A late April batch of links
Since the most recent batch of links went out, paying subscribers received a recommendation on how to make their first departmental hire, then a meditation on so-called fun jobs. This coming weekend, they will enjoy a personal essay about how to win with curiosity.
Below, you’ll find a batch of links that cover the themes of this newsletter: career development, community building, and self care.
Trades make a comeback with Gen Z workers. There’s been a lot of talk for some time about the need to invest in this area more seriously, and I’m glad to see some positive signs of late that investments have been made and are promising to fill this evident gap. Not everyone is going to go into corporate America - and we need to make alternative paths more prominent and also more popular.
These foods don’t deserve their bad reputations, dietitians and doctors say.
You Had a Big Win at Work. But That Was Last Month. It seems like every article about the state of work has at least one anecdote about someone on the verge of burnout taking time off short-term or long-term to become someone else who doesn’t define themselves by their work wins. That’s the common theme among all of the coverage I’ve seen.
Hard work isn’t (always) rewarded.
Why getting workers their schedules in advance is good for business. This is something I took for granted, that people are at the mercy of their employers to give them shifts, often on short notice. This strikes me as something that could have been fixed, at the very least addressed, a while ago, but the incentives weren’t in place. I liked the approach this segment took, to show the business value to being organized.
Moved far from the city during Covid? Pray you don’t lose your job.
Still, the explosion of playing so much with money in the US is worrying, especially without a lot going on in the way of regulations, education, or safeguards to keep problem gambling in check. At least a sports-betting app will nudge someone to slow down if they go too far — there are virtually no protections in place if your day-trading habit gets out of hand, and many people don't even realize that what they're doing really is gambling. Fong told me he sees patients who will have lost thousands of dollars playing stocks and insist they just didn't time the market right.
2 Common Work Questions That Are Secretly Ageism In Disguise.
There’s a hidden penalty to going fully remote: A ‘task tax’ that stymies company growth, report finds. None of this should surprise anyone. All-remote is harder for two reasons: 1. We are still getting used to it as the norm. 2. People are more spread out and don’t know one another, making it more difficult to do anything quickly. Expect more studies like this one indicating that people are doing more menial tasks to stay afloat.
Is This the Secret to Ending Your Toxic Phone Addiction?
Dropbox’s CEO says managers mandating returns to the office are just ‘mashing the go-back-to-2019 button’ and creating toxic relationships with staff. “People have voted with their feet that they value flexibility a lot more than snacks in the office,” he insisted. “At home, you can set up your environment exactly how you want it and not just have snacks but your dog and something that’s totally purpose-built for you.” If this is the best talking point available four years in in favor of remote work, they require some mightily better talking points to convey their sense that businesses are stronger as a result.
Want to Sneak In a Workout While Crushing Emails? Try an Under-Desk Treadmill.
Layoff Whiplash Scars Workers Who Find New Jobs Only to Lose Them.
Chalking up the job losses to external factors beyond their control can help workers cope, but career experts say people who face multiple layoffs should also try to see if there are patterns of behavior they could avoid going forward.
Public quitting videos are spooking managers.
The Cost of Poaching Talent Just Hit a Record High. “More U.S. workers are looking for jobs than at any time in the last decade, but if you want to hire them you'll need to pony up.” This is consistent with what I am hearing in the market, that many people are endlessly, passively looking, but that the right opportunity financially hasn’t turned up just yet.