WORKFORCE

Grandma, What’s a Commute?

One day, you might compare working in an office to remembering someone's phone number—something you don't have to do anymore. Yesterday, several large tech companies joined Twitter in making their pandemic-imposed remote work arrangements more permanent. 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in his weekly livestream with employees that the company’s 45,000+ person workforce will move toward a more remote system. Zuckerberg estimated Facebook will be up to half remote within the next 10 years. 

The details: In the near term, Facebook will dial up remote recruiting and hiring; new recruits to U.S. roles will be given the option to work remotely. Eventually, existing employees will be able to request a permanent WFH setup (we recommend a vertical mouse). 

• 95% of Facebook employees are working remotely right now, and Zuckerberg only expects about 25% to be back in the office by the end of the year. 
• If you’re still in your sorority’s group chat, Facebook wants you in the office. Recent college grads will have to clock in while they're getting started. 

The reasoning: Zuck told The Verge’s Casey Newton that work on “remote presence” products like Portal and Facebook Workplace gave execs a growing sense that distributed working was doable. And then COVID-19 made distributed working necessary. 

• ...and this may allow Facebook to scale back pay. If employees leave the Bay Area and relocate to virtually anywhere but Tribeca or Monaco, their cost of living will drop. And Zuckerberg will adjust compensation accordingly. 

There’s something in the air

Spotify and Shopify made their own “we’re going flexible” statements yesterday, too. Spotify’s global workforce can WFH until next year, and Shopify’s will be allowed to do so as long as they please—a “forever” policy à la Twitter. 

Bottom line: The biz world has set sail toward Remote Work Isle, but it’s a much easier journey for high-income, plugged-in tech workers. 67% of respondents to our unofficial Twitter poll said they expect to be back in the office by the end of the year.

MEDIA

HBO's Ready to Max Out

Streaming service HBO Max will be the crown jewel of AT&T’s entertainment empire when it launches Wednesday. But don’t confuse it with…

• HBO, the channel
• HBO Go, the streaming service offered through cable/TV providers
• HBO Now, the standalone streaming service (most Now subscribers can convert to Max for free)

That’s more confusing than Spotify/Shopify, which means AT&T’s WarnerMedia has an uphill battle proving HBO Max is worth $15/month. 

What it’s got

Signature HBO programming, new originals, the Warner Bros. library, a Friends reunion, and... 

The exclusive release of director Zach Snyder’s never-seen cut of Justice League. Never seen because...never made. Warner Bros. will drop up to $30 million finishing his original vision, which will be released next year. 

• The “Snyder Cut” demonstrates the value of IP for entertainment brands. Even if it’s worse than the original, it might not matter because DC comic fans will come, per NBC’s Dylan Byers.

While HBO's throwing money around, how about a new final season of GOT?

MEDIA

Bad News for News News

The Atlantic has been widely praised for breakthrough COVID-19 coverage. But yesterday, the magazine announced it was laying off 17% of staff following cuts at other digital media companies like BuzzFeed, Vice, and Quartz.

The pandemic has created a textbook case of situational irony. Many media companies are experiencing huge bumps in subscriptions and visitors; The Atlantic has signed up 90,000 paying subscribers since March. Yet a collapse in ad revenue crashed the party before the pregame could start.

Few have been spared 

Layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts have made their way across newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, and digital media. 

Yes, many in digital media were hurting before the pandemic due to an overreliance on venture capital and advertising competition from Facebook and Google. But the pandemic shocked not only their core revenue stream (advertising), but also events and B2B offerings. 

+ While we’re here: Staffers at The LA Times created a “work share” program, where employees reduce hours and collect partial unemployment. Some experts think such arrangements could present a more cost-effective alternative to layoffs.

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Now’s the time to check out Vincero.

AUTOMATION

Retailers Find Relief in Robots

Recently, Gap Inc.’s SVP of global logistics fulfillment called robotics firm Kindred AI with an unusual request. We don’t have the transcript, but Reuters reports he asked something to the effect of, “I know you planned to deliver those robots in a few months, but could you do it...nowish?” 

The backstory: With the pandemic bearing down, Gap warehouses were forced to do more with less. It wasn’t safe to operate distribution centers with a full staff, and the company had to process a surge in online orders. 

Zoom out: The pandemic is giving retailers a new reason to employ robotics tech that has graduated from moving items across floors to more sophisticated tasks, like box packing and cashier functions. Walmart, Amazon, and many grocery chains have ramped up their automated operations in recent months to keep up with demand. As Retail Brew Writer Halie LeSavage puts it, robots don’t cough. 

Happy ending: Kindred got 10 machines to a Gap warehouse in Tennessee and 20 to one in Ohio.

QUIZ

You're Gonna Quiz Me When I'm Gone

BIG developments in the world of weekly news quizzes. To make the quiz a better experience for you, we've moved it to a fully online, interactive format. That way, you can click on answers and get nearly instant gratification—instead of squinting and scrolling for the answers in the newsletter.

So try it out. See how closely you read the Brew this week and take the quiz. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• China's parliament will discuss implementing new security measures for Hong Kong following major protests in 2019. The U.S. came back with sharp opposition to the proposed law. 
• Starbucks said reopening plans were going better than expected, with comparable U.S. sales at nearly two-thirds their level from last year.
• President Trump visited a Ford plant in Michigan that had shifted to making ventilators for COVID-19 patients.
• Amazon is pushing Prime Day from July to the fall, the WSJ reports.
• John Krasinski’s tear-jerker of a YouTube series, Some Good News, has been licensed to ViacomCBS following a bidding war, per The Hollywood Reporter.

BREW'S BETS

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You can learn more about these roles and others at Morning Brew .

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PODCAST

Look Out, Joe Rogan

On our podcast, Business Casual, host Kinsey Grant asks the biggest names in business to answer the biggest questions in business. We know that’s a...big ask, but Business Casual guests deliver. Here are some recent episodes worth checking out:

• Shark Tank legend Barbara Corcoran breaks down everything you’ve ever wanted to know about residential and commercial real estate.
• Can capitalism survive—and better yet, should it? VC Chamath Palihapitiya shares his controversial response.
• Billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio explains why studying business = studying history.
• And a classic from the pre-COVID archives: Gary Vaynerchuk on hard work, success, and selling baseball cards.

Got an idea for a future episode? Want to hear what Mark Cuban is like off the record? Take it up with Kinsey on Twitter.

+ Bonus: Because today is National Solitaire Day, our friends at Solitaired created this Business Casual-inspired solitaire game. Real winners can listen to podcasts and play cards at the same time.

FRIDAY PUZZLE

Here’s a fun game for people who like words: We’ll give you three letters, and you have to find an English word that contains them in that order, with no other letters or spaces in between. Ex: BVI = Obvious 

WKW, UMF, PTC, GGP, AUE

FRIDAY PUZZLE ANSWER

Btw, there's more than one answer to these.

1. WKW = Awkward 
2. UMF = Circumference
3. PTC = Bankruptcy
4. GGP = Eggplant
5. AUE = Sauerkraut