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General Motors is still dealing with production snags that will last into next year, CEO Mary Barra told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday.
“It’s gotten better this year than last year, but really this will go into ’23. … It’s going to take additional capacity,” Barra said in an interview on “Mad Money.” 

General Motors is still dealing with production snags that will last into next year, CEO Mary Barra told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday.
“It’s gotten better this year than last year, but really this will go into ’23. … It’s going to take additional capacity,” Barra said in an interview on “Mad Money.” 

“But right now, it’s we solve issues and new issues pop up, and we’re just dealing with it on a weekly basis,” she added.
The auto manufacturer said in a filing earlier this month that supply chain issues will put pressure on its second quarter earnings, though it maintained its previous guidance for 2022. GM has roughly 95,000 manufactured vehicles in its inventory that are missing certain components as of June 30, according to the filing.
Despite the supply chain snafus hindering the company, Barra said that GM plans to ramp up its EV production.
“The Hummer, we’re out a couple years. We’re looking at increased production in the latter part of this year for the Hummer truck,” she said. 
The Hummer EV pickup truck is available for purchase, but a high number of current reservations means new orders likely won’t be fulfilled until 2024, a company executive previously told CNBC.

GM announced Thursday that it is building a network of electric vehicle chargers in a partnership with Pilot Co. and EVgo, with a sizable amount expected to be in operation by the end of next year.
Shares of GM fell slightly to close at $31.59 on Thursday, well below its 52-week high of $67.21.
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Starbucks will close 16 U.S. stores, mostly on the West Coast, by the end of July because of safety concerns.
Six stores will close in Greater Los Angeles; six in Greater Seattle; two in Portland, Oregon; one in Philadelphia and one in D.C.
The move comes as more than 100 stores have voted to unionize since the end of 2021.

Starbucks will close 16 U.S. stores, mostly on the West Coast, by the end of July because of safety concerns, according to the company. Most of the stores set to close are in the Los Angeles and Seattle metro areas.
“We’ve had to make the difficult decision to close some locations that have a particularly high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe for us to operate,” a Starbucks spokesperson told CNBC.

The map below shows the six stores in California and the six in Washington State that will close. The coffee chain will also close two stores in Portland, Oregon, one store in Philadelphia and another in Washington, D.C., also for safety.

‘We cannot serve as partners if we don’t first feel safe at work’

Concern about store safety was central to a letter to employees published on Monday from Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelson, two senior vice presidents of U.S. operations at the coffee chain. The letter cites several societal safety concerns, including increased violence and drug use in the area of the stores.
“We know these challenges can, at times, play out within our stores too. We read every incident report you file — it’s a lot,” the letter said. “Simply put, we cannot serve as partners if we don’t first feel safe at work.”
The closures come at a unique time for Starbucks as more stores vote to unionize: over 100 of the company’s 9,000 U.S. stores since workers at a store in Buffalo, New York, became the first to join a union at the end of 2021.
One of the 16 stores being shuttered, 505 Union Station in Seattle, had also voted to join Starbucks Workers United — a fact that the union tweeted about after the announcement.

Property crimes up across Seattle and Los Angeles

Starbucks’ letter to employees about safety did not mention unions, and focused solely on safety concerns. Starbucks officials have said, however, that the closures are about matters of safety .
And crime data from Seattle and Los Angeles seems to the back up those concerns. In Seattle, property crimes, which include car theft, larceny theft and burglary, and violent robberies are up nearly 20% for the first five months 2022 from the year-earlier period, according to the Seattle Police Department.
In Los Angeles, those types of crimes are up citywide more than 14% for the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period last year, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
In West Hollywood, however, those figures are much higher: Property crimes and violent robberies have more than doubled in 2022 from 2021, according to the LA County Sheriff.
Read the full list of stores that Starbucks will close below:

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More home sellers are dropping their asking prices as rising mortgage interest rates and inflation ease competition in the market.
Some cities are seeing more price cuts than others. Boise, Idaho, took the lead in June, with 61.5% of sellers cutting their asking prices, according to a new report from Redfin.
Many markets saw massive price increases during the pandemic that were simply not sustainable as interest rates rose.

Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

More home sellers are dropping their asking prices as rising mortgage interest rates and inflation have eased competition in the housing market.
Some cities are seeing more price cuts than others. Boise, Idaho, took the lead in June, with 61.5% of sellers cutting their asking prices, according to a new report from Redfin, a real estate brokerage.

Boise was one of the hotter pandemic markets, as the work-from-anywhere culture prompted thousands of people to flee pricier markets like San Francisco and Los Angeles. A year ago, just about a quarter of sellers in Boise had dropped their prices.
Top 10 markets seeing cuts in asking prices:

Boise, Idaho: 61.5%
Denver, Colorado: 55.1%
Salt Lake City, Utah: 51.6%
Tacoma, Washington: 49.5%
Grand Rapids, Michigan: 49.3%
Sacramento, California: 48.7%
Seattle, Washington: 46.3%
Portland, Oregon: 45.7%
Tampa, Florida: 44.5%
Indianapolis, Indiana: 44.1%

Many of these markets saw massive price increases during the pandemic that were simply not sustainable as interest rates rose. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage is now nearly twice what it was at the start of this year. That makes the cost of ownership considerably higher.
Boise saw its home prices soar more than 60% from pre-coronavirus levels. Nationwide, home prices are up about 39% from March 2020, when Covid-19 was declared a pandemic, according to the S&P Case-Shiller Index.

Read more real estate coverage

“Higher mortgage rates and a potential recession are causing prospective buyers in popular migration destinations to press the pause button, and they’re also having a big impact on workers in big job centers who rely on their stock portfolio for down payments,” said Sheharyar Bokhari, Redfin senior economist.
Competition is also cooling because there is now increasing supply on the market. Inventory hit a record low during the pandemic, but now, as homes sit longer and demand pulls back, it is finally rising. Active inventory rose 28% last week compared with the same week one year ago, according to Realtor.com.
Real estate markets remain undersupplied compared with 2019, but they are moving in the right direction. Yet housing remains much less affordable than it was before the pandemic. For a household with a $75,000 income, only 23% of homes on the market are affordable today, down from 50% of inventory in 2018, according to Realtor.com.
“While these trends are resulting in a cooler summer homebuying season than usual, the road ahead points towards a promising shift, away from 2021’s severe undersupply and win-at-all-costs competition,” said George Ratiu, senior economist at Realtor.com.

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Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion giant, has faced criticism over how workers are treated at plants that manufacture apparel for the company.
The company is aiming to have an initial public offering on U.S. markets as soon as 2024, according to Bloomberg.

Two people hold two Shein bags after entering SHEIN’s first physical store in Madrid, Spain, June 2, 2022.
Cezaro De Luca | Europa Press | Getty Images

Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein hopes to do an initial public offering in the United States as soon as 2024, according to a report from Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter.
Yet it faces environmental, social and governance, or ESG, concerns that could be an obstacle to an IPO, according to the report. Previously, Shein had sought a 2022 IPO in the U.S., according to Reuters.

Shein, which has a $100 billion valuation, has drawn scrutiny for its cheap product line that has been built on a fast and prolific production chain. A probe by Swiss watchdog group Public Eye said some of Shein’s manufacturers have been subjecting employees to dangerous conditions and 75-hour workweeks.
While these concerns have not dissuaded large investors such as Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital, and Tiger Global Management, recent executive moves within Shein appear to focus on improving their ESG appearance in preparation for a public offering, according to Bloomberg.
Shein didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Critics still take issue with Shein garments short-term wearability, and the criticism has spread to fast-fashion more broadly. A 2019 World Bank report stated that the annual number of new garments produced had doubled from the 50 billion produced in 2000.
Read the full story at Bloomberg.

