Amazon desperately seeks seasonal workers while other retailers hold back

Sep 20, 2023
That could mean that holiday hiring will be slower this season, says Andy Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Retailers are still figuring out how to staff warehouses and stores as consumers switch between shopping in person and online and using curbside pickup, says analyst Jessica Ramírez.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Nielsen's agreement to use Amazon viewer data in football ratings is a first

Aug 24, 2023
Streaming services changed the way people watched TV. Now they're changing the way ratings agencies like Nielsen count viewers.
As streaming becomes an increasingly popular way to watch shows like "Thursday Night Football," it's changing the way ratings data is collected and shared with advertisers.
Cooper Neill/Getty Images

Can AI product review summaries help us make better purchase decisions?

Aug 17, 2023
Amazon is using the technology on its mobile app to synthesize stacks of user comments into one tidy paragraph. Do you buy the idea?
Amazon's new artificial intelligence-generated review system "is immediately going to be a target for sellers to manipulate," says marketing professor Brett Hollenbeck.
isiddheshm/Getty Images

Be prepared to navigate a maze to cancel that subscription

Jun 22, 2023
Behavioral economics helps explain why it's hard to unsubscribe.
The FTC alleges that Amazon intentionally complicated the cancellation process for Prime subscription service.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Big Tech's health care mergers raise antitrust questions

Amazon's acquisition of health care clinics represents new antitrust terrain for the Federal Trade Commission.
Amazon's the acquisition of health clinics run by One Medical has been approved by antitrust regulators, but similar deals may still face future scrutiny.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

How companies decide to lay off workers

Jan 5, 2023
Layoffs are often one of the first ways companies cut costs. But they don’t take them lightly because there’s a lot at stake, not least employee goodwill and public image.
Amazon is beginning layoffs again after starting staff cuts in November. The layoffs are impacting roughly 5% of Amazon's workforce.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Gen Z is the most pro-union generation

Many young workers have witnessed the effects of economic crises and are struggling with the gap between their wages and the cost of living.
Young Starbucks workers picket for their union outside a Starbucks store in Portland, Oregon, in the fall of last year.
Mitchell Hartman/Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

Amazon's purchase of iRobot is a step toward more robots in our homes

Aug 5, 2022
During the pandemic, people have become more comfortable with robots. Now Alexa could control a household army of Roombas, one expert says.
Amazon announced Friday that it's purchasing iRobot, the company that makes Roomba vacuum cleaners, for $1.7 billion.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Fans in China bemoan the departure of Airbnb and Kindle

Jul 26, 2022
Loyal users of the companies say they didn't try hard enough to acquire users in addition to making basic missteps.
A subway commuter in Shanghai uses a Kindle in July.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Union petitions were up 56% in last 9 months, federal labor agency says

Jul 15, 2022
Young, college-educated workers at individual retail establishments like Starbucks stores are driving many organizing efforts.
More than 16% of the union election petitions submitted to the government came from Starbucks.
Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images