Whether it’s turning to food products that people thought were finished, shopping at unusual times or the fact that selling to supermarkets has resulted in more food waste, not less, there are some surprising outcomes from the pandemic. Here’s a breakdown of the major trends which are having an impact on the food sector.
From how we’ll decorate to where we’ll shop.
There is no crystal ball that will help us predict how surviving a pandemic will impact our lives a year or even six months from now. But one thing is certain—for the foreseeable future, we’re going to be spending time and living in our homes in a way that most of us never anticipated. That presents interesting challenges for the people who design, build, furnish, decorate, and help us buy and sell our houses. From bigger, ultra-functional kitchen pantries to FaceTime real-estate walk-throughs, some of our favorite experts weigh in on what comes next.
Continue reading… “4 pros predict the future of homes post-quarantine”
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” — William Shakespeare
Audiences still want what audiences want: content, community and connections. There are seven ways businesses can deliver what their audiences want through live events delivered virtually.
What happens when that stage no longer has a jumbotron, special effects, and a state-of-the-art sound system? How do you amplify your pitch and your prospects when front row, center stage seats go virtual? While the context has shifted, the demand for events that create connections and convert leads into sales haven’t.
“Audiences still want what audiences want: content, community and connections,” reminds Bari Baumgardner, an event planning veteran and founder of SAGE Event Management. “The question is how to deliver what audiences want through live events delivered virtually.” To stage a performance that leaves your audience wanting more – and results in revenue and raving fans – create a backdrop for success with these leading practices.
Continue reading… “7 ways companies can deliver better virtual events”
Remote working has meant many people are skipping their morning commute.
COVID-19 has lead to more and more employees working from home.
98% of people surveyed said they would like the option to work remotely for the rest of their careers.
But not everything is positive, with workers finding the biggest challenge is ‘unplugging’ from work.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly one-third of the U.S. workforce, and half of all “information workers”, are able to work from home. Though the number of people working partially or fully remote has been on the rise for years now, the COVID-19 pandemic may have pressed the fast-forward button on this trend.
With millions of people taking part in this work-from-home experiment, it’s worth asking the question – how do people and companies actually feel about working from home?
Amid the horrifying loss of jobs brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been one countervailing force: an urgent demand for medical and technology professionals to return to work from retirement or a career break.
Returning physicians and nurses, along with technologists proficient in the “ancient” COBOL coding language that many states still use in processing unemployment claims, are helping society — and this has put these “relaunching” professionals in the spotlight. More than ever before, they are being embraced and brought back to work as fast as they can make themselves available.
Continue reading… “How the pandemic has created new demand for older workers”
Life as we know it has changed since the coronavirus outbreak. We have been forced to rethink simple things that could now contribute toward the spread of the virus.
From handshakes to open-floor offices, here are eight things listed by Insider that could become obsolete once the worst of the pandemic has passed:
Continue reading… “Things that may become obsolete after Coronavirus”
By 2030 all baby boomers will have turned 65 and Generation X will start their contribution to the expanding older cohort.
Retirement villages — walled, gated and separate seniors’ enclaves — have had their day.
The word “retirement” is redundant and engagement between people of all ages is high. That’s how participants in the Longevity By Design Challenge envisage life in Australia in 2050.
Their challenge was to identify ways to prepare and adapt Australian cities to capitalise on older Australians living longer, healthier and more productive lives. Their vision, outlined in this article, offers a positive contrast to much of the commentary on “ageing Australia”.
We have been repeatedly warned about a looming “crisis” when by 2050 one in four Australians will be 65 or older. They have been portrayed as dependent non-contributors, unable to take care of themselves.
This scenario of doom is based on underlying assumptions that everyone over 65 wants to, can or should stop any kind of productive contribution to Australia.
Continue reading… “Retirement villages have had their day: Baby boomers are rethinking retirement”
Critical reporting under threat as revenue losses leave independent news outlets hostage to government subsidies or whims of billionaires
Press freedom groups warn that the integrity of independent journalism could be at risk.
Fake news laws and political interference along with growing financial pressures has left many independent media groups in developing countries fighting to survive during the pandemic.
News outlets around the world have faced measures to muzzle critical reporting in an environment that has already seen dozens of journalists harassed, arrested and censored by governments, according to editors and press freedom groups.
Continue reading… “Covid-19 could trigger ‘media extinction event’ in developing countries”
The tech industry is rushing to offer remedies to the crisis and, in the process, trying to rehabilitate its image.
Before the pandemic, Yiying Lu was known for her work designing the Twitter Fail Whale and the dumpling and boba tea emojis. In the past few weeks, Lu said she was called to a higher purpose. From her apartment in San Francisco, she toiled away in a Slack channel with two dozen people she has never met to create a free website called Corona Carecard. It asks Americans to buy gift cards to their favorite local shops, providing a much-needed source of income while stores are shuttered.
Lu is one of hundreds, if not thousands, of workers across Silicon Valley trying to, in their words, hack the virus. The pandemic has stirred up a missionary zeal throughout Silicon Valley. Apple Inc. and Google put aside a decade-long rivalry to form an alliance to track the spread of infections. Facebook Inc. and Salesforce.com Inc. are procuring millions of masks for health-care workers. Jeff Bezos is donating $100 million and Jack Dorsey $1 billion.
In other corners of the Valley, people are developing test kits and possible vaccines, as well as software to treat the social and economic maladies of the pandemic. Smaller companies have created entirely new business models in response to the virus. The projects can be as simple as an app reminding people to wash their hands or one that connects users with barbers in Brooklyn for lessons on how to cut their hair at home.
There’s a feeling among some technologists that some of their work in recent years had become mercenary or frivolous—attempts to capitalize on a prolonged tech boom with apps that cater to the whims of wealthy coastal elites, rather than meeting the urgent needs of the rest of the world. “Facebook, Snapchat and the last decade of tech has brought us together in some ways but has also pushed us further away from real life,” said Lu, a former creative director at venture capital firm 500 Startups. “The virus is a warning for people in the Bay Area that we can’t just come here and take and take. We have to give, too.”
Continue reading… “Silicon Valley is forced to reset its moral compass for the pandemic”
Work From Home Has Nearly Doubled Our Load on Infrastructure: BT Consumer CEO
People are overworked, stressed, and eager to get back to the office.
An executive at JPMorgan Chase & Co. gets unapologetic messages from colleagues on nights and weekends, including a notably demanding one on Easter Sunday. A web designer whose bedroom doubles as an office has to set an alarm to remind himself to eat during his non-stop workday. At Intel Corp., a vice president with four kids logs 13-hour days while attempting to juggle her parenting duties and her job.
Six weeks into a nationwide work-from-home experiment with no end in sight, whatever boundaries remained between work and life have almost entirely disappeared.
With many living a few steps from their offices, America’s always-on work culture has reached new heights. The 9-to-5 workday, or any semblance of it, seems like a relic of a bygone era. Long gone are the regretful formalities for calling or emailing at inappropriate times. Burnt-out employees feel like they have even less free time than when they wasted hours commuting.
Continue reading… “Three hours longer, the pandemic workday has obliterated work-life balance”
What are the most critical soft and hard skills that organizations are hiring for and training for in 2020?
In the recently released LinkedIn Learning 2020 Workplace Learning Report, LinkedIn analyzed data from 660+ million professionals and 20+ million jobs to map the 15 most in-demand skills. More specifically, they looked at the skills that are in demand relative to the supply of people who have those skills—in other words, the skill gap.
Continue reading… “Skill gap 2020″ 5 soft skills and 10 hard skills companies need now”
The numbers represent “quads” or quadrillion BTUs, with the total consumption totalling 100.2. Conveniently, you can pretty much interpret the below numbers as a percentage of total US energy usage.
1. Overall energy usage declined by 1%
That’s significant. Compare to 2018 below and you can see: The biggest shock to most people is that over two-thirds of energy produced in the US is “rejected.” What does that mean?
Continue reading… “The most important US energy chart of the year is out: 8 big takeaways”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.