SUMMARY
FACEBOOK PUTS INSTAGRAM FOR KIDS ON HOLD AFTER PUSHBACK AMAZON UNVEILS ‘JETSONS’-LIKE ROAMING ROBOT FOR THE HOME iPAD MINI: PACKING ITS PUNCH IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND DISNEY WORLD OPENED 50 YEARS AGO; THESE WORKERS NEVER LEFT
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EXPLAINER: WHY FACEBOOK IS HOLDING OFF ON KIDS’ INSTAGRAM 16 US MILITARY EYES PROTOTYPE MOBILE NUCLEAR REACTOR IN IDAHO 28 STATES AT DISADVANTAGE IN RACE TO RECRUIT CYBERSECURITY PROS 74 TOYOTA BANKS ON MOBILITY TECHNOLOGY FOR FUTURE GROWTH 100 FORD TO ADD 10,800 JOBS MAKING ELECTRIC VEHICLES, BATTERIES 108 MERCEDES-BENZ JOINS EUROPEAN EV BATTERY JOINT VENTURE 122 FROM PAINTS TO PLASTICS, A CHEMICAL SHORTAGE IGNITES PRICES 128 JAKE GYLLENHAAL CARRIES CLAUSTROPHOBIC ‘THE GUILTY’ 158 EARTH-MONITORING LANDSAT 9 SATELLITE LAUNCHES IN CALIFORNIA 176 FAA AGAIN DELAYS FINAL DECISION ON GEORGIA SPACEPORT PERMIT 182 UK PERMITS DEVELOPMENT OF GENE-EDITED CROPS IN CLIMATE FIGHT 186 GOOGLE IN COURT TO APPEAL EU’S 2018 ANDROID ANTITRUST CASE 190 ‘THE BIG DELETE:’ INSIDE FACEBOOK’S CRACKDOWN IN GERMANY 196 CHINA SAYS ALL CRYPTO TRANSACTIONS ILLEGAL; BITCOIN TUMBLES 206 CLIMATE ACTIVIST NAKATE SEEKS IMMEDIATE ACTION IN GLASGOW 212
MOVIES & TV SHOWS 142 MUSIC 150 TOP 10 ALBUMS 166 TOP 10 MUSIC VIDEOS 168 TOP 10 TV SHOWS 170 TOP 10 BOOKS 172 TOP 10 SONGS 174
FACEBOOK PUTS INSTAGRAM FOR KIDS ON HOLD AFTER PUSHBACK
Facebook is putting a hold on the development of a kids’ version of Instagram, geared toward children under 13, to address concerns that have been raised about the vulnerability of younger users. “I still firmly believe that it’s a good thing to build a version of Instagram that’s designed to be safe for tweens, but we want to take the time to talk to parents and researchers and safety experts and get to more consensus about how to move forward,” said Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show. The announcement follows a investigative series by The Wall Street Journal which reported that 08
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Facebook was aware that the use of Instagram by some teenage girls led to mental health issues and anxiety. Yet the development of Instagram for a younger audience was met with broader opposition almost immediately. Facebook announced the development of an Instagram Kids app in March, saying at the time that it was “exploring a parent-controlled experience.” Two months later, a bipartisan group of 44 attorneys general wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to abandon the project, citing the well being of children. They cited increased cyberbullying, possible vulnerability to online predators, and what they called Facebook’s “checkered record” in protecting children on its platforms. Facebook faced similar criticism in 2017 when it launched the Messenger Kids app, touted as a way for children to chat with family members and friends approved by parents. Josh Golin, executive director of children’s digital advocacy group Fairplay, urged the company this week to permanently pull the plug on the app. So did a group of Democratic members of Congress. “Facebook is heeding our calls to stop plowing ahead with plans to launch a version of Instagram for kids,” tweeted Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey. “But a ‘pause’ is insufficient. Facebook must completely abandon this project.” The Senate had already planned a hearing with Facebook’s global safety head, Antigone Davis, to address what the company knows about how Instagram affects the mental health of younger users.
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Mosseri maintained that the company believes it’s better for children under 13 to have a specific platform for age-appropriate content, and that other companies like TikTok and YouTube have app versions for that age group. He said in a blog post that it’s better to have a version of Instagram where parents can supervise and control their experience rather than relying on the company’s ability to verify if kids are old enough to use the app. Mosseri said that Instagram for kids is meant for those between the ages of 10 and 12, not younger. It will require parental permission to join, be ad free, and will include age-appropriate content and features. Parents will be able to supervise the time their children spend on the app, oversee who can message them, who can follow them and who they can follow. While work is being paused on Instagram Kids, the company will be expanding opt-in parental supervision tools to teen accounts of those 13 and older. More details on these tools will be disclosed in the coming months, Mosseri said. This isn’t the first time Facebook has received backlash for a product aimed at children. Child development experts urged the company to shut down its Messenger Kids app in 2018, saying it was not responding to a “need” as Facebook insisted but creating one instead. In that case, Facebook went ahead with the app.
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EXPLAINER: WHY FACEBOOK IS HOLDING OFF ON KIDS’ INSTAGRAM Bowing — perhaps only for a moment — to pressure from lawmakers, critics, the media and child development experts, Facebook said it will “pause” its work on a kids’ version of its photo and video-oriented Instagram app. But what’s not yet clear is just how seriously Facebook is taking the concerns of experts and parents. Its decision to merely pause the project suggests it still plans to expose a much younger audience to Instagram, its well-documented harms and possibly the user profiling that feeds Facebook’s targeted ad machine. That ad machine, of course, has made the company one of the most profitable on the planet.
WHY IS FACEBOOK DOING THIS NOW? The company’s move follows an explosive midSeptember report by The Wall Street Journal that found Facebook knew from its own research that Instagram was harming some teems, especially girls, leading to mental health and body image problems and in some cases eating disorders and suicidal thoughts. 16
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In public, however, Facebook has consistently played down the app’s negative side and until now has barreled ahead with the kids’ version despite alarms from experts, lawmakers and its own research. It has also relentlessly criticized the Journal article as cherry-picking from Facebook’s research, though it did not dispute the facts. That story, however, was based on internal research leaked by a whistleblower at the company. It’s likely not a coincidence that on Thursday, a panel of the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing examining the “toxic effects” of Facebook and Instagram on young people. It’s the latest of several hearings to look at whether Big Tech companies are hiding what they know about the harms their products cause.
