A $1.3B deal will return vehicle production to an Oshawa plant, Half of Facebook employees are pretty sure the company has had a negative effect on the world, and small businesses are having trouble competing with big tech in online sales.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Thursday, November 6, and I’m your host Alex Coop.
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General Motors and Unifor have struck a $1.3 billion deal will create at least 2,000 jobs starting in 2021. A statement from GM says the car manufacturer plans to invest $1 billion to 1.3 billion in the plant, with the expected hiring of 1,400 to 1,700 hourly workers. It’s a promising turn of events after 2018 when GM announced that it would shutter vehicle assembly at the Oshawa plant due to restructuring. Vehicle assembly stopped there last December, resulting in the loss of about 2,300 jobs. [Twitter]
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Facebook employees seem pretty divided about the company’s global impact. Facebook released the results of its internal half-yearly “Pulse survey,” and one of the key findings reported by Buzzfeed is that 51 per cent of employees believe that Facebook is having a positive impact on the world. The survey was taken by 49,000 Facebook employees in a period of two weeks in October.
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And lastly, users on LinkedIn are talking about the challenges small retailers are facing in their shift to online sales, pitting them against giants like Amazon. But stiff competition isn’t the only barrier working against them, according to a story by the Toronto Star. Online transactions come with higher credit card fees, and small shops don’t have the same sway as their larger counterparts. They also pay more for shipping through Canada Post. On top of that, the post says it’s overwhelmed with packages and is warning retailers they should expect delays.
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. I’m Alex Coop, thanks for listening