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Misconceptions about the tech layoff

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Over the last 6 months, we have seen a common denominator among prominent tech companies to lay off a sizeable portion of their staff amidst declines in revenue and an overall slow business environment.

It does look obviously bad, recently Google came out with a report stating that they are on the verge of releasing 12,000 workers. This is quite a significant number and shouldn’t be brushed under the rug.

If you dig into the weeds of these layoffs and look at the statistics for the hiring numbers of these companies, you would see that more than likely they overhired and thought that the engagement that their products got during the pandemic was going to continue.

During the pandemic many tech companies hired in order to meet the demand, it was the logical thing any business would undertake during a period when the market might give the impression that the business is expanding and additional resources might be needed.

As the pandemic tapered off and the economy started to open, CEOs soon realized that the increase in demand was probably just a trend that was trending upwards in congruency with the lockdown. Hence now they have to scale back staff in order to match the level of the market and don’t bleed as much on the balance sheet.

Despite the fact that we are in a downturn in the western economy we are nowhere near panic mode yet, it is very unfortunate for those who are losing their jobs and there will be many more to come as the market is readjusting itself.

If Google for example or Facebook cuts staff by 30-50% then we can say probably something bigger is at play. Until then if such an event ever occurs, we can have confidence in the tech market.

Alphabet is on the verge of laying off thousands of workers as pandemic high cools

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Alphabet, the parent organization of Google, said on Friday that it wanted to eliminate 12,000 positions, turning into the most recent innovation organization to diminish its workforce in light of worries about a more extensive financial lull, after an employing binge during the pandemic.

The work cuts are the organization’s biggest ever, adding up to around 6% of its worldwide workforce. Sundar Pichai, the CEO, said Alphabet had extended too quickly during the pandemic, when interest for advanced administrations blasted, and should pull together on items and innovation center to its future, as computerized reasoning.

“We recruited for an unexpected financial reality in comparison to the one we face today,” Mr. Pichai said in a note to workers posted on the organization’s site.

Google Exploration, a mainstay of the A.I. drives, cut jobs in regions that have gained some decent forward movement, including medical care, as per an email that Jeff Dignitary, the senior VP for exploration, wellbeing, and A.I., shipped off his workers.

The organization intends to smooth out its interests in Google for Clinicians, a device for medical services suppliers. Google and Letter set additionally solidified advanced mechanics endeavors, Mr. Senior member added.

Google Cloud, which has employed dangerously fast throughout the course of recent years, likewise saw cuts. “The present news principally affected places that were non-client confronting, non-designing and functional in nature,” Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud’s CEO, wrote in an email to representatives.

He added that the division would keep on recruiting in essential regions, including item improvement and client-related jobs, to support its development.

Google joins a rundown of innovation organizations that have laid off laborers subsequent to finishing up, they overstretched under the conviction that the pandemic-filled blast addressed another typical. Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Twitter are among others that have declared a large number of occupation cuts.

Innovation firms have eliminated in excess of 190,000 positions starting from the beginning of 2022, as per Layoffs.

The moves mark the finish of a time of quick extension in the innovation business, which struggled for workers with extravagant advantages and significant salaries. Google, which began in 1998, characterized a work culture that impacted enterprises a long way past Silicon Valley.

Alphabet, which is situated in Mountain View, Calif., had almost 187,000 representatives toward the finish of September, up from around 150,000 a year sooner.

In a note named “A hard choice to set us up for the future,” Mr. Pichai said the work cuts would stumble into item regions, work liabilities, and areas that future incorporates expanded rivalry from rivals offering better approaches to look for data on the web; ChatGPT, a famous chatbot made by OpenAI, has stunned clients by giving plainly composed replies to questions and inquiries.


“These are significant minutes to hone our concentration, re-engineer our expense base and direct our ability and money to our most elevated needs,” Mr. Pichai said. “Being obliged in certain areas permits us to wager huge on others.”

One on One numbers show potential for the future

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One on One is finally turning things around and seems to be gaining momentum with its recent financial report. The company saw a net profit increase to approximately 722 percent.

The educational services company increased significantly in November 2022 quarter, they saw a net profit of J$11.2 million, which is a 722 percent increase over November 2021 when they made J$1.8 million.

