Tag: Hiring and recruitment

Tens of thousands of workers were laid off in January. If you were affected, here’s how you may find work faster

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New government data shows a surprisingly strong job market for the month of January.

But there are signs of weakness in the labor market, based on tens of thousands of workers who have been laid off since 2024 started.

U.S. employers announced 82,307 job cuts in January, up from 34,817 in December, a 136% increase, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Still, that is down 20% from the 102,943 cuts announced in January 2023 and the all-time high for that month in 2009, with 241,749 job losses.

At the same time, the latest data shows the U.S. job market is still strong, with the unemployment rate holding at 3.7%.

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Moreover, the number of job openings stands at nine million, which is still elevated compared to prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, yet down from a 12 million peak, noted Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.

“On the one hand, Americans should have a sense that their job security is generally speaking in a good place,” Hamrick said. “At the same time, we have to understand that certain sectors of the economy may be experiencing more disruption or innovation.”

With that innovation comes a higher risk that workers may suffer from an income loss as the economy adjusts, he said.

For example, retail brands may be shedding positions as they continue to transition from brick-and-mortar stores to online sales. Sectors tied to the mortgage industry are repositioning in the wake of higher interest rates. Areas such as entertainment and media are adjusting to new online streaming and subscription models.

“There’s still the benefit of the elevated number of job openings,” despite the anecdotal evidence that job cuts are happening, Hamrick said.

Some companies that have open positions are eager to fill them.

“There are still companies that are hiring, and they can’t find talent fast enough,” said Vicki Salemi, career expert at Monster.

If you’re newly out of work, taking these steps may help you get hired faster.

1. Take a moment to grieve

Losing a job typically prompts a feeling of rejection, Salemi said, while getting a job offer instead prompts acceptance and optimism about the future.

To get to that latter phase faster, it helps to take a moment to acknowledge your feelings and shift into a better mindset.

Salemi recalls working as a corporate recruiter to help two candidates who had just been let go to prepare for their job search.

The first candidate who was excited about potential opportunities landed a new job in six weeks. The other who was shell-shocked from the layoff took longer than six months to find a new position.

Mindset and attitude make all the difference, according to Salemi. “Navigating this journey can be challenging, but it can definitely be overcome,” Salemi said.

2. Refine your search strategy

Update your resume with your latest accomplishments based on recent performance reviews, Salemi said.

To refresh your interviewing skills, try practicing with a friend, setting up informational interviews or getting tips from a career coach.

When you see a relevant position advertised, be sure to apply quickly. “Don’t wait more than 24 hours — the job may be gone,” Salemi said.

Also, be sure to include keywords that will help put your applications to the top of a recruiter’s results, she said.

3. Identify the ideal position for you

Start thinking about the ideal job and what that looks like for you by asking yourself some key questions, Salemi advised.

Where is your ideal position based: in office, hybrid or remote? What industry is it in? What tasks does it require? Are there strengths or items you absolutely loved doing in your last position that you want to continue doing?

4. Keep your skills sharp

Use your time away from a full-time role to continue advancing your skills. That may include taking on a part-time role, volunteer work or online class.

When interviewing, be sure to highlight how those experiences have kept your skills fresh and enhanced what you can offer, Salemi said.

5. Know your worth

Just because you’re out of work doesn’t necessarily mean you need to take a lower salary for your next role. Even if you are coming to a new position without a job, do not discount your worth because you’re unemployed, Salemi said.

Employers are more surprised when you don’t negotiate than when you do, according to Salemi.

“Don’t be shy about negotiating that offer,” Salemi said.

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February 2, 2024
New year, new job? Experts break down if January really is the right time for a new role

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If the time off work over the holidays or your New Year’s resolutions made you think about getting a new job, then you’re not alone.

“The beginning of a new year is typically a time for reflection and making resolutions. Many people consider their career goals for the year ahead and eagerly want to set off on the right foot,” Gaelle Blake, head of permanent appointments at recruitment company Hays, told CNBC’s Make It.

Data backs this up. Forty-seven percent of U.K. employees said they were looking for a new role at the end of 2022, a survey by recruitment firm Robert Half found.

Similarly, data provided to CNBC’s Make It by jobs platform Indeed showed that job searches are higher in January and the busiest day for them often falls in the first week of the month.

At the same time, job listings tend to have a slower start to the year and increase as time goes on, Indeed’s data showed.

“Recruiter activity lags behind in the earlier weeks, before reaching a high level in late January and into February,” Indeed’s U.K. Economist Jack Kennedy told CNBC’s Make It.

But what does this mean for people trying to find a new job right now?

More competition and looming layoffs

Indeed’s data suggests that there tends to be fewer jobs available at the start of the year when more people are looking to make a professional switch.

This could have consequences for job seekers like facing tighter competition or delayed responses from potential employers.

Especially this year, there are also economic factors to consider. Over the past few months, layoffs have mounted — last week, Amazon said it would cut more than 18,000 jobs and Salesforce announced it would lay off at least 10% of its employees.

With a recession being close, or already ongoing in some countries, many companies will also be experiencing hiring freezes or be forced to cut jobs. The idea of “first in, first out” is therefore also worrying to some prospective employees.

Should job seekers hold off on their search?

However, all of this does not necessarily mean you should give up on your job search, experts argue.

“Those beginning their job search in January shouldn’t be disheartened by a slow start,” Kennedy says, adding that starting your job search early could even put you at an advantage.

“Employers and recruiters who are able to move fast may therefore be able to steal a march on competitors,” he explained.

Despite the ongoing economic uncertainty, the current situation is not entirely bleak for job seekers, Kris Harris, regional director at Robert Half believes.

“While the recession will naturally be on everyone’s minds at the moment, I wouldn’t let it put you off exploring new opportunities. This is a recession like no other where employment levels are still relatively high and demand for good employees is still strong,” he told CNBC’s Make It.

Additionally, the labor market is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, and therefore there are still more jobs than job seekers in many cases, he points out.

But with the mix of the new year providing fresh motivation, a surge in job seekers and economic uncertainty, carefully considering your options and thinking about what lies ahead is key, Blake believes.

“I would recommend brainstorming what you want to get out of the year ahead career wise, and the actions that will help you get there. Consider whether you can progress in your current role, or if a change is needed,” she says.

“If the time off empowered you to change jobs, don’t ignore your intuition,” Blake concluded.

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January 13, 2023
GM venture to invest additional $275M at Tennessee plant

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A joint venture between General Motors and South Korean battery company LG Energy Solution announced Friday that it will invest an additional $275 million to expand a Tennessee battery cell factory for electric vehicles.

Officials with the companies had already pledged to spend $2.3 billion to build a battery plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The additional investment is anticipated to result in 40% more battery cell output when the plant is fully operational. Production at the 2.8-million-square-foot facility is expected to begin in late 2023.

The Tennessee plant is one of three lithium-ion battery factories being built by the joint venture, Ultium Cells LLC. The other two are in Michigan and Ohio. A fourth is also expected, but the site has not yet been named.

“We’re here because we know we can be successful with your partnership,” said Tom Gallagher, Ultium Cells vice president for operations, noting that GM already has employees training in Poland to start at the plant. “It’s an exciting journey that we’re on.”

