Who had a good outcome from the supply chain crisis? Shipping companies, who pocketed some USD 150 bn in net income last year. The spot rate to ship a 40-foot container from Asia to the US spiked to over USD 20k last year, a tenfold increase from the USD 2k it would’ve cost a few years back, Bloomberg writes. Long term contracts between carriers and shippers have risen over 200% over the last year, while bigger corporations can stomach the shipping increase and negotiate better prices, smaller exporters and importers are struggling.

Higher shipping costs come with a risk of increasing inflation: A 15% increase in shipping costs leads to a 0.10 percentage point increase in core inflation in the US, said an economist with the Kansas City Fed, saying that increasing shipping costs are currently a persistent, not transient, issue.

Following the UAE’s lead, the UK just initiated a four-day work week trial: More than 30 companies in the UK kicked off a six-month pilot program that will reduce the working week to four days, instead of five, the Independent reports. The pilot will see employees work one day less, without any loss in pay for the participants, in a bid to shift to productivity-based work strategies. The UK’s trial comes after the UAE government recently implemented a nationwide 4.5-day work week for public sector employees that will also see them shift to a Monday-Friday schedule.

How does meta plan to monetize the metaverse? So far, it looks like Facebook’s parent company intends to utilize highly targeted advertising techniques and sponsored content to monetize the metaverse — the immersive, avatar-dominated virtual world which many claim is the future of the internet — if hundreds of applications filed to the US Patent and Trademark Office are any indicator. The patents include plans for a “virtual store” that would enable consumers to purchase digital commodities, or products that match real-life items which are endorsed by specific brands, the Financial Times reports.