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☆ The end of remote work? Firms look to punish remote workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe end of remote work? Firms look to punish remote workersHosted by Brian Sullivan, “Last Call” is a fast-paced, entertaining business show that explores the intersection of money, culture and policy. Tune in Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC. Lydia Moynihan, New York Post, and Kathryn Minshew, TheMuse.com founder and CEO, join the show to discuss the potential crackdown on remote work.

☆ Return to the office or see a pay cut: More and more companies are forcing remote workers to choose
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell might cut employees' bonuses if they don't return to the office. "We're very focused on having our team in at the same time," Neil Barr, chair and managing partner at Davis Polk, told the Wall Street Journal. The era of widespread remote work might be coming to a close economy-wide, as firms tighten their belts and try to get their workers back in. As mass layoffs sweep some sectors that embraced remote work — like tech — companies that are letting workers go are increasingly asking for their remaining workforce to come back in. That's because even companies that have chosen to embrace remote work may be doing so in part because it allows them to pay workers less.

☆ Remote Jobs Going Back to the Office, Outsourcing to Cheaper Workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Finding a remote job is getting more and more difficult. That's because competition for remote work in the US remains fierce, the number of job postings are on the decline, and some of the remote jobs that remain are being outsourced overseas. Companies are moving remote jobs overseasSome companies are embracing remote work, but not in the US. Instead, they're outsourcing jobs overseas and saving on labor costs. For Americans who are eager to snag that remote job, it's not all doom and gloom.

☆ The R.T.O. Whisperers Have a Plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Emma Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Resistors are typically senior-level employees and high performers, workers who aren’t worried that defying return-to-office rules will yield professional consequences. Those are the employees who when pushed to return to the office will quit — either on the spot or in the months after R.T.O. It’s not about remote workers detaching from work, but instead about people resisting when pushed toward working conditions they don’t like. Workers of color, who can feel marginalized within corporate work structures, tend to bristle at return-to-office mandates, Tsipursky said. A survey from FlexJobs, a remote-employment search site, found that 80 percent of women ranked remote work as a top job benefit, compared with 69 percent of men.

Persons: aren’t, They’ve, they’re, —, “, ” Tsipursky, It’s, Tsipursky, doesn’t, Knoblock, ” Organizations: Gartner, microaggressions, Workers Locations: Black, FlexJobs

☆ An employee reportedly asked to go remote. Her CEO says he outsourced her job to India instead and saved 40% on labor costs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CEO Johnny Taylor Jr. told WSJ he outsourced an employee's job after she requested it be remote. Hiring someone in India saved the company around 40% in labor costs, he told the Journal. Since the pandemic, some tech companies have hired remote workers overseas, sometimes amid layoffs. Some tech companies have already turned to overseas labor, including in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, Insider's Aki Ito reported. The year before, 17% of job postings offered remote work.

☆ A remote worker loves the lifestyle so much she's locking it in by starting her own business so she can work from home forever
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Dawn-Michelle Lewis loves remote work, but not her remote job. Many researchers have found a correlation between remote work and happier employees. The share of remote postings could fall to 10% by the end of 2023, Nick Bloom, a leading work-from-home researcher and Stanford economist, previously told Insider. Remote work also saves them money on transportation — they sold one of their two vehicles — and allows them to live almost wherever they want. I want to give people the same opportunity of remote work I have been fortunate enough to have."

☆ Gary Vaynerchuk to managers: Forget a 4-day workweek. If you want to make your people happy, fire the jerks.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Gary Vaynerchuk said companies should fire the "assholes" creating "toxic" work environments. He has also said recently that companies need to appeal to Gen Z better, given their many work options. In TikToks posted this week, Vaynerchuk railed against "toxic work environments," slamming companies for retaining employees and management that compromise the "joy" of their staff members. "Joy doesn't come from four-hour workweeks," Vaynerchuk said in one video, seeming to reference the current movement for a four-day workweek. And Vaynerchuk is betting that people also want to be treated right while on the clock.

☆ The 10 best US cities for job opportunities and earning potential in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

HR firm Checkr ranked the best US cities for job opportunities and earning potential. A new report from Checkr, a background check firm, looked at which cities job seekers should consider. Checkr analyzed BLS and other government labor data on the 100 largest US cities to determine which cities have the most job opportunities with the highest earning potential. The 10 best US cities for job opportunities and earning potential according to Checkr, are:1. The shift to remote work may encourage workers to move to cheaper, mid-sized cities, Korolevich said.

