Meta Platforms Inc. is asking many of its managers and directors to transition to individual contributor jobs or leave the company as it tries to become more efficient, according to people familiar with the matter.

The process is known internally as a flattening, the people said. Higher-level managers are sharing the directive with their subordinates in the coming weeks, separate from the companys regular performance reviews that are currently underway, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a matter that wasnt public. Individual contributors arent in charge of others, and instead focus on tasks like coding, designing and research.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, fired 13% of its workforce in November during its first major layoff. In the months since, staff have faced intense anxiety about the potential for future cuts, the people said. Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg explained during the companys earnings report this month that he still felt the organization was too slow-moving and bloated. He called 2023 the Year of Efficiency and vowed to cut middle-managers and underperforming projects. 

The current round of job cuts will be more gradual, enacted on an individual basis, the people said.  Some Meta employees said they felt the change was needed given the organization includes some teams that compete to achieve similar goals and managers that oversee only one or two employees, the people said. Meta declined to comment.

Zuckerbergs plan for a leaner organization helped the share price recover from 2022, which was its worst year ever. Its up more than 56% so far this year. 

With assistance from Alex Barinka and Julia Love.

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Zoom Video Communications Inc. is eliminating 15% of its workers as the service that became ubiquitous during the pandemic adapts to slower growth.

The company will cut about 1,300 jobs as part of a restructuring, Chief Executive Officer Eric Yuan said Tuesday in a blog post. Yuan called himself accountable for the companys issues and said he would reduce his salary and forgo his bonus.

Our trajectory was forever changed during the pandemic, Yuan said, adding that Zoom headcount tripled in two years. We didnt take as much time as we should have to thoroughly analyze our teams or assess if we were growing sustainably.

The reductions are a bigger share of the workforce than cuts announced at enterprise software companies including Salesforce Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Workday Inc. The shares jumped as much as 10% on the news to $84.87. The stock plunged 47% in the 12 months through Mondays close.

After gaining millions of users at the height of the pandemic, Zoom is now trying to reverse slowing growth by expanding its tools for business. Still, it has reported single-digit revenue increases for the last two quarters, and analysts project that sales have continued to decelerate in the current quarter.

Yuan, the founder of the San Jose, California-based company, said his base salary, which was $301,731 last year, will be cut 98% and he will give up a corporate bonus for the 2023 fiscal year. His total compensation for fiscal year 2022 was $1.1 million, according to a May 2022 filing. Others on the executive leadership will take 20% base salary reductions.

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To reduce the harmful health effects of sitting, take a five-minute light walk every half-hour. Thats the key finding of a new study that my colleagues and I published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

We asked 11 healthy middle-aged and older adults to sit in our lab for eight hours representing a standard workday over the course of five separate days. On one of those days, participants sat for the entire eight hours with only short breaks to use the bathroom. On the other days, we tested a number of different strategies to break up a persons sitting with light walking. For example, on one day, participants walked for one minute every half-hour. On another day, they walked for five minutes every hour.

Our goal was to find the least amount of walking one could do to offset the harmful health effects of sitting. In particular, we measured changes in blood sugar levels and blood pressure, two important risk factors for heart disease.

We found that a five-minute light walk every half-hour was the only strategy that reduced blood sugar levels substantially compared with sitting all day. In particular, five-minute walks every half-hour reduced the blood sugar spike after eating by almost 60%.

That strategy also reduced blood pressure by four to five points compared with sitting all day. But shorter and less frequent walks improved blood pressure too. Even just a one-minute light walk every hour reduced blood pressure by five points.

In addition to physical health benefits, there were also mental health benefits to the walking breaks. During the study, we asked participants to rate their mental state by using a questionnaire. We found that compared with sitting all day, a five-minute light walk every half-hour reduced feelings of fatigue, put participants in a better mood and helped them feel more energized. We also found that even walks just once every hour were enough to boost mood and reduce feelings of fatigue.

