The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit returns to in-person arguments Aug. 30 with new COVID-19 health and safety protocols, said the court Tuesday. Fully vaccinated individuals "may forgo wearing masks and physical distancing," but people who are not fully vaccinated "must continue to wear masks and observe physical distancing," it said. The protocols assume all oral arguments after Sept. 1 will be in person, but lawyers may file motions for leave to appear remotely if they declare under penalty of perjury that their physical presence would expose them or their households to an "unacceptable risk of developing serious health complications from COVID-19," it said. The court plans two test runs of the new protocols in July.
A spring survey of 500 event planners by Mediasite Events and BizBash indicated hybrid events will be a “new norm,” they said Thursday. Three-quarters of planners expect to replace in-person events with virtual equivalents in 2021 and beyond; 40% are planning for hybrid events combining both. That compares with a 2019 survey where 33% didn’t use any form of video for events. Challenges loom, said the study. After a year of videoconferencing calls, “screen fatigue is real,” said Mediasite. When asked to identify top areas of frustration with hybrid events, 61% of respondents said it's “lack of attendee engagement.”
Online grocery shopping trends born of pandemic are starting to wane, said ChaseDesign Thursday. About half of grocery shoppers began buying online and picking up in store during COVID-19, but only half of those plan to continue shopping that way in the future, it said. A survey on buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) fulfillment found 54% of grocery shoppers prefer to pick items in person, and 40% want the in-store shopping experience. Customers reported some frustration with BOPIS, citing product availability, quality, missing items from orders and extended wait times. The survey of 1,000 shoppers ages 18-54 was done at the end of April.
Consumer confidence in the economy is rising, with one in four Americans believing the economy will fully rebound from the pandemic by August, 60% estimating November-February, reported Resonate Wednesday. Concerns over health and economic consequences fell 15% since May. In-store shopping grew 25% from the May report; curbside pickup was down 26% since January. Nearly 40% say they would shop in-store to avoid shipping costs. Some 27.8% say they would return to in-person shopping for electronics vs. 24.4% in late April. Nearly 60% say they're vaccinated. Nearly 24% say they're slightly or not at all likely to get such a vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 45.3% of the population as fully vaccinated through Tuesday, with 53.5% having received at least one dose. A quarter of Resonate respondents expect business travel to return to pre-pandemic levels by September, up a point from May, and half of respondents expect life to return to normal within six months.
Nokia will let its 92,000 employees in 130 countries continue to work remotely up to three days a week after Jan. 1, increasing support for “flexible working hours and fully virtual working,” said the company Tuesday. Nokia canvassed employees in late 2020, and 91% said they maintained or increased their productivity working from home. The average employee wants to work two to three days a week remotely, up from an average of two before COVID-19. And 81% still prefer to come into the office “for at least some of the time during their working week to collaborate and connect with colleagues,” said Nokia.
Women compose 41% of 2021 supply chain workers, up from 39% in 2020, a Gartner survey found. Every “leadership level” saw an increase, except the executive level, falling to 15% from 17%. “Contrary to other industries, supply chain’s mission-criticality during the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that many sectors did not reduce their workforce, but rather continued to hire and even faced talent shortages,” said analyst Dana Stiffler Wednesday. “This resulted in many women not only standing their ground in supply chain organizations but increasing their representation.”
Comscore estimates more than 83% of “movie theater locations” are open globally, it said Thursday. It’s the highest number of “available theaters” open to movie audiences since the March 2020 start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.
The Commerce Department is unsure if Wassenaar Arrangement stakeholders can meet in person this year, after the 2020 plenary was canceled, potentially creating more uncertainty about the group’s next batch of multilateral export control proposals, said Bureau of Industry and Security's Hillary Hess. Wassenaar is “putting in a lot of effort” on holding physical meetings, but the process has been “very difficult,” she told a Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting. “I've heard that they will try to figure out a way to do it virtually or hybrid or something,” said Hess, BIS regulatory policy director: “I have not heard that they were successful in figuring out” in-person meetings. Tuesday's virtual meeting also heard tech industry concerns (see 2106090054).
More than six in 10 mobile gamers increased gameplay during lockdowns, and 75% of the heightened activity is expected to remain two years after the pandemic subsides, reported IDC Tuesday. It teamed with LoopMe to canvass 3,850 smartphone users in Brazil, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the U.K. and U.S. in April, finding 6% of current mobile gamers didn't play pre-pandemic. “These new gamers appeared to skew male and a few years younger in age than the broader base of pre-pandemic mobile gamers,” said the companies. They estimate the global base of mobile gamers jumped 12% last year, reaching 2.25 billion. “Mobile gaming activity tended to increase more in the countries with the highest COVID-19 death rates,” said IDC analyst Lewis Ward. “Gamers in these same countries expected a larger pullback in gaming once the pandemic has subsided.”
E-commerce sales grabbed 61% share of U.S. consumer tech hardware revenue in the 12 months ended March, compared with 48% in the 2020 period, reported NPD Tuesday. Online tech revenue share peaked at 68% in 2020's Q2 during the height of COVID-19 lockdowns, and “remained above the long-term trend" at 57% in Q1 2021, it said: “This was a full seven percentage points above Q1 2020, and 14 points above the pre-pandemic share in Q1 2019.” Though tech hardware sales moved online “at a more rapid pace than other general merchandise categories, the acceleration of this change, and the passing of the 50% milestone as a consequence of the pandemic, represents an important shift,” said Stephen Baker, NPD vice president-industry adviser.