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Many tech startups likely won’t survive COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven especially destructive to tech startups, with more than 69,000 workers laid off.

And what’s worse, many tech startups likely won’t survive the pandemic, says BuyShares, a U.K.-based brokerage firm. Transportation, finance and travel industry startups alone cut 31,000 jobs globally in four months.

In March, the number of laid-off employees was more than 9,600, according to Statista and Layoffs Tracker data. In the next 30 days, this number nearly quadrupled, topping 36,000 by the end of April.

Statistics show the number of job losses reached nearly 62,000 in May. And since then, another 7,600 jobs were lost, with the combined number approaching 70,000 last week.

Hardest-Hit Startups

With more than 14,600 job losses in this period, the tech startups in the transportation industry have taken the hardest hit. The finance industry ranked as the second most-affected sector, with nearly 8,500 employees losing their jobs.

Startup companies in the travel sector laid off almost 8,200 workers due to the outbreak, ranking as the third most-affected industry. Statistics show startups from the retail, food and consumer industry cut more than 19,100 locations in the last four months. The real estate, fitness and marketing industry follow with approximately 3,500, 3,000 and 2,600 displaced workers respectively.

Analyzed by location, San Francisco Bay Area startups are the most affected by the pandemic, with more than 25,500 displaced workers between March and July.

For many startups, surviving the COVID-19 pandemic could be quite challenging, according to BuyShares.

Cybercriminals Target Job Seekers

In the meantime, COVID-19-induced job losses sent people to online job boards looking for work and unknowingly making themselves targets for cybercriminals. That’s according to the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and the FBI.

This year alone, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) saw a 20% spike in scam-related complaints, with victim losses exceeding $25 million, or $3,000 per victim.

Fake job or hiring scams occur when criminal actors deceive victims into believing they have a job or a potential job. Criminals leverage their position as “employers” to persuade victims to provide them with personally identifiable information (PII) or to send them money.

Daniel Eliot is the NCSA’s director of education and strategic initiatives. He said the pandemic has created an ideal scenario for cybercriminals.

NCSA’s Daniel Eliot

“Mass unemployment, combined with hiring freezes, and the fact that a majority of people are spending their time in lockdown on the internet, has created an environment ripe for criminals to take advantage of people who are online and eager to get back into the workforce,” he said. “In these moments of desperation, they are more likely to fall victim to a criminal’s enticing offer. It really comes down to being hypervigilant and doing your research on the opportunity before submitting any information.”

The NCSA and FBI have issued a list of tips for job seekers to protect themselves from cybercrime. Among the tips:

• Conduct a web search of the hiring company using the company name only. Also, check for spoofed websites. And if the company is well known, contact it to confirm the legitimacy of the job posting.
• Never send money, provide credit card or bank account information to an employer.
• Pause before supplying sensitive information. Before entering PII online, make sure the website is secure by looking at the address bar. The address should begin with “https://”, not “http://.”

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NAACP taking demand for Ban the Box to Aiken City Council  Aiken Standard

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Voters have a clear choice this November.

If you want mobs vandalizing stores, destroying public property and setting churches on fire, then vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, who has spent the majority of his time hiding out in his Delaware basement while our country has been in flames in the aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy.

If you scroll through Uncle Joe’s Twitter feed from the past several weeks, you’ll notice he hasn’t condemned the burning of St. John’s Episcopal Church by violent protestors. He hasn’t denounced the heinous assaults and killings of police officers that have taken place throughout the country. Nor has he said a peep about the brutal murder of civilians — including teenagers — shot and killed in the Seattle CHOP zone controlled by armed left-wing anarchists. And he certainly hasn’t called upon Democratic mayors and governors to get their ransacked cities and states under control.

TRUMP SWIPES AT BIDEN, SAYS TAX HIKES WOULD TANK MARKET: ‘401KS WILL DROP DOWN TO NOTHING’

The stark reality is that Democrats today would rather appease anarchists, looters and violent criminals than uphold law and order.

Make no mistake. Republicans who elected Donald Trump are just as horrified by the appalling death of George Floyd as Democrats. We want police reform so that type of excessive force never happens again. That we can all agree on. Conservatives also support peaceful protests of any kind. But where conservatives draw the line is arson, mayhem and murder, which are antithetical to a civilized society.

