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We all know the pressure of meeting deadlines, but what if we told you that being late doesn’t just affect your calendar — it could actually tarnish how people see the quality of your <keyword id="6355058" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Work" source="Orion">work</keyword>? According to researchers, that’s exactly the case. They found that work submitted late is seen as lower in quality than the same work submitted on time or early, no matter how great it actually is. It turns out, missing a deadline can make you and your work seem less competent and trustworthy, all because of the subtle judgments deadlines trigger in other people. <h2>The deadly deadline dilemma</h2>Previous studies have focused on how deadlines affect employees’ productivity and stress levels, but lead researcher Sam Maglio’s team wanted to know how missing a deadline changes an outsider’s perception. To test this, the researchers conducted 18 different experiments with thousands of people, from managers and HR professionals to everyday folks, evaluating a wide range of creative and professional work. In the test, participants saw the same exact work samples — like photography, product pitches, news articles, and art — but they were told it was submitted either early, on time, or late. And guess what? The late submissions were consistently rated as lower quality, despite being identical to those submitted on time. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="114883482" title="We heard from over 750 people who have recently struggled to find work. Here are their biggest frustrations with getting hired." mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Maglio explains, “Everyone saw the exact same art contest entry, school submission, or business proposal, but they couldn’t help but use their knowledge of when it came in to guide their evaluation of how good it was.” In other words, once people knew something was late, it was hard not to think less of it. <h2>Early birds don’t really get extra credit, but late birds do lose points</h2>Interestingly, turning in work early didn’t seem to earn extra praise. Evaluators ranked work that came in early and on time as equally good, which means there’s no major boost for those overachievers who submit work ahead of the deadline. But the real problem comes if you’re late — even by a little. In fact, it didn’t matter if the work was one day or one week late; the hit to quality ratings was the same. Late submissions were rated as poorly as work that objectively missed the mark, like not meeting word counts. And it turns out that advance warning doesn’t do much to soften the blow — one missed deadline still chipped away at the evaluator’s view of the employee’s competence and integrity, even if they were usually punctual. But here’s where it gets even trickier: evaluators didn’t just judge the work as poorer in quality — they also saw the latecomer as less reliable and were less likely to consider them for future tasks. One missed deadline could, in theory, limit your future opportunities to shine or earn promotions. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="114915871" title="I did a remote internship while also side hustling at a national park. I worked all day but lived in a beautiful place." mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>The researchers even tested this with high school students in China, who were shown art entries with the submission dates marked as either early, on time, or late. Even though they were told to ignore everything except the artwork itself, the “late” pieces received lower grades. And that’s with peers evaluating peers, so it didn’t matter if a boss or manager had set the deadline — missing it still left a mark. <h2>Let your manager know!</h2>Luckily, not all hope is lost for late submitters. Maglio’s team found that the reason behind a missed deadline actually mattered. If the delay was due to uncontrollable events — like jury duty or a medical emergency — people cut the submitter more slack. The same was true if the deadline was a “soft” one rather than a hard cutoff, or if the work wasn’t particularly critical. “Communication around deadlines is vital. If it’s a hard, and not a soft, deadline, you as the manager should let your employees know,” Maglio explained. “If the reason why you missed the deadline was beyond your control, you as the employee should let your manager know.” The findings of this study have been published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes and can be accessed <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2024.104365">here</a>.

Missed a deadline? Here’s why it might cost you more than just a little extra time

