Seasonal hiring is set to be the lowest since 2008, but one retailer is swimming against the tide. Amazon will hire over 300,000 people in seasonal, part-time, and full-time slots in the US during this holiday season. Geekwire.com reports that adds up to a 20% increase over last year, and it is the largest holiday hiring target on record. Amazon sales volume has increased this year. Worldwide paid units, a measure of items sold on Amazon, grew 17% year-over-year in the second quarter, up from 12% a year earlier, according to its second-quarter earnings release. Hey, it’s a great economy if your name is Bezos!
Subaru is planning to stop selling gas cars in Europe and will go all electric. According to engadget.com, the Outback will lose the gas engine in Europe at the end of this year. After that, the Impreza, Crosstrek, and Forester will drop the venerable flat 4 gas engine in 2027. Beginning in 2028, Subaru will just sell 3 models in the EU and they all will be EVs. They are the Solterra, the E-Outback..which is badged Trailseeker in the US, and the Uncharted. Subaru has been leaning on Toyota for EV tech up to now, but will use its own EV technology for the next generation of EVs it fields.
Boards of Directors for both SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to review a possible (read that likely) merger. Techcrunch.com that Elon Musk…who is the largest individual shareholder in each company…has said quote “Because I’m a conflicted party, I can’t actually be in the discussions of the special committees, so it’s this sort of a … It’s an odd kabuki dance where two groups of people are talking, and I can’t be in the conversation.” It is a kabuki dance indeed, since Musk effectively controls both boards and therefore in reality both committees. The big question is what will the effect be on Tesla is a merger does happen. The Starlink satellite system does throw off cash for SpaceX, but the rocket company really doesn’t generate positive cash, and neither does social net X or artificial intelligence division xAI. The latter has been leasing out space on a giant data center for money, however. The single cash cow in the Musk empire remains Tesla. It seems it would dilute the stock value notably if a merger happened. That might not appeal much to Tesla shareholders!
Google is putting off by a year starting to charge Pixel 9 Users for Satellite SOS. Androidcentral.com reports that the service, which was introduced in 2024, originally had 2 years for free access. It could still eventually become another smartphone subscription, but for now, it remains a no-charge feature. Whether on Android or Apple’s phones, the Emergency satellite service remains a great feature…and honestly ought to be a free feature indefinitely. Even if it turns to a subscription later, it would be worthwhile…and could actually be lifesaving. Of course, you can always upgrade to a new phone and start the freebie clock ticking all over again!
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
