Boston Globe (April 15)
“For many people hired remotely over the past year, the workplace has largely been restricted to the two-dimensional confines of their computer screens. They may be performing their jobs just fine, but they haven’t been able to benefit from the in-office osmosis that comes with being in a shared space. They haven’t observed their bosses’ body language or picked up tricks that aren’t in the handbook.” As a result, “pandemic hires” are thirsty for the office. They miss “the ‘real’ workplace.”
Tags: Body language, Bosses, Jobs, Office, Osmosis, Pandemic hires, Remotely, Restricted, Shared space, Tricks, Two-dimensional, Workplace
Newsweek (October 23)
Ken Fisher, the CEO and founder of Fisher Investments, “has lost more than a billion dollars in client investments following remarks that have been widely denounced as sexist and offensive.” Fortunately, investors called him out. “As long as there are still men who think it’s OK to speak in these ways, industries will continue to send the message that business is a ‘man’s world.’ It’s time to end this — and to bury workplace sexism once and for all.”
Chicago Tribune (July 19)
“A cubicle-free workplace without private offices is supposed to force employees to collaborate. To have them talk more face-to-face. To get them off instant messenger and spontaneously brainstroming about new ideas.” It’s not happening. A recent study found that after a move “to open-plan offices, workers spent 73 percent less time in face-to-face interactions. Meanwhile, email rose 67 percent and IM use went up 75 percent.”
Tags: Brainstroming, Collaborate, Cubicle, Email, Employees, Face-to-face, Ideas, IM, Open-plan offices, Workplace
The Economist (March 29)
“Women’s lowly status in the Japanese workplace has barely improved in decades, and the country suffers as a result.” Though difficult to quantify, the cost of this lost potential is enormous. “Japan educates its women to a higher level than nearly anywhere else in the world…. But when they leave university their potential is often squandered, as far as the economy is concerned.” If Prime Minister Abe and “the country’s policymakers can find the right ways to help them, those women could boost the economy and reform corporate culture.”
Tags: Abe, Corporate culture, Economy, Japan, Lost potential, Policymakers, Status, University, Women, Workplace
Financial Times (February 27)
Yahoo’s chief executive, Marissa Mayer, will require employees who previously worked from home to come to the office. “The lesson to draw from Ms Mayer’s whip-cracking – in Silicon Valley, of all places – is that this is an age of harder work. From intense teamwork at the top to monitoring and surveillance at the bottom, managers are squeezing more from employees than they previously would have dared.”
Tags: Employees, Home, Managers, Marissa Mayer, Monitoring, Office, Silicon Valley, Surveillance, Workplace, Yahoo