SO IS INSTA FOR KIDS CANCELED? Facebook has very specifically not said that it will abandon the project. Instead, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said in a blog post Monday that the company will use its pause time “to work with parents, experts and policymakers to demonstrate the value and need for this product.” Translation: Expect Facebook to sharpen its message on the “benefits” of Instagram for Kids in hopes that the furor will die down. Consider that Facebook had already said it was working with parents, experts and policymakers back in July when it introduced safety measures for teens on its main Instagram platform. In fact, the company has been “working with” experts and other advisors for another product aimed at children — its Messenger Kids app that launched in late 2017. 19
“Critics of Instagram Kids’ will see this as an acknowledgement that the project is a bad idea,” Mosseri wrote. “That’s not the case.”
WHO ARE THE EXPERTS WORKING WITH FACEBOOK? Four years ago, Facebook said it gathered a group of experts in the fields of online safety, child development and children’s media to “share their expertise, research and guidance.” The group it calls Youth Advisors include some well-known and some lesser-known nonprofit groups, including the Family Online Safety Institute, Digital Wellness Lab, MediaSmarts, Project Rockit and the Cyberbullying Research Center. All of these groups receive some form of funding from Facebook, according to their websites. Meanwhile, some of the best-known children’s online advocacy groups — and Facebook’s biggest critics on this matter — such as Common Sense Media and Fairplay (formerly known as the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood) are notably absent. Critics acknowledge that many of the cooperative experts mean well, but say their influence has been negligible. “Facebook has shown time and time again that it is incapable of governing or advising itself with any integrity,” said Kyle Taylor, program director for the Real Facebook Oversight Board, a group critical of the social network. “Facebook’s funding of research and civil society is hugely problematic, and prevents the kind of direct, open process that is required for any real change to occur.” When Facebook seeks feedback for its projects, Taylor added, “the decks are always stacked with 20
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experts who have a financial interest or who will never criticize Facebook’s core issues - their algorithm and their profit margin.”
COULD FACEBOOK STILL PULL THE PLUG? Fairplay executive director Josh Golin argues that Instagram for Kids may have already sunk beneath the waves. The “pause,”′ he said, is a good way for Facebook to save face and hope that after a while people will forget about it. He acknowledges that his group and other advocates failed to pressure Facebook into canceling its kids’ messaging product, but says Instagram for Kids is different. “Instagram is a much much worse platform for children” than Messenger, he said, noting Facebook’s own internal research and a “wealth of evidence” supporting this point. The climate has also changed since 2017 and 2018, when the “techlash” against Big Tech’s harmful effects on society was just emerging. Now, it’s in full force and much more organized. Finally, there’s tech product inertia. “With Messenger Kids, the backlash didn’t start until it had already came out,” he said. “It is much easier for a corporation to walk back a product that doesn’t yet exist than to take a product off the market,”
WHAT ABOUT OTHER PLATFORMS? Facebook, of course, is not the only tech platform whose products have caused ripples of concern about the well-being of children. And creating kids’ versions in the face of these concerns is a popular response. After getting in trouble with U.S. regulators for violating 22
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children’s privacy rules, for instance, TikTok created a “limited, separate app experience” for users who are under 13. They can’t share videos, comment on other people’s videos or message people. But as with any other app, if kids enter a fake birthdate when they register with the app, they can get around that provision. YouTube has a kids version too. Lawmakers earlier this year called it a “wasteland of vapid consumerist content” and launched an investigation that’s still ongoing.
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US MILITARY EYES PROTOTYPE MOBILE NUCLEAR REACTOR IN IDAHO
The U.S. Department of Defense is taking input on its plan to build an advanced mobile nuclear microreactor prototype at the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho. The department began a 45-day comment period last week with the release of a draft environmental impact study evaluating alternatives for building and operating the microreactor that could produce 1 to 5 megawatts of power. The department’s energy needs are expected to increase, it said. “A safe, small, transportable nuclear reactor would address this growing demand with 28
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a resilient, carbon-free energy source that would not add to the DoD’s fuel needs, while supporting mission-critical operations in remote and austere environments,” the Defense Department said. The draft environmental impact statement cites President Joe Biden’s Jan. 27 executive order prioritizing climate change considerations in national security as another reason for pursuing microreactors. The draft document said alternative energy sources such as wind and solar were problematic because they are limited by location, weather and available land area, and would require redundant power supplies. The department said it uses 30 terawatt-hours of electricity per year and more than 10 million gallons (37.9 million liters) of fuel per day. Powering bases using diesel generators strains operations and planning, the department said, and need is expected to grow during a transition to an electrical, non-tactical vehicle fleet. Thirty terawatt-hours is more energy than many small countries use in a year. The department in the 314-page draft environmental impact statement said it wants to reduce reliance on local electric grids, which are highly vulnerable to prolonged outages from natural disasters, cyberattacks, domestic terrorism and failure from lack of maintenance. The department also said new technologies such as drones and radar systems increase energy demands. But critics say such microreactors could become targets themselves, including during transportation. Edwin Lyman, director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned 31
Scientists, a nonprofit, said he questioned using microreactors at military bases either at home or abroad. “In my view, these reactors could cause more logistical problems and risks to troops and property than they would solve problems,” he said. “And unless the Army is willing to spend what it would take to make them safe for use, especially in potential combat situations or foreign operating bases, then I think it’s probably unwise to deploy nuclear reactors in theaters of war without providing the protection they would need.” He said the reactors would likely be vulnerable during transport. “There is always going to be a way that an adversary can damage a nuclear reactor and cause dispersal of its nuclear content,” he said. The Idaho National Laboratory is on the U.S. Department of Energy’s 890-squaremile (2,305-square-kilometer) site in high desert sagebrush steppe, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Idaho Falls. All prototype reactor testing would take place on the Energy Department site. The lab is considered the nation’s leading nuclear research lab, and has multiple facilities to aid in building and testing the microreactor. The Defense Department said a final environmental impact statement and decision about how or whether to move forward is expected in early 2022. If approved, preparing testing sites at the Idaho National Lab and then building and testing of the microreactor would take about three years. 32
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Two mobile microreactor designs are being considered, but the department said detailed descriptions are unavailable as both are in early stages of development. The department said both designs are high-temperature gas-cooled reactors using enriched uranium for fuel. The type of enriched uranium to be used can withstand high temperatures, “allowing for a reactor design that relies primarily on simple passive features and inherent physics to ensure safety,” the draft environmental impact statement states. Building the mobile reactor and fuel fabrication would be done outside Idaho, and then shipped to the Idaho National Laboratory where the final assembly, fuel loading and a demonstration of the reactor’s ability to operate would occur. That demonstration would include startup testing, moving the reactor to a new site, and testing at the second location. The second location would mimic a real-world situation by testing the reactor’s ability to respond to energy demands. The department said the microreactor would be able to produce power within three days of delivery and can be safely removed in as few as seven days.
