Future of Work

Self-reflection is a critical component of self-awareness, a key management skill, and experts offer steps on how to achieve it.

More and more companies are using productivity metrics to measure employee performance. However, if you make a mistake, this indicator can give an unfair and inaccurate evaluation.

Welcome to 2024. You've read dozens - maybe hundreds! - of emails "circling back" after the holidays. Your boss and colleagues are inundating you with inquiries on your plans for the year. No pressure, right?

Zoom fatigue — the mental and physical strain of back-to-back video calls — became a major concern in 2020. For some workers, the challenges remain.

Last fall, Aaron Perkowitz applied for a job as a technical writer. The hirer asked him to compose a paid test article—and when he finished, requested his banking information, to pay him.Perkowitz asked why so much information was needed—couldn’t they just mail a check? No response. “The article took me three hours,” he says, “but I’m glad I didn’t fall for their scam.”

Remote and hybrid working isn’t just for employees – CEOs are logging in remotely, too. What does it mean for working culture?

The idea of quiet quitting has been getting a lot of attention on social media recently, and could be more widespread than you think—around half of American workers are quiet quitters, according to a recent survey by Gallup. These employees are embracing the idea of no longer going above and beyond at work, in many cases in response to feeling overworked. Proponents have commandeered the phrase “act your wage” to encourage workers to do just what they are paid to in an attempt at setting boundaries at work. Company executives and some careers experts warn that checking out at work could have serious long-term consequences for employees’ careers, as well as their employers.

How many times have you heard variations of this sentiment from friends who have quit something in a rage, taken a leap of faith by switching industries mid-career or finally decided to take a sabbatical to traipse around the world without a concrete plan?

Everyone looks forward to their lunch hour, typically a midday break where you can grab a sandwich, run an errand, make a personal call or just sit with a friend or two and recharge after a busy morning at work.

For many of us, one of the upsides of 2020 was being freed from the grind of the daily commute. For the 40% of the workforce able to “telecommute”, COVID-19 social distancing measures saved us an average of about an hour a day – and much more for those of us living in the outer suburbs of cities. Studies show the morning commute is the least favourite part of the day, and the commute home the third-least favourite (working is the second-least favourite). Congestion, crowding and unpredictability increase stress and dissatisfaction. The longer it takes, and the more we have to do in the company of others, the more we dislike it.