Yes, it's been a year since I sent one of these. Time to get back into the newsletter business.
I posted a report on workplace thoughts and a survey. Some of the findings:
I posted a report on workplace thoughts and a survey. Some of the findings:
- More than half (57%) of professionals say they come to the office for company culture and team engagement, making it clear that strong social connections are what’s drawing employees back.
- 73% of professionals believe Gen Z will push companies to ditch rigid in-office policies in favor of more flexible work options.
- Organizations are not stuck in neutral: 66% of them are already making workplace flexibility a top priority for 2025.
The story has an n=2 examples. Typical journalism. But it raises a point about some CEO tyrants whom I hope employees raise a digit toward.
Zoom in: AT&T CEO John Stankey and Cognition CEO Scott Wu made headlines this month for notifying employees that their corporate cultures were changing, and to get on board or exit.
“If a self-directed, virtual, or hybrid work schedule is essential for you to manage your career aspirations and life challenges, you will have a difficult time aligning your priorities with those of the company and the culture we aim to establish,” Stankey wrote in an internal memo obtained by Business Insider.
Employees at Cognition, an AI startup, were told that six days in the office and 80-hour workweeks were expected, according to The Information. “We don’t believe in work-life balance — building the future of software engineering is a mission we all care so deeply about that we couldn’t possibly separate the two,” Wu wrote.
There have been CEOs and other leaders like that in the past and there will be more in the future. If they think they are getting results, I hope they are investing their millions of pay dollars wisely for their upcoming unemployment.
For Wu, he’s way behind the times. Years ago Silicon Valley was famous for socially isolated and nerdy programmers who would code day and night if owners just kept a steady supply of pizza sliding under their doors. I think that is no longer the prevailing ethos.
We’ll see how that all goes.
Gary