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A “second wave” of Russians is fleeing President Vladimir Putin’s regime as his war in Ukraine rages on.
37-year-old Vladimir is one of a number of Russians with business and family ties who took time to get their affairs in order, but are now relocating.
“Once the flow begins and people start finding out how to do things … that prompts more people to leave,” Jeanne Batalova, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told CNBC.

A ‘second wave’ of Russians are now formally relocating to countries spanning Europe, the Middle East and Asia after spending time getting their affairs in order.
Natalia Kolesnikova | Afp | Getty Images

For months now, Vladimir has been preparing paperwork and getting his affairs in order for a move to France.
A visa application process that was once relatively easy is now dogged with complexity, but the 37-year-old is confident that getting his family and employees out of Russia will be worthwhile.

“On the one hand, it’s comfortable to live in the country where you were born. But on the other, it’s about the safety of your family,” Vladimir told CNBC via video call from his office in Moscow.
For Vladimir, the decision to leave the country he has called home all his life “was not made in one day.” Under President Vladimir Putin’s rule, he has watched what he called the “erosion of politics and freedom” in Russia over several years. But the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine was the final straw.
“I think, in a year or two, everything will be so bad,” he said of his country.
The Russian Embassy in London and Russia’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Russia’s ‘second wave’ of migration

Vladimir, whose surname has been removed due to the sensitive nature of the situation, is part of what he considers Russia’s “second wave” of migration following the war.This includes those who took longer to prepare to leave the country — such as people with businesses or families who wanted to let their children finish the school year before leaving.

Such flexibility was not afforded to everybody. When Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, alongside the millions of Ukrainians who were forced to flee their homes, life for some Russians became untenable overnight.

Once the flow begins and people start finding out how to do things … that prompts more people to leave.

Jeanne Batalova
senior policy analyst, Migration Policy Institute

A “first wave” of artists, journalists and others openly opposed to Putin’s regime felt they had to leave the country immediately or risk political persecution for violating the Kremlin’s clampdown on public dissent.
“A lot of people got notices saying that they were traitors,” said Jeanne Batalova, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, noting the backlash suffered by some Russians — even from neighbors.
But as the war rages on, more Russians are deciding to pack up and leave.
“The way migration works is that once the flow begins and people start finding out how to do things — get a flat, apply for asylum, find a job or start a business — that prompts more people to leave. It becomes a self-fulfilling cycle,” Batalova said.

An exodus in the hundreds of thousands

There is no concrete data on the number of Russians who have left the country since the start of the war. However, one Russian economist put the total at 200,000 as of mid-March.
That figure is likely to be far higher now, according to Batalova, as tens of thousands of Russians have relocated to Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Israel, the Baltic states and beyond.
“If you look at the various destinations where people have gone, these numbers do ring true,” she said. And that’s not even counting Russia’s large overseas diaspora, many of whom are in Southeast Asia, who have chosen not to return home following the invasion. Batalova puts that figure at around 100,000.

There is no concrete data on the number of people who have fled Russia following the war, although economists put estimates at 200,000 to 300,000 as of mid-March.
Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

In the tech sector alone, an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 professionals left in the first month of the war, with a further 70,000 to 100,000 expected to follow soon thereafter, according to a Russian IT industry trade group.
Some start-up founders like Vladimir, who runs a software service for restaurants, have decided to relocate their businesses and staff overseas, choosing countries with access to capital, such as France, the U.K, Spain and Cyprus. Vladimir is moving his wife and school-age child, as well as his team of four and their families, to Paris.
They follow more mobile independent Russia tech workers who have already flocked to low-visa countries including Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey.

You’re seeing a massive brain drain. The disruption for talented people is enormous.

Scott Antel

Then, there’s a third group of tech workers at larger Russian IT companies who are leaving more out of obligation than choice.
Mikhail Mizhinsky, founder of Relocode, a company that helps tech businesses relocate, said these people faced a particularly difficult situation.
Many have received ultimatums from overseas customers who are ceasing doing business with Russia. For them, it’s a toss-up between low costs in Bulgaria, Russian influence in Serbia and tax benefits in Armenia, according to Mizhinsky.
“Most of them don’t necessarily want to leave Russia, where their home is,” he said. “But, on the other hand, they have their clients who buy their IT outsourced products and services who demanded them to leave. Many got letters from clients who said they would terminate their contracts if they did not leave Russia.”