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Michael Johnston was making six figures in a remote job he enjoyed when his second child was born.</li><li>He fell in love with <keyword id="23944982" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="full-time-parenting" source="keywords">full-time parenting</keyword> and his wife, a successful editor, was keen to keep working.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Michael Johnston, 41, a <keyword id="23944981" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="stay-at-home-dad" source="keywords">stay-at-home dad</keyword> who lives in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Johnston's financial claims have been verified with documents. It has been edited for length and clarity. I graduated from Boston University in 2006 with a degree in mechanical engineering. I then got a job in the semiconductor industry. The role allowed me unlimited creative freedom and had crazy big budgets. Life was good. A few years into this amazing job, things shifted. The 2008 recession hit, and though I survived layoffs, everything changed. Money dried up for creative projects, and suddenly, I was doing paperwork all day. After my wife Maddie finished school, we wanted a fresh start. We moved coasts onto a ranch in California. I found a new role at KLA Corporation, in manufacturing, with much less paperwork. When my wife told me she was pregnant, I had a steady job with a manageable workload, but I traveled frequently to China, Taiwan, and South Korea. I was grateful for the income when our son Lincoln was born. <div type="image" title="Dad with baby in a carrier." height="4032" width="2268" msid="114981391" hostid="261"></div><h2>The impossible task of pandemic parenting</h2>Like many parents, March 2020 was a very difficult period for my family of three. Lincoln was around three years old, and suddenly my world narrowed to just four walls during lockdown. Instead of traveling and working in the office, my role was being permanently on the phone. I had meetings the entire day and would try to get my actual work done in the evening. Calls from around the world pushed late into the night. At some points, I worked almost 24 hours a day. Maddie, Lincoln, and I tried to maintain daily family life while we kept up with our careers. Now we were both fully remote, so we bought a beach house in Maine in 2020 and left California in 2021. But that wasn't the only reason we were moving back closer to home: our second baby was on the way. <div type="image" title="Michael Johnston and his kids." height="3357" width="1888" msid="114981168" hostid="261"></div><h2>Crunching numbers on <keyword id="21017792" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="paternity-leave" source="keywords">paternity leave</keyword></h2>I fully intended to go back to work after paternity leave. I was making six figures doing work that I loved — prior to the pandemic shift — and my team was great. But over 12 weeks of leave, I fell in love with being a full-time dad. If I was up at 3 a.m. I was comforting a sleepless kid, not fielding international calls. It was some of the best times we'd had as a family. My wife has a successful career in editorial work, and we began examining whether we could afford to be a one-salary family. We'd spent our early career days digging out of student and credit card debt from moving around. Right before kids, we'd finally paid off our debt, which was tough even with two incomes. Moving back to Maine was a major savings opportunity. We streamlined our spending on our mortgage, rental property, two cars, and everything else it takes to run a family in California. We no longer had to pay for flights back, preschool or daycare. We dug into what life would look like on one income, and my financial projections showed it was doable in Maine. We walk the kids to school and don't have a pricey commute. We no longer pay for any day care — a drastic change from the insanely California options at around $2,000 for one child. Maine also has free breakfast and lunch at school. <h2>Deciding to stay home</h2>It came down to how we viewed our work. After maternity leave, my wife was excited to see her coworkers and jump back into her job. I saw work as a means to an end. My future wasn't ever really tied up in my workplace. I'd missed so much of my first child's youngest years that I was determined not to repeat that with my second. On the work front, I'd used my degree for 17 years and accomplished what I wanted to. A week or two before the end of my leave, I set my team up for success and gave my boss my two weeks' notice. <div type="image" title="Michael Johnston and his family." height="1690" width="2253" msid="114981165" hostid="261"></div><h2>Settling into full-time dad life</h2>The first few months were awesome. We knew we'd made the right choice. I walked the kids to school every day and got to experience small moments I'd previously been too busy to enjoy. I did have misconceptions about stay-at-home parenting life. I thought I'd renovate our 1954 Airstream during naps. Instead, I get up at 5:30 a.m., make lunches, have a cup of coffee for 15 minutes in peace, and then get everyone ready for school. Once my oldest is at school, my new mission is potty training. I'm lucky to grab a shower during naptime. I clean and reset the house for the evening, getting dishes under control and dinner started. My wife and I always split the cores, her taking the mental labor of organizing school and social life comms and I did more physical chores. This is now just more official – I manage school runs and all the household tasks. When others find out I'm a stay-at-home dad, they always ask: "When are you going back to work?" Maybe I will, maybe I won't. If I do, I'll have different boundaries. I spent too long wrapped up in my job. We are trained to graduate, get a good job, work that job forever, then retire at 65. I plowed along for long enough. Now I know a corporate job isn't a mandatory trajectory. It was a choice. I'm happy doing something different. Correction: November 8, 2024 — A previous version of this story misstated that the Johnston family didn’t have a car. They do have a car in Maine.

I quit my 6-figure job to be a stay-at-home dad. After leaving California, we could afford to be a single-income family.

