A holiday batch of links to bring in 2022 and helps set the agenda
A quick look at what I've been reading this week - and what you can expect to come
A final reminder that the Next. Up. newsletter launches Saturday evening. I’m excited. It’ll be available only to paid subscribers. I’ve been hard at work writing this week, and I believe the opening one is a good jumping off point. Free subscribers from here on out will only hear from me for occasional link roundups, such as this one below. I’ll try to send them every few weeks, not on a consistent day or time. I hope that this first batch will give you a preview of the types of topics I aim to cover over the course of this inaugural year of Next. Up.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting: Supply Chain Issues. Even after nearly a year of supply chain issues stories, the Times found a new way in that I hadn’t seen or really considered before. Some people can’t wait for their stuff to arrive on its own timeline. So what do they do as an alternative? This is a good template for how marketers should evaluate when they’re deciding what/whether they have a story to pitch related to ongoing issues on people’s minds.
Every DoorDash employee, from engineers to CEO, will make deliveries. This sounds like a nice corporate program that has a slew of benefits that’s brought into a (relatively minor) negative light by one sourpuss at the company. The assignment, I’d imagine, was welcomed by many as an integral piece of understanding what they do and how they do it.
Why New Yorkers are fleeing to Texas and Florida in droves. Different versions of this same story angle have been written throughout the pandemic, however this one intrigued me amid the intense restrictions in place in some areas of the country at this time of Omicron and that message about safety first not getting through elsewhere. And some people making longer-term lifestyle decisions around it.
At-home businesses are growing. Women and people of color benefit the most. I’ve spent a lot of the past year asking executives and employees to describe some of the positive unexpected side effects of the pandemic living. This story angle was not something I was aware of previously, but it illustrates the point I’ve been trying to encourage. Consumers have an appetite for these kinds of stories. Progress being made in areas they don’t necessarily have an eye on.
Desktop PC Sales Rebound as Pandemic Work Evolves.
The great resignation is changing work in America, and it's here to stay. A good, short podcast interview about the what and why of changing workforces and changing work styles.
How to Figure Out What You Want Next in Your Career.
10 Ways Cities Came Back in 2021. This was an incredibly smart treatment. Listicles have grown a reputation as being unsatisfying and sometimes silly. This one fully justifies the headline and approach. Others should model off of what worked so well here.
What Do You Think You Should Be Paid?
Four-day weeks, async work, and the office as the new offsite: How 2021 changed the way we work forever. Throughout all of this period, I’ve been arguing that these future of work stories will hinge on experts at various companies to step up and speak on what’s happening at the job. Some companies are reticent to come forward without having all the solutions in place already. I find that to be foolish. People want to hear what’s happening to get to the solutions. Gusto’s executive did a nice job here walking that line and coming across as wise and deliberate.
Who is joining the Bay Area's Great Resignation?
Job Seekers Get Loud About Their Availability. This quote stood out for me as particularly bad advice that’s prime evidence of what we’re up against:
“The data I’ve seen shows a lot of unemployment bias,” says Angela Watts, a Boise, Idaho-based job-search coach and former corporate recruiter for Fortune 500 companies, including grocer Albertsons Cos. and New York Life Insurance Co. In her experience, she says, both pre- and post-pandemic, recruiters often view unemployed job seekers more critically, fearing that they may have suffered from skill decay or personal issues on a job.
I know that these corporate recruiters have everyone’s best interest in mind. I just think it’s inconsistent with what (many) people actually think. Lots of people are out of work these days for a variety of reasons. If someone has a problem with that, that’s not the candidate’s issue to cover up. Do your thing how you wish to do it. Find your people, find your fit.