Why it matters

People who sit for hours on end develop chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, dementia and several types of cancer at much higher rates than people who move throughout their day. A sedentary lifestyle also puts people at a much greater risk of early death. But just exercising daily may not reverse the harmful health effects of sitting.

Because of technological advances, the amount of time adults in industrialized countries like the U.S. spend sitting has been steadily increasing for decades. Many adults now spend the majority of their day sitting. This problem has only gotten worse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the migration to more remote work, people are less inclined to venture out of the house these days. So its clear that strategies are needed to combat a growing 21st century public health problem.

Current guidelines recommend that adults should sit less, move more. But these recommendations dont provide any specific advice or strategies for how often and how long to move.

Our work provides a simple and affordable strategy: Take a five-minute light walk every half-hour. If you have a job or lifestyle where you have to sit for prolonged periods, this one behavior change could reduce your health risks from sitting.

Our study also offers clear guidance to employers on how to promote a healthier workplace. While it may seem counterintuitive, taking regular walking breaks can actually help workers be more productive than working without stopping.

What still isnt known

Our study primarily focused on taking regular walking breaks at a light intensity. Some of the walking strategies for example, one-minute light walks every hour did not lower blood sugar levels. We dont know if more rigorous walking would have provided health benefits at these doses.

Whats next

We are currently testing over 25 different strategies for offsetting the health harms of prolonged sitting. Many adults have jobs, such as driving trucks or taxis, where they simply cannot walk every half-hour. Finding alternative strategies that yield comparable results can provide the public with several different options and ultimately allow people to pick the strategy that works best for them and their lifestyle.

Keith Diaz is an associate professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University.

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Rock star Bono, the 26-year-old who disarmed a gunman in last months Monterey Park, Calif., shooting, and the family of Tyre Nichols will be among the featured guests sitting alongside first lady Jill Biden at Tuesdays State of the Union address.

The guests were invited because they personify issues or themes Biden will address in the speech or they embody administration policies that are working for the American people, the White House said. President Joe Biden was expected to refer to several of the invitees by name.

Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, will sit with the first lady and has invited Ruth Cohen, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor from the Washington area, to be his guest, his office said. Emhoff, who is Jewish, has taken a lead role in administration efforts to combat anti-Semitism.

The guests:

Maurice and Kandice Barron of New York, the parents of a 3-year-old who has survived a rare pediatric cancer, meant to highlight Bidens Cancer Moonshot initiative.

Lynette Bonar of Tuba City, Arizona, a nurse and medical executive involved in bringing the first cancer center to a Native American reservation.

Bono, the Irish lead singer of U2, for his advocacy and philanthropic support for global health and AIDS relief initiatives.

Deanna Branch of Milwaukee, whose son was diagnosed with lead poisoning from unsafe drinking water in their home, as Biden aims to replace all lead drinking water pipes in the coming decade.

Kristin Christensen and Avarie Kollmar of Seattle, a mother-daughter pair who are sharing their story about caring for their injured Navy veteran husband and father.

Ruth Cohen of Rockville, Maryland, a Holocaust survivor and volunteer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum who has warned against rising antisemitism.

Mitzi Colin Lopez of West Chester, Pennsylvania, an advocate for people brought to the U.S. illegally as children who have received protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Maurice Dion Dykes of Knoxville, Tennessee, who is training to be a teacher after a 25-year graphic design career as part of a program funded by the 2020 COVID-19 relief law.

Kate Foley of Rolling Meadows, Illinois, a 10th grade student looking to use the skills from her school engineering classes to pursue a career as a biomedical engineer.

Darlene Gaffney of North Charleston, South Carolina, a breast cancer survivor who has promoted the importance of early detection and timely cancer screenings.

Doug Griffin of Newton, New Hampshire, who lost his daughter, Courtney, in 2014 to a fentanyl overdose, as the Biden administration works to strengthen federal efforts to combat the opioid epidemic.

Saria Gwin-Maye of Cincinnati, an ironworker who will work on the federally supported revitalization of the Brent Spence Bridge.

