Four-day work weeks worth more than money, hackers access data from Asian data center operators used by Alibaba, Amazon, Apple and more, and 60 countries including China sign agreement to regulate military AI Are.
February 22 is a Wednesday. These stories and more on Trending Hashtags—Today’s Top Technology News. I’m your host, Jim Love.
92 per cent of companies involved in a wider trial of the four-day working week in the UK are sticking to it.
A four-day working week pilot involving 3,000 employees across 61 British companies has now ended and the results are sobering, especially for companies struggling to attract and retain high-value employees Are.
Of the 61 participating companies, 56 will continue to offer a shortened week, although only 18 companies will commit to making permanent changes to the policy.
The trial, which took place over a six-month period from June to December last year, did not require a change in the salaries of any employees, nor were they asked to work extended hours.
The test results consolidate findings from previous research from 4 Day Week Global, which found that 63 percent of businesses surveyed found it easier to attract and retain employees after switching to a four-day work week.
Other employees who participated also suggested that the four-day work week may be more attractive than money. 15 percent said that “no amount” would motivate them to accept a five-day schedule over the four-day week they were now accustomed to.
Company revenue remained roughly the same during the test period, with respondent organizations increasing an average of 1.4 percent depending on company size.
In addition, the trial concluded that a shorter work week led to more efficient meetings, increasing productivity and morale by 40 percent.
Source: register
Amazon employees take drastic pay cuts due to plunging stock prices
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that some Amazon corporate employees will be paid 50 percent less than previously expected in 2023 due to the company’s falling stock price.
Employees’ annual pay is typically made up of cash compensation and restricted stock unit awards, But with Amazon’s stock plunging 35 percent this year, total compensation is bound to drop sharply.
Their compensation, an Amazon spokesperson told Insider, is designed to encourage employees to “think like owners,” but the model “comes with some year-over-year upside and some risk because shares Price may fluctuate”
Amazon’s share price has fallen from about $150 per share in February 2022 to about $97 per share as of Tuesday, a decline of $53, or 35 percent, Market Insider data shows.
The company also recently announced plans to lay off 18,000 employees.
Source: business Insider
The layoffs have really rattled the tech industry, but the outlook for developers remains bright, according to news site Infoworld.
Career experts say hiring in transportation, manufacturing, healthcare and other sectors has remained steady and all are looking for developers with the skills to create innovative products and services.
Recruitment agency Robert Half said earlier this year that hiring will increase, stressing that the need to keep up with or further develop organizational technology remains strong despite a slowing economy.
Plus, the need for developers extends beyond the tech industry.
“Every company today is a technology company in some capacity, and that’s certainly true when it comes to software development,” says Nick Kolakowski, senior editor at technology career marketplace Dice Insights at Dice Insights.
And these non-traditional technology companies, such as automotive, education, healthcare or food, are now pursuing developers fired from traditional tech companies.
Even though recent news of layoffs from large technology companies is making technology professionals feel less secure about their jobs, “the job market outlook is still bright for software developers,” says Sinam Buber, principal economist at jobs site ZipRecruiter. They say.
Yet, 80 percent of job postings are listed in the traditional tech sector.
But developers can still get involved in fast-growing areas like IoT and cyber security.
Also, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that overall employment of software developers, quality assurance analysts and testers is expected to grow by 25 percent between 2021 and 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations.
According to Infoworld, “the future is bright, if you know where to look”.
Source: infoworld
Asia’s biggest data centers were hacked and some of the world’s biggest companies along with them.
According to documents reviewed by Bloomberg, hackers obtained login credentials for data centers in Asia used by some of the world’s largest businesses, including: Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, BMW, Goldman Sachs, Huawei, Microsoft and Walmart.
Shanghai-based GDS Holdings Ltd and Singapore-based ST Telemedia Global Data Center are the two affected data centres, which led to a breach of emails and passwords on customer-support websites, affecting around 2,000 customers.
