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☆ Big global employers plan modest cuts to office space: Knight Frank
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Hannah BeierLONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - Half of large multinational companies plan to reduce office space as they adjust to hybrid working patterns, although the cuts are likely to be modest as few plan to go fully remote, a survey from real estate agents Knight Frank showed on Tuesday. Knight Frank said 50% of employers with more than 50,000 staff intended to reduce office space, typically by 10% to 20% in the next three years, as they reassess their needs following the introduction of remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic. But at companies with up to 10,000 staff split across different countries, most expected to increase office space. Mat Oakley, head of commercial research at Savills said demand for office space in London had increased, and flexible working appeared less of a challenge than previously thought. "There are definitely challenges for office demand but these have been largely overstated particularly when you take into consideration employment growth," Oakley said.

Persons: Hannah Beier LONDON, Knight Frank, Tim Armstrong, Antony Antoniou, Robert Irving Burns, Mat Oakley, Savills, Oakley, Suban Abdulla, David Milliken Organizations: FMC Corporation, REUTERS, Bank of England, British, Land Securities, P, Thomson Locations: Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, U.S, Britain, Mat, London

☆ Opinion | Men Have Lost Their Way. Josh Hawley Has Thoughts About How to Save Them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Carlos Lozada | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

In Bly’s view, part of the answer was to recreate ancient rites of male initiation and restore mentoring between young men and their elders, a relationship that instructs boys to channel, but not suppress, their instincts. And he urges young men to assume greater responsibility for their own lives (“Ditching porn is a good place to start,” Hawley writes) as a step toward glimpsing that missing vision of manhood. To dismiss or mock such views merely because they come from Josh Hawley is to let partisan commitments overwhelm intellectual ones. “Much of today’s left seems to welcome men who are passive and tame, who will do as they are told and sit in their cubicles, eyes affixed to their screens,” Hawley writes. Hawley is not necessarily wrong when he complains about the mixed messages aimed at young men today — Your identity is yours to shape and claim, but why are you so toxic and oppressive?

Persons: Schlesinger, John F, Kennedy, John Wayne, ” Hawley, Josh Hawley, Hawley, today’s, “, ”, … Organizations: Trump Locations: America

But in the last few years, increasing pay transparency has become a common cause for young workers, anti-discrimination advocates, and, increasingly, state legislators. But employers in states with transparency laws make up for it by imposing informal rules that prevent employees from talking about pay. If the "new norm" of salary transparency had supplanted the old taboo, then we'd expect a large majority to chafe under outdated restrictions against discussing pay. Strong support for managers in general appears to translate into strong support for managerial approaches to pay secrecy or transparency. If salary transparency is actually going to become the "new norm," it will clearly require more than our existing set of state laws.

☆ CEOs thought the return to office debate was over. It looks like they were wrong
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Other companies, too, could see reverberations if they enact similar policies, especially if the mandates feel arbitrary, human resources professionals say. That's why companies that want to bring workers back to the office need to focus on reconfiguring workspaces to foster additional collaboration. If your company hasn't yet, maybe don't 'mandate'Many companies are still ironing out their return-to-office policies. JustAnswer, an online source for professional information, has seen a 49% increase in questions related to return-to-office mandates and/or policies in its Employment Law category compared with May 2022. Companies should also evaluate whether across-the-board policies make sense, or whether in-office mandates should be implemented for certain functions only, Kogut said.

☆ New York Is Full of Empty Offices After Covid. Make Way for the Playground City. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Edward L. Glaeser | Carlo Ratti | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +20 min

We are witnessing the dawn of a new kind of urban area: the Playground City. The transformation toward the Playground City will not happen on its own. To draw people into the Playground City, we need to show, not tell. 6.Engage citizensGovernments should empower citizens to participate directly in making the Playground City. The Playground City sees people as both a means and an end, and it should involve them in the process of its creation.

☆ Young remote workers are missing out on crucial IRL feedback from colleagues
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Tim Paradis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For young workers, not being in an office can mean they don't get as much feedback from colleagues. The pushback against remote work comes as more CEOs have been calling workers back to the office. But workers — especially those taking care of kids or others — grew accustomed to the flexibility that remote work can afford. Despite the risks, many of those potentially in danger of missing out on professional growth are most in favor of remote work, according to surveys, the Times noted. And some companies that have embraced remote work report success.

☆ Inside the Wild World of Celebrity Keynote Speakers: Drugs, Alcohol
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

"I never saw myself as a speaker, let alone a motivational speaker," Leonard tells me while his assistant irons his jeans. 'When I ramble," Hunter told me, "hit me in the leg!" Every plane had been grounded, including the one stuck on the tarmac with an increasingly inebriated Hunter Thompson trapped inside. But by far the most all-consuming task was booking gigs for Hunter Thompson. Just before a debate with G. Gordon Liddy at Brown University, Hunter demanded that Betsy Berg, whom I now worked alongside at GTN, score him some crystal meth.

