Good morning,
Here’s what happened this week:
Enhancing a talent pipeline through internships is particularly important given the current war for talent. Charles Schwab conducted its Schwab Intern Academy virtually for the first time in 2020. “Last year, of the 400 students who joined us, we made offers to 78% of them, and coincidentally, 78% of those offers were accepted,” Rob Mundell, senior vice president of talent solutions at Charles Schwab, said. Andie Teresi, a former-intern-turned-employee, shared her perspective on how the firm will again “transcend the elements of its in-person culture to a virtual setting.”
Corporate board diversity remains at the forefront of the conversation. In December, Nasdaq proposed a board diversity rule, which is being considered by the SEC. At Workday and Fortune’s recent virtual CFO Collaborative event, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said the primary portion of the proposal provides transparency around the composition of the board from a diversity perspective. “The second portion of the proposal is goals that we’ve set for the companies listed on Nasdaq to try to reach within the next four years—to have at least one woman and one underrepresented minority or LGBTQ member on the board,” Friedman said.
Fortune and NewtonX, a B2B market research company, worked together to conduct our first-ever CFO survey to find out what CFOs really think about returning to the office. Many actually prefer that employees do not return to a fully in-person work environment post-COVID. Only 25% prefer a full-time in-office arrangement. The majority of CFOs surveyed prefer hybrid work arrangements for reasons such as it reduced their personal work-related expenses, and it’s easier to maintain work/life balance and personal autonomy.
And speaking of hybrid workforces, our CFO survey echoes what Accenture found in a new research report. About 83% of respondents in a global survey of more than 9,000 workers said a hybrid model—sometimes remote, sometimes onsite—would be optimal. Regardless of physical location, enhancing resources to make sure a workforce is healthy and productive, “will produce bottom-line benefits,” according to Accenture. The report notes that 63% of high-revenue growth companies use hybrid, “productivity anywhere,” workforce models.
The next CFO Daily will be on Tuesday, June 1. Enjoy the long weekend!
See you then.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Big deal
A report conducted by Corinium and sponsored by FICO, the State of Responsible A.I., examines how global organizations are deploying artificial intelligence. Despite the increased demand for A.I. tools, there's little prioritization for using the technology responsibly and ethically, which may put companies at risk, a survey of 100 C-level analytic and data executives found.
Going deeper
Here are a few good Fortune weekend reads:
100 years after the Tulsa massacre, Black Wall Street’s legacy of entrepreneurship continues by Ellen McGirt, Sheryl Estrada, Desean McClinton-Holland, and Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
Half of U.S. adults are now fully vaccinated. See how your state is doing by Erika Fry and Nicolas Rapp
The Bitcoin rollercoaster will force Tesla to take earnings hits that investors will hate by Shawn Tully
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin says long-awaited shift to ‘proof-of-stake’ could solve environmental woes by Yvonne Lau
Leaderboard
Some notable moves from this past week:
Paul Balciunas was named CFO at Apex.AI, a producer of software for the automotive industry, effective immediately. Most recently, Balciunas served as CFO for Canoo, an electric vehicle company. He has also served as VP of global automotive investment banking at Deutsche Bank.
Heather Dixon was named CFO at Everside Health, a national primary care provider. Dixon previously served as SVP, global controller and chief accounting officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.
Michael (Mick) Lucareli was promoted to EVP and CFO at Modine Manufacturing Company, a thermal management technology company. Lucareli has served as VP of finance and CFO since July 2010. He has been with Modine for 22 years.
Bernadette Madarieta was named SVP and CFO at Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc., a manufacturer of frozen french fries and other potato products for restaurants and retail. Madarieta will succeed Robert McNutt who will retire from his position as SVP and CFO, effective August 6, 2021. Madarieta has served as Lamb Weston’s VP and controller and principal accounting officer since November 2016.
Overheard
“The industry is referring it to as 'revenge travel.' People have more discretionary income, they’ve got a lot of PTO (paid time off) saved up, so they’re going to take more trips and spend more money.”
—Jeanette McGee, spokeswoman for the American Automobile Association, on the increase in travel despite steep gas prices, as told to the Associated Press.