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AMAZON UNVEILS ‘JETSONS’-LIKE ROAMING ROBOT FOR THE HOME
Amazon’s new robot can hear, see and follow you around the the home, but its no Rosey the Robot. Amazon’s version, called Astro, doesn’t cook or clean like the animated character from “The Jetsons,” but it can check if you left the stove on while you’re out or send an alert if someone enters the house it doesn’t recognize. It uses cameras, sensors and artificial technology to avoid walls or dogs, and Amazon said Astro — which also happens to be the name of the Jetson’s dog — will only get smarter as time goes on. It does do some housework: Snacks or a can of soda can be placed on its back to be carted to someone across the house. The $1,000 robot, which will be sent out to customers later this year, was one of a slew of gadgets Amazon unveiled this week as part of its annual event ahead of the holidays. 40
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Astro, however, stole the show. Amazon executive David Limp asked the 17-inch (43-centimeter) tall robot to come on stage during the virtual event, then asked it to beatbox. Its round digital eyes close or widen as it does tasks, giving it a human-like touch. Amazon said a limited number of the Astro will be sold, but didn’t provide a number. Besides the robot, Amazon also unveiled a picture frame-like screen that can be hung to a wall and has Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant built in. The company foresees it going in the kitchen, where users can see recipes, check their schedule or watch a show as they cook. Also, the Seattle-based company said its Echo listening devices will be put in Disney hotel rooms next year so that guests can order towels from room service or ask it the fastest way to get to a theme park.
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iPad mini Packing its punch in the palm of your hand
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Although all eyes were on the Apple Watch Series 7 and iPhone 13 range at this year’s California Streaming event, the unexpected announcement of a refreshed iPad mini also got people talking. Bringing Apple’s smallest tablet in line with the iPad Pro and Air has helped to give consumers more choice, whilst a refreshed entry-level iPad remains a sensible buy.
INTRODUCING THE NEW iPAD MINI Apple first introduced the iPad mini nine years ago, designed to appeal to consumers looking for a smaller tablet that they could take with them on the go, carry in their handbags, and give to the kids. After five generations, Apple has refined the iPad mini into a powerhouse, but it’s the all-new sixth-generation that’s getting people talking. The new iPad mini features a larger 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display and is available in four gorgeous colors and finishes. It offers up to 80% faster performance than the previous 2019 model. What’s more, the model comes with USB-C charging for the first time, and it supports flexible mobile workflows with 5G models, supports the second-generation Apple Pencil, and comes with new cameras that are ideal for on-the-go photography, FaceTime calls, and a whole host of other use cases. Speaking of the product launch in September, Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said: “With its ultraportable design and wide range of uses from everyday tasks to creative and enterprise applications, there’s nothing else like iPad mini. With a new all-screen Liquid Retina display, a massive boost in performance, new advanced cameras on the front and back, Center Stage, 52
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USB-C, 5G, and support for Apple Pencil, the new iPad mini is a huge leap forward that can be held in the palm of your hand.”
AN ALL-SCREEN EXPERIENCE Apple changed the game when it launched the redesigned iPad Pro a few years ago as it removed the large bezels and home button to allow for an all-screen experience. The firm did the same last year with the iPad Air, and this year, it’s the mini that has been given the same treatment, with an all-new 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display with narrow borders that allows Apple to keep the device in its same, small form-factor without compromising on space or size. The screen features technologies such as 500 nits of 54
brightness, a P3 wide color gamut, anti-reflective screen coating, True Tone, and full lamination to offer next-level image and video quality, and with new landscape stereo speakers, users can watch their favorite content on Apple TV+ and Netflix whether they’re in the car, on a plane, or at home. As with the iPad Air, Apple has moved Touch ID to the top button of the iPad mini, which allows for easy authentication to unlock the device, log in to apps, and use Apple Pay to buy goods and services on their tablet. For the first time, it supports the second-generation Apple Pencil, which attaches magnetically to iPad mini for wireless charging and pairing, ideal for playing games, taking notes, and taking full advantage of the new screen space and size. 55
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SUPERCHARGING THE iPAD MINI WITH A15 Apple has made some serious changes to the externals of the iPad mini, but as always, it’s what’s on the inside that really counts. The mini has been given a significant performance boost over its predecessor thanks to the new A15 Bionic chip, which also features in the new iPhone 13, mini, Pro, and Pro Max models, meaning the new iPad mini offers the very latest technology. Its 6-core CPU offers a 40% jump in performance over the fifth-generation iPad mini, whilst the 5-core GPU delivers an 80% leap in graphics performance. Apple says that the model can handle “even the most demanding tasks” such as the latest games from Apple Arcade to the professional apps used by pilots and doctors, and thanks to its compact design, it’s the ideal tool for use in a professional setting such as an office or even a cockpit. A15 Bionic helps to power Apple’s advanced machine learning capabilities, using a 16-core Neural Engine and new ML accelerators in the CPU, meaning Apple can deliver double the speed when it comes to machine learning tasks. When you combine this with the CPU and GPU, the iPad mini is able to take apps to the next level and allow for complex tasks such as image recognition and natural language learning to be done off the bat. Just see how Apple has added new machine learning features such as Live Text with iPadOS, which uses on-device intelligence to recognize text in photos that users can take action on, and even translates text from photos into seven different languages. Imagine the power of this chip - if a developer can think of a use case, the chances are the iPad mini will be able to power it. 59
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SPECCED UP CAMERAS Although iPad might not be for photographers or anything other than the occasional selfie, Apple has made some serious improvements to the camera modules on its smallest iPad. The firm has added the Center Stage experience from the iPad Pro to the iPad mini, allowing users to enjoy more engaging and enjoyable video calls on FaceTime. Thanks to a new Ultra Wide front camera with a new 12MP sensor and an improved field of view, the camera will now automatically pan to keep users in focus as they move around the room. It’s ideal if you are on a call with your loved ones and you’re preparing dinner in the kitchen at the same time, and even works when more family members and friends join in. Center Stage isn’t the only use case, of course, as the new camera features Focus Pixels and a larger aperture to capture sharp, vivid photos, with the rear camera also including True Tone flash, perfect for capturing images in low light. Combined with A15 Bionic, users can now enjoy more natural-looking photos with Smart HDR. According to The Guardian, the new camera works “just as well” as the iPad Pro, with Samuel Gibbs, technology editor, writing that it contains “features usually found on high-end video conference solutions and a few smart displays.”
