Quintero

Owner of Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant devices can apply job application in McDonald’s

September 27, 2019 by Quintero Leave a Comment

McDonald’s, a popular American fast food company, was founded in 1940 and operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald. McDonald’s is the world’s second-largest by 1.7 million employees. It is the world’s largest restaurant chain by revenue. It was earlier known for its hamburger, cheeseburger, and French fries. Latter, they also feature the chicken product, soft drinks, and many more.

Recently, McDonald’s has announced an initiative towards innovation for the food chain that is called Apply Thru. In Apply Thru, the owner of Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant devices can give job application using regular “Alexa” and Ok Google” voice commands. This initiative is for young people to start entry-level career at one of McDonald’s restaurant. One can complete job application process through Alexa and Google Assistant devices. After beginning the practice via Alexa or the Google Assistant, all people need to do is to answer a few basic questions out loud. Later they can complete the application process online. This initiative is a part of growing series of tech-adjacent efforts McDonald’s has made over the last few years. McDonald’s has struggled for the past few decades with the rise of fast-casual chains, dieting trends, healthier eating, and shifts in dining culture that have caused in less late-night drive-thru runs and more mobile app ordering.

The company has incorporated the bold future fusion of AI (artificial intelligence), automation, and on-demand delivery. Not the type of job that appears suitable to be changed by the software and robotics advancements the company is staking the future of its business. The main aim is to cut the cost and keep margin high with ensuring McDonald’s can process and deliver orders as professionally as possible all around the globe, in both closely packed cities and spread-out outskirts and everything in between. Tech-infused carters of its business remain to be its shift to quarter on-demand delivery and its transition into full-scale automation. However, chances are the Apply Thru won’t be accepting applications for those jobs.

Sears shrinks its corporate workforce from its headquarters in Hoffman Estates

September 26, 2019 by Quintero Leave a Comment

Transform Holdco LLC, the parent company of Sears sent a letter to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity filed a notice on Aug. 29. after the retailer emerged from bankruptcy in February. In February, Eddie Lampert, former CEO of Sears hit a last-minute deal out of bankruptcy to buy the assets of Sears. The deal was made with a new entity, Transform Holdco LLC, also known as Transformco in order to keep open about 400 stores. According to the notice, Sears is going to lay off around 250 employees from its Hoffman Estates headquarters. Nonetheless, there are no plans to lock down the entire facility.

The company said it would implement permanent workforce reduction beginning Oct. 28, over a 14-day period. It also said that the employees affected will be on paid administrative leave before the employment termination date. Larry Costello, Sears spokesman, said that the affected employees were kept on paid leave last week. He also added that there are no additional action plans for October. The company said to the state in the letter that the employees who are terminated do not represent by any union.

Later, Sears continued to shrink its retail footprint by announcing last month to close five Kmart stores and 21 Sears from the end of October to mid-November. The two Sears stores in the western suburbs of Bloomingdale in the Chicago area and Merrillville, Indiana are scheduled to close in October. The closure of the Bloomingdale store will leave Sears with only five department stores in North Riverside, Chicago Ridge, West Dundee, Schaumburg, and Peoria, bearing the legacy of company name in Illinois. On Tuesday, the company confirmed that a Kmart will close by mid-December in southwest suburban Bridgeview. This will leave a Des Plaines store as the last Kmart in Illinois. The company said that a liquidation sale is expected to start in mid-September at the Bridgeview Kmart. Although the company’s employees are shrinking, the Sears headquarters will remain open at least for now in the northwest suburban Hoffman Estates.

Puma debuts its first own smartwatch and costs around US$275

September 26, 2019 by Quintero Leave a Comment

Puma is one of the largest sportswear manufacturers in the world. The company is launching one of the first smartwatches at the IFA 2019 in this week. Puma sports have combined with the Fossil Group in the past 12 months to produce the wearable. And which is powered by the Wear Operating System and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100 Platform. The company smartwatch will contain a 1.19-inch round AMOLED display, kept inside a cut-out aluminum and nylon 44mm case. The company is naturally directing this smartwatch for sports fans. It will be lightweight and swim-proof at 0.06 pounds to some cutouts on the side of the device to lessen its weight.

Puma’s smartwatch will include 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage, which is the average on most Wear OS watches. It has the newest Snapdragon Wear 3100 Platform. Puma brand promises around 24 hours of battery life. However, it will probably contain the same difficult battery options as the Fossil Carlyle to develop the maximum battery life. Puma’s wearable powered by Wear operating system, and it will develop all the typical features such as heart rate monitoring, NFC payments, Google Assistant integration, fitness tracking, and many more. The company is also supporting 16mm straps through a single point band buckle.

The company has been trying with tech products in recent years. Later the company launched its first wirelessly associated self-lacing sneakers in 2016. Puma even rereleased its classic 1986 RS-Computer running shoe last year, and complete with a USB port for charging and Bluetooth to connect the shoe to your phone. Earlier this year, the company called on tech-savvy people to test its modern self-lacing shoes. The company is now forecasting to launch this new smartwatch in November. That will be available in neon, black, and white, color for $275.

Nissan’s chief executive confirms the improper overcompensation

September 26, 2019 by Quintero Leave a Comment

Mr. Hiroto Saikawa, the chief executive of Nissan, said that he received overcompensation than he deserved. Though he denied any prior knowledge about the improper overcompensation. In an interview with local news media, the chief executive admitted that during investigation within Nissan, he and other executives had received more than the equity-linked compensation. According to NHK, the official Japanese broadcaster, Mr. Saikawa had received an excess compensation of about $440,000, which he blamed on the company’s mistakes. He also apologized for the inconvenience caused. Further, he showed intention to return excess amount from the original registration to the company.

The acknowledgment may be in line to draw comparisons for the uproar over the compensation paid to Carlos Ghosn. Mr. Ghosn was the former boss of Nissan and the ex-leader of the vast car-making alliance between Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors of Japan, and Renault of France. The Japanese prosecutors charged Mr. Ghosn for understating his compensation, an allegation which he has denied. Nissan’s spokeswoman, Azusa Momose said the investigation results are expected to be submitted to board of directors of Nissan on Monday. Later, she declined. The disclosure of Mr. Saikawa has brought further gloom to a car manufacturer that has been stunned by scandals and broader industry issues. The profits almost evaporated, and sales fell. The company is in process to lay off 12,500 employees worldwide. This has found at odd itself along with the French car manufacturer Renault, its alliance partner.

The profit of the company declined by 94% during the period from April to June as compared to last year. The company previously warned about its net profit that would hit “rock bottom” this year. It would drop to nearly 47% at the end of the fiscal year in March. The announcement followed to fall almost 45% in profit last year. Global demand for automobiles has slowed, especially in Nissan’s largest Europe and North America markets due to decreasing demand for cars. The company problems have made it difficult to attract American customers who favor sport utility vehicles and trucks because of the stagnant product lineup. At a press conference in July, Mr. Saikawa veiled that he may resign within a year. He also pointed out that he had asked the newly formed Nominating Committee to start looking for his replacement.