☆ Bosses hate work from home because 'home' is for women
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

And the old way was clear: The office is for work, and the home is for — well, for whatever unpaid stuff it is that women do while their men are at work. Skeptical that work — real work — could be done at home, bosses quietly penalized the women who opted for flexible schedules by sticking them with boring assignments and denying them promotions. Embracing remote work is a good start, but it comes with risks of its own. Since the pandemic hit, I've heard a few CEOs liken remote work to opening Pandora's box. Women working from home are no longer the aberration — tradition-bound executives are.

☆ My company is making us go back to the office 2 days a week to boost morale — but no one wants to be there
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Remote work was for tech people or consultants — not for regular folks. So when COVID first hit and I, along with almost every other office worker in the world, got sent home to do my job, I didn't know what to expect. But now, management is backtracking and saying we need to be in the office at least two days a week. Earlier this year, management ordered us to go back to the office two days a month; starting this summer, they've mandated two days a week. I'm looking for another job, which is frustrating since I'd rather stay with my company and continue being the productive remote worker that I am.

☆ 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.

☆ Gen Z, Millennials Are Now As Sick and Tired of Their Jobs As Boomers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Young workers may not possess the experience or wisdom of their older colleagues. When Gartner asked people what was preventing them from going into the office, Gen Zers were more likely than other generations to cite social anxiety. Pollak, the consultant, told me about a client who complained that their Gen Z employees were "abusing" the company's vacation policy. But these are the very people who can help young workers feel more seen and motivated in their jobs. My suggestions are targeted to shore up engagement among young workers, but they'd actually be good for everyone.

☆ Swipe your badge or get fired? Employers and workers face a reckoning over returning to the office.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Employers are hardening demands for workers to return to the office and quashing resistance. Apple is tracking employee attendance and has threatened action against staff who don't work from the office at least three days a week. Today, though, as a recession looms, companies are rolling back perks and demanding workers return to their desks or risk termination. After 2020's COVID-19 lockdowns forced office workers to work from home, many of them discovered the benefits of remote work. Many of the same companies demanding workers return to the office have recently conducted mass layoffs — some more than once.

☆ 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.

So You Want to Turn an Office Building Into a Home? There’s an appealing simplicity to the idea of converting office buildings into housing. Basically, they did this:How to Turn a 26-story Office Building Into a 30-story Apartment Building Cut a hole through 23 floors of the building. How to Turn a 26-story Office Building Into a 30-story Apartment Building Cut a hole through 23 floors of the building. That could change with tax abatements and subsidy programs, or if outdated office buildings lose so much value that the cost of acquiring them plummets.

☆ Larry Summers says he's encouraged the Fed can pull off a soft landing, but not to get hopes up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —After a shocking jobs report, Larry Summers, treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, said he is more encouraged the Fed can pull off a soft landing, but cautioned it is a “big mistake” to think the economy is “out of the woods” on Fareed Zakaria GPS Sunday. Friday’s job’s report saw an astonishing 517,000 jobs added in January and unemployment tick down to 3.4%, the lowest since 1969. Economists had predicted 185,000 jobs, expecting a slower jobs market after almost a year of aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. It brings up the question: Can the United States pull off a soft landing, bringing down inflation without triggering a recession? “That some in the Republican Party may bow to the demands of the extremists does not mean that the President of the United States should do that.”

☆ I splurged my miles to fly Emirates' luxe business class. I ate a multi-course meal, lounged at the in-flight bar, and learned the seat upgrade is worth it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Tonya Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Writer Tonya Russell traveled to the Maldives and tried out Emirates' business and economy class. "While economy class proved to be just fine, upgrading is worth it at least once," she writes. How to upgrade to business class on an Emirates flightIf you use the same airline family, you may be able to transfer miles from another airline to your Emirates flight. The meat alternative was a chicken TV dinner with rice, which wasn't as appetizing as the salmon that circulated through business class. While economy class proved to be just fine, if upgrading is within your means, it is worth it at least once.

Now, as the virus sweeps through a country of 1.4 billion people who lack natural immunity having been shielded for so long, there is growing concern about possible deaths, virus mutations and the impact, again, on the economy. Beijing reported five COVID-related deaths on Tuesday, following two on Monday which were the first fatalities reported in weeks. Authorities have also been racing to build so-called fever clinics, facilities where medical staff check patients' symptoms and administer medicines. In the past week, major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Wenzhou announced they had added hundreds of fever clinics, according to government WeChat accounts and media reports. A survey by World Economics showed on Monday China's business confidence fell in December to its lowest since January 2013.