The well-educated and the wealthy

The tech sector is one among several professional services industries that have seen an exodus of talent from Russia’s larger cities, as people reject the war and worsening business conditions.
Scott Antel, an international hospitality and franchise lawyer who spent almost two decades working in Moscow, has so far this year helped five friends relocate from Russia to Dubai, in several cases purchasing properties for them, sight unseen, to expedite the move.
“You’re seeing a massive brain drain,” said Antel, whose departing friends span the legal and consulting professions, as well as hospitality and real estate. “The disruption for talented people is enormous and is going to be even more so.”

Around 15,000 millionaires are expected to leave Russia this year, adding to the increasing number of people migrating away amid President Putin’s war.
Oleg Nikishin | Getty Images News

“A lot of them feel that they’ve lost their country,” he continued. “Realistically, is this going to turn around in a couple of years? No.”
And it’s not just professionals seeking out the stability of overseas markets like Dubai. Having remained politically neutral amid international sanctions, the emirate has emerged as a destination of choice for Russia’s uber rich, too, with many shifting their wealth into its luxury property market.
Indeed, around 15,000 millionaires are expected to leave Russia this year, according to a June report from London-based citizenship-by-investment firm Henley & Partners, with Dubai ranking as the top location for the super rich.

Wariness among host countries

The ongoing second exodus comes amid reports that some of Russia’s earlier emigres have returned home, because of both family and business ties, as well as difficulties as a result of travel restrictions and banking sanctions.
However, Batalova said she expects such returns to be short-lived.
“My bet would be that the emigration from Russia will continue, and when people do go back it will be to sell possessions, homes, and then leave again,” she said.
But questions remain over the reception some Russian emigres may receive in their host country, she said.

They don’t want Russia to come along later and try to protect Russians in those host countries as they did with the diaspora in Ukraine.

Jeanna Batalova
senior policy analyst, Migration Policy Institute

“In this conflict, Russia is viewed as the aggressor, and that attitude is passed down onto the emigres. Even if they [Russian migrants] are against the system, the public sentiment can be transferred to the new arrivals,” Batalova said.
Indeed, there is a very real fear among some host countries that an influx of Russian migrants could see them become a target for a future Russian invasion. Moscow has maintained that part of the justification for its so-called special military operation in Ukraine was the “liberation” of Donbas, an area of east Ukraine which is home to a significant number of ethnic Russians.
According to Batalova, countries like Georgia, Armenia and the Baltic states — all of which have suffered at the hands of Russian aggression in the past, and have existing concerns over their national security — are likely to be particularly anxious.
“They don’t want Russia to come along later and try to protect Russians in those host countries as they did with the diaspora in Ukraine,” she noted.
Still, Vladimir is undeterred. He is hopeful for a fresh start in his family’s search for a new home outside of Russia.
“Regarding the negativity, I’m sure it’s not true for 100% for all people. In any country, and with any passport, people can understand one another,” he said.

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GM and Pilot Co. plan to install EV fast chargers at 500 Pilot and Flying J locations along U.S. highways.
The chargers, about 2,000 in total, will be installed and operated by EVgo starting next year.
Once complete, the network will have fast chargers at intervals of about 50 miles along U.S. highways.

General Motors is building out a new network of EV fast chargers in partnership with Pilot Co., owner of the Pilot and Flying J highway travel centers, and EV charging network EVgo.
The companies will install a total of 2,000 fast chargers at 500 of Pilot’s locations along American highways at intervals of approximately 50 miles, they said Thursday. The partners expect to have a significant portion of those chargers installed and operating by the end of 2023.