Overall the three plants are expected to create up to 6,000 construction jobs and 5,100 operations jobs when completed.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has said the plants will help strengthen the nation’s energy independence and support President Joe Biden’s goal of having electric vehicles make up half of all vehicle sales in the United States by 2030. The Department of Energy has also made a conditional commitment to lend $2.5 billion to Ultium Cells to help build the plants.

Last year Toyota announced it would build a $1.3 billion battery plant in North Carolina. Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, has said it will build two battery plants in North America. Ford is currently building three plants in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Tennessee officials announced plans last month to invest $3.2 billion to develop a cathode materials plant for electric vehicle batteries.

The manufacturing facility will be built in Clarksville and create more than 850 jobs, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by the state of Tennessee and South Korea-based LG Chem.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee touted the investments in Tennessee, saying, “We are now a state that’s the center of future of the automotive industry.”

GM has set a goal of selling only electric passenger vehicles by 2035. The company plans to roll out 30 electric vehicles globally by 2025 and has pledged to invest $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through that same year.

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December 2, 2022
GM venture to invest additional $275M at Tennessee plant

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A joint venture between General Motors and South Korean battery company LG Energy Solution announced Friday that it will invest an additional $275 million to expand a Tennessee battery cell factory for electric vehicles.

Officials with the companies had already pledged to spend $2.3 billion to build a battery plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The additional investment is anticipated to result in 40% more battery cell output when the plant is fully operational. Production at the 2.8-million-square-foot facility is expected to begin in late 2023.

The Tennessee plant is one of three lithium-ion battery factories being built by the joint venture, Ultium Cells LLC. The other two are in Michigan and Ohio. A fourth is also expected, but the site has not yet been named.

“We’re here because we know we can be successful with your partnership,” said Tom Gallagher, Ultium Cells vice president for operations, noting that GM already has employees training in Poland to start at the plant. “It’s an exciting journey that we’re on.”

Overall the three plants are expected to create up to 6,000 construction jobs and 5,100 operations jobs when completed.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has said the plants will help strengthen the nation’s energy independence and support President Joe Biden’s goal of having electric vehicles make up half of all vehicle sales in the United States by 2030. The Department of Energy has also made a conditional commitment to lend $2.5 billion to Ultium Cells to help build the plants.

Last year Toyota announced it would build a $1.3 billion battery plant in North Carolina. Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, has said it will build two battery plants in North America. Ford is currently building three plants in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Tennessee officials announced plans last month to invest $3.2 billion to develop a cathode materials plant for electric vehicle batteries.

The manufacturing facility will be built in Clarksville and create more than 850 jobs, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by the state of Tennessee and South Korea-based LG Chem.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee touted the investments in Tennessee, saying, “We are now a state that’s the center of future of the automotive industry.”

GM has set a goal of selling only electric passenger vehicles by 2035. The company plans to roll out 30 electric vehicles globally by 2025 and has pledged to invest $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through that same year.

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December 2, 2022
Foxconn apologizes for pay dispute at China factory

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BEIJING — The company that assembles Apple Inc.’s iPhones apologized Thursday for what it said was a technical error that led to protests by employees over payment of wages offered to attract them to a factory that is under anti-virus restrictions.

Protests erupted Tuesday in the central city of Zhengzhou after employees complained Foxconn Technology Group required they do extra work to receive the higher pay promised by recruiters. Foxconn is trying to rebuild its workforce after thousands of employees walked out last month over complaints about unsafe conditions.

Videos on social media showed police in white protective suits kicking and clubbing protesting workers.

Foxconn, the biggest contract assembler of smartphones and other electronics for Apple and other global brands, blamed the dispute on a “technical error” in the process of adding new employees. It promised they would receive the wages they were promised.

“We apologize for an input error in the computer system and guarantee that the actual pay is the same as agreed and the official recruitment posters,” said a company statement. It promised to “try its best to actively solve the concerns and reasonable demands of employees.”

The dispute comes as the ruling Communist Party tries to contain a surge in coronavirus cases without shutting down factories, as it did in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Its tactics include “closed-loop management,” or having employees live at their workplaces without outside contact.

Authorities promised last month to reduce economic disruptions by cutting quarantine times and making other changes to China’s “zero-COVID” strategy, which aims to isolate every case. Despite that, the infection surge has prompted authorities to suspend access to neighborhoods and factories and to close office buildings, shops and restaurants in parts of many cities.

On Thursday, people in eight districts of Zhengzhou with a total of 6.6 million residents were told to stay home for five days. Daily mass testing was ordered in what the city government called a “war of annihilation” against the virus.

Apple earlier warned iPhone 14 deliveries would be delayed after employees walked out of the Zhengzhou factory and access to the industrial zone around the facility was suspended following outbreaks.

To attract new workers, Foxconn offered 25,000 yuan ($3,500) for two months of work, according to employees, or almost 50% more than news reports say its highest wages usually are.

Employees complained that after they arrived, they were told they had to work an additional two months at lower pay to received the higher wage, according to an employee, Li Sanshan.

Foxconn offered up to 10,000 yuan ($1,400) to new hires who choose to leave, the finance news outlet Cailianshe reported, citing unidentified recruiting agents.

Foxconn’s statement Thursday said employees who leave will receive unspecified “care subsidies” but gave no details. It promised “comprehensive support” for those who stay.

The protests in Zhengzhou come amid public frustration over restrictions that have confined millions of people to their homes. Videos on social media show residents in some areas tearing down barricades set up to enforce neighborhood closures.

Foxconn, headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan, earlier denied what it said were comments online that employees with the virus lived in factory dormitories.

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November 24, 2022
Thanksgiving travel rush is back with some new habits

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The Thanksgiving travel rush was back on this year, as people caught planes in numbers not seen in years, setting aside inflation concerns to reunite with loved ones and enjoy some normalcy after two holiday seasons marked by COVID-19 restrictions.

Changing habits around work and play, however, might spread out the crowds and reduce the usual amount of holiday travel stress. Experts say many people will start holiday trips early or return home later than normal because they will spend a few days working remotely — or at least tell the boss they’re working remotely.

The busiest travel days during Thanksgiving week are usually Tuesday, Wednesday and the Sunday after the holiday. This year, the Federal Aviation Administration expects Tuesday to be the busiest travel day with roughly 48,000 scheduled flights.

Chris Williams, of Raleigh, North Carolina, flew Tuesday morning with his wife and two kids to Atlanta, Georgia, to spend the holiday with extended family.

“Of course it’s a stressful and expensive time to fly,” said Williams, 44, who works in finance. “But after a couple years of not getting to spend Thanksgiving with our extended family, I’d say we’re feeling thankful that the world’s gotten to a safe enough place where we can be with loved ones again.”

Although Williams said the family’s budget has been tight this year, he’s capitalized on the opportunity to teach his kids some personal finance basics. His youngest, 11, has been learning how to budget her allowance money since March and is excited to buy small gifts for her friends on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. “Probably slime,” she said, “with glitter.”

The Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 2.3 million travelers on Tuesday, down from more than 2.4 million screened the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 2019. On Monday, the numbers were up versus 2019 — more than 2.6 million travelers compared with 2.5 million. That same trend occurred Sunday, marking the first year that the number of people catching planes on Thanksgiving week surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

“People are traveling on different days. Not everyone is traveling on that Wednesday night,” says Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president at the trade group Airlines for America. “People are spreading their travel out throughout the week, which I also think will help ensure smoother operations.”