☆ VCs say hybrid work, generative AI, and niche collaboration tools will be some of the top future-of-work trends that dominate 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Insider talked to VCs about the rising trends they say will revolutionize the way we work and live. Insider spoke with 15 venture capitalists about the trends and verticals they think are most likely to revolutionize the way we work and live today. Therefore, startups that will thrive going forward are those that embrace a mix of in-person and remote work, known as hybrid work, Thacker and other VCs said. An increase in workers caregiving for aging or sick family members is also supported by flexible work, the CRV general partner Kristin Baker Spohn said. "A lot of employees, whether it's the Great Resignation or the pandemic, found themselves changing the way that they work."

☆ Future of work: Back to the office
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Empty cubicles are seen as the first phase of FMC Corporation employees return to work in the office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., June 14, 2021. Hybrid arrangements, where workers go into the office part of the week, have gained broad acceptance as a compromise. The evolving workplace is reshaping businesses that serve office workers. The landscape for other businesses that served office workers has changed, too. The coming year could determine who ends up having the upper hand in determining what work looks like in the future.

☆ CEOs can't bully their employees anymore. Elon Musk's failed ultimatum to Twitter employees is proof of that.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter CEO Elon Musk gave workers an ultimatum: Accept tougher working conditions or leave. Musk's failed ultimatum is proof that workers won't accept aggressive leadership anymore. A good CEO's response shouldn't show aggression: While CEOs can demand workers do their best, they can't do so with such force and with such disregard for workers' wellbeing and still expect to get good results. Even among those with less freedom than well-paid tech employees, many have unionized to demand better compensation and working conditions. In response, Twitter closed its offices until Monday.

A relic of pre-pandemic days is making its return to the workplace: the office cold. With people returning to workplaces amid relaxing Covid protocols, poor Covid-19 booster uptake and cold and flu season on the way, the office bug is making an unwelcome comeback. Cold, flu, Covid cases could be serious this winterThere are already hints that this year's cold and flu season could be bad: On Oct. 14, the CDC reported early increases in seasonal flu activity. Still, "there's more pressure to get people in, and it's hitting at the same time as cold and flu and RSV season." Working while sick does everyone a disserviceShowing up to work sick, or even powering through from home, can be damaging on a number of levels.

☆ They were on the run from the Taliban, abandoned by their US allies — until a Wall Street banker decided to smuggle them out of Afghanistan
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Nina Burleigh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

His daughter worked for the US-backed government in Kabul, prosecuting the Taliban and their followers for acts of violence against women. The war in Afghanistan effectively began on 9/11, with the attacks on Wall Street and the Pentagon. Last summer, when the Taliban overran Kabul, Calbos was in Greece visiting his father. "I see kind of a mirror image to mine in his history and his family," Calbos says. With the clock ticking on the family's temporary visas, Calbos scrambled to arrange a flight out of Pakistan.

☆ Hulu insiders are confused and frustrated about their future as Disney and Comcast battle it out for control of the streamer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Lucia Moses | Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Sparring between Disney and Comcast CEOs over Hulu has stoked uncertainty among insiders about the streamer's future. Many wonder how Hulu will stay differentiated from Disney+ if Disney becomes Hulu's sole owner. Insiders and advertisers alike are also watching to see if Hulu will lose some of its distinctiveness as Disney invests more in Disney+. "That was a clear departure from Disney being family-focused and Hulu being general entertainment," said a second former Hulu exec. And as the CEOs posture, people inside the streamer are eager for leadership to tell them, as a third former company insider put it, "what Hulu means to the Walt Disney Company."

☆ Remote work didn't erase the risk of sexual harassment in corporate America. It made it more difficult to police, HR leaders say.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Sexual harassment might become a bigger threat to the well-being of US workers, HR pros say. Harassment hasn't gone away because of the #MeToo movement or because of the pandemic and remote work, Driver, the chief HR officer at the cybersecurity company Exabeam, said. "The #MeToo movement didn't have time to mature," Alexandra Zea, a client partner and team lead at the HR consultancy Leapgen, said. Remote work changed harassment — it didn't eliminate the riskMaggie Smith, who has more than two decades of experience in HR, said she'd noticed some employers getting complacent around harassment. Some workers aren't aware that these behaviors can constitute harassment, Driver said, so they don't report the incidents.

☆ Equifax said it fired employees for working as many as 3 jobs at once in an internal operation known as 'Project Home Alone'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Equifax recently fired 24 of its own employees for holding two jobs. Equifax scrutinized the work histories and activity records of more than 1,000 of its own employees and contractors, an Equifax employee told Insider. In another instance, Walker noted that an employee told their Equifax interviewer they were "at home." Walker also told Insider by email that Equifax terminated an employee for holding three jobs at once. Walker wrote that the employee's full-time position conflicted with their work at Equifax.

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