Can companies match their bold promises with action?

PRODUCTIVITY Here's how coronavirus may change how Big Tech works  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE FRI, JUN 12, 2020 TECH, TRANSFORMATION AND THE FUTURE OF WORK EDITOR'S NOTE Think a friend or colleague should be getting this newsletter? Share this link with them to sign up. It's been two weeks of bold promises to advance social justice and equality in the workplace, but there's a long way to go. Only a handful of organizations have put their money where their mouth is with significant donations (and even those are pennies considering their market cap) to promote tangible outcomes to fight inequality. Notable though, a handful of leaders and CEOs have stepped down since the latest Black Lives Matter protests began, albeit for different reasons. Alexis Ohanian (Reddit) decided to step down from the board to make "real positive change" and asked to be replaced with a black candidate; the company followed through with Michael Seibel. Greg Glassman of CrossFit left after some very ill-advised and out of touch remarks. Other changes include Audrey Gelman (The Wing), and in the media world, editors from The New York Times, Refinery29, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bon Appétit and others. As protests continue to hold a firm grip on the nation, employees are demanding real change, not just a statement of values, and companies are going to need to start to do more – their financial well-being depends on it. In a JUST Capital event this week with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, hedge-fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones went so far as to say that companies' belief in existing for the sole purpose of generating profits has helped allow corporate boards to neglect issues of equity – gender, racial and otherwise. "When the pandemic hit, it's no wonder that the greatest social problem manifested itself in the country with the most fragile social infrastructure," Jones said. We'll continue to keep our eyes on organizational shifts, and commitments to systemic and sustainable change at work. Programming reminder: our CNBC @Work Spotlight event is happening next Thursday, June 18. As we all focus on staying connected with our workforce and think through forward-looking solutions to keep us moving, these discussions will explore driving better outcomes with the convergence of new technology. We'll be speaking to leaders from VMware, Honeywell, Kohl's, Red Hat, Shopify & more, tackling collaboration in the cloud, connectivity and the customer-employee experience, automation and IoT and more. Last chance to request a complimentary invitation. KEY STORIES PRODUCTIVITY Here's how coronavirus may change how Big Tech works Tech offices, from Apple's 2.8 million-square-foot "spaceship" campus, to Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters, have always reimagined how we think about office space. But the coronavirus may make the traditional office environment a thing of the past, at least for the near future, as companies try to balance communal work with safety. TALENT Amazon is suing a cloud employee who left for Google, rekindling the debate over non-compete agreements Amazon and Microsoft, two of the world's most valuable companies, have both filed lawsuits against employees to block them from immediately joining competitors. But some techies are calling for an end to the practice. CAPITAL Weekly unemployment claims better than expected as workers leave jobless rolls Those collecting benefits declined as well, totaling 20.9 million, compared with a downwardly revised 21.5 million a week earlier. WATCH NOW Amazon bans use of its facial recognition technology by police for one year Healthy Returns: The path forward with Dr. Emily Gurley JOIN US REGISTER CNBC EVENTS CNBC Events @CNBCEVENTS Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel   Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy CNBC Events   © 2020 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS