Deloitte’s latest forecast shows back-to-school spending will remain flat at $30.9bn – or $570 per student – due to rising prices and economic uncertainty. This represents a 7% drop from 2021 levels, with last year’s average at $586 per child. The survey of 1,203 parents found shoppers are cautious amid tariff-driven cost increases. Major retailers…

Bloomberg reports that Meta Platforms has made record-breaking compensation offers to attract AI experts to its “superintelligence” team, including a package exceeding $200m for ex-Apple engineer Ruoming Pang. These multi-year offers combine base salary, cash bonuses, and heavily performance-tied Meta stock. Apple reportedly did not counter due to internal pay norms. Meta’s AI recruitment push…

Top technology leaders at US companies are getting bigger paychecks as AI expands the scope of their leadership and responsibilities. The median pay for CTOs rose 30.81% in 2024 from the previous year, to approximately $2.4m, according to C-Suite Comp, an executive and board pay analytics firm. A separate report from Heller Search Associates found…

In Vermont, nearly two-thirds of New England’s milk production is at risk following a significant immigration raid on a dairy farm. The raid has instilled fear across the Northeast agriculture sector, as Brett Stokes, a lawyer for the workers, noted that “these strong-arm tactics… play a role in stoking fear in the community.” The dairy…

Celebrities including Jane Fonda and Cynthia Nixon are urging Amazon to address claims that pregnant warehouse workers are denied reasonable accommodations, causing health risks and miscarriages. A letter signed by several public figures accuses Amazon of violating the Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act, despite the company stating most pregnancy-related requests are granted. The letter cites nearly…

TikTok Shop US, the e-commerce arm of TikTok, is facing challenges as it undergoes its third round of layoffs since April, although the exact number of affected jobs remains undisclosed. Launched less than two years ago, TikTok Shop has been the company’s fastest-growing business, offering a platform for creators to earn commissions on sales. However,…