☆ Remote workers are clinging to work-from-home jobs, even if they aren't that happy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Joe, 37, is torn between leaving his job and clinging to the flexibility of remote work. Many remote workers like him have gotten used to the WFH lifestyle, and built lives around it. With remote job openings tapering off, more remote workers may be inclined to stay put. Even before the pandemic, remote workers tended to be happier and stay at their jobs longer than on-site workers. The share of remote postings could fall to 10% by the end of 2023, Stanford economist and leading work-from-home researcher Nick Bloom told Insider.

☆ The 25 best companies to work for in New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Comparably analyzed employee feedback on its site to find the best companies to work for in the New York metro area. Based on anonymous responses on Comparably, Squarespace ranked No. Other companies on this metro area list included StubHub, Stack Overflow, and Ocrolus. Remote workers who noted their office is in the New York metro area were included in the analysis. Below are the top 25 on Comparably's New York list.

☆ See inside a few of the coolest offices in North America, where frozen yogurt is served out of Airstreams and conference rooms have holograms. Should your office be on the list? Let us know.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Office use on average is around 50% of prepandemic levels in major cities like New York. Employers are responding with amped up perks and spaces that allow for hybrid work. From an Airstream trailer serving frozen yogurt to fort-like meeting rooms, see a few office perks. Take a peek at a few of the offices that are pulling ahead of the pack. If your office opened after 2020 and you think it should be on this list, email reporter Jordan Pandy at jpandy@insider.com.

☆ A remote worker who starts his job at 7:30 a.m. and takes afternoons off says the schedule 'makes it a lot easier to manage my focus, my energy, and just my overall attitude'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Remote workers taking afternoons off are powering a boom in golfing and other leisure activities. Maganas, 60, is one of the many American remote workers powering an afternoon-leisure boom. That type of schedule, which Maganas has had for about 20 years, has become increasingly popular with the widespread adoption of remote work. Research from Nick Bloom, a Stanford University economist who's studied remote work for nearly 20 years, and his colleague Alex Finan tracks a rise in split schedules for those who are remote. For those considering a foray into the split schedule, Maganas recommends giving it a try and seeing whether it affects stress levels.

☆ 12 cities around the world where you can live cheaply, from $300-a-month rents to $1 cappuccinos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Insider compiled a list of 12 cities around the world where the cost of living is relatively low. Insider has compiled a list of 12 cities where you can live relatively cheaply, using data from the comparison website Numbeo, which provides crowdsourced summaries of the cost of living in major cities across the world. Insider chose cities across countries and continents, trying to select ones that are relatively affordable, especially compared to the US. All prices have been converted to US dollars, and the cities' populations are sourced from United Nations data unless otherwise noted. Have you found an affordable paradise in another part of the world?

☆ The battle over Airbnb has hit a breaking point
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( James Rodriguez | Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

"We started panicking and started connecting with other folks who we know have short-term rentals," Sullivan told Insider. Rather than a collapse of the industry, the increasingly bifurcated state of the market — a bust for some, a boom for others — is a clear sign that we have hit a turning point in the long-running battle over short-term rentals. Given the sharp rise of short-term rentals there, some local lawmakers have recently called for amending the law. Investors jumped in to capitalize on the boom, and the market soon became saturated with short-term rentals. There's one thing pretty much everyone can agree on: Short-term rentals are here to stay.

☆ The 'Airbnbust' proves the Wild West days of online vacation rentals are over
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( James Rodriguez | Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

"We started panicking and started connecting with other folks who we know have short-term rentals," Sullivan told Insider. Given the sharp rise of short-term rentals there, some local lawmakers have recently called for amending the law. But short-term rentals are often essential to a healthy tourism economy, particularly in vacation destinations. Investors jumped in to capitalize on the boom, and the market soon became saturated with short-term rentals. There's one thing pretty much everyone can agree on: Short-term rentals are here to stay.

Since then, critics say those schemes have come back to bite the economy by ramping up competition for scarce housing - fuelling inflation and piling pressure particularly onto young, local, entry-level workers. Rents in Lisbon have jumped 65% since 2015 and sale prices have sky-rocketed 137%, figures from Confidencial Imobiliario, which collects data on housing, show. Locals struggled to keep up in a country where public housing only represents 2% of the property market, according to government data. The average rent for a one-bedroom flat in Lisbon is around 1,350 euros, a study by housing portal Imovirtual showed. "If housing stays this expensive or gets worse, (foreign) people ... will start moving back to their own countries."