AAA predicts that 54.6 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home in the U.S. this week, a 1.5% bump over Thanksgiving last year and only 2% less than in 2019. The auto club and insurance seller says nearly 49 million of those will travel by car, and 4.5 million will fly between Wednesday and Sunday.

U.S. airlines struggled to keep up as the number of passengers surged this year.

“We did have a challenging summer,” said Pinkerton, whose group speaks for members including American, United and Delta. She said that airlines have pared their schedules and hired thousands of workers — they now have more pilots than before the pandemic. “As a result, we’re confident that the week is going to go well.”

U.S. airlines plan to operate 13% fewer flights this week than during Thanksgiving week in 2019. However, by using larger planes on average, the number of seats will drop only 2%, according to data from travel-researcher Cirium.

Airlines continue to blame flight disruptions on shortages of air traffic controllers, especially in Florida, a major holiday destination.

Controllers, who work for the Federal Aviation Administration, “get tested around the holidays. That seems to be when we have challenges,” Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle said a few days ago. “The FAA is adding another 10% to headcount, hopefully that’s enough.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has disputed such claims, saying that the vast majority of delays and cancellations are caused by the airlines themselves.

TSA expects airports to be busier than last year and probably about on par with 2019. The busiest day in TSA’s history came on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2019, when nearly 2.9 million people were screened at airport checkpoints.

Stephanie Escutia, traveling with four children, her husband and her mother, said it took the family four hours to get through checking and security at the Orlando airport early Tuesday. The family was returning to Kansas City in time for Thanksgiving after a birthday trip to Disney World.

“We were surprised at how full the park was,” said Escutia, 32. “We thought it might be down some but it was packed.”

She welcomed the sense of normalcy, and said her family would be gathering for Thanksgiving without worrying about keeping their distance this year. “Now we are back to normal and looking forward to a nice holiday,” she said.

People getting behind the wheel or boarding a plane don’t seem fazed by higher gasoline and airfare prices than last year or the widespread concern about inflation and the economy. That is already leading to predictions of strong travel over Christmas and New Year’s.

“This pent-up demand for travel is still a real thing. It doesn’t feel like it’s going away,” says Tom Hall, a vice president and longtime writer for Lonely Planet, the publisher of travel guides. “That’s keeping planes full, that’s keeping prices high.”

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Associated Press writers Hannah Schoenbaum in Raleigh, North Carolina, Margaret Stafford in Kansas City and AP video journalist Terence Chea in Oakland, California contributed to this report.

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David Koenig can be reached at twitter.com/airlinewriter

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November 23, 2022
Arizona company adds $1B solar power parts plant in Alabama

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Arizona-based First Solar Inc. has selected Alabama as the site of a more than $1 billion factory that will manufacture modules that generate solar power, the company announced Wednesday.

First Solar said in a statement that the plant, to be located in Lawrence County in the Tennessee Valley region, will create more than 700 jobs.

The factory is part of a previously announced plan to increase First Solar’s U.S. manufacturing capacity to more than 10 gigawatts by 2025, the company said. It already has three factories in Ohio, one of which is expected to begin production next year.

First Solar describes itself as the only major solar manufacturer that has headquarters in the United States and is not making components in China. The project will bring the company’s total investment in U.S. manufacturing to more than $4 billion, it said.

A bill signed by President Joe Biden in August will direct spending, tax credits and loans to bolster technology like solar panels; consumer efforts to improve home energy efficiency; emissions-reducing equipment for coal- and gas-powered power plants; and air pollution controls for farms, ports and low-income communities.

First Solar CEO Mark Widmar said that legislation “has firmly placed America on the path to a sustainable energy future” and the new plants will help with the transition toward cleaner energy, which supporters say will help stem climate change.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the plant will be in Lawrence County.

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November 16, 2022
Flying home for the holidays will cost you more this year

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People still looking to book trips home to visit family or take a vacation during the holidays need to act fast and prepare for sticker shock.

Airline executives say that based on bookings, they expect huge demand for flights over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Travel experts say the best deals for airfares and hotels are already gone.

On social media, plenty of travelers think they are being gouged. It’s an understandable sentiment when government data shows that airfares in October were up 43% from a year earlier, and U.S. airlines reported a combined profit of more than $2.4 billion in the third quarter.

Part of the reason for high fares is that airlines are still operating fewer flights than in 2019 even though passenger numbers are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

“Fewer flights and more people looking to head home or take vacation for the holidays means two things: Prices will be higher, and we will see flights sell out for both holidays,” says Holly Berg, chief economist for travel-data provider Hopper.

Yulia Parr knows exactly what Berg is talking about. The Annandale, Virginia, woman struggled to find a reasonably priced flight home for her young son, who is spending Thanksgiving with his grandmother in Texas while Parr visits her husband, who is on active military duty in California. She finally found a $250 one-way ticket on Southwest, but it’s not until the Tuesday after the holiday.

Parr figures she waited too long to book a flight.

“My husband’s kids are flying home for Christmas,” she said. “Those tickets were bought long ago, so they’re not too bad.”

Prices for air travel and lodging usually rise heading into the holidays, and it happened earlier this year. That is leading some travelers in Europe to book shorter trips, according to Axel Hefer, CEO of Germany-based hotel-search company Trivago.

“Hotel prices are up absolutely everywhere,” he said. “If you have the same budget or even a lower budget through inflation, and you still want to travel, you just cut out a day.”

Hotels are struggling with labor shortages, another cause of higher prices. Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, which owns travel-search sites including Priceline and Kayak, says one hotelier told him he can’t fill all his rooms because he doesn’t have enough staff.

Rates for car rentals aren’t as crazy as they were during much of 2021, when some popular locations ran out of vehicles. Still, the availability of vehicles is tight because the cost of new cars has prevented rental companies from fully rebuilding fleets that they culled early in the pandemic.

U.S. consumers are facing the highest inflation in 40 years, and there is growing concern about a potential recession. That isn’t showing up in travel numbers, however.

The number of travelers going through airport checkpoints has recovered to nearly 95% of 2019 traffic, according to Transportation Security Administration figures for October. Travel industry officials say holiday travel might top pre-pandemic levels.

Airlines haven’t always done a good job handling the big crowds, even though they have been hiring workers to replace those who left after COVID-19 hit. The rates of canceled and delayed flights rose above pre-pandemic levels this summer, causing airlines to slow down plans to add more flights.

U.S. airlines operated only 84% as many U.S. flights as they did in October 2019, and plan about the same percentage in December, according to travel-data firm Cirium. On average, airlines are using bigger planes with more seats this year, which partly offsets the reduction in flights.

“We are definitely seeing a lot of strength for the holidays,” Andrew Nocella, United Airlines’ chief commercial officer, said on the company’s earnings call in October. “We’re approaching the Thanksgiving timeframe, and our bookings are incredibly strong.”

Airline executives and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg blamed each other for widespread flight problems over the summer. Airline CEOs say that after hiring more pilots and other workers, they are prepared for the holiday mob.