Earlier this month, <keyword id="19904608" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Amazon" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> made headlines for enforcing a strict <keyword id="20408795" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="return-to-office" source="keywords">return to office</keyword> mandate on employees starting next year. Until now, Amazon employees were required to come to office for three days a week but from next year, the employees will have to work from offices for all five days. The move had sparked backlash from various employees who took to social media to express that they work better in a hybrid or remote setup. Now, at a recent event, <keyword id="19974102" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-Web-Services" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Amazon Web Services" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Amazon Web Services">Amazon Web Services</keyword> CEO <keyword id="21187658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Matt-Garman" source="keywords">Matt Garman</keyword> talked about the company's <keyword id="23712741" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="RTO-mandate" source="keywords">RTO mandate</keyword> and said that if it doesn't work for some employees, they can always "find another company." <h2>"Find another company" </h2> Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live event, Garman said that according to him, in-office work plays a critical role in driving innovation and operational efficiency. Citing interactions like impromptu chats in hallways, quick brainstorms on whiteboards, and casual discussions over coffee, he said that in-person collaboration brings advantages that remote settings can’t replicate. However, Garman also acknowledged that the mandate might not sit well with everyone, and that is okay. He said, “If it’s not for you, then that’s okay – you can go and find another company if you want.” This statement, as per a CNBC report, comes amid internal debate, with many employees voicing concerns about losing the flexibility they’ve become accustomed to, which some say enables them to balance their work and personal lives better. The report adds that around 37,000 employees have joined an internal Slack channel that advocates for <keyword id="20665553" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="remote-work" source="keywords">remote work</keyword>. On a related note, Garman had talked about Amazon's new policy over a week back as well. While speaking at an all-hands meeting as per a Reuters report, he had addressed potential concerns from those who might find the mandate challenging. Garman said that while most employees he spoke with supported the change, he recognised it might not suit everyone. "If there are people who just don't work well in that environment and don't want to, that's okay, there are other companies around," he had said and added, "By the way, I don't mean that in a bad way. We want to be in an environment where we're working together." <h2>When Amazon defended its RTO mandate </h2> Garman isn't the only Amazon employee who has advocated <keyword id="20294959" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="work-from-office" source="keywords">work from office</keyword>. A couple of days back, a report in The Information revealed that Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Tech at Amazon, defended the RTO mandate. Galetti said that younger employees are eager to benefit from in-person mentorship and have been asking to work from office. Speaking at The Information’s Women in Tech, Media, and Finance conference, Galetti explained that many junior staff members expressed a desire for face-to-face interaction with colleagues. She also said that the new policy reflects a return to Amazon’s previous work culture, where there was flexibility for personal matters but office attendance remained the norm.

'Find another company if it doesn’t work for you’: Amazon Web Services CEO on work from office mandate