Jacki Liszak of Fort Myers, Florida, who met with the president and first lady in the wake of Hurricane Ian and whose business stands to benefit from federal climate resiliency funding.

Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. was a guest last year when Biden spoke days after the Russian invasion of her country. She will return to the first ladys box as Biden seeks to sustain U.S. and allied support for Ukraine.

Harry Miller of Upper-Arlington, Ohio, a mechanical engineering student and a former football player for Ohio State University, who left football to prioritize his mental health.

Gina and Heidi Nortonsmith of Northampton, Massachusetts, the plaintiffs in Goodridge vs. MA Dept. of Public Health which cleared the way for their state legalizing same-sex marriage.

 Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was severely injured days before the midterm elections by a man with a hammer who allegedly sought to harm the California lawmaker.

Paul Sarzoza of Phoenix, the owner of a cleaning and facilities services company that is benefitting from servicing companies investing in high-tech manufacturing in his area.

Brandon Tsay of San Marino, California, who disarmed the shooter responsible for killing 11 people in Monterey Park, California, last month during celebrations of the Lunar New Year, preventing further deaths.

RowVaughn and Rodney Wells of Memphis, Tennessee, the mother and stepfather of Tyre Nichols who died last month after being severely beaten by police in Memphis, sparking a renewed call for police reform legislation.

Amanda and Josh Zurawski of Austin, Texas, who found doctors unable to intervene after her water prematurely broke at 18 weeks pregnant due to the Texas abortion ban. Amanda Zurawski developed sepsis and nearly died because of the delay in receiving treatment, as the Biden administration looks to highlight the consequences of the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade last year.

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In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court made the landmark decision to allow states to legalize sports wagering. Tennessee, where I am studying clinical psychology, took advantage of this ruling, and in late 2020, the state legalized online and mobile sports betting.

With most sportsbooks offering betting apps, my clients are finding it more difficult to quit gambling than ever before. Unlike other forms of gambling, such as playing roulette or slots at a casino, these apps are on their phones and in their pockets, accompanying them wherever they go.

This availability makes it that much harder to resist any urges that might arise and presents unique challenges for helping clients reduce their gambling.

A new type of client emerges

When I first started treating people for gambling disorder in 2019, my clients were usually older and gambled in casinos, with slot machines and card games among their favorite forms of gambling. They also tended to be poorer and often talked about how they began gambling to make some side money, viewing it as a second job. Many of them had retired and would say things like, Going to the casino gets me out of the house or The casino is like my Cheers a nod to the popular watering hole in the eponymous sitcom.

That all changed when sports betting was legalized in Tennessee in November 2020.

Since then, Ive noticed that my average client has started to look different. Im now providing therapy to younger men, mostly in their 20s, who are seeking treatment for problems with sports betting. These clients tend to earn more money and be wealthier than my previous clients a pattern that sports betting researchers have observed.

Several of them reported being avid sports fans or having a competitive streak. And they thought they could beat the system due to their extensive sports knowledge.

Many of them started betting on sports after hearing promotions for various betting companies. Even if youre a casual sports fan with no interest in betting, you cant miss these ads, which regularly air during televised sporting events. For example, some ads for FanDuel, one of the more popular sports betting apps, highlight a No Sweat First Bet, with new users eligible for a risk-free bet of up to $1,000.

Theres also a social element to sports betting. One client talked about betting on sports as a way to bond with relatives who also gambled. Similarly, a few college students I have treated told me that they started betting because they wanted to fit in with their fraternity brothers.

The apps dont make it easy to set limits

But once gambling issues begin, it can be hard for these clients to stop. Most of them started by placing smaller bets on a single outcome. Over time, they start to bet more to recoup their losses. Before they knew it, their bets had increased, with many not realizing how this change even happened.

Betting apps are available on any smartphone and are connected to clients bank accounts, making it quick and easy to deposit more funds. This often leads clients to lose track of how much money they have lost. As one client told me, Its easier to spend money on these apps because you never really see it. The transactions are all done electronically.

