One of the pandemic's longer-term impacts on how we work could be the end of the five-day, 9-to-5 workweek.
What's happening: For many companies, these past few months have been a period of rapid experimentation — and some are finding that shorter workdays and four-day weeks can work quite well.
We're starting to see glimpses of what going back to work in offices after months at home will look like.
The big picture: It'll be a long process to return to the reality that America's workers knew before the pandemic. Some of the work-related changes triggered by the coronavirus will last a few weeks, and others will be permanent.
San Francisco's district attorney has filed a lawsuit against food delivery company DoorDash, accusing the company of misclassifying its drivers as contractors instead of employees.
Why it matters: This is the latest attempt by elected officials to force gig economy companies to relabel their workers. In May, California's attorney general, along with DA's from three cities sued Lyft and Uber over similar issues.
The right-wing financial blog ZeroHedge has been banned from generating revenue through Google's advertising platform after apparently violating the tech giant's policies on content related to race, a Google spokesperson confirmed to NBC News. Conservative news site The Federalist has also reportedly received a warning over its comment section, Business Insider reports.
Why it matters: The move is sure to invite fury from Republicans who claim that Big Tech companies stifle conservatives. President Trump signed an executive order last month aimed at softening protections from legal liability that online platforms enjoy over content moderation and user-posted material.
California utility PG&E admitted to criminal negligence on Tuesday, pleading guilty to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter for its role in starting the 2018 Camp Fire.
The big picture: The plea "reflects the bankrupt utility taking responsibility for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history," Bloomberg Law writes. The fire, ignited by PG&E equipment, killed 84 people. The company is also pleading guilty to a count of unlawfully causing a fire.
Fed chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that pursuing a "tight" labor market is the best thing the central bank can do to address economic inequality in the U.S. during a hearing with the Senate Banking Committee.
Why it matters: With a renewed focus on systemic racism in America, Powell faced more public questions from lawmakers about what it can do to stem long-standing inequality in America.
AT&T's chief brand and advertising officer Fiona Carter is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities on June 26, according to an internal memo obtained by Axios. Her replacement has yet to be named.
Why it matters: Carter was responsible for AT&T's annual advertising budget of over $5 billion, one of the largest advertising budgets in the U.S.
Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify, having sealed major deals with Facebook and now Walmart, is seizing the pandemic moment to put together a challenge to industry giant Amazon.
Driving the news: On Monday, Walmart said it will open its online marketplace, which reaches 120 million monthly visitors, to Shopify's more than 1 million business clients. That means Walmart shoppers will be able to find goods from some Shopify merchants.
There is still well more than $100 billion available for Paycheck Protection Program loans, despite initial predictions that the late April refresh would be insufficient.
Glass half full explanation: Most qualifying small businesses that wanted a PPP loan already got one, and the economy is now reopening and recovering.
Federal prosecutors said Monday that at least six former eBay employees engaged in a disturbing harassment campaign against the editor and publisher of a newsletter that covers the company.
The big picture: The must-be-read-to-be-believed court papers read like the script of a caper movie gone bad, and the incident appears to be at least a part of why the company parted ways with CEO Devin Wenig last September. At the time, eBay was also under pressure from activist investors over its slow growth.
To say that China dominates the electrified trucking market would be kind of an understatement, but the vehicle sales appear poised to grow more globally — and soon.
The big picture: The vast majority of annual sales are in China, while in the U.S. and Europe, "most heavy-duty electric truck activity is in demonstration and customer trials," the International Energy Agency notes in its latest snapshot of electric vehicle trends and policies.
BP's mammoth asset write-down is certainly a big story, but whether it's a big climate change story is a trickier question. Let's give it a qualified yes.
Catch up fast: The oil-and-gas giant yesterday made several announcements rooted in its view of the "enduring impact" of COVID-19 on the economy and demand, and where it sees clean energy going.
Disney has consolidated all its advertising technology teams under one unit led by former Hulu advertising lead Jeremy Helfand, executives tell Axios. It will be housed within Disney's direct-to-consumer arm, which also encompasses its streaming division.
Why it matters: It's a sign of maturation for the company. Disney hadn't yet fully integrated all of its advertising technology since having acquired most of 21st Century Fox last year and having launched new streaming properties, like Disney+ and ESPN+.
Why it matters: The result — the biggest monthly jump in consumer spending ever — is a big upside surprise, much better than the 8% jump that economists expected. It's another sign, alongside May's hugely better-than-expected jobs report, that the worst could be over for the economic slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The massive stimulus that U.S. policymakers flooded into the economy is starting to run dry. With some states just beginning to reopen businesses and millions still unemployed, fiscal and monetary authorities are gearing up for another round.
What's happening: As various "stay at home" measures are being lifted, so are many of the relief measures put in place to help the U.S. economy through the unprecedented coronavirus-induced shock.
Businesses have moved beyond the initial shock and crisis management phase of the coronavirus pandemic, and are shifting their focus to fundamental changes that will reshape their companies, according to the latest survey of top corporate executives from accounting firm PwC.
What it means: While executives say they are concerned about things like bringing workers back into the office, cybersecurity and investments, right now "there is a very common theme around revenue generation going forward that we're seeing dominate the C-Suite," PwC chair and senior partner Tim Ryan said during a call with reporters Monday.
Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard, the nation's leading rusher in 2019, threatened not to participate in team activities after a photo of coach Mike Gundy wearing a "One America News" shirt surfaced.
Why it matters: OANN, which Gundy has publicly praised, is a far-right cable network that regularly promotes conspiracy theories. Several hours after his tweet, Hubbard — who received support from teammates and other athletes — posted a video with Gundy, in which the coach said he had a "great meeting" with players about the shirt and he "realized it's a very sensitive issue."
Walmart has acquired CareZone, an app-based company that helps coordinate the delivery of people's medications. CNBC reported the deal was worth around $200 million.
Why it matters: Walmart now has the technology to mail prescription drugs to customers' homes or to arrange more pickups at its own pharmacies, which makes the retail giant more competitive in the multi-billion-dollar business of drug delivery.
The delayed releases of high-profile films that were supposed to kickstart the reopening of many movie theaters this summer have dealt a new blow to the already struggling theater industry.
Why it matters: Canceled releases and stringent reopening guidelines are making the coronavirus pandemic especially difficult for the theater industry, which was already fighting a bitter war with movie studios over theatrical release windows. Some analysts predict many theater operators won't survive the pandemic long term.