FASTER CONNECTIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL USERS Although artists, photographers, and videographers will likely benefit from the feature set offered by the iPad Pro, the iPad mini now packs its punch as a professional device for users in a range of settings. One of the biggest innovations with the latest iPad mini is the addition of 5G, allowing users to benefit from 63
faster wireless connectivity on the go. Apple says that the iPad mini can now reach peak speeds of up to 3.5Gbps in ideal conditions, and with Apple extending support for Gigabit LTE and eSIM, as well as offering Wi-Fi 6 support, the iPad mini is the most-connected iPad to date, allowing you to download, stream and upload content til your heart’s content. What’s more, the new model now features a USB-C port for up to 5Gbps data transfer, replacing the Lighting socket. Apple says that USB-C allows for up to ten times faster speeds than the previous generation, and adds that it allows users to add a wide range of USB-C accessories to their iPad, from cameras and external storage to displays and keyboards. If you can plug it into an iPad Pro, you can use it on your mini, too.
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ELEVATING THE EXPERIENCE WITH iPadOS 15 iPad mini is made even more attractive and powerful thanks to the launch of iPadOS 15, which helps users be more productive than ever before. Alongside new widget layouts on the Home Screen and App Library to personalize and organize apps, a new Quick Note feature is the ideal way to stay on top of meetings and calls and never miss a thing again. Apple has brought the Translate app to iPad for the first time with new features such as Auto Translate and face-to-face view, and multitasking changes means Split View and Slide Over are even more powerful. Apple has also introduced Live Text, which uses on-device intelligence to recognize text in a photo and allow users to take action, and Focus has been added to allow users to filter notifications based on what they’re currently doing, such as working, driving, or sleeping. Combined, it makes the iPad mini one of the most powerful iPads to date and a compelling upgrade for anyone considering investing in a new device. It’s also worth giving a quick shout-out to the new iPad, which was handed a refresh at the event. The 10.2-inch iPad now features the A13 Bionic chip, offers Center Stage, True Tone, and comes with double the storage capacity as standard. “iPad has never been more essential for working, learning, and communicating, and we’re excited to bring one of the biggest updates ever to our most popular iPad,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. The reviews are in, and though most would agree the new iPad does not offer a significant upgrade like the iPad mini, it’s still a solid device. 67
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“The updated mini brings the iPad a new era and putting the entry-level model to one side, the entire lineup is now consistent in both aesthetics and functionality.“
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‘“We can’t wait to see where Apple takes the range next. One thing’s for sure: whether you’re in the market to buy a tablet for work or for entertainment, there’s never been a better time to choose an iPad.“
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STATES AT DISADVANTAGE IN RACE TO RECRUIT CYBERSECURITY PROS
Austin Moody wanted to apply his cybersecurity skills in his home state of Michigan, teaming up with investigators for the State Police to analyze evidence and track down criminals. But the recent graduate set the idea aside after learning an unpaid internship was his only way into the Michigan agency. “I don’t know many people that can afford to take an unpaid internship, especially when it’s in such high demand in the private sector,” Moody said of fellow cybersecurity job seekers. “Unpaid internships in cyber aren’t really a thing beyond the public sector.” Hiring and keeping staff capable of helping fend off a constant stream of cyberattacks and less severe online threats tops the list of concerns for state technology leaders. 75
There’s a severe shortage of those professionals and not enough financial firepower to compete with federal counterparts, global brands and specialized cybersecurity firms. “People who are still in school are being told, ‘There’s a really good opportunity in cybersecurity, really good opportunities for high pay,’” said Drew Schmitt, a principal threat intelligence analyst with the cybersecurity firm GuidePoint Security. “And ultimately these state and local governments just can’t keep up from a salary perspective with a lot of private organizations.” State governments are regular targets for cybercriminals, drawn by the troves of personal data within agencies and computer networks that are essential to patrolling highways, maintaining election systems and other key state services. Notable hits since 2019 include the Washington state auditor, Illinois’ attorney general, Georgia’s Department of Public Safety and computer servers supporting much of Louisiana’s state agencies. Cities, too, come under attack, and they have even fewer resources than states to stand up cyber defenses. Aided by industry groups, the federal government and individual states have created training programs, competitions and scholarships in hopes of producing more cybersecurity pros nationwide. Those strategies could take years to pay off, however. States have turned to outside contractors, civilian volunteers and National Guard units for help when their systems are taken down by ransomware and other hacks. 76
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States needed to fill nearly 9,000 cybersecurity jobs as of this summer, according to CyberSeek a joint project of the Computing Technology Industry Association and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The total is probably higher because the project doesn’t count job listings that states posted only to their own employment portal. State leaders are reluctant to detail the number of vacancies, worrying that could further entice potential attackers. States’ top security officials have ranked inadequate cybersecurity staffing among their top concerns every year since the National Association of State Chief Information Officers and Deloitte began surveying the group in 2014. The problem isn’t limited to state governments. U.S. officials make no secret of their own struggles to hire cybersecurity pros or retain them. The Department of Homeland Security alone has 2,000 cybersecurity job vacancies, and the Biden administration promoted 300 new hires this summer. The $95,412 average salary of a local or state government cyber employee lagged by $25,000 or more in 2020 compared with the pay in the federal government, the financial services industry and IT services, according to a survey conducted by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, a trade association. Information security analysts earned a median salary of $103,590 in May 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Cyberseek puts starting salaries close to $90,000 across all employers.