Travel experts offer tips for saving money and avoiding getting stranded by a canceled flight, although the advice hasn’t changed much from previous years.

Be flexible about dates and even destinations, although that’s not possible when visiting grandma’s house. In a recent search, the cheapest flights from Los Angeles to New York around Christmas were on Christmas Eve and returning New Year’s Eve.

Look into discount airlines and alternate airports, but know that smaller airlines have fewer options for rebooking passengers after a flight is canceled.

Fly early in the day to lower your risk of a delay or cancellation. “If something goes wrong, it tends to progress throughout the day — it gets to be a domino effect,” says Chuck Thackston, general manager of Airlines Reporting Corp., an intermediary between airlines and travel agents.

There are plenty of theories on the best day of the week to book travel. Thackston says it’s Sunday because airlines know that’s when many price-conscious consumers are shopping, and carriers tailor offerings for them.

For the most part, airlines have dodged the accusations of price-gouging that have swirled around oil companies — which drew another rebuke this week from President Joe Biden — and other industries.

Accountable US, an advocacy group critical of corporations, linked airline delays and cancellations this summer to job cuts during the pandemic and poor treatment of workers. “But generally, we would say the airline industry is not currently at the same level as big food, oil or retail in terms of gross profiteering,” says Jeremy Funk, a spokesman for the group.

Brett Snyder, who runs a travel agency and writes the “Cranky Flier” blog about air travel, says prices are high simply because flights are down from 2019 while demand is booming.

“How is it gouging?” Snyder asks. “They don’t want to go (take off) with empty seats, but they also don’t want to sell everything for a dollar. It’s basic economics.”

Travelers are sacrificing to hold down the cost of their trips.

Sheena Hale and her daughter, Krysta Pyle, woke up at 3 a.m. and left their northwestern Indiana home an hour later to make a 6:25 a.m. flight in Chicago last week.

“We are exhausted,” Hale said after the plane landed in Dallas, where Krysta was taking part in a cheer competition. “We started early because the early flights were much cheaper. Flights are way too expensive.”

They’re not going anywhere for Christmas.

“We don’t have to travel. We’re staying home with family,” Hale said.

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David Koenig can be reached at www.twitter.com/airlinewriter

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November 13, 2022
Norwegian battery firm plans $2.6 billion plant in Georgia

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ATLANTA — A Norwegian company will build a giant electric battery factory just southwest of Atlanta, company and state officials announced Friday, investing up to $2.6 billion over multiple phases.

Freyr Battery said it would build an initial plant that would produce batteries that could hold 34 gigawatt hours of electricity each year. Among battery plants currently operating, that would be the second-largest worldwide, behind a factory owned by Panasonic and Tesla in Nevada.

Freyr CEO Tom Jensen told attendees at the announcement in the Atlanta suburb of Newnan that the company’s vision of using renewable energy to make batteries could play an important role in reducing carbon emissions from electricity generation and transportation. The company’s initial plan is targeted toward storing electricity produced by renewable sources and releasing it later, but Jensen said sales to vehicle makers could also be included.

Jensen said battery production is a “massive growth opportunity,” predicting 70% of decarbonization efforts will somehow include batteries.

“We want to build something that matters, something that we can be proud of something that will matter for our children,” Jensen said. “Because at the end of the day, the world needs to rapidly decarbonize the society.”

The company said it plans an initial investment of $1.7 billion, and would hire 720 people at a site it has purchased in an industrial park near Newnan, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of Atlanta. Phases through 2029 involving $700 million of additional investment could include more production lines, material processing and other activities.

Employees are projected to make an average of $60,284 a year, said Molly Giddens of the Coweta County Development Authority.

Freyr, named for the Norse god of peace and fertility, rain, and sunshine, is also building a large factory in northern Norway and is planning a battery cell production facility in Vaasa, Finland.

The company aims to make batteries, an electricity-intensive process, using renewable energy. In Georgia, that could mean buying electricity from a dedicated solar facility with battery storage run by a third party, the company said.

Freyr said it looked at 130 sites in 25 states before selecting Georgia, citing the availability of engineers trained by Georgia Tech and other schools, job training, and proximity to Atlanta’s big airport, Savannah’s port, railroads and highways.

The company said it sees opportunities in the United States in part because of incentives for renewable energy passed by Congress earlier this year. Freyr said it intends to seek federal grants or loans.

In addition, the company said it is getting “strong” financial incentives from state and local officials in Georgia. The state plans to pay for worker training, and Freyr will eligible for up to $4.5 million in state income tax credits over five years, as long as workers make at least $31,300 a year. Coweta County will give property tax breaks for 20 years, Giddens said, not disclosing a projected value. She said the company would also get a “quality jobs creation grant.”

It’s the second huge battery factory announced in Georgia. Korean firm SK Innovation has built a $2.6 billion plant in Commerce, northeast of Atlanta, with plans to hire 2,600 workers eventually.

The state has targeted the electric vehicle industry. Hyundai Motor Group has announced plans to invest $5.5 billion in a plant near Savannah and hire 8,100 workers, also planning to make batteries there. Electric truck maker Rivian has plans to build a plant east of Atlanta, investing $5 billion and employing 7,500 workers.

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Follow Jeff Amy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.

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November 11, 2022
Disney plans targeted hiring freeze and job cuts, according to a memo from CEO Bob Chapek

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Disney plans to institute a targeted hiring freeze as well as some job cuts, according to an internal memo sent to executives.

“We are limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze,” CEO Bob Chapek said in a memo to division leads sent Friday and obtained by CNBC. “Hiring for the small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions will continue, but all other roles are on hold. Your segment leaders and HR teams have more specific details on how this will apply to your teams.”

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He added: “As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review.” Disney has approximately 190,000 employees.

Chapek also told executives business travel should be limited to essential trips only. Meetings should be conducted virtually as much as possible, he wrote in the memo.

Disney is also establishing “a cost structure taskforce” to be made up of Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy, General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez and Chapek.

“I am fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams,” Chapek wrote. “We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions. But that is just what leadership requires, and I thank you in advance for stepping up during this important time.”

The moves come after Disney reported disappointing quarterly results. Shares of the company fell sharply Wednesday, hitting a new 52-week low, before rebounding later in the week.

McCarthy said during Disney’s earnings call Tuesday that the company was looking for ways to trim costs.

“We are actively evaluating our cost base currently, and we’re looking for meaningful efficiencies,” she said. “Some of those are going to provide some near-term savings, and others are going to drive longer-term structural benefits.”

Disney’s streaming services lost $1.47 billion last quarter, more than double the unit’s loss from a year prior. McCarthy said losses will improve in 2023, and Chapek has promised streaming will become profitable by the end of 2024.

Other large media and entertainment companies, including Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix, have cut jobs this year as valuations have slumped. Disney hasn’t announced any plans to eliminate jobs.

The full memo can be read here:

Disney Leaders-

As we begin fiscal 2023, I want to communicate with you directly about the cost management efforts Christine McCarthy and I referenced on this week’s earnings call. These efforts will help us to both achieve the important goal of reaching profitability for Disney+ in fiscal 2024 and make us a more efficient and nimble company overall. This work is occurring against a backdrop of economic uncertainty that all companies and our industry are contending with.

