How tech workers are discovering that woodworking and other hands-on activities offer a change of pace and an opportunity to tap into a rich history of craftsmanship.
Dave's Picks | Selling, Surfing and "Social Prospecting" with San Diego's Greg Kuchan
Dave's Picks | Really, how much should you care about your job?
Dave's Picks | Inflation is at 8.3%. Raises next year will average to 4%. Do the math.
Dave's Picks | The Case For Not Working Hard
CNN | Microsoft tried a 4-day workweek in Japan. Productivity jumped 40%
A growing number of smaller companies are adopting a four-day workweek. Now the results of a recent trial at Microsoft (MSFT) suggest it could work even for the biggest businesses.
The company introduced a program this summer in Japan called the "Work Life Choice Challenge," which shut down its offices every Friday in August and gave all employees an extra day off each week.
The results were promising: While the amount of time spent at work was cut dramatically, productivity — measured by sales per employee — went up by almost 40% compared to the same period the previous year, the company said in a statement last week.
Dave's Picks | NYT Opinion — Should Work Be Passion, or Duty?
It’s worth noting on a national holiday extolling the value and dignity of labor that Americans are uniquely obsessed with work. Could any other nation come up with a product like Soylent, a meal substitute, not for the elderly, the poor or the malnourished, but for software engineers, Wall Street brokers, tech entrepreneurs and others who don’t want to be diverted from their work by the time consuming intricacies of a meal? Could you imagine the French conceiving such a thing?
While other wealthy nations have shortened the workweek, given their citizens more free time and schemed to make their lives more pleasant, stress-free and enjoyable, the United States offers a curious paradox: Though the standard of living has risen, and creature comforts are more readily and easily available — and though technological innovations have made it easier to work efficiently — people work more, not less.
Is My Millennial Co-Worker a Narcissist, or Am I a Jealous Jerk?
“My co-worker seems to work more for their (I don’t want to specify gender) personal brand than for the company. This team member posts their whereabouts on Slack: They’re at a conference, at class (coursework tangential to their job), working from home! They keep us up to date on the minutiae of their travel (leaving at 11 a.m.! on a train without Wi-Fi until 7 p.m.!). They meet their goals, but I’m not privy to what their results look like — are they treading water or exceeding their goals?