How The WWE Actually Works

Two weeks after he and his wife closed on a summer house, Kevin Berman was <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-picks-up-in-fall-low-openings-hurting-job-seekers-2024-9">laid off</a>.That was in September last year. Berman, who's 61, has since applied to more than 650 IT jobs.He has decades of experience in the field. He doesn't think his age has been an issue the handful of times he's landed an interview.But when Berman, who lives outside Detroit, hears nothing after applying to a role he sees as a perfect fit for his experience, he sometimes wonders whether his years are working against him. One role had a unique job title — something Berman had done earlier in his career. He didn't get so much as a screening call."Those were the ones that I'm like, OK, there's something going on," <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinberman/">Berman</a> told Business Insider.Berman is hardly alone in questioning why, with his experience, he <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/job-seeker-applied-more-than-2000-roles-2024-9">didn't get a shot at a job</a>. For those who've been working for a while — and those just starting out — it's not unreasonable to wonder whether <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-managers-biased-against-gen-z-older-workers-survey-says-2024-4">age bias</a> is undercutting their career trajectory or prospects, labor-market experts told BI.That's a problem partly because the workforce in the US and many other developed countries is getting older.The Pew Research Center estimated that about one in five people 65 and older in the US <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/12/14/older-workers-are-growing-in-number-and-earning-higher-wages">were working last year</a>. That was nearly double the portion of people that age who had a job 35 years ago.Having people of various ages on the job together can be good for business. In 2020, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported that promoting multigenerational workforces and giving older people more chances to work could <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/promoting-an-age-inclusive-workforce_59752153-en.html">boost per capita gross domestic product</a> by 19% over the next three decades.Marjorie Powell, chief HR officer and senior vice president at AARP, argued that people were working longer often out of necessity, to cover things like healthcare or housing costs."They are also continuing to work because they want to contribute," Powell said.Berman's search for a new role in IT reflects a mix of necessity and desire.Less than three months after Berman was laid off, his wife also lost her job to corporate cutbacks. That left the couple with two mortgages and little income beyond their severance payments and unemployment, which ran out about six months ago, Berman said. Though they're renting out one of the homes, they're eating into their savings and investments, he added.Berman has been trying to do some IT consulting work. To stand out from other job applicants, he has obtained certifications in artificial intelligence management and cybersecurity. Both he and his wife are considering pursuing an MBA.Powell said <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-wont-take-as-many-jobs-as-feared-altman-2024-9">rapid technological advances</a> could exacerbate bias against older workers because being conversant in the latest thing is often seen as the preserve of the young."People have a tendency to think that the only people who are technology adapters are those that are in younger demographics, which is not true," she said.Powell said other impediments to older workers could lurk in job descriptions with phrases like "digital native" and "high energy."Employers often also ask job seekers when they were born and when they graduated, Powell said. She argued that with something like a degree, applicants should have to say only whether they completed it.What Powell sees as pernicious language and requests for extraneous dates can be "red flags that there may be some age bias involved," she said.In other cases, older workers might be told they're overqualified. What employers might not understand, Powell said, is that those with loads of experience aren't always looking to keep climbing or nab ever higher pay. Instead, she said, they may be drawn to the nature of the work or the mission of an organization."The bottom line is either you have the qualifications to do the work or you don't," Powell said.Being seen as overqualified is one of several concerns animating Don Trautman's job search.At 67, he's old enough to retire, but he's been looking for part-time work on and off since April after taking a buyout from a longtime employer.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dont75/">Trautman</a> is a certified public accountant and holds an MBA. He spent the past 18 years managing buying and warehouse operations, though he'd like to return to the accounting work he did earlier in his career.Trautman, who lives with his wife outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has removed most dates from his résumé, as some recruiters advise. Nevertheless, when he applies for jobs, he fills in the start and end dates for his roles."Once I start putting in that I started my last job in '99 and I had multiple jobs before that, they're going, 'Oh, wait a minute,'" Trautman told BI. It would be impossible not to deduce that he's an older worker, he said.What's more, Trautman said, many employers advertise that they can offer room to advance, but that's not what he's seeking."I'm not looking to become a CFO," he said.This year, Katerina Stroponiati founded Brilliant Minds, a venture-capital fund for founders over 50.When Stroponiati traveled to the US from her native Greece more than a decade ago with dreams of starting a company, some of her family members asked whether she was too old to do something like that."I was 26," she told BI.Stroponiati, who's now 41, said she saw the stealthy reach of ageism at a prior venture fund she ran in the US. The few founders over 50 she encountered tended to intimate that they were out of place, she said."They were always shy, and they were not as confident as those in their 20s," Stroponiati said.In April, she started her fund for older founders so that she could focus on an overlooked market and the ways people evolve throughout their lives. "All the headlines are around Gen Z trying to disrupt the 9-to-5," Stroponiati said. "But nobody talks about the other generations. Actually, boomers and Gen X are trying to do the same thing — they're disrupting retirement."The fund has received more than 600 applications. So far, she's invested in two startups. Both are run by women over 55. One is focused on using a large language model in e-commerce, and the other involves AI infrastructure.Stroponiati's goal is to invest in 15 companies by 2027."I'm offering an alternative to retirement, to the old model," she said.Stroponiati argued that Greece didn't do enough to deal with an aging population and now faces economic and social consequences. The US, she said, has a chance to respond."We have to think what it means to have productive older citizens," Stroponiati said.Michael North, an associate professor of management and organizations at New York University's Stern School of Business, focuses on the challenges of having five — or, by some estimates, six — generations working side by side.North told BI that one difficulty for older workers is the long-held assumption in the US that people will retire around age 65.Government safety nets like Social Security and Medicare "assume that you're not really supposed to be working after that certain age," he said. But apart from recent deviations owing to factors like the pandemic, people in industrialized economies are generally living longer — and staying healthier as they do it.North said many older workers are vibrant, skilled, and educated. "There's a discordance there between what our policies and expectations have in place versus what older adults objectively have to offer," he said.For their part, North said, some younger workers and those hoping to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/entry-level-jobs-tech-roles-require-years-of-experience-2024-10">break into the job market</a> can become frustrated that the oldest employees won't retire and create openings.Essentially, younger workers sometimes see older workers as "blocking their own opportunities," he said."Whether that's fair or not, it's actually a pretty important debate to have," North said.Part of the frustration for many young people, he said, is that challenges in paying for college, affording a home, and starting a family are tougher than they used to be. North added that resentments over those conditions could tee up "alarming" generational conflict."It doesn't seem like a recipe for a society that is increasingly multigenerational to have these sorts of frictions and frustrations on both sides of the age spectrum," he said.For Trautman, who hopes to get back into accounting, returning to a fixed schedule on some days would be ideal. Now he completes his morning routine and sits down at his desk, but sometimes he doesn't have enough to do."In all honesty, retirement has been a struggle," Trautman said.He doesn't want to go work at Lowe's or Home Depot, as some friends have suggested.But "if it came down to it, I could do that," Trautman said. "The local grocery store is good about hiring people my age."

