Reading Global(2022.01.12)
The development of the metacosm has caused Microsoft to lose a large number of employees
Lianhe Zaobao reported on the 12th that the development of the meta-universe has allowed various technology giants to compete for talents, and Microsoft (Microsoft) has recently been hit by employee turnover.
In less than a year, about 100 people on the team that developed Microsoft's HoloLens 'augmented reality' have left, most of them turning to Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms.
Former Microsoft employees say Microsoft's competitors have been "grabbing" the talent responsible for developing Microsoft's HoloLens "augmented reality headset," especially those with experience, and sometimes even giving double salaries to lure them in. Microsoft's "augmented reality" team currently employs about 1,500 people.
LinkedIn profiles of more than 70 former employees on the HoloLens team show that they have all left Microsoft in the past 12 months. LinkedIn profiles also show that more than 40 of them have joined Meta Platforms.
Nidec will increase production of gear processing machines in China
Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the 12th that Nidec will build a new plant in China to increase production for machine tools such as pure electric vehicles (EVs) for processing gears. JPY 50 billion will be invested in the project. The company plans to expand its pure electric vehicle-related business in addition to its flagship motor. In China, where sales of pure electric vehicles are soaring, more and more companies are investing to capture the demand.
The new plant will be built in Pinghu, Zhejiang Province, where the Group's subsidiaries are clustered, and will be one of the nidec Machine Tool plants acquired from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in August 2021. Production will begin as soon as spring 2023. It is planned to promote the construction of the project in three phases. In addition to being used for power transmission of motors, gears are also indispensable components for pure electric vehicle drive components, such as reducers that reduce speed and generate torque (driving force).
Nidec positions drive motors for pure electric vehicles as one of its core businesses and aims to achieve sales of 10 trillion yen by 2030. At present, the increase in the production of pure electric vehicle machine tools is aimed at driving growth by expanding its business to peripheral areas other than the main product motor.
According to Nidec Machine Tool, the market size of China's gear processing machine tools is about 50 billion yen. Nidec plans to increase its market share from nearly 10% to more than 50% by starting new plants in fiscal 2025 (ending in March 2026). At the same time, the sales of the entire machine tool business reached 250 billion yen, becoming one of the new pillars of growth. Nidec announced its acquisition of machine tool manufacturer OKK in November 2021.
The German Trade Association warned that Omicron would cause significant damage to the supply chain
Reuters reported that the German Trade Association (BGA) warned on the 12th that due to the rapid spread of the highly contagious new crown Omicron variant, the supply chain will cause large-scale disruptions to the supply chain, but said that the possibility of long-term collapse is unlikely.
German industry has been hit hard by a shortage of microchips and other components, while an increase in COVID-19 cases in early 2022 has cast a shadow over retailers' prospects.
"There is no risk of collapse, but there is a risk of a massive disruption of the supply chain — at least temporarily," Funke Newspaper Group quoted BGA Chairman Dirk Jandura as saying.
He said that while many wholesalers around the world have increased the flexibility of their supply chains, the global distribution network is still likely to be disrupted.
"You can't completely protect yourself from the global pandemic," Jandura said, calling on the government to provide support by lowering energy and electricity prices and other forms of help.
According to the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI), a German disease control agency, Omicron now accounts for more than 44% of COVID-19 infections in Germany. Data released by Germany on the 12th showed that in the past day, the country had 80,430 new cases of new coronavirus infection, which is the highest data since the outbreak of the epidemic.
Concerns that the new variant could lead to a pause in critical services have prompted the German government to tighten access rules for restaurants and bars and shorten quarantine times for COVID-19.
The German Chamber of Commerce (DIHK) welcomed the new quarantine regulations but was concerned about the increasing number of infections in the logistics sector, which now faces a shortage of personnel, and warned that the food retail and medical production sectors could also be affected.
No goggles required: the "Tearless" onion will be on sale in UK supermarkets
The Guardian reported on the 12th that cutting onions is undoubtedly a nightmare for people who cook, but with the "tearless" onion being listed in the UK for the first time, the hot red eyes will become a thing of the past.
Next week, British supermarket chain Waitrose will start selling Sunrise in its stores, a "brown, tearless, sweet" onion variety. With the slogan of "no tears", this onion has been successfully developed for more than 30 years.
In order to reduce the irritation of the eyes by the gas produced when cutting onions, the British spent a lot of energy looking for solutions. These include refrigerating onions first, soaking them in water, and some even wearing swimming goggles. In fact, Waitrose's sister chain, John Lewis, does sell special 'onion goggles' with anti-fog lenses for £23.
However, due to the advent of Sunrise, onion goggles may soon be obsolete, with Waitrose saying the new onions are "perfect for those with sensitive eyes and cooking with kids in the kitchen." And the onions of this variety taste sweeter and are suitable for use in a variety of dishes, from salads to hot food.
However, Sunions will be much more expensive than regular onions. Three-pack Sundays sell for £1.50, or 50p for an onion. That's three times the cheapest private label onion in the Waitrose, about 14p each.
The race to develop tearless onions has a long history, and scientists around the world have been working on prototypes for decades. Sunions launched in the U.S. four years ago. Last year, when the brand was acquired by several Spanish retailers, they entered the European continent.
The onion was originally developed by agricultural giant Bayer AG but is now owned by chemical company BASF, which acquired part of its seed and crop business. Basf said Sunions were not genetically modified, but the product of decades of hybridization of less irritating onion strains.
Today's picture
Tilts at a rate of 7.6 cm per year The leaning tower of San Francisco's tallest building
On January 11, 2022, local time, according to CBS, San Francisco's famous tallest building, the Millennium Tower, is tilting at a rate of about 7.6 centimeters per year, and although engineers have tried to rescue and repair it, the effect is not good. Located in San Francisco's bustling financial district, the Millennium Tower was completed and used in 2009, with a total of 58 floors and a height of about 195 meters, where many political and business celebrities live. But it didn't take long for occupants to be told that the building had settled unevenly, and that the amount of foundation settlement had exceeded expectations in 2016, and was now tilted about 66 centimeters to the northwest. Although engineers tried their best to save the sloping building, the original engineering plan made the situation worse and had to be stopped in 2021.
(This article is compiled from Lianhe Zaobao, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Reuters, The Guardian)
Economic Observation Network intern reporter Zhou Yuqing sorted out