More than one-third (35%) of millennials reported that they don’t have a PCP, according to a December 2019 survey of more than 2,000 privately insured adults from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald & Associates. The pandemic has put a spotlight on virtual primary care. 

Ron has led the retail teams for some of America's most prominent brands, inspired thousands of store employees, and traveled relentlessly across the country to sit and listen to what they have to say.

Whether that’s an internal competition for an employee to create a variation of our sonic brand for our library, creating programs with our celebrity brand ambassadors to come speak or perform for employees, or introducing pet insurance because employees expressed a need for that benefit.

Employees, fans, and critics have called for CEO Bobby Kotick to step down after a Wall Street Journal report revealed details of his involvement in the scandal, prompting gaming executives and companies—including Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer—to publicly criticize the company. Kotick will stay on as CEO of Activision Blizzard for the time being, per Microsoft’s announcement.

COVID-19 surges in production hubs, storms, drought, as well as dwindling numbers of factory employees added to an already untenable situation in chip manufacturing. A survey from IPC found that 80% of chipmakers are having a hard time finding employees with the right training to handle the highly toxic compounds used to manufacture semiconductors, per Ars Technica.

Only 18% of people say they prefer humans over robots to support their mental health, as robots provide a judgment-free environment, per an October 2020 Oracle survey of 12,000 US employees. Besides Sayana, companies like Woebot Health and Wysa have also gained traction among consumers over the past year for their chat-based mental health tools.

Inclusion, employee wellness, and credit access will be key focus areas. Emerging neobanks will increasingly target narrow customer segments in 2022, following the successful rise of Greenwood, First Boulevard, and Daylight that serve the Black, Latinx, and LGBT communities.

Omitting traditional branch uses such as dedicated spaces for banking purposes and teller window lines; instead, employees walk around “untethered” and carry tablets. The floor plan allows for adaptive usage according to product-based demands and customer volume. ATMs remain available for people who prefer to use them.

Most marketers, of course, already know this: 91.5% of US marketers from companies with 100 employees or more will use social media for marketing purposes in 2022, per our latest forecast. The remaining 1 in 10 that won’t use social media this year have resisted signing up for so long, it’s unlikely they ever will. Form a TikTok Strategy—Stat.

That type of technology can reduce the retailer’s reliance on store employees and may drive an increase in online shopping. Even prior to the omicron wave, 68% of consumers reported that the pandemic had altered their shopping habits, per a survey by Anyline. Following a 32.4% jump in ecommerce sales in 2020, online sales rose another 16.1% last year.

The project, initially called XROS, had been underway for years and “involved hundreds of employees” before the company suddenly and unexpectedly pulled the plug. By defaulting to an Android-based operating system, Meta can quickly develop and launch apps and experiences within a framework that’s close to an industry standard. Meta’s Oculus owns the consumer VR hardware space.

Store employees can also use Adyen’s product for customer service activities like checking current inventories or handling returns—helping streamline operations and improving the customer experience. Adyen’s opportunity: Adyen can use its new mPOS offering to target both small and large businesses that may want to ramp up in-person retail activities during pandemic reopenings.

Models are used to predict issues and present employees with relevant information cards ahead of time to improve experience. Most of the AI models used by Spotify are open source but a lot of internal algorithms are built internally. Spotify relies on the open-source software catalog and developer platform Backstage, which uses templates.

Employees at the affected stores will be required to test negative before returning to work. An Apple store in Texas shuttered for five days when 22 employees tested positive after a busy Black Friday period. The closures come as COVID-19 infections continue to rise in the general population. This development brings new concerns about how the pandemic could affect the holiday season.