It was a long weekend for big tech and finance. The new $100,000 H-1B visa fee announcement sent shockwaves through those sectors, but the real revelation isn't the policy. It's what the panic response exposed.
Amazon scrambling to advise 14,000 H-1B workers. Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Google each with over 4,000 such employees. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs issued urgent travel warnings. Immigration lawyers had a profitable weekend, no doubt.
For years, the H-1B program has functioned as a quiet workaround, a way to avoid the harder, longer-term work of building homegrown talent pipelines. It will be interesting to see how the talent marketplace responds, pay the hefty fee, or take on the even more daunting challenge of systemic shift in skills development.
Big Tech companies, foreign governments scramble after Trump slaps $100,000 fee on H-1B visas
The move could deal a massive blow to companies — primarily in the technology and finance sectors — that rely heavily on highly skilled immigrants, particularly from India and China.
CEOs tighten grip on workplace culture, dialing back flexibility
“American CEOs are looking to reset workplace culture — emphasizing productivity and speed over flexibility and work-life balance.”
Today is the first day of Fall
Day and night will be equal.
When and where to see peak fall foliage 2025
November 3 for ATL.
How Americans View AI and Its Impact on People and Society
“Americans are relatively more optimistic about AI improving problem-solving: 29% of U.S. adults say it will make people better at this skill. Still, a larger share (38%) says AI will make this worse.”
The American dream now costs $5 million.
Ouch.
U.S. wins most gold medals in World Track and Field Championships history after relay titles
Elton John - I'm Still Standing
The Story of... 'I'm Still Standing' by Elton John
Wild.
Culture Edit Podcast:
Ep. 106 – Ghosts in the Machine
This one-on-one finds Nikki and Chad in the Studio, where they chat Fake Fall and the Beltline tourism explosion, a review Del Bar’s Buckhead location, how Rreal Tacos making Beltline Kevin a “sponsored athlete” is genius activation, Apple’s new AirPod Pro’s impact on the local nail salon, Nikki’s going to learn Spanish in 2026, and painting with India Ink. They also go full work-mode with an in-depth analysis of how AI is impacting the labor force, what workforce attrition strategy is, how AI could be freeing us up to be a creative human (because jobs are gone), that employees failed to hold up their end of the deal, advice for those who care, the pillars of AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), why is Reddit so important to LLMs, and how Gen Z search for jobs on TikTok. They also chat about Japanese 7-11s coming to the US, the delicacy of fried chicken and biscuits in Southern gas stations, John Wick documentary (“Wick is Pain”), how Waymo’s are taking over ATL, and how much Chad fundamentally hates the passage of time.