These apps do not make it easy for those with gambling problems to sign up for cool-off periods or self-exclusion. Cool-off periods allow the user to set a time frame from a few hours to several months where they will be unable to log into their betting account. Self-exclusion allows the user to ban themselves from the app for longer periods of time. Specific exclusion lengths differ by state. In Tennessee, there are one-year, five-year and lifetime ban options.

While many apps have these features, my clients often have to search online for this information, and even when they do find it, they cant figure out how to put these guardrails in place. If they wish to set a cool-off period or ban themselves from all sports betting apps, they must do so from each app, one at a time, which can be tedious.

Its impossible to avoid sports and smartphones

Sports betting presents unique challenges for treating gambling problems.

In addiction treatment, therapists, like me, often encourage clients to fill their time with activities that arent connected to gambling or to avoid situations where they may be likely to gamble. But when gambling is available at the touch of a button, it becomes harder to determine what situations may lead to gambling, which makes it harder to figure out what to avoid.

Before the apps, clients had to make plans for how and when to gamble. Now, all they have to do is pick up their phone and open an app. It is also incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to ask a client to stop using their smartphone or stop watching sports.

This is why I often tailor treatment to each clients needs and circumstances. Some may wish to quit altogether, while others may simply want to cut back on their gambling. This has forced me to consider other possible alternatives, such as showing them how to set screen time limits for sportsbook apps or talking about strategies to watch less sports.

Most people who bet on sports dont develop gambling problems. But with so few regulations in place advertising or otherwise those who are the most at risk are especially vulnerable to developing problems.

Tori Horn is a PhD Student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Memphis.

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President Joe Biden says he wont stand in the way of anyone trying to become a billionaire, but that doesnt mean he wont step in to tax the rich or corporate America.

Biden will take the stage Tuesday night for his second State of the Union address, where he will deliver his annual message to Congress outlining the nations economic, political, and legislative status. The president is expected to lean into positive economic news such as a strong labor market, but is also likely to be met with hostility from Congressional Republicans over inflation and a debt ceiling standoff.

Proposals to raise taxes on billionaires and corporations are set to be key components of Bidens economic agenda during the address, plans that likely wont be making him any new friends from the right wing of Congress. The president is demanding lawmakers significantly hike the tax rate on corporate buybacks, and hes reiterating a proposal from last year that was dismissed by Republicans: A billionaire minimum tax that would make ultra-wealthy Americans pay a tax rate in line with their riches.

Biden will call on Congress to pass his minimum tax proposal Tuesday evening, according to a preview of his speech released by the White House Monday, which described his proposed changes to the tax code as a fight to protect the interests of working-class households.

President Biden is a capitalist and believes that anyone should be able to become a millionaire or a billionaire. He also believes that it is wrong for America to have a tax code that results in Americas wealthiest households paying a lower tax rate than working families, the White House wrote. 

Taxing their fair share

Biden proposed a tax rate floor for billionaires of 20% in a budget request to Congress last year on the grounds that the bulk of billionaires incomes are from their unrealized investment income, which are not taxed until a share is sold. This put working-class Americans who pay larger shares of income tax at a disadvantage, Biden argued. 

Biden will make another case for a billionaire minimum tax tonight, pledging in his speech that taxes will stay the same for all Americans earning less than $400,000 a year.

The minimum tax is only one of the tools at Bidens disposal to level the playing field between the countrys ultra-wealthy and everyone else. He will also demand Congress quadruple the tax rate levied on corporate stock buybacks, in which companies buy back their own stock, often to increase the price and enrich investors.  

Bidens speech cited a 2015 Reuters report that linked stock buybacks to executive overcompensation, even when the companies themselves were underperforming. 

By taxing stock buybacks, Biden is aiming for corporations to reinvest their profits into the national economy rather than increase executive pay, the White House wrote, in a bid to avoid a similar situation last year with the oil and gas industry. 