Revenue also jumped 84.6 percent over the previous year, in the November period of 2021 they posted earned J$44.8 million and a year later they earned J$82.7 million. A big driver in such a jump in revenue came because of the fact that they saw an expansion of existing contracts and services to clients in the government division.

Gross profit also doubled during the same period from the prior year, 2022 numbers during the November period showed that they earned J$65.9 million up from J$30 million during that same period the prior year.

Operating expenses continue to rise as it seems as if the company has been expanding operations. They noticed a 70.70 percent increase in overall operating expenses which is J$22 million.

The total equity for the company increased from J$98 million in the prior year (2021) to J$453.1 million in November 2022.

Total assets for the November 2022 quarter were J$575.2 million compared to J$334.4 million for November 2021.

A new study shows China is outperforming the United States in artificial intelligence

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A new study by Nikkei shows valid reasons why China is currently outperforming the USA in artificial intelligence due to the quality and quantity of research that is currently being released from China.

This shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone who follows the field of artificial intelligence in terms of application and impact. China has been investing heavily in the field of both the public and private sectors.

In the public sphere companies such as Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holdings, and Huawei Technologies are some of the leading companies that are having an impact in the space.

These areas of research are then spun off into products and services. Baidu for example has been experiencing huge success with their car fleets which are deeply reliant on artificial intelligent systems.

This report comes at a time when the relationship between Washington and China has soured. There is basically a war going on from a trading and technological standpoint.

The United States has been trying really hard to deter China’s technological progress but it will take a lot more to stop them by blocking technological trade deals and moving various core suppliers and engineers from the country.

Regardless, the United States still has the technological base and some of the largest technological countries in the world who themselves are investing heavily in the field and the competition between various fractions in the technological community will continue.

Dequity hires Mayberry as it plans go to market strategy

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Dequity is now working with Mayberry to organize its listing on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE). Dequity is a local private capital firm that has been steadily growing over the years ever since its inception in December 2020.

Serial entrepreneur and founder Kadeen Mairs is the majority stakeholder in this venture which is chaired by economist Dr. Damien King and run by CEO Adrian Smith.

Mr. Smith commented on the overall strategy for Dequity along with the firm’s current state.

“We’ve reached a limit with our money and we think that an association with Mayberry will help us raise the necessary capital that will allow us to take advantage of other opportunities that have come our way since we’ve been growing the company over the past two years,” Smith said.

Mr. Mairs also commented on the overall strategy for Dequity.

“We don’t try to take over a founder’s business but rather, take an associate stake, investing 20 to 30 percent of the valuation, and help them to grow in readiness for the capital market, where they can list and realize the value of the company,” he said.

Ever since Dequity started operation, they have invested in a list of Jamaican companies such as Royal Medical and Imaging in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland that is currently looking to expand.

The firm has also invested in Johnston Development Group, JDG, which is working on its residential complex in Graham Heights.

Dequity also plans to list one of its portfolio companies on the junior market.

10 ways to become a productive entrepreneur

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  1. Set clear goals: By setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals, you can focus your efforts and track your progress.
  1. Create a schedule: By creating a schedule and sticking to it, you can ensure that you are using your time effectively and efficiently.
  1. Prioritize your tasks: Not all tasks are created equal, so it’s important to prioritize your tasks based on their importance and urgency. This will help you focus on the most important tasks first and minimize distractions.
  1. Use time-management techniques: There are many time-management techniques that can help you stay focused and productive, such as the Pomodoro Technique and the Eisenhower Matrix.
  1. Stay organized: A cluttered workspace can lead to a cluttered mind. By staying organized, you can minimize distractions and stay focused on your tasks.
  1. Take breaks: Taking breaks can help you recharge and refocus. It’s important to find a balance between working hard and taking breaks to avoid burnout.
  1. Delegate tasks: As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to feel like you have to do everything yourself. However, by delegating tasks to others, you can free up time and energy to focus on the most important tasks.
  1. Learn to say no: It’s important to be selective about the tasks and commitments you take on. By learning to say no, you can focus on the most important tasks and avoid overextending yourself.
  1. Use technology to your advantage: There are many tools and technologies available to help entrepreneurs stay organized and productive, such as project management software and productivity apps.
  1. Take care of yourself: Being a productive entrepreneur requires physical and mental energy. By taking care of yourself, you can ensure that you have the energy and focus you need to be productive. This includes getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet.

