[단독외신] Microsoft defends diversity efforts after feds allege discrimination
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Microsoft stood by its efforts to hire and promote more black staffers this week after the feds raised concerns that it was making discriminatory employment decisions.
The US Department of Labor took issue with Microsoft’s June pledge to double its number of black and African American managers and other leaders by 2025, warning the tech giant in a letter that it’s forbidden as a federal contractor from discriminating against workers because of their race.
The Sept. 29 letter also asked Microsoft to submit records proving it’s not making illegal race-based hiring decisions — an allegation the company said it “emphatically” denies.
“We hire and promote the most qualified person. And nothing we announced in June changes that,” Dev Stahlkopf, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and general counsel, said in a blog post Tuesday. “Instead, our continued focus is to work hard to consider and develop the broadest range of qualified candidates for opportunities.”
Microsoft was among several large companies that announced effort this summer to address racism and promote opportunities for black people amid massive protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.
In a June 23 message announcing Microsoft’s initiatives, CEO Satya Nadella said the company would expand leadership development programs for midlevel black employees and pair higher-ranking black staffers with mentors to help them climb the corporate ladder.
But the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs indicated Microsoft’s plans may run afoul of the government’s guidelines for promoting diversity in hiring. Officials set an Oct. 29 deadline for the company to submit documents related to its efforts to help black employees.
“This statement by the CEO did not reference any established goals in an affirmative action program, and appears to imply that employment action may be taken based on race,” office director Craig Leen wrote in the letter, which the feds provided to The Post.
While federal contractors are supposed to set goals for recruiting minorities and women based on availability, “contractors must not engage in discriminatory practices in meeting these goals,” Leen said.
Microsoft is confident that its diversity efforts comply with all federal employment laws, Stahlkopf said. The company will provide the Labor Department with the information it requested and defend its approach if needed, he said.
“We look forward to helping the [Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs] understand the legality of our programs as we work towards a shared goal of promoting diversity in full conformity with federal law,” Stahlkopf said.
[단독외신] Eli Lilly seeks emergency use of its antibody drug for COVID-19
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Drugmaker Eli Lilly says it has asked the US government to allow emergency use of its experimental antibody therapy based on early results from a study that suggested the drug reduced symptoms, the amount of virus, hospitalizations and ER visits for patients with mild or moderate COVID-19.
Eli Lilly announced the partial results Wednesday in a news release; they have not yet been published or reviewed by independent scientists.
Its drug is similar to one that President Trump received on Friday from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. These medicines supply concentrated versions of specific antibodies to help the immune system clear the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. They’re given as a one-time treatment through an IV.
Lilly has already started making one of the two antibodies in its drug, betting that ongoing studies will prove it worthwhile.
It’s not clear if the evidence will be viewed as strong enough for the Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency use authorization, as it has done for the antiviral drug remdesivir.
The results are an interim look at a mid-stage study in which 112 people received the antibodies and 156 got a placebo.
The amount of virus was significantly lower 11 days later in those given the drug — the main goal of the study. Virus also was lower at earlier time points as well. Symptom scores were better at three days.
About 5.8 percent of patients given placebo required hospitalization or an emergency room visit versus 0.9 percent of those given the antibodies.
The company said there were no serious drug-related side effects.
[단독외신] US workers file 840,000 new jobless claims as crisis total tops 63 million
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Three disease experts have concerns about the long-term physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies.AP
Another 840,000 American workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the coronavirus continued to threaten the US economy, the feds said Thursday.
The US Department of Labor’s latest seasonally adjusted figures brought the number of initial jobless claims filed amid the COVID-19 crisis to about 63.6 million — the equivalent of nearly 40 percent of the nation’s total workforce.
Last week’s filings fell from the prior week’s revised total of 849,000 but outpaced economists’ expectations for 820,000 new claims. They also marked the sixth consecutive week with filings hovering between 800,000 and 900,000 — still far above the Great Recession’s weekly peak of 665,000.
The number may have been driven down by California pausing its processing of unemployment applications for two weeks to work through a backlog of claims and implement anti-fraud technology.
Continuing claims, which measure ongoing joblessness on a one-week lag, fell to about 10.9 million in the week ending Sept. 26, continuing their steady decline as more unemployed workers likely exhausted the 26 weeks of benefits that states generally provide.
Experts fear the labor market’s recovery from the spring’s massive coronavirus-fueled job losses will falter if the government doesn’t provide another round of aid to the ailing economy. But President Trump pulled the plug on broad stimulus negotiations with Congress this week, raising further questions about when more help will arrive.
“Newly reported job losses remain heavy, and it is still unclear at this point whether there will be enough offsetting new job creation to produce a sixth consecutive monthly increase in payrolls in October,” Wrightson ICAP experts wrote in a commentary.
[단독] SF Express, 강서 서비스 센터 및 강북 서비스 센터 확대 이전
배송 업무 효율 증대 및 고객 만족도 향상 목표.. 강서 센터 앞 홍보관 설치
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(사진제공 = SF express)국제 특송 전문 기업 SF Express(에스에프 익스프레스)가 강서 서비스 센터와 강북 서비스 센터를 확장 이전했다고 밝혔다. 이를 통해 배송 업무의 효율을 끌어올리고 고객 만족도 향상을 도모한다는 목표다.특히 강서 서비스 센터의 경우, SF Express Korea의 첫 서비스 센터이자 한국 시장 진출 역사의 시발점이라는 점에서 이번 확장 이전이 의미가 크다. 기존에 입지했던 경기도 김포시에서 서울시 관악구로 이전하여 서울 및 수도권의 배송 서비스를 더욱 견고히 할 예정이다.해당 서비스 센터 내에는 고객들에게 SF를 소개하고 소통할 수 있는 공간을 마련하고자 홍보관 설치도 앞두고 있다. 홍보관에는 드론 설치 등과 같이 SF만의 기술력과 청사진을 제공하며 항공, 지상, 정보 네트워크를 갖춘 종합 물류 회사의 강점을 널리 알릴 계획이다.
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더불어 경기도권 지역으로 확대 이전한 강북 서비스 센터는 수도권 지역과 특히 경기도 내 외곽지역의 배송 리드타임을 줄이는 데 주력하여 고객의 수요를 충족시키고 강서 서비스 센터와 함께 서울 지역의 물류 요충지로서의 역할을 지속해 나가게 된다.앞서 지난해 인천공항 내 자체 HUB를 설립하며 물류 인프라 확대에 나선 SF Express는 올해 초에는 한국 본사를 여의도로 이전하며 국내 성장 거점을 넓힌 바 있다. 이어 3월에는 화성 비즈니스 센터를 설립해 경기도 외곽지역의 배송 인프라를 확충했다.현재 강서와 강북 서비스센터 외에도 강남, 인천, 부산, 청주, 대구, 화성 지역의 비즈니스 센터가 운영되고 있으며, 고객 니즈에 맞는 다양한 서비스를 제공하며 글로벌 기업들의 국제특송 물류 파트너로서의 입지를 다지고 있다.한편 한국 지사를 포함한 10여 개 국가에 지사를 설립하여 60여 개 국가에 현지화된 전문 특송 서비스를 제공 중인 SF Express는 최근 기존 스탠다드 익스프레스 서비스를 업그레이드 해 배송 소요일에 민감한 고객들의 수요에 맞춘 'Global Express+(GE+)'를 새롭게 론칭하며 주목받은 바 있다.
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