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Homeland Security officials in 2014 recognized that lower pay was keeping their agency at a disadvantage, but it took until this year to publish a rule allowing higher salaries for cybersecurity roles — capped at $255,800, the maximum salary allowed for the vice president. “The Department desperately needs a more flexible hiring process with incentives to secure talent in today’s highly competitive cyber skills market,” a portion of the rule due to take effect later this fall reads.
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Leaders in the field often bemoan the expensive and time-consuming certification requirements and background checks that employers insist on for cybersecurity roles, saying that keeps jobs vacant and discourages women and people of color from working in cybersecurity. Nicole Beebe, chair of the department of information security and cyber security at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said states’ struggles are more fundamental. Private companies and the federal government aggressively recruit students during college, sending representatives to classes and career fairs. State agencies are rarely there, said Beebe, who counsels students weighing multiple job offers long before graduation. “When it’s a hypercompetitive field, you can’t just submit a job posting and think it will get the same traction,” Beebe said. Lower pay at government jobs can be a turnoff, but many students prefer a position that lets them leave work at home, which is not always the case with private companies. A state or local government role doesn’t compare to the “meat grinder” of constantly responding to new attacks or vulnerabilities on a cybersecurity team for Microsoft or Amazon, said Michael Hamilton, founder of the PISCES Project. The organization connects cybersecurity students to local governments that don’t have employees focused on that work. “State agencies can be taking on interns, grooming them, showing them that state government is a promising place to work,” he said. “But what I see them doing is just getting 83
into the fistfight with all the others that want to hire these people and losing.” Sienna Jackson, a 2020 graduate from the University of Texas at San Antonio, accepted a job as an engineer at the defense company Northrop Grumman after interviewing with the company at a conference. She began college as an accounting major but discovered cybersecurity through a classmate. After an internship with Dell during college, she hoped to find a similarly sized company with a strong training program and other benefits. Salary and help with moving or housing also mattered for Jackson, who worked several jobs while earning her degree and has to pay back her student loans. She didn’t rule out state government jobs but didn’t see agencies at career fairs on campus or at conferences. “Once I graduated and was interviewing, I realized I have a lot of options,” she said. “I get to choose where I go and my standards and not just accept whatever job comes my way.” Moody, the Michigan native, got a scholarship from the Department of Defense that required working for the agency at least a year after graduating. Moody said he understands that state governments don’t have the kind of money that federal agencies or private companies spend on recruiting and generous salaries. But sending cybersecurity staff to talk to students about their work and its importance to thousands of state residents can make a big impact without costing much, he said. “A lot of people want to be in a public service role and are open to starting there,” Moody said. 84
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DISNEY WORLD OPENED 50 YEARS AGO; THESE WORKERS NEVER LEFT
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Applying to be one of the first workers at Walt Disney World, high school graduate George Kalogridis made a split-second decision that set the course for his life: he picked a room where prospective hotel workers were being hired. Chuck Milam got a tip about a job opening from a transplanted Disney executive whose new house he was landscaping. Earliene Anderson jumped at the chance to take a job at the new Disney theme park in Florida, having fallen in love with the beauty of Disneyland in California during a trip two years earlier. At the time, the three were among the 6,000 employees who opened the Magic Kingdom at Disney World to the public for the first time on Oct. 1, 1971. Now, they are among two dozen from that first day still employed at the theme park resort as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. Over those decades, Disney World added three more theme parks, two dozen additional hotels and grew to have a workforce of 77,000 employees as it helped Orlando become the most visited place in the U.S. before the pandemic. What never changed was the original employees’ devotion to the pixie dust, the dream machine created by Walt Disney and his Imagineers. “Disney has been my love, and it still is,” Anderson said recently before starting her shift in merchandising at a Magic Kingdom hotel. “I love Disney.” The employees who make up the 50-year club say the theme park resort has allowed them to grow their careers and try on new hats. Kalogridis worked his way up to be president of Image: John Raoux
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Image: John Raoux
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Walt Disney World and Disneyland in California. Milam went from a warehouse worker to a buyer of spare parts for rides and shows. Forrest Bahruth joined the workforce at Disney World in January 1971 as a show director, responsible for staging and choreographing parades and shows. He was also given the opportunity to help open other Disney theme parks around the world over the past five decades. “There are people all over the world who get up to go work. They’re unhappy about it. They don’t really like their jobs,” Bahruth said. “As you can tell from us, there’s an enthusiasm. We are privileged to be at a place where we love what we do.” There was no guarantee that Disney World was going to be a success 50 years ago. Walt Disney, the pioneering animator and entrepreneur whose name graces the Florida resort, had died in 1966, just a year after announcing plans for “the East Coast Disneyland.” The company had quietly acquired 27,000 acres (11,000 hectares) of scrub land outside Orlando for around $5 million via secret land purchases using fake names and shell companies. The job of shepherding the project to Opening Day fell to his brother, Roy Disney, who with other company officials convinced the Florida Legislature to create a quasi-governmental agency that would allow Disney to self-govern when it came to matters of infrastructure and planning. Roy died almost three months after Disney World opened.