The president had several run-ins with corporate oil and gas executives last year, when fossil fuel companies were enjoying huge profits, but were reluctant to abide by Bidens request to increase domestic oil production when pump prices surged in the U.S. due to the Ukraine War. 

Last year, oil and gas companies made record profits and invested very little in domestic production and to keep gas prices downinstead they bought their own stock, giving all that profit to their CEOs and shareholders, the speech read.

With oil and gas profits still going strong in 2023, Biden is angling for a stricter tax policy on stock buybacks to funnel excess revenue into the economy as a whole.

Dead in the water

While Biden is set to make a plea for Congress to consider higher tax rates, his proposals are unlikely to be successful in a historically adversarial climate in D.C.

Bidens billionaire minimum tax request last year was axed when centrist Democrats including Sen. Joe Manchin III rejected it, claiming that taxes on unrealized income would never work. Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinemawho changed her party affiliation to Independent late last yearhas also opposed proposals to increase tax rates for high-income Americans during Bidens tenure.

Democrats held a majority in both chambers of Congress at the time, and getting a billionaire tax proposal over the line is even more difficult for Biden now that Republicans are in control of the House. 

There are also other big economic problems on the horizon for Congress. The U.S. budget hit a debt ceiling last month, forcing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to announce extraordinary measures to keep paying the bills until June before the government defaults on its debt.

In the next few months, Congress will have to figure out how to avoid a self-inflicted economic disaster. Biden and Democrats are arguing that some of the fiscal responsibility can be shifted to corporations and the countrys extremely wealthy, while Republicans have demanded cutting spending on government programs.

Biden has said spending cuts are not negotiable, but invited Republican congressional leaders to discuss the issue further. This week, top House Republican Kevin McCarthy also expressed an openness to negotiating with Biden and Democrats.

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With central banks worldwide raising interest rates to fight high inflation, CEOs are worried about the economy. But oddly enough, theyre still hiring. Some 68% of chief executives plan to increase their companys headcount this year, according to a new Greenhouse survey. The data comes after the U.S. economy added 517,000 jobs in Januarymore than double economists forecastsand the unemployment rate fell to a 53-year low of 3.4%. 

Before the latest jobs report, a drumbeat of tech industry layoffs painted a much darker picture of the labor market. Over 150,000 tech workers lost their jobs in 2022 as once-high flying tech stocks tumbled, and Big Tech companies alone have now shed over 70,000 employees in the past 12 months.

At the same time, some 98% of chief executives said they are bracing for an economic downturn in a January EY surveywith 55% admitting theyre preparing for something worse than the global financial crisis. But despite the recession fears and tech industry woes, layoffs still arent in the cards for most companies. 

In the Greenhouse survey, just 11% of CEOs said they expect to reduce their firms headcount this year. And roughly a third of chief execs plan to increase their headcount by 10% or more, while 19% plan a 30%-plus increase.

Greenhouse

A January PwC survey of 4,410 CEOs from around the world found a similar phenomenon in hiring plans. CEOs are cautious about the economy, and 52% said they plan to cut costs this year, but at the same time, retaining talent remains a top priority. 

Only 19% of CEOs said in PwCs survey that they were implementing hiring freezes, and just 16% planned to reduce their companys headcount.

This stands in stark contrast to what we heard from CEOs back in October and November of 2008, when about twice as many told us they anticipated near-term headcount reductions, the PwC researchers noted.

Conference Board researchers also found in their January C-Suite Outlook, based on responses from 1,131 executives worldwide, that although a recession was the top external concern among CEOs, attracting and retaining talent in a tight labor market was the most pressing internal concern.

While CEOs globally are looking to contain costs and reduce discretionary spendingactions typically taken during a slowdownemployees may be able to breathe a sigh of relief, as few executives are turning to layoffs, Dana Peterson, chief economist, The Conference Board, explained in a statement. Instead, they plan to mitigate risk by accelerating innovation and digital transformation, pursuing new opportunities in higher-growth markets, and revising business modelsthe three most-cited actions.

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