Ageism at work

When you come back home after a long day of dealing with a demanding boss and/or an annoying colleague, the last thing we are going to want to do is exercise. However, getting our behinds off the couch and dragging ourselves to the gym — or the park — might actually help us feel better. In today’s fast-paced, high-pressure <keyword id="19954079" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="work-environment" source="keywords">work environment</keyword>, <keyword id="19901233" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="burnout" source="keywords">burnout</keyword> is becoming a common issue. Deadlines, long hours and constant multitasking can leave us feeling emotionally exhausted and mentally drained. But there’s good news — according to research published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, <keyword id="23298308" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moderate-exercise" source="keywords">moderate exercise</keyword> might be the key to combating job burnout. The study examined over 500 employees, assessing their <keyword id="23410261" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="exercise-habits" source="keywords">exercise habits</keyword> and how these related to their work satisfaction and emotional well-being. The results were clear: those who engaged in moderate <keyword id="20053428" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="physical-activity" source="keywords">physical activity</keyword> experienced significantly less burnout and <keyword id="22955163" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="emotional-exhaustion" source="keywords">emotional exhaustion</keyword>. They also reported feeling a greater sense of personal accomplishment in their jobs. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113632562" title="Here’s how much exercise you must do if you sit at a desk most of your day!" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>But what is “moderate exercise”? As per Michele Wolf Marenus, PhD, a research scientist at Personify Health and one of the study's authors, it’s not about pushing yourself to the extreme. Instead, it involves activities like strength training, dancing, or hiking for at least 30 minutes on five or more days a week. A combination of vigorous activities, like running, and moderate ones is also effective. Interestingly, the study found that more intense forms of exercise didn’t necessarily lead to better results. In fact, moderate activity proved to be the sweet spot. People who exercised at this level reported the lowest levels of emotional exhaustion and the highest levels of <keyword id="20154404" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="job-satisfaction" source="keywords">job satisfaction</keyword>. Meanwhile, those who did either very low or very high levels of physical activity didn’t see the same benefits. As for why moderate exercise helped with burnout? It offers a valuable break from work, allowing employees to recharge mentally and physically. Exercise boosts cardiovascular health, enhances mood, and improves emotional regulation — all essential for dealing with <keyword id="21541838" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="work-stress" source="keywords">work stress</keyword>. So, if work stress is getting you down, you might want to lace up those sneakers and take a brisk walk or dance to your favourite tunes. It could be just what you need to refresh both body and mind! <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112589784" title="How to invest 3% of your day in exercise to live longer, according to an expert in healthy aging" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Burnout is a common side effect to work today and its remedy is ‘moderate’ exercise: Study

There have been ample reports on how <keyword id="19919711" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="gen-z" source="keywords">Gen Z</keyword> employees are doing things differently at workplaces and setting new trends. Be it opting for <keyword id="19901232" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="work-life-balance" source="keywords">work-life balance</keyword> over a higher salary, taking leaves without guilt, saying no to micromanagement among other things, this generation appears to be creating a whole new culture. And what happens to those who try to oppose this new culture? They get schooled on the internet, of course. In a recent incident, a manager took to X (earlier called Twitter) and shared how one of his Gen Z employees took a one-week vacation to the mountains after going through a breakup. However, contrary to his expectation, various X users started accusing him of trivialising mental health issues by such statements. Read on to know what exactly happened. <h2>"He had a breakup" </h2> The man's tweet read, "One of my Gen z team members suddenly declared 1 week leave. It was a critical time of the project so I tried to reason. He did not budge. The leave was because he had a breakup and he wanted to go to the mountains to forget the breakup." When a user commented that it is better to give people leaves than deadlines, the manager replied, "Believe me it was one way communication. I had to deal with the repercussions on project." Several other tweets followed that sided with the Gen Z employee. "So according to you, mental health is nothing," a user wrote while another commented, "That’s a perfect reason to declare leave. Business is business, will go on as will other things." <div type="image" title="google (27)" msid="115042080" hostid="261" sizebytes="295800"></div> <h2>"Gen Z does things differently" </h2> The man also clarified in one of the tweets that he didn't fire the Gen Z employee and even promoted him for his good work. He wrote, "Mate. No need to assume the worst. The guy is still in my team and has even been promoted for his good work. I was just stating how gen z’s are doing things differently." While most users schooled the manager, there were some who supported him as well. A user wrote, "I'm a younger Millennial &amp; I’m appalled by the lack of respect so many of my peers have for professors (I finished school late; many were ten years younger). It’s not much for older generations who GIVE these opportunities to expect a little bit of gratitude &amp; deference." In a similar incident, another company's manager's tweet went viral in which he shared a screenshot of how his Gen Z employee notified him that he will be on leave for a week. The short and crisp leave application email read, "I will be on leave till November 8, 2024. Bye."

‘He had a breakup and took a one-week leave’: Manager shares about his Gen-Z employee, internet reacts