Image: John Raoux
Just weeks before opening, construction at the Magic Kingdom was controlled chaos, and it seemed impossible that it would all come together in time. 93
“It was like an army of ants. Everything was under construction. Interiors were still being put in. Roofing was still being put on top,” Bahruth said. “There was painting, landscaping. Things were arriving by the moment. It was like trucks going everywhere.” Bahruth rehearsed performers through parade choreography down Main Street, which cut through the center of the Magic Kingdom and resembled a turn-of-the-century small town from Walt Disney’s childhood. Even though he was a busser, Kalogridis was drafted into laying down sod outside the hotel he was working in, hours before Disney World’s grand opening. Two things have stuck in the memories of the longtime employees from that opening day. The first was the photo. It was an image of thousands
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Image: John Raoux
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of Disney World workers standing in front of the iconic Cinderella Castle with Mickey Mouse and other costumed characters holding hands in front. Two weeks later, it was featured on the cover of Life magazine. “They brought all the characters up, staged them first, and then they tried to keep all the different workers together based on the color of their costumes,” Milam said. “If you were from Fantasyland and in yellow, you would go over there.” The second was the parade. It featured a 1,076-member marching band conducted by Meredith Willson, the composer of the Broadway show, “The Music Man.” There were 4,000 Disney entertainers marching through the theme park, a mass choir and trumpeters from the United States Army Band. Hundreds of white doves were released into the air, and less environmentally friendly, so were thousands of multi-colored balloons. “It was the biggest thing I had ever seen,” Bahruth said. Only around 10,000 visitors showed up on that first day — which at today’s much larger Walt Disney World would represent about 90 minutes’ worth of visitors entering. It wouldn’t be until Thanksgiving 1971, almost three months later, when Disney executives had an answer about whether their new resort would be a success; that’s when cars trying to get into the Magic Kingdom stretched for miles down the interstate. “It was very clear after that first Thanksgiving, that the public definitely liked what we were doing,” Kalogridis said. “That first Thanksgiving, that was the moment.” Image: John Raoux
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TOYOTA BANKS ON MOBILITY TECHNOLOGY FOR FUTURE GROWTH
Japanese automaker Toyota is revving up acquisitions in mobility technology, adding Renovo Motors Inc., a Silicon Valley software developer, to its Woven Planet team, which is working on automated driving. The addition, announced this week, follows the purchase earlier this year of CARMERA Inc., a U.S. venture that specializes in sophisticated road mapping updates made cheaper and faster by using crowdsourced information obtained from millions of net-connected Toyota vehicles. The company has not disclosed the value of either deal. Renovo develops automotive operating systems, which Toyota Motor Corp. sees as essential for developing programmed vehicles so it can transition to what it calls “a mobility company” that includes more than just cars. Renovo means “new life” or “renew” in Latin. 100
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Renovo’s data-management platform enables automakers to continuously learn from their vehicles, using a so-called “complete loop” approach, so vehicles can become safer and more reliable. “In Woven Planet and Toyota, we’ve found partners committed to doing exactly what we have always wanted to do, on a global scale, and that’s a great feeling,” said Renovo Chief Executive Christopher Heiser. Woven Planet, Toyota’s wholly owned subsidiary, earlier acquired San Francisco-based Lyft’s selfdriving division Level 5. Chief Executive James Kuffner said more acquisitions may be coming. “The big picture is Woven Planet creating a ‘dream team’ of software and vehicle engineering people globally to deliver the world’s programmable and safest mobility. That’s the context,” he told. “Always as an executive, you are trying to balance the speed and the growth versus the focus and maintaining company culture. The larger you grow, the risk is that you slow down,” he said. “We will keep growing, but we are going to be careful.” Kuffner declined comment on an recent accident at the Paralympics Athletes Village in Tokyo, when a Toyota bus equipped with automated driving technology bumped into a Paralympian athlete and injured him. The accident is still under investigation and may be an example of the kinds of hurdles to be overcome before the technology can be widely used on public roads. 103
The bus isn’t approved for widespread use on public roads but was shuttling athletes and officials at the Village during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. A human driver was on the vehicle as a safety precaution. President Akio Toyoda has apologized and promised improvements. Major automakers are working on various driving technologies. Vehicles of electric car maker Tesla Inc. equipped with its Autopilot driver-assist system have been in several crashes, including fatal ones, in the U.S. Some analysts say companies should avoid suggesting cars sold today with such technology can safely drive themselves. Woven Planet, known previously as Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development, is working on technologies spanning “smart” cities, green energy and mobility solutions and robotics that are meant to eventually become consumer products, said Kuffner, who has worked on Google’s self-driving cars and robots at Boston Dynamics.
