Fast Five

SWC’s Fast Five

We’ve adapted out shopping – from online ordering of TP, to tipping our pizza delivery robots to crushing Apple in our rush for a $19 product. Meanwhile back on the hiring front, there are new strategeries to overcome recruitment hurdles and a new title in the C-suite bringing new meaning to “heat.”

So, here’s this week’s Fast Five:

1 The way we buy and use toilet paper has changed forever

The pandemic has changed the way people buy and consume toilet paper. E-commerce sites saw toilet paper sales increase 47 percent YOY as people changed their shopping behavior to online purchasing. As a result, manufacturers are shifting to more online sales-friendly packaging, including ship-ready packaging to ensure that tissue products can be sent with no need for secondary packaging.

2 Robots hit the streets as demand for food delivery grows

Robot food delivery is no longer the stuff of science fiction. Hundreds of little robots, knee-high and able to hold around four large pizzas, are now navigating college campuses and cities in the U.S. The companies building them say pandemic-related labor shortages and a growing preference for contactless delivery have accelerated their deployment.

3 An up-and-coming title: “Chief heat officer”

Almost every city has a traffic safety person and an air quality person, but few cities have dedicated officials to handle climate change. Cities around the world, starting with the ones most imperiled by climate change, are now hiring “chief heat officers” to devise cooling strategies and take immediate action.

4 Apple’s most back-ordered new product will surprise you

Apple’s most back-ordered new product is a $19, 6.3-by-6.3-inch cloth to wipe smudges and fingerprints off screens. The cloth is made with “soft, nonabrasive material” and cleans the screens of 88 different Apple products.

5 Three reasons it’s so hard for companies to hire right now – and what they can do about it

Open jobs posted on LinkedIn have nearly doubled since the beginning of the year. So, what’s holding workers back? New data from LinkedIn sheds light on a few driving factors, but the good news is that there are ways companies can overcome these hurdles.