The Covid-19 pandemic drastically changed the way we work, with <keyword id="20665553" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="remote-work" source="keywords">remote work</keyword> quickly becoming the new normal. Employees across the globe adapted to working from home, enjoying newfound flexibility and a better <keyword id="19901232" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="work-life-balance" source="keywords">work-life balance</keyword>. And for a long time, we all thought that this was the new world and going to the office every day would be a thing of the past. However, as pandemic restrictions eased, many companies began rolling back these remote policies, pushing employees to return to the office. Tech giant <keyword id="19904608" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Amazon" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> recently ended remote work for its employees and told them to come to office five days a week, just like how it used to be before the pandemic. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, in a blog post, said that working from offices has its benefits and therefore all employees will have to start coming to work the entire week. He added that even though they will permit work from home in case of emergencies (taking care of your sick kid, running emergency errands etc), remote work will no longer be the norm. <h2>Companies are calling employees back to offices</h2>Amazon isn’t the only company that has implemented the <keyword id="20007258" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rto" source="keywords">RTO</keyword> (<keyword id="20408795" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="return-to-office" source="keywords">return to office</keyword>) mandate. Companies like <keyword id="19945574" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Wipro" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Wipro">Wipro</keyword>, TCS, X (earlier called Twitter) and Infosys also require employees to be there in office for at least three days a week. While X boss <keyword id="19903807" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Elon-Musk" source="keywords">Elon Musk</keyword> had once asked those seeking work from home to “get off of their moral high horse,” Infosys CEO N. R. Narayana Murthy had made headlines for saying that workers in India should work 70 hours per week. In wake of Amazon’s recent RTO mandate, many young professionals are reacting strongly on the internet. While some feel that the RTO mandate will hamper their productivity, others feel that it is simply unnecessary. And then there are also some people who think that this is a good decision. Let us take a look at how people are reacting on being called back to offices. <h2>How are people reacting?</h2>Social media sites like Reddit, X, and LinkedIn are full of reactions on the RTO mandate. Many employees feel that this will increase their cost and time spent on commute. Amazon’s recent decision to bring its employees back to offices has not sat well with many, especially those accustomed to the <keyword id="20445439" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hybrid-work-model" source="keywords">hybrid work model</keyword>. On LinkedIn, Samrat Bhardwaj, who has previously interned with Amazon India, questioned the rationale behind the shift, asking whether the company truly considered employee well-being or was more focused on its own benefits. He also voiced concerns over the increased cost in case employees think of moving closer to tech hubs. He also added that if people start living at a distance from tech parks, rent will be lower, but you'll be wasting a lot of time to and fro from the office every day. On the other hand, Erin Mantz, a former Meta and Amazon employee, pointed out the stark difference between previous work norms and the flexibility of today's workforce in a LinkedIn post. “Gen Xers, for decades, used to have to go in every day... no working from home, no midday walks or being home for the dishwasher repairman,” she said, reflecting on how work-life balance has evolved. She concluded that the shift back to in-office work might not align with modern expectations, suggesting that today’s workforce has experienced a better way of working. <h2>“Working in the parking lot isn’t a bad idea”</h2>People aren’t just concerned about the increased cost and wastage of time in commute. Some also pointed out the irony of commuting to the office only to continue working in their cars due to a lack of proper space and resources. One Reddit user said, “Genuinely had no idea how bad RTO would be until it hit. I'm as unproductive as ever and half my work is done in the parking lot at this point for these exact reasons. Going back to the office isn't the end of the world, but when there's zero space or even disability accommodation for the employees? Unacceptable, especially considering the ones who usually enforce the arrangements all have their own private offices with the best gear their department offers.” Another user, Oracle-2050, quipped that working from their car was a makeshift solution, noting, "At least I can attend Teams meetings and make phone calls." The absurdity of the situation was highlighted by yet another commenter who sarcastically remarked, “Only in clown world would a worker drive to the office in order to do work in their car.” Another user pointed out that the decision-makers pushing these mandates “all have their own private offices with the best gear their department offers,” leaving regular employees to struggle in far less conducive work environments. <h2>The “Fake work” problem </h2> Annie Dean, who earlier used to work as Director of Remote Work at Facebook, took a critical stance on LinkedIn, highlighting that return-to-office mandates don’t address the core problem which is “Fake work.” This term, popularised by Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, refers to tasks that feel like work but don’t actually create value for the business. Dean explained in her post that employees are drowning in endless meetings and messages, which detract from productivity. She argued that instead of mandating office attendance, companies like Amazon should focus on “pioneering new, more efficient modes of work.” This argument has resonated with many on X as well, where employees have expressed frustration over the return-to-office mandates being viewed as a quick fix. One Twitter/X user remarked that "commuting to do the same virtual meetings in person isn’t solving anything," while others echoed that the core problem lies in work structures, not location. Here are some other reactions on X: <div type="image" title="negative reactions" msid="113528739" hostid="261" sizebytes="64721"></div> <h2>A quiet layoff strategy? </h2> Yet another take on the RTO mandate comes from Jennifer DeLorenzo, a former senior recruiter at Pinterest. She suggested that the move feels like a “quiet layoff strategy.” According to her, by mandating full-time office attendance, companies may be hoping for a wave of resignations without having to deal with the negative press of formal layoffs. “This tactic allows them to reduce headcount while avoiding the negative optics of layoffs,” DeLorenzo wrote on LinkedIn, adding that it may backfire as hiring becomes challenging again when the economy shifts. Many others seemed to agree with her view. On Reddit too, there are many people talking about how companies might be carrying out soft layoffs by implementing an RTO mandate. Her comments tapped into a broader conversation on how companies may be using return-to-office mandates to indirectly reduce their workforce. Other social media users pointed out similar trends across industries, where companies tighten office attendance policies to nudge employees toward leaving voluntarily. <h2>Some mixed reactions too </h2> While the return-to-office mandates are frustrating for many, not all reactions are negative. Some employees, particularly newer hires, see value in the traditional office setting. Bhardwaj, for example, also noted that going to the office is beneficial for freshers who want to learn. “I do believe that going to the office makes you learn a lot as freshers,” he wrote in his post, suggesting that for those early in their careers, the in-person experience might be crucial for growth and networking. Some users on X too seemed to be in support of this mandate. Here’s a look: <div type="image" title="mixed-reactions" msid="113528718" hostid="261" sizebytes="77770"></div> This duality reflects the ongoing debate around the future of work. On one hand, companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta are focusing on building stronger in-office teams, believing that physical presence fosters better collaboration, innovation, and mentoring. On the other hand, employees, especially those who experienced the benefits of remote work during the pandemic, are pushing back against these mandates, valuing the flexibility and improved work-life balance that working from home provides. As companies continue to adjust their RTO policies, the tension between employee expectations and corporate strategies is likely to persist. However, one thing is clear — the future of work is still being negotiated, and both sides are making their voices heard across the internet.