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FORD TO ADD 10,800 JOBS MAKING ELECTRIC VEHICLES, BATTERIES
Ford and a partner company say they plan to build three major electric-vehicle battery factories and an auto assembly plant by 2025 — a dramatic investment in the future of EV technology that will create an estimated 10,800 jobs and shift the automaker’s future manufacturing footprint toward the South. The factories, to be built on sites in Kentucky and Tennessee, will make batteries for the next generation of Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles that will be produced in North America. Combined, they mark the single largest manufacturing investment the 118-year-old company has ever made and are among the largest factory outlays in the world. 109
Notably, the new factories will provide a vast new supply of jobs that will likely pay solid wages. Most of the new jobs will be full time, with a relatively small percentage having temporary status to fill in for vacations and absent workers. Together with its battery partner, SK Innovation of South Korea, Ford says it will spend $5.6 billion in rural Stanton, Tennessee, where it will build a factory to produce electric F-Series pickups. A joint venture called BlueOvalSK will construct a battery factory on the same site near Memphis, plus twin battery plants in Glendale, Kentucky, near Louisville. Ford estimated the Kentucky investment at $5.8 billion and that the company’s share of the total would be $7 billion. With the new spending, Ford is making a significant bet on a future that envisions most drivers eventually making the shift to battery power from internal combustion engines, which have powered vehicles in the United States for more than a century. Should that transition run into disruptions or delays, the gamble could hit the company’s bottom line. Ford predicts 40% to 50% of its U.S. sales will be electric by 2030. For now, only about 1% of vehicles on America’s roads are powered by electricity. In an interview, CEO Jim Farley said it would be up to the workers at the new plants to decide whether to be represented by the United Auto Workers union. That question could set up an epic battle with union leaders, who want employees of the future to join the union and earn top UAW production wages of around $32 per hour. It represents a high-stakes test for the UAW, which will need jobs for thousands of 110
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members who will lose work in the transition away engines and transmissions for petroleumpowered vehicles. Ford’s move also could put the company at odds with President Joe Biden’s quest to create “goodpaying union jobs” in a new, greener economy. Farley said it’s too early to talk about pay or unionization at the new factories. He stressed that Ford will maintain a geographic manufacturing balance when the company’s investments in Ohio and Michigan are included. Ford and General Motors have UAW-represented plants in Kentucky and Tennessee, states where it is common for political leaders to actively campaign against unionization. “We love our UAW partners,” Farley said. “They’ve been incredible on this journey of electrification so far. But it’s up to the employees to decide.” Just four months ago, Ford said it would build two new battery plants in North America. But Farley said demand for the electric Mustang Mach E SUV and over 150,000 orders for the F-150 electric pickup convinced the company to increase battery output. Farley said Ford intends to lead the world in electric vehicles, a title now held by upstart Tesla Inc., which is adding jobs at a third factory now under construction near Austin, Texas. Ford picked the Kentucky and Tennessee sites in part because of lower electricity costs, Farley said, as well being less expose d to flooding and hurricanes than other states. Battery factories use five times the electricity of a typical assembly plant to make cells and assemble them into packs, so energy costs were a big factor, Farley said. 112
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The company also needed huge tracts of land for the plants that weren’t available in other states, Farley said. Both Southern states also have skilled labor forces and are willing to train workers for the new jobs, he said. “These jobs are very different than the jobs we’ve had in the past,” Farley said. “We want to work with states who are really excited about doing that training and giving you access to that low energy cost.” The Tennessee Valley Authority, which serves the Memphis-area site, sells industrial electricity at a price that’s lower than 93% of competitors nationwide, said CEO Jeff Lyash. Rates have stayed flat for the past decade and are planned to stay flat for the next 10 years, he said. Combined, the three new battery plants will be able to supply enough batteries to power 1 million vehicles per year, about 129 gigawatts of power, Ford Chief Operating Officer Lisa Drake said. Shares of Ford Motor Co., which is based in Dearborn, Michigan, rose more than 4% in extended trading after the new factories were announced.
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Reaction from the union was tempered, with officials seemingly optimistic about organizing the factories. “We look forward to reaching out and helping develop this new workforce to build these world-class vehicles and battery components,” union President Ray Curry said in a statement. Kristin Dziczek, a senior vice president at the Center for Automotive Research who follows labor issues, said the union’s future depends largely on organizing the new plants. “It’s imperative that the UAW organize these if they’re going to have a stake in the electrification of this industry,” she said. Union representation of the plants could become a contentious issue in the next round of national contract talks with the union in two years. When General Motors first announced joint venture battery factories over the past few years, its executives said workers would decide on unionization. UAW officials howled in protest. In May, GM said it would support union organizing at the plants. The Kentucky site is only about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Louisville, where Ford has plants that make SUVs and trucks now powered by internal combustion engines. Ford wouldn’t comment on whether those plants eventually would make electric vehicles, but Dziczek said converting at least one would make sense. One plant makes the Ford Escape small SUV, in the most popular segment of the U.S market, she said. 117
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Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in an interview that Ford’s 5,000 jobs at the Glendale battery plants is the largest single employment announcement in state history. And he said it will also bring jobs with suppliers that make components for the plants. Earlier this month state legislators approved $410 million worth of economic development incentives. Beshear said Ford would get a loan of up to $250 million to draw on through construction. It’s forgivable if the company hits completion milestones. The package also includes the cost of the Glendale land, plus up to $36 million in training incentives, he said. Ford formally announced the plants with ceremonies at both sites. In Glendale’s oneblock downtown, there were no signs of pending dramatic changes in the economy from the new jobs. All was quiet in the town where the primary businesses are antique shops and corn and soybean fields that stretch in all directions. The Tennessee assembly plant is to be built on a site about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Memphis that’s almost six square miles (15.5 square kilometers). Combined, the assembly plant, to be run by Ford, and the battery factory, would employ about 5,800 workers. State officials have been trying to develop the site for years without success. Gov. Bill Lee said Tennessee offered Ford $500 million in incentives to win a contest with 15 other states. Lee said he is confident legislators will approve the spending.
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MERCEDESBENZ JOINS EUROPEAN EV BATTERY JOINT VENTURE
Luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz is teaming up with Stellantis and TotalEnergies in a European electric vehicle battery joint venture, Automotive Cells Co. Each will hold a one-third stake in the venture, which will have an investment of more than 7 billion euros ($8.2 billion). The partners in Automotive Cells plan to increase the company’s industrial capacity to at least 120 gigawatt-hours by 2030. The company was founded in August 2020 and is looking to develop and make battery cells and modules for electric vehicles with a focus on safety, performance, competitiveness and a low carbon footprint. 123
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In July, Mercedes-Benz said it is stepping up its transition to electric cars, doubling the share of sales planned by 2025 and sketching out a market scenario in which new car sales would “in essence” be fully electric by the end of the decade. The company plans to invest 40 billion euros ($47 billion) in battery-driven vehicles between 2022 and 2080. Stellantis was formed earlier this year by a merger involving Fiat and Chrysler.