FosRich ends the year as the most valuable company on the JSE by market cap

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FosRich Company Limited (FOSRICH) has achieved quite a feat as it becomes the most valuable company on the JSE by market capitalization. It finished the year 2022 with a market capitalization of $19.64 billion.

The company saw its stock price increase by 332 percent, to put things in perspective the overall Junior Market Index is valued at $194.29 billion in market capitalization.

This rise also saw them overtaking Lasco Manufacturing Limited, which held the record 11 consecutive years. FosRich is now on its second year in a row as the top performing stock.

In 2021 the price increased by 120 percent. Despite them being the top company by market cap, Lasco Manufacturing and Laso Distributors earned the most in net profit totaling $1.71 and $1.02 billion respectively.

The company carried out a stock split on July 26, 2022 which increased the shares and widened the investor pool. This was also another record on the JSE market as it became the company with the most number of shares. This stock split pushed to share price to $3.91 from $9.05.

First Rock becomes a minority stakeholder in NCB’s Cayman hotel project

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First Rock Real Estate Investments has acquired a piece of NCB’s Cayman luxury boutique hotel for US $1,350,000. The name of the hotel is Kailani (Hilton) Cayman which is predicted to open next year (2024). This deal went through Cayman subsidiaries of both companies, First Rock Capital Cayman and NCB Cayman.

This hotel will take advantage of the resilient tourism sector in Cayman that will continue to grow. The theme behind this project is for this hotel to be a business hotel that focuses on high-end clients.

Another key part of this partnership is the Curio Collection by Hilton which is a portfolio of hotel companies under the Hilton umbrella. NCB and Curio Collection are working together extensively to bring this project through.

Despite the minority stake that First Rock bought within the project, reports are coming out that First Rock wants to purchase more of the project.

Denroy Pusey, First Rock Group AVP Real Estate Business has this to say about this new development, “We are currently in discussion with NCB Group to at least double our current investment in this project. When we did our feasibility and looked for partners in Cayman we saw that NCB has a number of projects, which would align with us such as this one, which is a no-brainer.”

Microsoft is on the verge of investing $10 billion in OpenAI

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Microsoft will be investing USD$10 billion in OpenAI, the company behind the buzzword AI tool “ChatGPT”.

This value now pushes OpenAI valuation to $29 billion, this is quite a landmark for such an AI company.

The terms of the deal will give Microsoft 75% of OpenAI’s profits until it makes its money back and then the stake will drop to 49% in OpenAI. ChatGPT has gotten a lot of media attention over the last few weeks. The AI tool can be able to generate text based on human-readable questions.

These responses from this AI system have been received with both negative and positive reactions from the public. On one side you have the optimists who are very positive about the technology and on the other side, you have the pessimists who are predicting a dystopian future.

ChatGPT could prove to be beneficial for Microsoft, this technology could be integrated within some of the company’s technology suites and enhance the overall product. For example, it could help with search given that ChatGPT is text-based, it will definitely have an impact there.

Analysts are already predicting that ChatGPT will have an impact on Google’s search dominance over the upcoming years when it has been integrated into a product that can improve the search capabilities for the average user.

JN Bank has been given the approval to distribute JAM-DEX

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The Bank of Jamaica has given JN Bank Limited the green light to operate as a wallet provider which will now allow JN to distribute JAM-DEX. JAM-DEX is the digital currency that the BOJ has been promoting over the last two years that finally went into operation last year.

It’s not yet taken on local adoption but this will come with time as new technologies often start out slow until it hits critical mass.

This now puts JN Bank in a special group of early adopters from an institutional perspective. JN bank is now in the final stages of its digital wallet application, if and when this passes it will allow JN Bank to expose this technology to the public so that customers can make and receive payments.

It’s very positive news for JN Bank and overall, for the banking industry which has always been archaic and slow in the adaptation of certain technology stacks.

Even though digital wallets are good, the technology stack locally to integrate into global networks of certain payment systems as a merchant is mediocre at best. Let’s see how this plays out over time.