“GM and Pilot Company designed this program to combine private investments alongside intended government grant and utility programs to help reduce range anxiety and significantly close the gap in long-distance EV charger demand,” said Pilot Co. CEO Shameek Konar in a statement.
The deal, which is expected to benefit from grants made available by the U.S. government, is part of a broader $750 million effort by GM to build out an accessible fast-charging network as it gears up to launch a series of new electric vehicles over the next few years.
The chargers will be installed, operated and maintained by EVgo and will include high-power fast chargers capable of charging at up to 350 kilowatts as well as charging stalls designed to accommodate electric vehicles that are towing trailers. The chargers will be open to all electric vehicles that are compatible with DC fast charging.  

GM to partner with EVgo and Pilot to add EV chargers to stations.
Courtesy: GM

GM and EVgo previously announced a plan to install an additional 3,250 fast chargers in and around U.S. cities and suburbs by the end of 2025. GM is also working with its dealers in the U.S. and Canada to install up to 40,000 chargers in the dealers’ communities, an effort that is focused on “underserved rural and urban areas,” the company has said.
Studies have shown that drivers’ concerns about access to chargers along highways is a limiting factor in EV adoption.
“We are committed to an all-electric, zero-emissions future, and ensuring that the right charging infrastructure is in place is a key piece of the puzzle,” said GM CEO Mary Barra in a statement. “With travel centers across North America, Pilot Company is an ideal collaborator to reach a broad audience of EV drivers.”

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Molson Coors Beverage will return to the Super Bowl next year, making its first appearance during the big game in more than 30 years.
Rival Anheuser-Busch InBev ended its monopoly on Super Bowl ads earlier this year after more than 30 years.
For Molson Coors, the chance to advertise during the NFL championship game comes after the company’s transformation into a total beverage company.

Molson Golden and Coors Light beer bottles are pictured at the Asylum bar in New York.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Molson Coors Beverage will return to the Super Bowl next year, making its first appearance during the big game in more than 30 years.
The move comes after archrival Anheuser-Busch InBev announced in June that it would end a 33-year deal with the NFL that made it the exclusive alcohol advertiser during the Super Bowl. The company still plans to run ads during the game this year.

Since 1989, AB InBev’s NFL deal had shut out other brewers. The Bud Light owner opted to run ads every year except in 2021, when it spent marketing dollars to boost Covid vaccine awareness instead. Its commercials have made Budweiser’s Clydesdale horses iconic, introduced the world to “Whassup?” and even sparked a lawsuit from MillerCoors in 2019.
“The minute we heard that the exclusivity was no longer and we had a chance, we were like ‘Yes, we are in, game on’,” said Michelle St. Jacques, chief marketing officer for Molson Coors.
The company is planning to run just one 30-second spot during the game. But St. Jacques said Molson Coors is aiming to make an unforgettable commercial that breaks through the noise.
The Super Bowl will give the company a national stage to showcase its transformation. Molson Coors has expanded its offerings beyond just beer, adding hard seltzer, whiskey and energy drinks to its portfolio. In 2021, it logged annual sales growth for the first time in more than a decade.
“We’ve changed a lot in the past three years, not only the name of our company, from ‘Brewing’ to ‘Beverage,’ but also the way we’re approaching marketing and building brands in general,” St. Jacques said.

For example, the company has sought to differentiate its two light beers: Miller Lite and Coors Light.
From the sidelines during past Super Bowls, Molson Coors has tried to make a splash. Past marketing campaigns have trolled AB InBev’s brands, like challenging consumers to type the world’s longest URL to burn the one-calorie difference between Miller Lite and Michelob Ultra. For this year’s Super Bowl, Miller Lite opened a bar in the metaverse, spreading the word through social media.
With AB InBev’s monopoly gone, other alcohol companies like Heineken and Diageo, the NFL’s official spirits sponsor, also will have the chance to advertise their drinks on air during the big game.
In 2022, Super Bowl ads went for more than $7 million for a 30-second spot during the game. Advertisers are willing to shell out big bucks for the chance to market their products to the game’s massive audience. The NFL said this year’s championship game had a total of 208 million viewers.
AB InBev isn’t the only beverage giant seeing an end to an exclusive deal with the NFL. PepsiCo announced in May that it will no longer sponsor the game’s halftime show after a decadelong run. A new sponsor hasn’t been announced.