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FROM PAINTS TO PLASTICS, A CHEMICAL SHORTAGE IGNITES PRICES
In an economy upended by the coronavirus, shortages and price spikes have hit everything from lumber to computer chips. Not even toilet paper escaped. Now, they’re cutting into one of the humblest yet most vital links in the global manufacturing supply chain: The plastic pellets that go into a vast universe of products ranging from cereal bags to medical devices, automotive interiors to bicycle helmets. Like other manufacturers, petrochemical companies have been shaken by the pandemic and by how consumers and businesses responded to it. Yet petrochemicals, which are made from oil, have also run into problems all 128
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their own, one after another: A freak winter freeze in Texas. A lightning strike in Louisiana. Hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. All have conspired to disrupt production and raise prices. “There isn’t one thing wrong,” said Jeremy Pafford, managing editor for the Americas at Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS), which analyzes energy and chemical markets. “It’s kind of whack-a-mole — something goes wrong, it gets sorted out, then something else happens. And it’s been that way since the pandemic began.” The price of polyvinyl chloride or PVC, used for pipes, medical devices, credit cards, vinyl records and more, has rocketed 70%. The price of epoxy resins, used for coatings, adhesives and paints, has soared 170%. Ethylene — arguably the world’s most important chemical, used in everything from food packaging to antifreeze to polyester — has surged 43%, according to ICIS figures. The root of the problem has become a familiar one in the 18 months since the pandemic ignited a brief but brutal recession: As the economy sank into near-paralysis, petrochemical producers, like manufacturers of all types, slashed production. So they were caught flatfooted when the unexpected happened: The economy swiftly bounced back, and consumers, flush with cash from government relief aid and stockpiles of savings, resumed spending with astonishing speed and vigor. Suddenly, companies were scrambling to acquire raw materials and parts to meet surging orders. Panic buying worsened the shortages as companies rushed to stock up while they could. 130
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“It’s such a bizarre scenario,” said Hassan Ahmed, a chemicals analyst with Alembic Global Advisors, a research firm. “Inventories are lean, and supply is low. Demand will exceed supply growth.” Against the backdrop of tight supplies and surging demand came a series of events that struck Pafford as Murphy’s Law in action: Anything that could go wrong did. In 2020, Hurricanes Laura and Zeta pounded Louisiana, a hub of petrochemical production. Then, in February, a winter storm hit Texas, with its many oil refining and chemical manufacturing facilities. Millions of households and businesses, including the chemical plants, lost power and heat. Pipes froze. More than 100 people died. A July lightning strike temporarily shut down a plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, that makes polypropylene, used in consumer packaging and auto manufacturing. The industry was just beginning to recover when Hurricane Ida struck the Gulf Coast in August, once again damaging refineries and chemical plants. As if that weren’t enough, Tropical Storm Nicholas caused flooding. “Some of these downstream petrochemical plants in the Gulf Coast regions are still shut down from Hurricane Ida,” said Bridgette Budhlall a professor of plastics engineering at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. “Anything related to base chemicals — they’ve had a hell of a year,” said Tom Derry, CEO of the Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers. 133
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“It’s been the hardest year for logistics and supply chain managers,” Pafford said. “They always say the most stressful job in the world is being an air traffic controller at any airport ... I’d venture to say that being a supply chain manager is that — or worse — this year.’’ Ford Motor Co., hampered by an industrywide shortage of computer chips, is now running short of other parts, too, some of them based on petrochemicals. “I think we should expect, as business leaders, to continue to have supply chain challenges for the foreseeable future,” CEO Jim Farley said in an interview. The shortages are slowing production at two leading paint makers, Sherwin-Williams and PPG. Both have raised prices and downgraded their sales guidance, saying the outlook for additional supply remains dim. Though Sherwin-Williams reported strong second-quarter profits, it said that a lack of raw materials cut sales by 3.5% for the period. CEO John Morikis said Sherwin-Williams raised prices in the Americas by 7% in August and an additional 4% this month. More increases are possible next year, he said. The chemical shortages, combined with a neardoubling of oil prices in the past year to $75 a barrel of U.S. benchmark crude, mean higher prices for many goods. “The consumer is going to have to pay,” said Bill Selesky, a chemicals analyst for Argus Research, who suggested that many households, armed with cash from government aid and built-up savings, will be willing to pay higher prices. 135
In the meantime, the supply problem isn’t getting any better. A W.S. Jenks & Son hardware store in Washington, D.C., is receiving only 20% to 30% of the paint it needs to meet customer demand without backordering. In normal times, that rate usually runs 90%, says Billy Wommack, the purchasing director. “Nobody’s happy about it,” Wommack said. “There are a lot of ‘I’m sorrys’ out there.” The shortage is generally felt most by big contractors that need, say, the same-colored paint for numerous apartment complexes and other major projects. Individual homeowners can typically be more flexible. Duval Paint & Decorating, with three stores in the Jacksonville, Florida, area, is scrambling to fill orders, especially for big contractors who need a lot of paint, said John Cornell, a sales clerk who orders paint for the stores. “We’re struggling,” Cornell said. “Sometimes you have to grab products and sit on them for weeks or months so that when the job starts we have it.” Andrew Moore, a clerk at Ricciardi Brothers in Philadelphia, said the store has been running short of lower-grade paints that large contractors use, though here’s ample supply of higher grades. Demand is so high that the store is having a record year, with sales up 20% over last year. Prices are up as high as 15% for some brands, Moore said. The problems in the petrochemical supply chain have been compounded by shortages of labor and shipping containers and by overwhelmed ports. Some Asian ports have 136
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been shut down by COVID-19 outbreaks. In the United States, ports like the one in Long Beach, California, are struggling with backlogs of ships waiting to be unloaded. “I think this is going to go on for a really long time because there are so many factors at play here,” said Kaitlin Wowak, a management professor at the University of Notre Dame. “And it’s across the board in so many products.” It’s also forcing manufacturers to rethink some of their practices. For decades, companies moved production to China to capitalize on lower labor costs. They also held down expenses by keeping inventories to a minimum. Using a “just-in-time” strategy, they bought materials only as needed to fill orders. But as the recession and recovery showed, keeping inventories threadbare carries risk. “Supply chains have changed forever,” said Bindiya Vakil, CEO of the supply chain consultancy Resilinc. The old management philosophy, she said, was to “get everything to the lowest possible price point... What we are dealing with right now is a consequence of those decisions. Companies have lost hundreds of millions, in some cases billions, of dollars in (forgone) profits because of that, because their supply chains failed.” The petrochemical experience, Vakil said, will teach companies to monitor the lowliest links in their supply chains. It’s always easier, she said, to track only the big-ticket items — engines, say, or electronics. But simple plastics are vital, too. Imagine trying to market breakfast cereal without a cheap plastic bag to hold corn flakes or wheat bran. 138
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