While certain macroeconomic factors are out of our control, meeting these goals requires all of us to continue doing our part to manage the things we can control—most notably, our costs. You all will have critical roles to play in this effort, and as senior leaders, I know you will get it done.

To be clear, I am confident in our ability to reach the targets we have set, and in this management team to get us there.

To help guide us on this journey, I have established a cost structure taskforce of executive officers: our CFO, Christine McCarthy and General Counsel, Horacio Gutierrez. Along with me, this team will make the critical big picture decisions necessary to achieve our objectives.

We are not starting this work from scratch and have already set several next steps—which I wanted you to hear about directly from me.

First, we have undertaken a rigorous review of the company’s content and marketing spending working with our content leaders and their teams. While we will not sacrifice quality or the strength of our unrivaled synergy machine, we must ensure our investments are both efficient and come with tangible benefits to both audiences and the company.

Second, we are limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze. Hiring for the small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions will continue, but all other roles are on hold. Your segment leaders and HR teams have more specific details on how this will apply to your teams.

Third, we are reviewing our SG&A costs and have determined that there is room for improved efficiency—as well as an opportunity to transform the organization to be more nimble. The taskforce will drive this work in partnership with segment teams to achieve both savings and organizational enhancements. As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review. In the immediate term, business travel should now be limited to essential trips only. In-person work sessions or offsites requiring travel will need advance approval and review from a member of your executive team (i.e., direct report of the segment chairman or corporate executive officer). As much as possible, these meetings should be conducted virtually. Attendance at conferences and other external events will also be restricted and require approvals from a member of your executive team.

Our transformation is designed to ensure we thrive not just today, but well into the future—and you will hear more from our taskforce in the weeks and months ahead.

I am fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams. We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions. But that is just what leadership requires, and I thank you in advance for stepping up during this important time. Our company has weathered many challenges during our 100-year history, and I have no doubt we will achieve our goals and create a more nimble company better suited to the environment of tomorrow.

Thank you again for your leadership.

-Bob

WATCH: Disney had to get into streaming, but Meta just did too much hiring

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November 11, 2022
Supplier to hire 630 near Hyundai’s EV plant in Georgia

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STATESBORO, Ga. — An auto parts manufacturer plans to hire 630 workers at a new factory in southeast Georgia to supply Hyundai Motor Group’s first U.S. electric vehicle plant that’s under construction nearby, state officials said Monday.

Joon Georgia will invest $317 million to produce parts in Bulloch County, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said in a news release. The supplier will open shop roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of the southeast Georgia site where Hyundai executives broke ground on the new EV plant two weeks ago.

The company is “the first of many” expected to come to Georgia to supply the $5.5 billion Hyundai plant in Bryan County, Kemp said in a statement. The automaker plans to open its Georgia plant in 2025, producing up to 300,000 electric vehicles per year.

Joon Georgia is a subsidiary of Ajin USA, which supplies parts to other Hyundai plants. It already operates a facility in Cusseta, Alabama, near the Georgia line that makes parts for Hyundai’s plant in Montgomery, Alabama, as well as for Kia’s auto plant in West Point, Georgia.

The Joon Georgia factory near the Hyundai EV plant is expected to open near Statesboro in mid-2024, Kemp’s office said.

“Joon Georgia’s announcement today is a landmark moment as we drive Georgia’s automotive industry into the future,” said Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, in a statement.

State and local officials in Georgia lured Hyundai with tax breaks and incentives worth $1.8 billion, making it the state’s largest economic development deal.

Wilson and other Georgia officials have insisted it’s a worthwhile investment. In addition to Hyundai hiring 8,100 workers, suppliers are expected to create thousands of additional jobs in the state.

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November 7, 2022
Alvarez blasts Baker, Astros to World Series title vs Phils

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HOUSTON — Yordan Alvarez hit a moon shot that sent Space City into a frenzy, and the Houston Astros to their second World Series title.

While the stain on Houston’s first championship might never completely fade, Alvarez’s majestic three-run homer helped fashion a fresh crown for the Astros — and the first for Dusty Baker as manager — in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 on Saturday night.

“What happened before, it doesn’t ever pass over completely,” said Baker, the veteran manager hired by the Astros in the wake of their sign-stealing scandal. “But we have turned the page and hopefully we’ll continue this run.”

Alvarez blasted a ball over the 40-foot batter’s eye in center field during the sixth inning immediately after Phillies starter Zack Wheeler was pulled with a 1-0 lead.

As Alvarez’s 450-foot shot sailed, Astros starter Framber Valdez jumped and wildly screamed in the dugout while the crowd of 42,958 went crazy waving orange rally towels.

“When I was rounding second base, I felt the whole stadium moving,” Alvarez said through a translator.

The 73-year-old Baker finally got his first title in his 25th season as a manager. He’s spent the past three with the Astros after they hired him to help the team regain credibility after their trash can banging scheme cost manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow their jobs, and made Houston the most reviled team in baseball.

“I wasn’t here in 2017, but it’s definitely a weight off of everybody’s shoulders. Ain’t nobody can say (anything) now,” said closer Ryan Pressly, who finished the Series with another scoreless inning.

Baker, who won a World Series as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers and had been to the Fall Classic twice before as a skipper, is the oldest championship manager in any of the four major North American sports. The win came 20 years after a near-miss, when he came within five outs of taking the title while guiding the San Francisco Giants.

“What’s next? I said if I win one, I want to win two,” Baker said afterward.

Houston’s coaching and training staffs circled around Baker after Nick Castellanos flied out to end it, jumping up and down, and chanting “Dusty! Dusty! Dusty!” in the dugout before they joined the players on the field.

Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña was the World Series MVP after getting another key hit, a single to set up Alvarez’s homer.

The 25-year-old star born in the Dominican Republic also won a Gold Glove award and AL Championship Series MVP — Peña is the first hitter to win those three awards in a career, and he did it all in his first season, per OptaSTATS.

Jerseys worn by Peña and Baker during the Series were headed to the Hall of Fame.

A year after watching the Atlanta Braves clinch the World Series title at Minute Maid Park, Justin Verlander and the Astros went 11-2 in the postseason and became the first team to seal the championship at home since the 2013 Boston Red Sox.

Alvarez homered for the first time since going deep in the first two games this postseason. Christian Vázquez added an RBI single later in the inning to make it 4-1.

Valdez earned his second win of this Series. He had been in the dugout only a few minutes after throwing his 93rd and final pitch while striking out nine over six innings.

But the lefty had walked off the mound with the wild-card Phillies up 1-0 on Kyle Schwarber’s homer leading off the sixth.

Schwarber, who hit his third homer in the past four games, rounded the bases waving his raised empty hand in the same motion as the fans with their towels.

But by the time Schwarber batted in the eighth, the NL’s home run leader was reduced to bunting, trying for a hit to stir a dormant Phillies offense. His bunt went foul with two strikes, resulting in a strikeout.

In the sixth, Houston got two runners on base against Wheeler for the first time in the game, when Martín Maldonado was hit by a pitch, Jose Altuve grounded into a forceout and Peña singled.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson went to left-handed reliever José Alvarado to face the lefty slugger for the fourth time in the series — Alvarez had popped out twice and been hit by a pitch the first three times.