Loudly and clearly, President Trump has condemned the mob’s violent destruction and murder of police officers. In early June, he tweeted his respects for David Dorn, a 77-year-old African American retired police officer who was killed in the line of duty: “Our highest respect to the family of David Dorn, a Great Police Captain from St. Louis, who was viciously shot and killed by despicable looters last night. We honor our police officers, perhaps more than ever before. Thank you!”

The president has also taken action against those who deface America’s historical monuments. On Wednesday, he tweeted: “My Executive Order to protect Monuments, Statues etc., IS IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT. In excess of a 10 year prison term. Please do not put yourself in jeopardy. Many people now under arrest!” The president has also threatened to use military force, if necessary, to break up violent protests.

Undoubtedly, Trump is our “law and order” president, and, thankfully for our nation, he’s also our jobs president who’s succeeding, once again, in creating millions of jobs.

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The jobs report released Thursday smashed expectations, with the creation of over 4.8 million new jobs in June. That welcome news follows 2.5 million jobs added in May as the economy continues to rebound under Trump’s leadership post-lockdown.

But that’s not all. After years of negotiations, the president just inked the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on Monday, benefitting America’s farmers and car manufacturers. The International Trade Commission estimates it will create up to 589,000 new American jobs.

So, while Democrats are defunding the police and turning a blind eye to the mob’s criminal destruction in cities nationwide, Trump is bringing back millions of jobs and increasing wages for union workers.

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The USMCA requires that 40% to 45% of car vehicles are built by laborers making at least $16 an hour. The historic trade agreement also stipulates that 75% of qualifying cars must now be manufactured in America, reducing the outsourcing of parts to other countries — a win for America and the forgotten men and women who finally have a president fighting for them.

When voters cast their ballots in November, they’ll choose between a president that’s creating jobs and Joe Biden, a career politician, who tiptoes around the mob. The choice is clear.

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In 2003, while investigating a news story about a man on Death Row, then-television news anchor Lee Marshall discovered the man was a product of Alabama’s foster care system.

Marshall, who was herself adopted as an infant, hit on an alarming statistic from Pew Research: Between 75 and 80 percent of kids in the juvenile justice system come out of foster care.

Lee Marshall: “KTECH is a gateway, an opportunity for kids aging out of the system, to take another path.” (Photo/Steve Babin)

Having grown up in a loving family and having the benefit of a good education and a successful career, she was appalled at that statistic.

More than 16 years later, recent statistics from Foster Care 2.0, and confirmed in stats quoted in an article written for Teen Vogue in May 2018, that number is now solid at 80 percent.

Furthermore, by age 17, more than half of the youths in foster care have experienced an arrest, conviction, or overnight stay in a correctional facility. More alarming numbers:

• 90 percent of youths with more than five foster placements will enter the justice system at some point in their lives;
• 40 to 50 percent of formerly fostered youth become homeless within 18 months after leaving foster care; and
• 25 percent will be in prison within two years of aging out of the system.

“I saw this happening, like a flood rushing the prison gates and pouring through it,” said Marshall. “I searched for somebody, somewhere, doing something to stop it, but came up empty.”

Shortly thereafter, Lee Marshall retired from television news after 20 years to start her Kids To Love foundation. Kids To Love seeks to wrap their arms around foster kids no matter what age or under what circumstances they enter the foster care system. They provide supportive programs, all with a hidden curriculum: to give them food if they don’t have it; to provide transportation if they need it; and help them find housing if they are on the streets. But no one was offering solutions to just “Stop it.”

“As a former journalist, I know what I don’t know, so I did some research,” Marshall said. “I needed an exit strategy for these kids, especially those aging out of the system.

“I created our KTECH workforce training initiative to stop it by getting them into jobs. Our overall catalyst is to invest in, educate, and sustain these kids. KTECH is a gateway, an opportunity for kids aging out of the system, to take another path.”

Daily KTECH classes feature mechatronics in the mornings and robotics in the afternoon. (Photo/Steve Babin)

In 2014, a Kids To Love board member connected Marshall with Fred Rascoe, dean of Career and Technical Programs at Motlow State Community College. He runs the career readiness department which includes Bridgestone classes in mechatronics, a multidisciplinary form of electrical and mechanical engineering systems that trains people for the newest jobs in advanced manufacturing. Mechatronics rethinks traditional blue-collar manufacturing into a clean, skilled environment.

