"I found this gorgeous, well-made raft washed up on the beach at Woodside Bay last Thursday morning," writes Fran Wyborn. "Would love to know who built it and when she set sail."
How not to make human beings redundant
The Bird scooter company's workforce was already working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic, when many received a Zoom invitation called "Covid-19 Update". According to a recording of the event, invitees were greeted by silence and a dark grey slide reading "Covid-19". Then
came a voice — not that of Travis VanderZanden, the 41-year-old former Uber exec who started Bird three years ago. "This is a suboptimal way to deliver this message," said his messenger, who explained that Covid-19 had forced the California-based company to make "painful decisions" — including the elimination of "a number of roles at the company. Unfortunately your role is impacted by this decision." And with that the US$2 billion ($3.3b) company had laid off about 30 per cent of its workforce. Some workers who missed the webinar only learned about the news on TechCrunch. "It felt like a Black Mirror episode," says one. VanderZanden later said on Twitter that the company should have had one-on-one calls with those affected.
Only in lockdown ...
1. Two weeks into lockdown and I can only conclude my boyfriend's job is to speak on the phone to men called Nathaniel and say the phrase "Good stuff". (@bennylauren)
2. I was throwing grapes in the air and catching them in my mouth, and then I stopped because I remembered I live alone and if I choked and died some police officer would have to call my mom and say, "No it wasn't coronavirus, she was trying to eat a grape". (@DanaSchwartzzz)
