the increase in harassment and hostility may be the result of people working longer hours, the blurring of boundaries between work and home life, and more conversations where other office mates aren't present as witnesses.
"There's more one-on-one interaction when you're not in the office," Pao said. "People are seeing more harassment on chat and on email and on video conferencing."
Many of the software tools remote workers rely on, such as video chat and messaging apps, "were not designed to mitigate harassment," said Caroline Sinders, a researcher who studies online harassment and worked on the Project Include survey. For example, they may not have easy ways built in to flag inappropriate behavior or content and report it to management or human resources.
The survey also showed an increase in anxiety overall as people have shifted to working from home — a whopping 85% of people said they were more anxious. Nearly two-thirds reported working longer hours.
At a time when many tech companies have said they will allow people to keep working remotely at least some of the time, Pao said workers need more specific guidelines. She also recommends giving workers more flexibility in how, and when, they work. And, she said, companies need to confront problems that existed before the pandemic but have been exacerbated in the last year.
"It's time for companies to address all of the harms that are caused by bias, by racism, by sexism, by transphobia," Pao said.
"How do we actually get to the root of these problems? It's not by giving people a wellness app."
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Online shoppers now have a new way to spend digital money. Tuesday, PayPal announced it will allow customers to use cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, as a form of payment.
The unique step had us wondering: How will spending cryptocurrency online work? And what is the future of e-commerce? Good Question.
When we’re not shopping in a brick and mortar store we’re often spending our dollars online via credit cards or payment platforms like PayPal.
According to spendmenot.com, 361 million people use PayPal. That’s more than the U.S. population. And one-fifth of all online transactions in the country go through PayPal.
And now instead of just linking a bank account or credit card, PayPal users can link their cryptocurrency account.
How big of an announcement is this for PayPal?
“I think it’s pretty impactful,” said Vivian Fang, an accounting professor at the University of Minnesota. “I do think it helps legitimize Bitcoin as a currency.”
Although there are thousands of forms of cryptocurrency, only four are currently useable on PayPal with Bitcoin as the most well-known and valuable. The others are Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ethereum.
If a user wanted to buy something online with cryptocurrency, PayPal would convert their funds into fiat currency, such as U.S. dollars, as payment.
Because of this announcement, should people start investing in cryptocurrency?
“That’s a million-dollar question,” said Fang. “Like every investment, it has risks. There are many more institutional investors that’s investing in bitcoin, like Mass Mutual which typical invests and goes for safe assets.”
Brandon Quittem, head of user acquisition at swanbitcoin.com, thinks should solely focus on Bitcoin as a crypto investment opportunity.
“Bitcoin is the only that is truly decentralized. It has the most security. It has the strongest brand recognition,” he said. It’s problem to be highly profitable.
“It’s averaging about 200% annual growth over the last decade,” he said.
The huge spike means it’s volatile. So how should someone invest?
Fang and Quittem say start small.
“Maybe that’s $50 a week, maybe that’s $500 a month whatever it suits you,” said Quittem. “This is not money you need for the bills this week or next month, think of this as a long-term investment, five-plus year time horizon.”
Because of the growth potential, some feel spending cryptocurrency on PayPal isn’t the right move just yet.
However, simply giving people the option to spend it is a turning a turning point in the e-commerce world, a turn that Fang and Quittem feel will happen slowly.
“I do not see Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency being the primary medium of exchange anytime soon. The reason for that is the U.S. dollar works pretty well as long as you’re in a western country, VISA works well. We have these tools,” said Quittem.
“But it’s definitely a selling point for PayPal,” said Fang, adding that the platform has positioned itself as a pioneer in the usage of digital currency.
Happy birthday (Mar. 31): This solar year shows you new places to shine. Go ahead and bite off more than you can chew because your ambition is what will increase your skills and deepen your knowledge. Doors swing open to you. You'll love what you can give to people and what they bring you.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): It's the moment you're offered what you've wanted all along, that you realize your wants have changed. No need to accept anything out of obligation. This is an event marker representing the distance you've come.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You can roam without moving a muscle and often do; your mind racing, turning and floating to where it needs to be to make sense of what's happening now. Ground that mental journeying with physical exercise and you're golden.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21): You're unsure of the difference you want to make, only that you want to make one. Negative emotions can really steer you right. Turnoffs show you what you don't prefer. They tell you what to do by making it very clear what not to do.
CANCER (June 22-July 22): You'll show up and share your thoughts, represent an underserved group or speak on behalf of someone. Your voice will be welcome and have the desired effect.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): What if you counted your successes differently? Put a smile on someone's face — that counts. Tell the truth about what you're feeling — count that too. Please yourself, and then count that double.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Where others see a lost cause, you see grand potential. Your belief will make all of the difference. Others rise to meet you in the most interesting places. Later, this will make a fascinating success story.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): Do the adventure no matter what. How much money will it cost? How long will it take? These are details to work out, not roadblocks to stop you.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): There's wisdom in the long view. You can achieve it by running your mind backward or forward. Think of your ancestors and the different kinds of lives they lived in their time, or think about people after you and the legacy you'll leave.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You honor people by learning more about them, but that's not your purpose. You'd like to know what to anticipate. So you learn what someone is like then set your expectation close to the person's true nature.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You'll assert a sense of control over something you once felt powerless over. It's a concern that requires solutions along many dimensions, but don't doubt that your contribution plays a role.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Less-than-hospitable circumstances? No problem. Apply more personal fortitude. Remember when you did a lot with a little? You'll do it again. Don't underestimate yourself.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You're not clear on what you want because emotions tug you from side to side. Treat these feelings like a laundry pile. Take a breath, turn over the hamper and start sorting.
SUN AND SATURN ORGANIZE ENVIRONMENTAL SUMMIT
The most powerful influence is that which goes almost unfelt. It’s embedded in the backdrop. It’s as constant as the sunrise and as integrated into a daily rhythm as the sunset. As you seek to make a change, think about building its reinforcement into your environment. What quiet dailiness might habituate you into bringing this change about?
AQUARIUS SECRET SUPERPOWERS
Every sign has ‘em. For Aquarius:
The Obvious: Aquarius doesn’t have to be asked to change or adjust or think ahead. Aquarius is forward-thinking by nature. The water bearer is the sign of tomorrow.
The Uncanny: Whatever you resist or don’t believe about the future, Aquarius has already adopted it, worked out all the kinks and put it to the most positive use possible.
The Weird: Out of a hundred characteristics the Aquarius possesses, 90% will be weird but in the most awesome way possible. As the sign of eccentricity, there’s no getting around it. Aquarius has the kind of “weird” that makes you think, laugh, embrace, drop your jaw and realize that a diverse world is a better world.
The Extremely Useful: Aquarius is a giver through and through. Whatever this sign dedicates in the name of humanity it will not take back.
The Quietly Helpful: Aquarius seeks self-revelation and encourages others to accept themselves euphorically.
CELEBRITY PROFILES
Whether he’s teaching Conan O’Brien dance moves or starring in one of the well-over 100 major entertainment enterprises in his illustrious career, a truer original than Christopher Walken would be hard to find. Walken was born when the sun and Mercury were in energetic Aries and the moon and Mars were in eccentric Aquarius. Look for him in the upcoming television projects “Severance” and the crime comedy “The Offenders.”
For the first time in 43 years, the NFL is going to be expanding its regular season schedule and that's happening because the league's 32 owners voted on Tuesday to go from 16 to 17 games starting with the 2021 season.
The NFL formula worked perfect when the league only needed 32 teams to play 16 games, but now that there's an odd number of games on the schedule, the league had to add a slightly complicated tweak to its scheduling formula this week so here's a look at the new formula with the changes for the extra game in italics.
Home and away against three divisional opponents (six games)
The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (four games). This is why the NFC West is facing the NFC North in 2021.
The four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (four games). This is why the NFC West is facing the AFC South in 2021.
Two intraconference games based on the prior year's standings (two games). These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year. This is why the last-place 49ers are playing the last-place Falcons and last-place Eagles in 2021.
One interconference game based on the prior year's standings on a rotating four-year cycle (one game). These games match a first-place team from one division against a first-place team in an opposite conference division that the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place and fourth-place teams in each division are matched in the same way each year. The home conference for this game will rotate each season.
if you read that last rule, it's not exactly easy to figure out who your favorite team will be playing going forward. For instance, the Chiefs will be hosting the Packers in 2021, but why are they playing an NFC North team and not an NFC South team and what does that rule tell you about who they'll play in 2022? Glad you asked because the rule doesn't exactly explain that.
The formula for the new game is slightly complicated, but basically, it will go like this: The matchups are based on the cross-conference division that each team played two years ago. Each team will play one opponent from that division that finished in the same spot in the prior year's standings.
For instance, the AFC West played the NFC North in 2019, so each team in that division will play one game against the NFC North in 2021 and they'll play against the team that finished in the same spot in the prior year's standings. This is how you get Packers at Chiefs (first place vs. first place) and Bears at Raiders (second place at second place). The other 17th game matchups for 2020 are NFC East vs. AFC East, NFC South vs. AFC South and NFC West vs. AFC North.
With that in mind, here's a look at the four-year rotation of the new scheduling formula. We'll list each division along with the teams from the opposite conference that they'll be playing from now until 2024.
AFC North
2021
NFC North, four games (Each AFC North team will play all four NFC North teams)
NFC West, one game (AFC North team will play the NFC West team that finished in the same spot in the prior year's standings).
2022
NFC South, four games (Each AFC North team will play all four NFC South teams)
NFC East, one game (AFC North team will play the NFC East team that finished in the same spot in the prior year's standings).
2023
NFC West, four games (Each AFC North team will play all four NFC West teams)
NFC North, one game (AFC North team will play the NFC North team that finished in the same spot in the prior year's standings)
2024
NFC East, four games (Each AFC North team will play all four NFC East teams)
NFC South, one game (AFC North team will play the NFC South team that finished in the same spot in the prior year's standings).
