There was one undisputed winner of the pandemic era: pets. People adopted more pets, spent more time with them, and lavished them with more spending. But that boom has not necessarily benefited the workforce that cares for our furry friends.
Veterinarians earn a median annual salary of $119,100, less than half of what physicians make despite spending as much time in school, graduating with two-thirds as much student debt, and experiencing higher turnover. The result: 0.8 vets per 1,000 cats and dogs. The shortage of veterinary technicians is even worse. My niece studied to be a vet tech but switched out of the program when she realized three years of training would net her a job with a limited career path and low wages.
One leader who thinks about this a lot is Kristin Peck, CEO of Zoetis, an $8.5 billion-a-year global leader in developing vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and other technologies for pets and livestock. Her clients are vets, so she’s been on the frontlines, trying to address issues through regulation and innovation. “We believe you need to create more licensure in vet tech, so they can do more things such as giving injections,” Peck says. With more robust certification and on-the-job training, she argues, technicians can help relieve pressure on vets—and build more rewarding careers.
AI also promises to unlock productivity in pet care. In fact, some of the most creative use cases for AI and health tech are likely to emerge first in the animal realm, where patients are unencumbered by privacy laws and other well-intentioned regulations. Zoetis, for one, has an AI-powered device that can quickly diagnose disease from blood, urine and other samples. Meanwhile, Nestlé Purina Petcare North America CEO Nina Leigh Krueger recently told me about her company’s innovations in tech-enabled pet health monitoring. “They want to know, ‘Is my pet getting enough exercise? Is it eating the right amount?’” she says. My personal favorite: a smart litter box that alerts cat owners to changes in habits that may indicate health issues. “We know from years of research how important pets are to our mental health,” she adds.
And if you doubt that, consider that Chewy CEO Sumit Singh lets everyone bring their pets to work, potbellied pigs and all. As he told Michal Lev-Ram and Alan Murray in a recent Leadership Next podcast, the pet business “used to be a sleepy category” that’s become the next frontier for innovation as technology allows for greater personalization and joy—for animals, their owners, and the professionals who care for them.
Meanwhile, as Alan prepares to move on to his next venture, we’ve received a lot of comments from CEOs on why Fortune is important to them. Here’s one that really resonated with me.
Fortune’s thought-provoking content and insightful articles have been an incredible resource for me and my fellow leaders as we all navigate an increasingly complex landscape. In an era where we are being bombarded with so much information, Fortune helps me stay current on market trends, business strategies and leadership advice.
–Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO, TIAA
More news below.
Diane Brady
@dianebrady
diane.brady@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
The FTC targets another merger
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Europe's TikTok probe
The European Commission could order TikTok to shutter its rewards program in the EU due to concerns over child addiction. TikTok Lite allows users to earn points through activities like watching videos or following creators. It’s the second European investigation into TikTok following a February probe into whether the app breached rules on transparent advertising. Reuters
Bubble tea bust
Shares in Chinese bubble tea brand Chabaidao sunk by as much as 37% in Hong Kong on Tuesday, the first trading day for the shares after the city’s biggest IPO for 2024 thus far. IPO proceeds in Hong Kong fell to their lowest level in two decades last year, as companies worry about geopolitical tensions and Chinese regulatory scrutiny. On Friday, China’s markets regulator said it would facilitate Chinese companies hoping to list in Hong Kong. Bloomberg
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
Commentary: How to fix Boeing, according to a former Airbus technology chief by Paul Eremenko
Baby boomer packed housing markets are unfazed by higher mortgage rates—the rest don’t have enough homes or sellers by Alena Botros
Musk turned Democrats off Teslas at a critical time. Here’s what they bought instead by Alicia Adamczyk
Google CEO’s new memo on employee activism echoes progressive villain Coinbase by Jeff John Roberts
Gen Z women flock to Uniqlo as return-to-office mandates force them to merge work and evening wear by Ryan Hogg
This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.
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