☆ YouTube Music contractors say their office is promoting anti-union messages on TVs ahead of the union election
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Contracting firm Cognizant is pushing back as contractors for YouTube Music begin union elections. In October, YouTube Music contractors announced their plans to unionize with the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU), which represents more than 1,200 full-time Googlers and contractors doing work for the company through outsourcing firms. The YouTube Music contractors will hold a union election on Wednesday. Sam ReganCognizant required YouTube Music contractors to work from its Austin office starting February 6. YouTube Music contractors are voting to unionizeAfter the union election on Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Board will hold a vote count on April 26 to determine whether a majority of YouTube Music workers voted in favor of collective bargaining.

☆ The Biden administration is offering to pay Colorado River farmers to let fields go dry during a devastating drought. They're worried it's just the first step in losing their way of life.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Biden administration is paying Colorado River farmers and ranchers to let their fields run dry. Climate change has made the Colorado River the dryest it's been in more than a thousand years. Knowing they have to do something, Grand Valley farmers and ranchers want better compensation to make fallowing worth their while. At this better price they received enough applications from agricultural producers to cover the thousand acres Grand Valley offered, he said. Are you a farmer, rancher, or resident of the Colorado River basin concerned about water conservation?

While remote workers are hitting the green on weekday afternoons, productivity isn't dropping. That's good news for leisure businesses and shows remote work has changed people's work structures. While some companies have called employees back to the office, Bloom doesn't think remote work is going anywhere. All those remote workers hitting the green doesn't necessarily mean people are working less. This will raise 'Golf productivity' — the number of golf courses played (and revenue raised) per course."

☆ A millennial whose employer gives paid period leave said it's improved her work life knowing she could take time off when the pain becomes unbearable
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Paid menstrual leave is much more common in Asia than the US or Europe. One worker told Insider menstrual leave at her Polish company made life easier in the last year. "By giving additional days off for those experiencing menstrual period pain, we acknowledge these symptoms are real." Rutkowska also praised the relative ease and discretion of requesting menstrual leave, especially in comparison to other forms of leave. She said she simply logs onto her online time sheet, fills out "menstrual leave" as the reason, and gets approved quickly.

☆ Remote work could help the US make more babies, have affordable housing, and tackle the mental health and climate crises, a Stanford economist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Their research spans areas like the birth rate, housing, mental health, and climate change. Leading remote work expert Nick Bloom says it could be part of the solution to four of America's biggest problems. The share of work being conducted from home rose from 5% in 2019 to over 60% in 2020, Stanford economist and leading remote work expert Nick Bloom told Insider. Young Americans' mental health is plummetingTeenagers, in particular teenage girls, are in the midst of their worst mental health crisis in a decade, according to CDC data. Whether remote work will help the US move towards its climate goals remains to be seen.

☆ The unintended consequences of remote work
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

While remote work offers flexibility, it often comes at the cost of maintaining a work-life balance. Remote work has also made it possible to hire anyone anywhere, which CEOs and hiring managers are starting to realize. Tech companies are offshoring jobs, due to America's broken immigration system, and remote work is making it easier. American tech companies are offshoring jobs, but it isn't all because of remote work. He says remote work led to all of this in the first place.

☆ 9 healthy habits that helped me create a happier and more productive WFH routine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Betsy Ramser Jaime | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Adopting the right habits can make a big difference to your happiness and productivity levels. Whether you love your work tasks or dread getting out of bed each morning, you might be surprised about what a difference the right habits can make. When I've had tricky clients or work, adding habits and activities to my day that I could look forward to made all the difference. Listen to uplifting audiobooks or YouTube videos during your breaks or while you're working out. If you struggle with this, consider a specific ritual for ending your work day.

☆ 'Zoom rooms' and hideaway offices show how remote work is changing the way we design new homes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Family homes with two offices and "Zoom rooms" with camera-ready lighting are popular. The real-estate site Zillow told Insider offices were mentioned in 11.5%% of all listings in February 2023, up 4.5% from February 2022. Amanda Pendleton, Zillow's home-trends expert, told Insider a home office was no longer a "nice-to-have luxury." "When people don't have enough space or cash for two full-sized offices, they're replacing rooms," Hester said. She told Insider Veev's homes had LED strips around the edge of the ceiling to make even lighting that works well on camera.

☆ Almost 30,000 Amazon employees have signed an internal petition to fight the company's return-to-office mandate. Read the full copy here.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

New mandate requires most office workers to come into the office at least 3 times a week starting in May. About 3 weeks since the announcement of the new policy, more than 29,200 Amazon employees have signed an internal petition opposing the mandate. Roughly 30,000 Amazon employees have joined that Slack channel, which was created shortly after the RTO announcement. In the petition, Amazon employees added internal data supporting continued remote work and dozens of comments explaining why they oppose the change. A 2013 Stanford University study of Chinese workers found that remote workers are 13% more productive than their in-office counterparts.

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