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| Presented By Amazon |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen ·May 20, 2021 |
| ☕ Happy Thursday! Smart Brevity™ count: 1,151 words ... 4½ minutes. |
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| 1 big thing: Business under new pressure to save society |
 Data: Edelman Trust Barometer. Chart: Sara Wise/Axios Business is now the most trusted institution in the world, Axios' Sara Fischer writes from a midyear Edelman Trust Barometer report, "A World in Trauma." - Companies assumed that role during the pandemic, when people realized governments couldn't develop and roll out vaccines alone.
Why it matters: People now expect corporations and CEOs to keep focusing on big social and political issues, even after the pandemic. Trust in the government is at an all-time low globally, Edelman found this spring from polling in 14 nations. - Globally, the majority (60%) of people say their country won't be able to overcome its challenges without business' involvement.
- People say businesses have outperformed government across every issue measured — COVID, job creation, health care, education, disinformation, climate and addressing systemic inequalities.
Most people (77%) said their employer has become their most trusted institution, putting more pressure on CEOs to prioritize societal and political issues in addition to shareholder value. - Roughly 80% of employees expect their companies to act on vaccine hesitancy, climate change, automation, misinformation and racism.
What to watch: The study finds that businesses could be in this position for a long time. The bottom line: Before the pandemic, customers were considered the most important business stakeholders. Now, it's employees. |
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| 2. Vaccine boosters coming as soon as September |
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| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios |
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| The first Americans to get COVID vaccinations could require a booster shot — for many, a third shot — as soon as September, the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna tell Axios' Caitlin Owens. - "The data that I see coming ... are supporting the notion that likely there will be a need for a booster somewhere between 8 and 12 months," Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO and chairman, said during an Axios virtual event.
- Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in an email: "I would do [a] September start for those at highest risk," including health care workers and the elderly.
What's next: You don't need to worry that you'll wake up tomorrow having lost all of your immunity. Any decline in protection would be gradual, and researchers around the world are gathering data. |
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| 3. Hiring frenzy for chief diversity officers |
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| Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios |
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| Fortune 500 firms have been scrambling to hire chief diversity officers in response to racial justice protests in the year since George Floyd's death, Axios' Erica Pandey writes. - The number of people with the title "head of diversity" jumped 104% from 2015 to 2020, according to LinkedIn data. The number of people with the "chief diversity officer" title increased 68%.
The CDO job — and the field of diversity and inclusion — are still new. And those stepping into the job face hurdle after hurdle. - Met with resistance in making systemic changes, many CDOs find themselves running one-off diversity trainings for staff, which don't accomplish much.
The bottom line: Companies that don't hire diverse workforces will fall behind in appealing to an increasingly diverse population. |
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| A message from Amazon |
| "Amazon has allowed me to live a comfortable life" |
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| When Luv-Luv joined Amazon, she was just looking for a job — any job — with health care. What she found was so much more. Thanks to Amazon's starting wage of at least $15 an hour and comprehensive benefits, she is able to live life on her own terms. Watch her story. |
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| 4. The globe reopens |
| Photo: Kathy Willens/AP Above, friends from a church group raise a birthday toast at the Tiki Bar on Manhattan's Upper West Side. - "New York City shut down 423 days ago, on a Sunday night in March 2020," the N.Y. Times' Michael Wilson tweeted. Yesterday, "officially, it largely reopened to 100% capacity."
- Subways resumed running round-the-clock this week.
Photos: Lucas Bariouslet/AFP via Getty Images Above, waiters in Paris pose in front of "cafés en terrasse." - Six months after a nationwide lockdown, restaurants and bar terraces reopened yesterday at 50% capacity for groups up to six, and the curfew was pushed back from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (France 24)
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| 5. Our weekly map: COVID cases fall 20% |
 Data: CSSE Johns Hopkins University. Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios COVID infections continue to plummet across the U.S., Axios' Sam Baker and Andrew Witherspoon report. - Why it matters: Experts have warned many times over the past year that it wouldn't be safe to rush back into pre-pandemic life without containing the virus. Now, we're containing the virus.