“Several community leaders and members of the Board of Directors went with me to see how their program worked,” said Marshall. “They were stating 100 percent job placement for graduates from the classes and, by all accounts, it looked good.”

Rascoe became her mentor and when she told him how she wanted KTECH to look, he showed her what they needed and how to set up the equipment to be successful.

“I had a vision of what I needed to make it work but I knew the mountain I would be climbing. All I needed now was a building and half a million dollars in equipment,” Marshall said.

Kids To Love was operating out of several locations with a warehouse in one place, her administrative offices in an old Intergraph building, and to make the classes work, she was praying for a way to bring everything under one roof.

Just a few months later, in November 2014, she met Louis and Patty Breland of Breland Properties. Patty was adopted and she shared Marshall’s vision for KTECH.

The Brelands donated a 13,000 square-foot investment property on Castle Drive in Madison to Kids To Love.

“It was formerly a Jump Zone painted in primary colors and smelled like dirty socks, but I have never been so excited about a building in my life,” said Marshall. “Nearly all the materials for renovations were donated and in April, Dorothy Davidson of Davidson Technologies bought all the required equipment.”

KTECH has two fulltime instructors and classes are daily with mechatronics in the mornings; robotics in the afternoon; and soldering and solid edge, a 3D CAD technology that provides solid modeling, assembly modelling and 2D orthographic view functionality for mechanical designers, taught several hours per week. Students leave KTECH with all four industry certifications.

Students attend an accelerated program of four college-level classes in 16 weeks. Classes are 40 percent lecture and 60 percent hands-on instruction.

KTECH has an articulation agreement, that is, their college level classes qualify as transferable college credits if a student wants to transfer to Calhoun Community College, Wallace State, or Motlow. Calhoun and Wallace State give 12 of the 16 hours credit, but Motlow gives the full 16 because the program is patterned after it.

“We want kids to have an easy transition into a job after we certify them, so we set up the labs just like they will be at a job, in fact, the robotic lab is exactly like the new labs at the new Mazda Toyota plant,” Marshall said. “Students can go straight to work making $30,000 a year.”

In 2018, KTECH expanded the mechatronics lab to include the largest robotics training classroom in the state of Alabama. There are four robots and a virtual computer robot just like the ones they will see at the Mazda Toyota plant.

KTECH runs completely debt free and accepts no state or federal funding because grant money has strings attached.

“I can’t help kids the way I want to help them if I accepted government funds,” she said.

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Investigation: PG&E funds lawsuit to hide details of its Camp Fire crimes  ABC10.com KXTV

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CHEVERLY POLICE DEPARTMENT

ENTRY LEVEL SUPERVISOR (CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION)

The Cheverly Police Department is seeking qualified applicants to fill an Entry Level Supervisor position in our Criminal Investigative Division (CID).

This is an entry-level, supervisory, role responsible for directing all criminal and background investigations, and supervising the personnel assigned to the Criminal Investigative Division. They will be responsible for leading and training subordinate staff in the performance of a variety of functions. Most work will be performed independently, with general supervision, and will be evaluated in terms of quality, completeness, and accuracy. This position may be required to work rotating shifts, weekends, or holidays. This position will carry an “on-call” status and may be required to report in for special assignments/operations as required.

General Examples of Duties (illustrative only)

• Be responsible for the effective performance of the following:
  • Investigation of crimes committed in the Town of Cheverly
  • Identification and apprehension of criminals
  • Recovery of stolen property
  • Oversight of programs that require in-depth investigations
  • Apprehension of high profile or violent criminals
  • May be required to participate in traffic or special assignments as determined by the Command Staff
• Develop programs to foster close cooperation with municipal, county, state, and federal agencies, as well as officers of the patrol unit, in the investigation and solution of crimes
• Develop programs or ideas to support the flow of information to and from the CID
• Maintain hours of duty in accordance with the need of the Division
• Maintain familiarity with laws, ordinances, policies, procedures, and regulations that may be applicable to the department, while ensuring their enforcement
• Develop programs designed to promote citizen participation in the prevention and solution of crimes, and apprehension of suspects
• Prepare required reports on the activities of the CID and ensure their timely submittal
• Be up to date on crime trends within the community as a means formulating crime prevention techniques
• Conduct background investigations for the purpose of employment suitability
• Conduct interviews, utilizing a variety of resources, for the purpose of collecting information
• Perform record checks and queries, utilizing databases, a variety of institutions, and other law enforcement agencies as a means of solving crimes and producing leads