“I thought Wheels still had really good stuff. It wasn’t about that. It was just I thought the matchup was better with Alvarado on Alvarez at that time,” Thomson said.

And Alvarado had allowed only three homers to lefty hitters in his six big league seasons, until his 2-1 pitch, when Alvarez crushed the 99 mph sinker.

“It’s kind of a dirty inning and I thought, I mean, going into the series it was always kind of Alvarado on Alvarez,” Thomson said. “It was the sixth inning and I felt like the normal back end of the bullpen guys could get through it.”

Alvarez hadn’t homered since Game 2 of the AL Division Series against Seattle, when his two-run shot in the sixth inning put them up to stay. That came after his game-ending, three-run shot in Game 1 for an 8-7 win.

Houston won an American League-best 106 games and reached its fourth World Series during a span in which it made it to the AL Championship Series six seasons in a row. The Astros made their only other World Series appearance in 2005, while still in the National League, and were swept in four games by the Chicago White Sox.

This was their third ALCS and second consecutive World Series since former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers revealed after the 2019 season, when he had gone from Houston for two years since being part of their 2017 championship, that the team had used a camera in center field to steal signs and signal hitters on which pitches to expect by banging on a garbage can.

“That will probably never go away but I think this just proves how good this team is and how good it’s been for a long time,” Astros owner Jim Crane said on the field afterward.

Philadelphia was 22-29 when Joe Girardi was fired in early June and replaced by bench coach Thomson, the 59-year-old baseball lifer getting his first chance a big league manager — he was on the Yankees big league staff for 10 seasons with Girardi, and was part of their last World Series and title in 2009.

The Phillies finished the regular season 65-46 under Thomson, their 87 wins good for the sixth and final spot in the NL playoffs, on the way to their first World Series since 2009.

UP NEXT

Phillies: In less than five months, the Phillies will be back in Texas to begin their 2023 regular season, about 250 miles away for the opener of an interleague series March 30 against the Texas Rangers.

Astros: Whether or not Baker and/or general manager James Click are back — neither is signed past this season — the World Series champs will play their 2023 season opener at home March 30 against the Chicago White Sox.

———

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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November 6, 2022
USDA says more than $200M will help meat processors expand

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OMAHA, Neb. — The Agriculture Department announced more than $223 million in grants and loans Wednesday to help small and mid-sized meat processing plants expand to help boost competition in the highly concentrated industry.

The effort is expected to increase cattle and pig slaughter capacity by more than 500,000 head a year and help poultry plants process nearly 34 million more birds while adding more than 1,100 jobs mostly in rural areas where the plants are located.

The Biden administration wants to add meat processing capacity to give farmers and ranchers more options of where to sell the animals they raise while hopefully reducing prices for consumers by increasing competition because the biggest companies now have so much power over pricing. In beef, the top four companies control 85% of the market while the top four firms control 70% of the pork market. The four biggest poultry processors control 54% of that business.

“We’re looking forward to these projects taking hold and creating new opportunity and new choice for producers and consumers,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

The USDA’s announcement Wednesday, combined with a trip to Omaha, Nebraska, where Vilsack plans to tour a beef processing plant, comes as President Joe Biden is highlighting his achievements to voters before the Nov. 8 midterm elections. Several of the administration’s recent announcements have targeted rural areas in states that generally support more Republicans than Democrats.

Vilsack said the Greater Omaha Packing company will use its grant to expand beef processing capacity by 700 head per day and add 275 more jobs. The Omaha company is one of the biggest of the 21 grant recipients nationwide that will share $73 million.

Some of the other grants will go to helping Pure Prairie reopen an idle poultry processing plant that will employ hundreds of people in Charles City, Iowa. And the Cutting Edge Meat Company in Leakesville, Mississippi, expects to be able to reduce its current six-month backlog for beef and pork processing by expanding its capacity.

The other $150 million of funding announced Wednesday will go to 12 loan programs that will help independent meat processors continue operating as they work to expand. And applications for additional grants and loans are being accepted now for another round of spending next year.

The big meat processors maintain that supply and demand factors — not industry concentration — drive prices for beef, pork and poultry products. And they say processing capacity has been restrained by the ongoing shortage of people to work at these plants, which are typically in rural areas with small populations.

The worker shortages were highlighted during the pandemic when a number of major meat processing plants had to shut down as the virus tore through them because so many workers became ill or had to quarantine. That contributed to shortages of meat in grocery stores that drove up prices.

The price paid for the animals that are slaughtered has long been a point of contention because even as meat prices soar with inflation and tight capacity in the industry, farmers and ranchers receive a relatively small share of the profits. Federal data show that for every dollar spent on food, the share that went to ranchers and farmers dropped from 35 cents in the 1970s to 14 cents recently.

Agricultural economists have said that smaller processing plants also might have a hard time competing with the major meat companies because they are far less efficient than the big plants run by companies like Tyson, Smithfield Foods, Cargill, JBS, Hormel and Purdue Farms.

In addition to these loans and grants, the White House has also adjusted administrative rules to make it easier for farmers and ranchers to report concerns or sue over anticompetitive behavior. Officials are also planning new rules to label meat as a U.S. product to differentiate it from meat raised in other countries.

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November 2, 2022
Poland chooses US to build its first nuclear power plant

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WARSAW, Poland — Poland has chosen the U.S. government and Westinghouse to build the central European country’s first nuclear power plant, part of an effort to burn less coal and gain greater energy independence.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said late Friday on Twitter that Poland would use the “reliable, safe technology” of the Westinghouse Electric Company for the plant in Pomerania province near the Baltic Sea coast. The exact location remains to be identified.

A strong Poland-U.S. alliance “guarantees the success of our joint initiatives,” Morawiecki said.

Poland is planning to spend $40 billion to build two nuclear power plants with three reactors each, the last one to be launched in 2043. The deal with the U.S. and Westinghouse is for the first three reactors of the Pomerania plant, which officials saying should start producing electricity in 2033.

Poland has planned for decades to build a nuclear power plant to replace its aging coal-fired plants in a country with some of the worst air pollution in Europe. Construction of a Soviet-technology nuclear plant began in the early 1980s, when Poland was in the East Bloc.

Protests by residents and environmentalists, the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine and budget shortages led to the scrapping of the project.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this year and its use of energy to put economic and political pressure on European nations have added urgency to Poland’s search for alternative energy sources.

Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller said Saturday that the government would adopt a decision at its meeting Wednesday, which will launch environmental approval and investment procedures.

Mueller said the nuclear plant in northern Poland would require improving infrastructure in the area, including roads.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the project would create or sustain more than 100,000 jobs for American workers.

“This is a HUGE step in strengthening our relationship with Poland to create energy security for future generations to come,” Granholm said.

“This announcement also sends a clear message to Russia: We will not let them weaponize energy any longer,” Granholm said. “The West will stand together against this unprovoked aggression, while also diversifying energy supply chains and bolstering climate cooperation.”

Poland had also considered offers from France and South Korea. Poland State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin suggested there could still be a role for South Korea in the project and more talks are scheduled in Seoul next week.

Westinghouse has sued in federal court to block a potential deal for competitor Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power to sell reactors to Poland.

The United States is one of the most important allies of NATO-member Poland. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the U.S. increased its military presence in the country, creating a permanent presence for the first time, and using Poland as a hub for sending weapons to Ukraine.

