Ontario is considering making remote learning a permanent part of public education, another report shows just how out of touch many CEOs are, and Amazon is trying REALLY hard to dissuade its workers from forming a union.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Thursday, March 25 and I’m your host Alex Coop.
The Ontario government is considering legislation that would make remote learning a permanent part of the public-school system, according to a confidential ministry document obtained by the Globe and Mail. The document from the Ministry of Education, according to the publication, was shared in a meeting this week with education groups, and described legislation that, if passed, “parents would continue to have the ability to enroll their child in full-time synchronous remote learning if they choose going forward,” the document stated. This would start in Sept. 2021 if the legislation was introduced and passed. The Globe also noted that roughly 300,000 elementary students and 100,000 secondary students enrolled in remote learning this academic year — that’s roughly 20 per cent of the total student population. [Twitter]
A new survey shows that while 96 per cent of CEOs believe their companies are doing enough for employee mental health – unsurprisingly, only 69 per cent of employees agree. The data, compiled by the mental healthcare app Ginger, shows that while more than half of CEOs believe talking about mental health makes them a better leader, 56 per cent are bizarrely concerned it might impact their credibility. This lines up with Microsoft’s recent Work Trends Index, which says 61 per cent of leaders suggest they’re “thriving” right now — 23 percentage points higher than those without decision-making power.
And finally, Amazon is breaking out all the stops to try and prevent unionization at its warehouse in Alabama. Workers at the Alabama warehouse are voting whether to form the first Amazon union in the U.S. The vote will finish on March 29, and according to Business Insider, here’s what the tech giant is doing to try and win. From education’ meetings, unexpected mail, and streams of anti-union flyers – Amazon is doing everything it can to slow the momentum. Chelsea Connor, a spokesperson for the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union that’s backing the union effort, told Insider she expected a result by Easter.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire Newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. I’m Alex Coop, thanks for listening!