'I'm unproductive, this is not the real solution': Internet reacts as Amazon, Wipro and others call employees back to office

A couple of years back, anybody with a full-time job across the globe used to say that they work a "9 to 5 (9 am to 5 pm)." However, as per a recent report, that is no longer the average working hours and more and more employees are now adapting to a <keyword id="23061305" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="flexible-work-style" source="keywords">flexible work style</keyword>. The <keyword id="20534318" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus-pandemic" source="keywords">coronavirus pandemic</keyword>, in 2020, saw a major change in work patterns across the globe. As companies shifted their operations remote overnight, employees began working at their own pace, at their own time. At the time, many reports had come up that the future of work would be flexibility in terms of working hours and location. And as per a latest report, that has started happening. <h2>Bye bye 9-to-5 </h2> The standard 9-to-5 workday has now transitioned to more of a 10-to-4 routine, according to a 2023 Global Traffic Scorecard by INRIX Inc, a traffic analysis firm. This shift means fewer people are commuting during the early hours, creating a new trend in daily traffic flow. With fewer people hitting the road in the early morning or evening, traffic congestion has now shifted to the middle of the day. A CNBC report quotes Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst who authored the INRIX report, saying, "We’re seeing less activity in the morning and evening but much more around noon." Surprisingly, the number of trips made around noon is now almost equal to those at 9 am and 5 pm What was once a lull between morning and evening traffic has transformed into a peak period of congestion. <h2><keyword id="19901232" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="work-life-balance" source="keywords">Work-life balance</keyword> takes center stage </h2> The report also quotes David Satterwhite, CEO of Chronus. He says that many employees have embraced the ability to work remotely and only come into the office when absolutely necessary. This might mean arriving late, leaving early, or coming in for a brief meeting before heading back home. This trend, often called “coffee badging,” has become widely accepted as employees pop into the office for short stints and then continue their workday elsewhere. A recent survey from Owl Labs found that 58 percent of hybrid workers admitted to checking into the office for just a few hours before leaving. These days, more workers prioritise work-life balance, flexible hours, and mental health support over climbing the corporate ladder. Many are reluctant to spend more time at the office than necessary. In fact, if the option to work from home were removed, 66% of workers said they would start searching for a new job that offered more flexibility, according to Owl Labs. Of those, around 39% would quit right away. In January this year, a study conducted by Randstad also revealed that workers prioritise work-life balance over salary when evaluating potential job opportunities. According to the study, 57 percent of employees would reject a job offer if it negatively impacted their work-life balance. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/openai-to-meta-ai-companies-that-were-accused-of-copyright-infringement/articleshow/113088658.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/nykaa-sues-tata-cliq-ceo-gopal-asthana-for-contract-breach-says-he-approached-employees-to-join-rival-company/articleshow/113082094.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Nykaa sues Tata Cliq CEO Gopal Asthana for contract breach, says he approached employees to join rival company</a> OpenAI to Meta: AI companies that were accused of copyright infringement

No more 9 to 5: Employees are coming to work late and leaving early, new data shows