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October 29, 2022
Poland chooses US to build its first nuclear power plant

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WARSAW, Poland — Poland says it has chosen the U.S. government and Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power plant, announcing an important step in its efforts to burn less coal and gain greater energy independence.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said late Friday that Poland’s nuclear energy project will use the “reliable, safe technology” of Westinghouse Electric Company, saying a strong Poland-U.S. alliance “guarantees the success of our joint initiatives.”

Poland has been planning for many years to build a nuclear power plant to gain greater energy independence and replace aging coal plants in a country with some of the worst levels of air pollution in Europe.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and its use of energy as a tool amid a larger standoff with the West, has added greater importance to Poland’s search for energy alternatives.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the $40 billion project would create or sustain more than 100,000 jobs for American workers.

“This is a HUGE step in strengthening our relationship with Poland to create energy security for future generations to come. We are excited to continue this partnership to drive forward a clean energy transition with our counterparts in Europe,” Granholm tweeted.

“This announcement also sends a clear message to Russia: We will not let them weaponize energy any longer,” Granholm said. “The West will stand together against this unprovoked aggression, while also diversifying energy supply chains and bolstering climate cooperation.”

The deal is for the first three reactors of a nuclear power plant that is to be built in northern Poland, with officials saying it should start producing electricity in 2033. Poland had also considered offers from France and South Korea.

The United States is one of the most important allies of NATO-member Poland. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February it increased its military presence in the country, creating a permanent presence for the first time, and using Poland as a hub for sending weapons to Ukraine.

State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin suggested there could still be a role for South Korea in the project, saying that “this is not our last word” and that more talks are being held in Seoul next week concerning the large nuclear energy project.

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October 28, 2022
Patagonia condor repopulation slows with possible wind farm

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SIERRA PAILEMAN, Argentina — It was a sunny morning when about 200 people trudged up a hill in Argentina’s southern Patagonia region with a singular mission: free two Andean condors that had been born in captivity.

The emotion in the air was palpable as conservationists got ready for a moment that so many had been working toward for months. But the joyous moment was also bittersweet.

Preliminary plans for a massive wind farm that could be located in the Somuncura Plateau to feed a green hydrogen project is putting at risk a three-decade-long effort to repopulate Patagonia’s Atlantic coast with a bird that is classified as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

While members of the Mapuche, the largest Indigenous group in the area, played traditional instruments, and children threw condor feathers into the air that symbolized their good wishes for the newly liberated birds, an eerie silence engulfed the mountain in Sierra Paileman in Rio Negro province as researchers opened the cages where the two specimens of the world’s largest flying bird were kept.

Huasi (meaning home in Quechua) seemed born for this moment. As soon as the cage opened, he spread his wings and took off without a moment’s hesitation. Yastay (meaning god that is protector of birds) appeared cautious, uncertain of the wide open Patagonia skies after spending his first two years in captivity, and it took him around an hour before taking off.

People hugged while researchers sprang into action and started tracking the birds. In the back of their minds were latent worries about what the potential for new wind farms in the area could mean for the lives of these newly released birds.

Conservationists fear the birds inevitably would collide with the rotating blades of the turbines and be killed. In neighboring Chile, an environmental impact study for a planned wind farm with 65 windmills concluded that as many as four of the rare condors could collide with the massive structures yearly. Environmental authorities rejected the project last year.

“Why are we freeing two? We generally free more than two,” Vanesa Astore, executive director of the Andean Condor Conservation Program, said. “We’re at like a maintenance level now.”

Researchers had to release Huasi and Yastay now or risk that they would have to remain in captivity for the rest of their lives, which can range from 70 to 80 years, Astore explained, noting condors can only adapt to the outside world if they are released before their third birthday.

The current uncertainty regarding the future of the wind farm that would be built by Australian firm Fortescue Future Industries has not only put conservationists on alert but has prompted them to slow the pace of reproduction and release of the Andean condors even as the company insists it has no plans to set up shop in the Somuncura Plateau.

Condors are notoriously slow breeders that only reach sexual maturity at 9 years old and have an offspring every three years, but researchers have found ways to speed that up by removing eggs from pairs in captivity to incubate artificially. When the egg is removed, the pair will then produce another egg within a month, which they will raise while the first one is raised by humans with the help of latex puppets meant to simulate their parents and help them recognize members of their own species.

That strategy allow researchers to “increase reproductive capacity by six times,” said Luis Jacome, the head of the Andean Condor Conservation Program.

That effort is now on pause.

“We aren’t maximizing because I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Astore explained.

Since the conservation program started 30 years ago, 81 chicks have been born in captivity, 370 condors have been rehabilitated and 230 freed across South America, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia.

Sixty-six of those have been released along Patagonia’s Atlantic coast, where the bird was nowhere to be seen at the turn of the century even though Charles Darwin had written in the early 1800s about the presence of the large birds in the region.

The Andean condor has now made a comeback, and for many locals that has a spiritual resonance.

“The condor flies very high, so our elders used to say that the condor could take a message to those who are no longer here,” said Doris Canumil, 59, a Mapuche who took part in the ceremonies for the liberation of the condors.

While they celebrate the success of the program, conservationists worry it could all be erased.

“These birds that we’ve liberated, that once again joined the mountain range with the sea through their flight, that have matured and had their own offspring that live and fly here in this place, they will simply die in the blades of the windmills,” Jacome said. “So the condor would once again become extinct in the Atlantic coast.”

Conservationists found out about the proposed wind farm through the media and alarm bells immediately went off.

Last year, Fortescue unveiled a plan to invest $8.4 billion over a decade in a project to produce green hydrogen for export in what the government touted as the largest international investment in Argentina over the past two decades. In order to qualify as green, the hydrogen must be produced using renewable power, and that is where the windmill farm would come in, taking advantage of the strong, reliable winds of Patagonia.

The government of President Alberto Fernández celebrated the project, saying it would create 15,000 direct jobs and somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 indirect jobs.

Yet neither the company nor the provincial government of Rio Negro had carried out an environmental impact study before unveiling the project.

For now at least, Jacome said, the “only thing green are the dollars” attached to the project.

“We’re putting the cart before the horse,” Jacome said. “We need to have environmental impact studies that demonstrate what is going to be done, how many windmills, where they will be placed.”

Fortescue agrees and says it “is committed to evaluating the social, environmental, engineering, and economic considerations before committing to the development” of any project.

The Australian firm said in a statement that any pre-development study will include consultations with local organizations to “guarantee the protection of the local species such as the Andean Condor.”

Following questions about the project, Fortescue has decided to not measure winds at the Somuncura Plateau until the province finishes its environmental plan and will instead explore “other areas of interest within lands near Sierra Grande and the Province of Chubut,” the company said.

On Oct. 11, the Rio Negro provincial government said Fortescue launched a 12-month effort to analyze the environmental and social impacts of the project.

Provincial officials see the number of jobs attached to the project as key.

“On the one hand, we have to preserve and take care of our fauna,” Daniel Sanguinetti, Rio Negro’s planning and sustainable development secretary, said. But the government also must “promote the development of the 750,000 Rio Negro citizens who currently live (here) and generate sources of production and genuine work for all of them.”