Specific Examples of Duties

In addition to the general duties, the Detective Master Corporal will be responsible for rating or appraising subordinates. This position will be expected to produce Performance Appraisals, counsel subordinates, and provide performance improvement recommendations, as necessary. When directed by the Chief of Police, they shall be responsible for the investigation of internal or disciplinary complaints, as observed by them or as assigned by the Chief of police.

Essential Functions, Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

The requirements listed, by default, are not all-inclusive. This position requires the ability to communicate in English, clearly and concisely, in both written and spoken form. In addition, candidates must be able to hear, understand, issue, and follow complex, oral directions, and intricate commands.

Candidates must be able to read and interpret a multitude of laws, read and understand local government structure and functions, as well as departmental written directives. As well as apply principles to solve problems and analyze situations quickly and objectively.

Required Licenses and Certifications

• Valid Class “C” driver’s license
• MPTSC/MPCTC Certifications

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Research has shown that recruiters often ignore almost everything on your application — except where it came from. Indeed, even though referrals account for only 6% of all applications, they result in more than a quarter of all hires.

This is why people are asking friends of friends and even cold-messaging random employees on LinkedIn in hopes of getting a referral. But what if you don’t know anyone who can do you a solid? Well, there’s a startup that wants to connect you to an employee at the company of your dreams who will vouch for your skills — for a fee, that is.

Meet Rooftop Slushie — a site created by the founders of anonymous tech forum Blind — which has facilitated nearly 11,000 referral purchases since launching in 2019, according to an investigation by OneZero.

The idea is pretty simple. Candidates fill out a form listing their preferred companies and the fee they’re willing to pay (usually between $20 and $50). Along with the form, they also need to upload copy of their resume, which verified employees — also known as “vendors” on Rooftop Slushie — can review when mulling whether to accept a candidate’s offer.

The approach might seem morally questionable but Rooftop Slushie product manager Kim says it doesn’t matter where the candidate came from — as long as their skills match the role. “At the end of the day, as long as the best candidate is hired, how the talent came to the company doesn’t matter — as long as they have the skills,” he told OneZero.

Although Rooftop Slushie launched as a platform aiming to connect applicants to employees who can offer advice on their resumes and provide details about what they can expect during an interview, users eventually began selling referrals on its Misc section. The referral feature is now the site’s most popular one.

Both buyers and vendors are anonymous. Once purchased, applicants will receive a confirmation for a referral on their email. If they don’t, they can contact Rooftop Slushie for a refund.

Among others, you can find referrals for jobs at Google, Amazon, Netflix, and Facebook on the platform. Kim says Facebook and Google are the biggest sellers for the time being.

In exchange for bringing them a candidate, Rooftop Slushies keeps a 30% commission fee from vendors — unless they’re verified via LinkedIn, in which case it charges 15%.

That said, the biggest incentive to referrers are bonuses from their own companies. In fact, Google purportedly handed out up to $4,000 for each successful hire referred by an employee. That’s a chunky amount of cash for forwarding a resume.

Still, selling referrals could isn’t entirely risk free.

Google told OneZero its employees are strictly encouraged to refer applicants based on any skills they can personally endorse. Amazon went a step further, telling the outlet it’s actively working to curb this practice — and that employees who sell referrals might be in breach of their contracts.

“Receiving payment from an outside third party for candidate referrals is in violation of our conflict of interest policies and may result in disciplinary action,” an Amazon rep told OneZero.

Kim, on the other hand, seems less concerned about breaking the rules.

“We tell [vendors] to stay within their NDA, make sure you know where your liabilities lie, and as long as you do that — you will be fine,” he told OneZero.

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Virginia Ban the Box Law for Marijuana Takes Effect July 1  ESR NEWS

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