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The meeting has been going on for almost an hour already, but the end is now in sight. The vast majority of attendees have already got the cursor lined up over the “leave” button; freedom, or at least a five-minute break, is a click away. And then whoever is chairing asks a simple but terrible question: “Does anyone have anything they want to add?” Cue almost unendurable suspense. If the chairman’s voice is the next you hear, it’s all over bar the ritual waving at the camera. But if any of your other treasured colleagues speak up, your plan for a nice cup of tea is destroyed. The silence stretches for a period of seconds. Almost safe. “There is just one thing,” says Lauren from procurement, oblivious to the tiny dreams she has dashed and the fleeting hatred she has aroused. For most people, the workplace is not a stage for high drama. Careers are punctuated by only a few defining moments, from the interview for the top job to the m&a deal that upends an industry. Although some companies and departments are marked by bullying and burnout, more fortunate employees experience suspense through a series of micro-dramas. Some small moments of great tension happen often enough that they are almost tropes. The pandemic has created many of these moments. A big Zoom call is under way, with lots of people on the line. Everyone is muted, save the speaker and one unfortunate soul, who has managed to unmute themselves. A lot of rustling can be heard. A family conversation is going on, a small slice of domestic life being broadcast inadvertently into the workplace. It’s almost too much bear. What if they have a blazing row? What if someone says out loud what everyone is thinking about the speaker? The horror of mild public embarrassment looms, and it is stomach-churning. “Jesus, this is unbearable,” you say to yourself, and realise you are also unmuted. Email can also evoke emotion. There is panic, after you send a message to the wrong person and frantically scramble to hit “undo” or “delete”. There is dread, when an email arrives from the person who is reliably wrong about everything and you know that opening it will mean conflict and wasted time. And there is mortification on behalf of other people, when an all-staff missive from the chief executive goes out about a new initiative and someone hits “reply all” on their message oleaginously congratulating the boss on their utter brilliance. Presenting is a low-stakes, high-tension act. “I’m going to share my screen,” you say, and press the button that promises just that. The presenting icon circles and circles, and you wonder if it will ever stop. Then you pick the wrong tab to share and everyone can see your calendar, including the entries marked “Job interview”. Then you share your whole screen and suddenly infinite, ever-smaller versions of yourself appear. It is a similar story in the real world. The clicker doesn’t work, so you hopefully press it a few times and the deck suddenly jumps forward to the slide that gives away your unexpected strategy recommendation. The offline world offers other moments of diminutive drama. Entering and exiting meetings while they are still going on is stressless in a virtual environment; in the real world, you have to negotiate your way past colleagues and whisper apologies. The working lunch is not a problem online: camera off, microphone off, nosh away. In person you must choose items that can be eaten quickly, efficiently and silently. Eating crisps during an in-person presentation sounds like setting off a firework display in a monastery. Taking a bite of some sandwiches risks a carnivorous version of the magician’s handkerchief trick, as you find yourself slowly pulling an entire side of beef into your mouth in one go. If you do not recognise any of these miniature dramas, one possible explanation is that you are already the boss: life is generally a lot less tense if you have ludicrous amounts of self-belief and get to set the rules. But for many employees, as well as almost everyone in Britain, this is what suspense looks like, not remotely dangerous but teeming with the possibility of awkwardness. If you and someone else have started making a point at the same time, do you keep going and hope that he gives way? What conversation can you start and finish in the time it takes for the lift to go five floors? And so on. The workplace can be a place of planet-changing ideas and epic rivalries. Day by day, it is a theatre of mild agitation. For exclusive insight and reading recommendations from our correspondents in America, sign up to Checks and Balance, our weekly newsletter.Read more from Bartleby, our columnist on management and work:Reading corporate culture from the outside (Jul 9th)Beach reads for business folk (Jul 2nd)Why managers deserve more understanding (Jun 25th) More