All posts tagged: Slashing

Wetherspoon confirms it’s slashing prices at 800 pubs | UK | News

Wetherspoon confirms it’s slashing prices at 800 pubs | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

A standard children’s meal at the chain will now cost £5.03 – a £0.72 reduction from the previous price of £5.75. The nationwide scheme, announced in May by the Chancellor, reduces VAT from 20% to 5% on family-focused activities and dining, running from June 26 to September 1. Wetherspoons joins numerous major retailers from across the hospitality and entertainment sectors participating in the cost-cutting programme, which aims to help ease the cost of living during the school holidays. McDonald’s is among the high street names embracing the tax reduction, with Happy Meals dropping 27% to just £2.99 across all restaurants. Fast food rival KFC has similarly signed up to the Government scheme, offering families additional options for cheaper dining out. Theme parks and attractions are also delivering savings under the scheme, with Merlin Entertainment reducing prices across its 20 venues. Advance tickets for both Alton Towers and Legoland have fallen from £34 to £29.75 following the adjustment. As an additional summer measure, children aged five to 15 can access free bus travel on participating local …

Let’s Hear It for This Prime Day Deal Slashing Off Nothing’s Earbuds

Let’s Hear It for This Prime Day Deal Slashing $76 Off Nothing’s Earbuds

Published by skeptic

Save $76: Amazon’s Prime Day kicks off on June 23, but the deals are already in bloom. The retailer just slashed the price of Nothing’s wireless earbuds by $76, dropping them to an all-time low. This is a limited-time deal available only to Prime members, so we suggest acting fast. Finding a premium pair of earbuds with long battery life, active noise cancellation and fast charging can normally be quite steep. However, brands like Nothing offer an incredible, budget-friendly alternative without sacrificing great sound. This story is part of Amazon Prime Day, CNET’s guide to everything you need to know and how to find the best deals. Nothing earbuds include eartips in three sizes for a perfect fit and the most out of their features. They offer up to 45 decibels of noise cancellation and have a battery that lasts up to 40 hours. The 11mm drivers provide clear bass and treble for an immersive listening experience, no matter the music genre or audiobook. If you’re an avid ChatGPT user, you’ll enjoy Nothing’s integration with …

Companies Keep Slashing Employees’ Benefits for the Worst Reasons

Companies Keep Slashing Employees’ Benefits for the Worst Reasons

Published by skeptic

Employee benefits are in the spotlight this week, and that’s because of three recent stories about US companies cutting back on non-wage compensations for workers. A Texas tech consulting firm with a forgettable name—TTEC—suddenly became a lot more memorable when it suspended its discretionary 401(k) match program for 16,000 employees through at least the end of 2026. According to Business Insider, which viewed an internal TTEC memo, the company plans to invest in AI certifications, AI tools and training, and automation, among other things. The auditing and consulting giant Deloitte is also reportedly slashing benefits for some workers starting next year. This includes reducing PTO, halving parental leave, and eliminating a $50,000 reimbursement for family planning services such as adoption, surrogacy, and IVF. San Francisco-based Zoom, meanwhile, has made a smaller-scale change and reduced its parental leave for employees from 22 weeks to 18 weeks for birthing parents. So what’s the driving force behind this? And are there more cuts to come? The latter is impossible to answer, and the former is unfortunately more complicated …

With the Metaverse Canceled and Zuckerberg Training AI to Run the Company, Meta Is Slashing Its Headcount

With the Metaverse Canceled and Zuckerberg Training AI to Run the Company, Meta Is Slashing Its Headcount

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Intermittent layoffs are the norm at Meta, but it’s now carrying them out as its shift towards building AI — and using it to attempt to speed up its own workforce — becomes more overt than ever. On Wednesday, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company fired around 700 employees, according to reports from The New York Times and The Information.  That number is only a sliver of its global workforce of around 78,000, but largely affected employees in its Reality Labs unit tasked with building a virtual reality “Metaverse,” which turned out to be a dismal failure: failing to attract users, let alone supplant our physical reality as Zuckerberg envisioned, it lost roughly $80 billion. In January, Meta fired 10 percent of the Reality Labs unit, or about 1,500 employees, and this month waffled on shutting the whole thing down. In these latest cuts, some of the other firings were in sales, recruiting, and Facebook, signaling that Zuckerberg is separating …

Samsung is slashing this 65-inch QLED TV and soundbar bundle by 50% for a limited time

Samsung is slashing this 65-inch QLED TV and soundbar bundle by 50% for a limited time

Published by skeptic

Samsung/ZDNET The Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics both kick off this weekend. If you’re looking to upgrade your home theater before you watch, Samsung is offering a nearly 50% discount on a TV and soundbar bundle ahead of the two most significant sports events of the year. You can save $1,050 when you buy the 65-inch Samsung QN1EF QLED TV and the HW-S700D soundbar together. Also: Best Buy will give you these Samsung TVs for free right now – how the deal works The Samsung QN1EF is a solid, midrange QLED TV that offers an ultra-slim design to blend in with almost any decor, as well as an updated processor for faster response times and refresh rates, and better picture and audio processing. You’ll get a base refresh rate of 120Hz for smoother motion during live sports or fast-paced movies and shows, and if you’re a console gamer, you can boost that to 144Hz with VRR support to prevent screen tearing and stuttering. Also: LG is selling its ultralight 17-inch Gram Pro laptop for $500 off, …

Pepsi is slashing chip prices after flood of consumer complaints

Pepsi is slashing chip prices after flood of consumer complaints

Published by Daniella Wilson

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US PepsiCo is slashing prices on Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos chips this year to try and win back customers furious over years of price hikes. PepsiCo has leaned on price increases as the cost of packaging, ingredients and transportation rose, but it’s cost the company in volume. In the fourth quarter, PepsiCo hiked prices by 4.5% globally. Prices for PepsiCo beverages rose 7% in North America, while prices for the company’s snacks ticked up 1%. That has pumped up revenue, including in the most recent quarter, which rose 5.6% to $29.3 billion in the October-December period, it reported Tuesday. That was higher than the $28.9 billion Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet. (AFP via Getty Images) But the price hikes have also weakened demand, and consumers have begun swapping out brands they are familiar with …

Sam Altman Says OpenAI Is Slashing Its Hiring Pace as Financial Crunch Tightens

Sam Altman Says OpenAI Is Slashing Its Hiring Pace as Financial Crunch Tightens

Published by José Betancourt

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images In a memo sent out to staff last month, OpenAI CEO issued a “code red” urging employees to double down on improving the company’s flagship product ChatGPT, as financial pressure loomed and competitors gained ground. The company continues to frantically chase some much-needed revenue. Despite Altman calling ads a “last resort for us as a business model” in 2024, the company announced earlier this month that ChatGPT will soon start spamming users with them. Its cash burn rate is immense. The company is planning to spend well over $1 trillion in the coming years on data center infrastructure, despite revenue lagging far behind. Experts have warned that the company could run out of cash within the next 18 months. To its most skeptical critics, it’s an Enron-like financial disaster that’s waiting to happen. So maybe it’s not surprising that the company is opting to pump the brakes. During a livestreamed town hall event on Monday, Altman said that OpenAI is looking to “dramatically slow down” hiring as the company continues to lose …