Hackers had access to login credentials for more than a year before posting them for sale on the dark web last month for $175,000, according to a screenshot of the posting reviewed by cybersecurity company Resecurity Inc. and Bloomberg.
Both data center operators said the rogue credentials did not pose a risk to customers’ IT systems or data, but executives at the four affected US-based companies said the stolen credentials represented an unusual and serious threat, primarily Because customer-support websites control who is allowed to physically access IT equipment housed in data centers.
“The worst-case scenario for any data center operator is that attackers somehow gain physical access to a client’s servers and install malicious code or additional tools,” said former chief information officer Michael Henry. For Digital Realty Trust Inc., one of the largest data center operators in the US. “If they can get to that, they could potentially disrupt communications and commerce on a massive scale.”
Several of the affected companies declined to comment on the breach or claimed the risk was minimal.
Source: data center knowledge
Microsoft is preparing to launch a new version of Microsoft Teams, designed to deliver higher performance and use fewer resources on desktop.
Upgrades include moving from Angular to the React JavaScript framework and switching from cross-platform desktop app development framework Electron to Edge’s WebView2.
Performance improvements include lower latency and page-load times, smoother scrolling, and faster loading for compose message boxes.
Source: ZDNet
Google also has some new updates The Chrome browser has been plagued with the aim of reducing resource and memory demands for Chrome users.
Giant is rolling out Energy Saver and Memory Saver, announced Back in December, with the release of Chrome 110. The features will be turned on by default.
Memory Saver will help users with multiple tabs open at once, freeing up memory from inactive tabs and ensuring smooth running of active websites. In comparison, Battery Saver mode kicks in once a laptop’s battery level reaches 20 percent, limiting background activity and visual effects on websites with animations and videos.
Both modes can be disabled in the settings.
Source: ZDNet
Your WhatsApp account can be hacked unknowingly, who would have thought?
Eric, a reader, told news site The Register that this happened to his son, Ugo.
Upon changing his phone number, Ugo received a barrage of private WhatsApp messages from a stranger and was also able to send messages to all of that person’s contacts.
The security hole stems from the practice of wireless carriers recycling the phone numbers of former customers and giving them to new customers.
A WhatsApp spokesperson acknowledged that this can happen but is rare.
If a person no longer wishes to use the WhatsApp account associated with a particular phone number, he/she should transfer it to a new number or delete the account within the app, the spokesperson said. He Added that two-step verification is strongly recommended for more security,
WhatsApp’s parent company Meta said it does not have control over telecom providers who reissue phone numbers or users who have phone numbers associated with their Facebook account that are no longer registered with them,
Regardless, the messaging company should take steps to mitigate the problem, Erik believes, such as checking to make sure a user’s phone number is correct or providing a help page on how to transfer accounts. .
Source: register
In the last episode we talked about the pitfalls and absurdities we see with the recent viral developments in AI. But the misuse of AI in warfare could potentially be the most serious.
Sixty countries including China have signed an agreement to develop and use military AI in a responsible manner at the first Global Summit on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (REAIM). They are committed to “abiding by international legal obligations” and not compromising “international security, stability and accountability” with their use of AI.
All countries participating in the summit, except Israel, signed the agreement. Russia was not invited to participate, while Ukraine did not participate.
Signatories sought to address credibility Military AI, the unintended consequences of its use, the risks of escalation and the way humans need to be included in the decision-making process.
India’s push into AI-powered military systems is potentially leading to a nuclear war with Pakistan, one of the key outcomes many fear.
However, some attendees pointed to the benefits of using AI in conflict, especially in Ukraine where ML and other similar technologies Used to stop a large attacker.
Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Wopke Hoekstra said, “Imagine a missile hits an apartment building.” ,In a fraction of a second, AI can detect and indicate its impact where you can survive. Even more impressively, the AI could already intercept the missile.
Critics of the agreement argue that it is not legally binding and fails to address many other concerns around military AI.
The summit was co-hosted by the Netherlands and South Korea in The Hague last week.
Source: techspot
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