Sanguinetti added it was important “not to get carried away by different situations that supposedly would happen at some time in the future when all of this would have been implemented, when the reality is that the project is in its initial phases.”

For those who have made repopulating the Patagonia coast with the condor their life’s work, the discussions over the future of the project are deeply personal.

“We feel a little bit like parents,” said Catalina Rostagno, who moved to the base camp in Rio Negro two and a half months ago for the process of liberating Huasi and Yastay. “The condor is a reflection of me.”

——-

Politi reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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October 18, 2022
Semafor news site makes debut, intent on reinventing news

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NEW YORK — The media organization Semafor launched on Tuesday with no less an ambition than reinventing the news story.

Semafor is the brainchild of Ben Smith — former media reporter for The New York Times and, before that, former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed — and Justin Smith, ex-CEO of Bloomberg Media. Since both men — who are not related — quit their previous jobs in January, Semafor has raised $25 million and hired more than 50 staff members.

Semafor’s website, with a distinctive yellow-tinged backdrop that looks like a newspaper left out in the sun, went live shortly after 6 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, with eight newsletters in place as well as an events business.

“We see, and are very excited about, a big opportunity to create a new and high-quality, independent global news brand that is obsessed with solving a number of big consumer frustrations that we see in the news business, primarily polarization,” said Justin Smith, the new company’s CEO.

The founders also believe people suffer from information overload. While another media organization may seem an odd way to deal with that issue, they envision Semafor helping consumers make sense of all that’s out there.

Stories contain separate sections that present the news, the author’s analysis, a counter to that viewpoint, perspective on how the issue is seen elsewhere in the world and a distillation of other stories on the topic.

“Really good reporters do analysis all the time,” said Gina Chua, executive editor, a post she formerly held at Reuters. “That’s great in a story but oftentimes readers don’t know where the facts stop and the analysis begins. What we’re doing is very clearly separating them out.”

It’s probably the highest-risk move Semafor is making, said Ben Smith, the organization’s editor-in-chief.

Among the stories Semafor offered at launch: a previously unreported accident at SpaceX that injured a rocket technician, by Reed Albergotti, formerly of the Washington Post; and an investor group’s campaign to force Coca-Cola into the garbage business, by Liz Hoffmann, formerly of the Wall Street Journal.

Ex-Washington Post writer David Weigel interviewed Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman and Ben Smith looked at his old shop, with a story about an identity crisis at The New York Times.

Ben Smith’s story was Semafor’s centerpiece on Tuesday morning, next to a welcome to readers that he also penned. A series of clocks on top of the site showed the time in various cities, including Washington, Dubai and Beijing. A map of the world sat in the upper right corner.

A breaking news column ran down the left side of the site and, on the right, readers were encouraged to sign up for various newsletters.

Ben Smith will author a newsletter on the media, and others will center on business, technology and climate. Semafor Flagship, the day’s main newsletter, will be written from London, while Semafor Principals will look at Washington’s power players.

The latter is currently considered the turf of Politico — another of Ben Smith’s former homes — and Axios, two of the century’s most successful media startups.

Events will also be a big part of Semafor’s business, and 11 have already been held. They include a series on trust in news, sponsored by the Knight Foundation, that featured Ben Smith’s interview with Tucker Carlson.

“It’s an extension of our journalism, it’s very very popular with clients and an important way to monetize news,” Justin Smith said.

Another event is planned for December, when many African leaders will be in Washington. Semafor is anticipating worldwide expansion, making Africa the first area overseas where it is investing in reporting.

At its start, the company is looking to make money through advertising and brand partnerships, said Rachel Oppenheim, chief revenue officer.

The news site, www.semafor.com, will be available for free initially. After a year, the company will look for ways to charge for its service, Justin Smith said.

“Ultimately, we believe we will have subscriptions over time,” he said.

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October 18, 2022
Amazon to hire 150,000 workers for holidays

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FILE – A truck arrives at the Amazon warehouse facility, in the Staten Island borough of New York, April 1, 2022. Amazon will hire 150,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees across its warehouses ahead of the holiday season. The announcement, made Thursday, Oct. 6, shows the e-commerce behemoth is taking a less conservative approach to its holiday planning than Walmart. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)

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October 6, 2022
Biden to mark IBM investment with Democrats in tough races

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is ready to celebrate a new $20 billion investment by IBM in New York’s Hudson River Valley with two House Democrats running in competitive races in next month’s critical midterm elections.

Biden is taking part in a Thursday afternoon announcement at the IBM facility in Poughkeepsie, New York. He is expected to hold out the company’s plans as part of what the White House says is a manufacturing “boom” spurred by this summer’s passage of a $ 280 billion legislative package intended to boost the U.S. semiconductor industry and scientific research.

Democrats facing tough midterms races have largely avoided appearing with Biden in the leadup to November’s elections. But Biden, whose approval ratings remain underwater, will be joined by two House incumbents in competitive New York races who are bucking the trend: Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney and Pat Ryan.

“When I heard @POTUS was looking to see the benefits of the CHIPS & Science Act first-hand, I told him that the Hudson Valley was the perfect place,” Maloney wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “I’m thrilled to host him in Poughkeepsie this week to celebrate the major wins and good-paying jobs we are delivering here in NY.”

The CHIPS and Science Act, which Biden signed into law in August, was a rare piece of legislation for which the president was able to win bipartisan support.

IBM’s $20 billion investment over the next decade is intended to bolster research and development and manufacturing of semiconductors, mainframe technology, artificial intelligence and quantum computing in New York’s Hudson River Valley, according to the White House.

The IBM investment comes on the heels of chipmaker Micron announcing earlier this week an investment of up to $100 billion over the next 20-plus years to build a plant in upstate New York that could create 9,000 factory jobs.

Maloney, chairman of the powerful Democratic congressional campaign fundraising arm, is running against Republican state Assemblyman Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th District. Ryan is up against state Assemblyman Colin Schmitt in the 18th District.

The boundaries of most New York districts, including Maloney’s and Ryan’s, have been affected by redistricting.

Ryan in August won a close special election to serve out the term of Democrat Antonio Delgado, who vacated his 19th District seat after he was appointed lieutenant governor by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Ryan is running to serve a full term in the 18th District, where he lives.

Maloney, who had served New York’s 18th District since 2013, decided to run in the 17th District. His Hudson Valley home fell inside the new boundaries after redistricting.

Hochul, who took office last year after Democrat Andrew Cuomo resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, is also scheduled to attend. She’s looking to win a full term in next month’s election against Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin.

Later Thursday, Biden will head to central New Jersey for a fundraiser at the home of Gov. Phil Murphy in support of the Democratic National Committee. In the evening, he heads to Manhattan for a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser hosted by James Murdoch, the son of conservative News Corp. publisher Rupert Murdoch.

Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, a climate change activist, were major donors to Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. In 2020, Murdoch resigned from the board of News Corp. amid differences over editorial content at his father’s company, which operates The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. The elder Murdoch is also chairman of Fox Corp., which includes Fox News Channel.

While Biden has been kept at arms length by many Democratic candidates, he’s been a prodigious fundraiser for his party this election cycle, raising more than $19.6 million for the Democratic National Committee.

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Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price in New York City and Michael Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

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October 6, 2022