<keyword id="19902762" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Google" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Google">Google</keyword> laid off thousands of employees in 2023 and many found their lives turned upside down with just an email notification. After all, when you have given your heart and soul to an organisation, it is never easy accepting the fact that you are being asked to leave at a moment’s notice. The situation becomes even more complicated when you have been with the company for more than a decade. Something similar happened with <keyword id="23300967" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nicholas-Whitaker" source="keywords">Nicholas Whitaker</keyword>, who had been working with the company since 2010 and found out about his <keyword id="20118388" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="layoff" source="keywords">layoff</keyword> abruptly. <h2>The 3 am email bringing bad news</h2>“My layoff experience was traumatic. I got an email at 3 am to my personal email, that I only found because a colleague pinged me on Linkedin in the DMs to ask if I was ‘Ok’ and if I was ‘safe’,” Whitaker told <keyword id="21390875" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Business Insider India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Business Insider India">Business Insider India</keyword> in a conversation. He added that when his colleague enquired about his safety, he thought it was a “shooting or some natural disaster.” In other words, he didn’t even imagine that he was being laid off from Google. He then revealed that when he checked his work email, he discovered that he was locked out of his laptop and phone. He then checked his personal email and there it was, the “short and impersonal email” that told him that his role at Google was being eliminated. <h2>The layoff process was uncomfortable</h2>When Google announced large-scale layoffs last year, the company made a lot of headlines for handling them in an unprofessional manner. In March 2023, several Google employees had even written an open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, asking him to deal with layoffs in a better manner. Whitaker, narrating his own experience, shared with Business Insider India that after receiving the dreadful layoff email at 3 am, he spent the next few months completing formalities to get his payments that were due. He said, “It took all of the next several months for me to mail back my laptop, badge and any gear that I had that was Google property. (I also had to) navigate unemployment, health insurance and get all of the documentation I had to submit to "self Offboard" and to receive payments that I was supposed to get.” “Along the way there were multiple errors and miscommunications from the team that made it all even more uncomfortable,” he said. Whitaker also noted a complete lack of communication and empathy from his old team at Google. “I got a single text message from my prior manager asking how I was doing a few days after I was laid off, but otherwise no one reached out to check on me or offer assistance from my old team. Overall I found the process to be brutally impersonal and inhumane,” he said. <h2>Experience at Google</h2>But was Google always “inhumane” in his experience? Not really. There were some amazing days too and Google, according to Whitaker, was a different company when he had joined. “My initial experience working at Google was like it was a completely different company. I started as a temp, contractor and then a vendor for Google back in 2010, and at the time I think it was something like 40,000 employees. It had a real startup feel to it. Teams were agile and collaborative, and there was a lot of room for growth. It may have been specific to my team and org, but it felt like you had a lot more room for experimentation and autonomy to make decisions, and failure wasn't seen as a bad thing, but a necessary part of innovation,” he said. Whitaker also said that a “class system” was there at Google, especially since he was a TVC (Temporary, Vendor and Contractor). “As a TVC you wouldn't be included in many of the activities and learning opportunities that full time employees had, and didn't get invited to extracurricular activities. There was a real bias towards culture at the time, and words like Don't be Evil, and be Googly were often used.” However, in general, he added that the atmosphere was positive and full of possibilities. “Colleagues generally were very supportive, collaborative and encouraging to work with. I was excited as this was my first time working in big tech, or Corporate America and I saw that period of time as a real coming of age for me. I learned how to be a professional at Google and appreciated all of the early guidance and support that I got from colleagues and leaders.” <h2>Helping others</h2>It has now been over a year since Whitaker was laid off. He now has his own venture and helps other people navigate their careers. Talking about what motivated him to kick-start his own venture, he said, “After 13 years in big tech, the last few years in particular being particularly difficult due to toxic teams and leaders, I didn't want to jump right back into that kind of experience again. A year before getting laid off, I had experienced a bad <keyword id="19956983" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mental-health" source="keywords">mental health</keyword> crisis that was the result of workplace bullying, gaslighting and toxic leadership. "I wanted to help others avoid and recover from similar situations and create a community where people can find mutual support and coaching on how to best navigate their careers in a conscious way. My severance after working so long at Google allowed me to fund the launch of my coaching business, and eventually ‘changingwork.org’." <keyword id="23300968" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Changing-Work" source="keywords">Changing Work</keyword>, Whitaker explained, is his way of addressing a deep need in corporate life — helping people rediscover their sense of purpose and alignment in their careers and finding ways to build more conscious leaders and businesses. He added, “What makes this so transformative for me personally is that it allowed me to step into a role where I could integrate all the lessons from my own career—especially the parts that were hardest for me. During my time at Google, I saw firsthand how high-pressure environments can lead to burnout, anxiety, and a disconnect from our true selves.” The recent tragic death of a young CA at Ernst &amp; Young (EY) employee in India has turned the spotlight on toxic work cultures prevalent in many high-pressure industries. Broader debates on burnout, mental health struggles, and unrealistic expectations in corporate environments in the workplace have occupied social media platforms. This incident serves as a painful reminder that companies must prioritize <keyword id="21050364" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="employee-well-being" source="keywords">employee well-being</keyword> and mental health to foster sustainable, humane workplaces. And makes the work that people like Whitaker are doing all the more important. “I’ve spoken publicly about how mindfulness practice, coaching and therapy literally saved my life during some of my darkest times at Google. Changing Work is the culmination of that journey. It’s not just about helping others find balance and fulfillment—it’s about creating a space where I can live those values every day,” he concludes.

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