The U.S. averaged about 30,000 cases per day over the past week. - The progress is happening remarkably fast, and across the board.
- It was just last week that average daily cases dropped below 40,000, for the first time in months. This week's figures are a 20% improvement over last week.
The bottom line: This is all happening because of the vaccines. The more people get vaccinated, the better it'll get. |
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| 6. Bitcoin bites it |
 Data: Coindesk. Chart: Sara Wise/Axios "Bitcoin's value has dropped almost 50% in two weeks to below $40,000, dragging siblings like ether with it," Reuters reports. - "Culprits include China, which on Tuesday banned financial firms dealing in cryptocurrencies, and Tesla boss Elon Musk, who has backed away from a previous plan to buy, hold and accept payment for his electric cars in bitcoin."
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| 7. Big investors plunge into "climate risk" |
| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Big-name investors are pouring capital into "climate intelligence" — sophisticated analytics that companies and governments need to spot and reduce risk in a warming world, Axios Andrew Freedman writes. - Why it matters: With the effects of climate change already visible in extreme weather events and sea-level rise, companies face increasing pressure from investors and regulators to grapple with climate risk.
For a hotel chain, vulnerabilities might take the form of exposure to sea level rise in coastal cities. But hotels could also have business threatened by extreme heat events in other areas in which they operate. |
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| 8. "Job quality" index shows inequality |
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| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios |
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| Pay inequality is worsening by many measures, Axios' Hope King writes from the U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index (JQI). - Why it matters: Worker pay is at the heart of debates over the slowly recovering labor market.
The latest index finds that 55% of workers were in low-quality jobs (weekly wages below national average) vs. 45% in high-quality. - Broken down by race, the index shows drastic inequality: 28% of Hispanic American workers held high-quality jobs in 2020, compared with 29% of Black Americans and 61% of Asian Americans.
- Since 2007, Black Americans have seen a 6% decline in job quality — versus a less than 1% decline for all workers, a 29% increase for Hispanic workers and a 66% increase for Asian American workers.
Axios is first to report the new findings from the group of research and industry analysts who publish the JQI monthly. They include economists from the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a trade group representing domestic businesses, including farmers and manufacturers. |
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| 9. Push for national training standards for police |
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| Police in Clearwater, Fla. Photo: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images |
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| Police training needs more emphasis on de-escalating conflicts rather than just using force, Axios managing editor David Nather writes from a police reform report out today. - Why it matters: The recommendation by the Council on Criminal Justice's Task Force on Policing, a group of law enforcement and civil rights leaders, adds weight to suggestions by other training experts that the federal government needs to develop national standards.
Keep reading. |
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| 10. New pickup lingo: "frunk" |
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| The Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck can power an entire work site. Photo: Ford |
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| Ford is pitching its electric F-150 Lightning pickup, unveiled last night, as a generator on wheels — with batteries that can power a home for three days in a blackout, Axios' Joann Muller writes from Detroit. - For construction or camping, owners can power tools or appliances from outlets in the truck's cabin, bed and "frunk" — the massive front trunk where the engine would usually be.
Photo: Paul Sancya/AP The big picture: Electric vehicles have finally hit the mainstream. The Ford F-series pickup truck, America's most popular vehicle model, is going electric at a decidedly mass-market price: $39,974. - Why it matters: Until now, EVs have appealed mostly to wealthy technology fans or environmentalists. The F-150 Lightning is aimed at everyday truck owners — making it a potential turning point in the electric vehicle revolution.
The truck can send your smartphone an alert if you're in danger of running out of juice. |
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| A message from Amazon |
| "Before Amazon, money was tight. I wanted a good stable job" |
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| When Marie joined Amazon, she started making at least $15 an hour and gained some peace of mind. The background: Amazon raised their starting wage to at least $15 an hour in 2018 because it is good for workers, good for business, and good for communities. |
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| 📬 Please invite your friends, family, colleagues to sign up here for Axios AM and Axios PM. |
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