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Welcome to this weekly roundup of stories from Matt Turner, Insider’s co-Editor in Chief of business. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Sunday. Plus, download Insider’s app for news on the go – click here for iOS and here for Android.
What we’re going over today:
- Amazon delivery companies are forming a new coalition to challenge UPS and FedEx.
- The Delta variant is putting pressure on working moms. It’s up to companies to make sure they don’t burn out.
- Dollar General is looking to upend the $3.8 trillion healthcare industry.
- Internal memos reveal that tension is rising between Amazon and its cloud partners.
Front Door Collective
What’s trending this morning:
- Homes in Austin are getting more expensive. Don’t expect the surge to slow down.
- Startups are using the H-1B visa program to hire foreign workers. Insider compiled a list of companies that sponsor the most – tech giants Stripe and ByteDance lead the way.
- Stylists at Stitch Fix say its losing its way. Reasons include less flexible work hours, changing responsibilities, and not enough trendy clothes for clients.
- IBM just had an executive shake-up. Meet the 20 power players that are leading its cloud turnaround.
- You have only minutes to impress a hiring manager. These are 4 major interview pitfalls – and how to avoid them.
Amazon delivery companies are taking on UPS and FedEx
A coalition of more than 100 small delivery companies have come together to form the Frontdoor Collective. They claim that, together, they can make upwards of 1 million deliveries per day – and compete directly with delivery giants UPS and FedEx.
The giants of the delivery world have a new challenger to contend with, and it’s like nothing they’ve seen before.
It’s not a gig-economy startup or a massive foreign corporation coming to America. It’s the Frontdoor Collective, a coalition of more than 100 small businesses, the vast majority of them delivering packages for Amazon. Some say they are frustrated by deteriorating returns and limited growth potential, and they have banded together to form their own last-mile delivery company.
The collective has been onboarding small delivery companies via a franchise model, with the promise of unlocking new sources of revenue by contracting directly with retailers other than Amazon. As speed becomes more important to retailers, the collective’s national footprint could become a serious concern for UPS and FedEx.
Get the full scoop here:
Also read:
- Meet Penelope Register-Shaw, the secret weapon in a new challenger to UPS and FedEx
- Embark’s 25-year-old college-dropout CEO shares how he built the $5 billion self-driving-truck startup that’s taking on TuSimple and Waymo
Working moms bear the brunt of the Delta variant
Getty Images
As offices reopen, managers need to recognize the challenges that working mothers face on a personal and professional level. Pandemic-related challenges at home can impact job performance, and it’s up to employers to accommodate these challenges:
Expanding employee benefits and devising flexible ways of working that support mothers and families are imperative, particularly as mental-health issues skyrocket.
The toll of mental load, which refers to the invisible chores and emotional labor involved in running a household, is one of the primary culprits, per an economist.
Roughly 9.8 million working mothers in America suffered from workplace burnout in 2020, according to a survey. Mothers were 28% more likely to experience burnout than fathers, and cases were higher among Black, Asian, and Hispanic women.
Read the full story here:
Also read:
- A 39-year-old CEO undertook 4 unpaid internships to learn about life at the bottom. Here’s what it taught her about leadership.
- I’m the chief wellbeing officer at Deloitte – a role I created after burning out. Here’s what my job is like.
Dollar General is looking to disrupt the healthcare industry
Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Dollar General has over 17,000 stores, but their new ambitions extend past shopping bargains. Along with their new medical chief, the company is making moves to break into healthcare delivery. Analysts laid out three strategies that could lead to their success:
But if Dollar General is serious about helping its communities, it could usher in a new era of healthcare access for many Americans across the country, experts said.
The sheer volume of Dollar General locations could displace the center of gravity in the fight to win over rural Americans as the place to go for their health. Dollar General could also benefit patients who live in areas where primary care or specialists are hard to come by.
By offering over-the-counter medications, online prescription ordering, or telemedicine consultations, Dollar General could improve America’s healthcare system for people who historically have been left behind.
Get the details on Dollar General’s plan to disrupt healthcare:
Also read:
- 11 biotechs primed to make billion-dollar buys and usurp Big Pharma
- See the pitch deck that Spora Health used to convince investors to bet $3 million on a new approach to telehealth
Internal memos reveal tension is rising between Amazon and its cloud partners
Mike Blake/Reuters and Tableau
Increasingly, Amazon Web Services is walking a fine line with developing its cloud services network of 100,000 partners, including software maker Snowflake. AWS pushes constantly for cloud development and greater sales – which results in clashes between the company and its partners, per internal memos.
Last year, an AWS “Premier” consulting partner complained about getting “completely shut out” from discussions between its customers and AWS representatives, according to an internal AWS report viewed by Insider.
“2W feels that AWS sellers too often use the veil of ‘customer obsession’ to justify moving direct whereas the motivation is often the quota compensation or account control issue,” an AWS employee wrote in the internal report.
Some 2nd Watch salespeople “are afraid to submit opportunities in ACE for fear that AWS will take them direct in 6 months,” the internal AWS report said.
See behind Amazon’s internal memos:
Also read:
- Amazon’s former consumer CEO Jeff Wilke explains why he invested in a new digital ad startup by CivicScience that is taking on Google and Facebook
- Leaked Amazon Web Services email reveals cloud executive shuffle as 23-year company veteran Charlie Bell departs
Finally, here are some headlines you might have missed last week.
– Matt
- Cisco employees are bracing for layoffs, which have become a dreaded summer tradition at the company
- Everyone wants to invest in the hot housing market. These are the 7 best cities to buy a rental property in 2021.
- Dozens of people who supported radical right-wing efforts to overturn the 2020 election currently sit on government boards running places like the Holocaust Memorial and the Kennedy Center
- The red-hot job market is making employers afraid to mandate vaccines
- An Oracle SVP explains the 4 types of quitters in the ‘Great Resignation’ and how to retain each one
- Pete Buttigieg ran his presidential campaign like a finely tuned business. 10 staffers share why they loved it.
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