非诚勿扰

Hustle是一家短消息初创公司，解雇了35%的员工。_我的网站

欢场春梦

A | DETROIT -- Detroit's three automakers have laid off roughly 4,800 workers at factories that are not among the plants that have been hit by the United Auto Workers strikes, which have lasted for nearly four weeks.The companies say the strikes have nevertheless forced them to impose those layoffs. They note that the job cuts have occurred mainly at factories that make parts for assembly plants that were closed by strikes. In one case, layoffs have been imposed at a factory that uses supplies from a parts factory on strike.The UAW rejects that argument. It contends that the layoffs are unjustified and were imposed as part of the companies' pressure campaign to persuade UAW members to accept less favorable terms in negotiations with automakers. The factories that have been affected by layoffs are in six states: Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, Indiana and New York. Sam Fiorani, an analyst with AutoForecast Solutions, a consulting firm, said he thinks the layoffs reflect a simple reality: The automakers are losing money because of the strikes. By slowing or idling factories that are running below their capacities because of strike-related parts shortages, Fiorani said, the companies can mitigate further losses.“It doesn’t make sense to keep running at 30% or 40% of capacity when it normally runs at 100%,” he said. “We’re not looking at huge numbers of workers relative to the ones actually being struck. But there is fallout.”In a statement, Bryce Currie, vice president of Americas manufacturing at Ford, said: “While we are doing what we can to avoid layoffs, we have no choice but to reduce production of parts that would be destined for a plant that is on strike."UAW President Shawn Fain countered in a statement that the automakers were using layoffs to pressure the union into settling the strike. With billions in profits, Fain argued, the companies don’t have to lay off a single employee.The UAW began striking against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis on Sept. 15, with one assembly plant from each company. The next week, the union expanded the strike to 38 GM and Stellantis parts warehouses. Assembly plants from Ford and GM were added the week after that. All told, about 25,000 workers have walked off their jobs at the three automakers. Striking workers are receiving $500 a week from the union’s strike pay fund. By contrast, anyone who is laid off would qualify for state unemployment aid, which, depending on a variety of circumstances, could be less or more than $500 a week. “Their plan won’t work,” Fain said. “The UAW will make sure any worker laid off in the Big Three’s latest attack will not go without an income.”GM said it has laid off 2,330 workers, including 1,600 at a temporarily closed assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, that makes the Chevrolet Malibu sedan and Cadillac XT4 small SUV. The plant uses metal parts produced at the GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri, which is on strike. Other GM facilities that have been affected by layoffs are in Lockport, New York; Toledo, Ohio; Marion, Indiana; Parma, Ohio; and Lansing, Michigan.Ford said it has laid off 1,865 workers. They include 600 auto-body and parts-stamping employees in Wayne, Michigan, who are not on strike but who have been affected by a nearby assembly plant that has been struck. Other Ford locations with layoffs include Chicago; Sterling Heights and Livonia, Michigan; and Cleveland and Lima, Ohio. Stellantis said late Monday that it had laid off about 640 workers, including 520 at an engine factory complex in Trenton, Michigan, that supplies a Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, that is on strike. Other locations with layoffs include a metal casting plant in Kokomo, Indiana, and a machining factory in Toledo. Fiorani said that if the strike widens, more workers will likely be laid off at non-striking plants. Once metal stamping factories that supply multiple assembly plants have produced enough parts for non-striking facilities, the companies would likely shut them down.“Once you've filled up the stocks for the other plants you supply," he said, “you have to lay off the workers and wait out the strike.”Separate companies that manufacture parts for the automakers are likely to have laid off workers but might not report them publicly, said Patrick Anderson, CEO of the Anderson Economic Group in Lansing, Michigan. A survey of parts supply companies by a trade association called MEMA Original Equipment Suppliers found that 30% of members have laid off workers and that more than 60% expect to start layoffs in mid-October.Fiorani said that while larger parts suppliers can likely withstand the strike, smaller companies that make parts for the bigger companies might not have enough cash or the ability to borrow to outlast the job actions. Some, he said, may have a couple dozen workers “and don't have billions in value to use as collateral in loans,” he said. Thus far, the union has decided to target a small number of plants from each company rather than have all 146,000 UAW members at the automakers go on strike at the same time.Last week, the union reported progress in the talks and decided not to add any more plants. This came after GM agreed to bring joint-venture electric vehicle battery factories into the national master contract, almost assuring that the plants will be unionized.Battery plants are a major point of contention in the negotiations. The UAW wants those plants to be unionized to assure jobs and top wages for workers who will be displaced by the industry's ongoing transition to electric vehicles.。

B | 北京时间1月12日上午，短信初创企业Hustle在2018年中期选举中与1300多个民主党竞选团队合作。然而，在选举后，该公司裁员35%。在最近专注于政界的科技初创企业中，争先恐后被认为是最大的成功案例之一。迄今为止，该公司已从全球汽车公司（GV）获得超过4000万美元的风险投资，包括社会资本（Social Capital）、Insight Venture Partners和Alphabet。公司面临的问题表明，将竞选活动作为主要商业来源的商业模式存在根本缺陷。Hustle首席执行官RoddyLindsay周四在博客上首次披露了裁员的消息。Hustle为活动、权利组织和营销人员开发工具，帮助他们向联系人列表发送定制信息。短信已经成为政治运动的一个重要方面，几乎每个主要的民主党机构都在努力，包括45个州的民主党立法竞选委员会、民主党全国委员会和民主党团体。林赛以前是Facebook工程师。他为马克扎克伯格的移民改革权利组织工作。2014年，美国和联合创办了Hustle。该公司与伯尼·桑德斯的总统竞选团队合作，并迅速扩大了其他民主党客户。该公司还与其他权利和商业组织合作，美国在线汽车公司Lyft是该公司最早的非政治客户。林赛说，他正在积极发展业务，以抵消中期选举后不可避免的政治收入下降。

C | ”我们必须走出去，与稳定的实体建立业务，这不会每两年消失一次，”他说。到去年年底，Hustle有30个商业客户。

D | 但在2018年，政治活动和组织占据了Hustle的大部分收入。Hustle的问题是对其他初创企业的警告。在2016年美国大选后涌现的一批新的政治科技公司中，力争上游是最好的。挪威信贷银行（DNC）首席技术官拉菲•克里科里安（RaffiKrikorian）表示，许多其他此类初创企业可能比匆忙更容易受到攻击。政治技术供应商在选举后正逐渐走向死亡，这是该行业的规范，因此许多投资者也会避开此类技术公司。然而，Hustle的投资者之一、高地实验室的合作伙伴Betsy Hoover表示，许多企业面临季节性增长和收缩。