We're breaking down two massive workplace crises the US can't ignore.
We dive deep into the Wall Street Journal's shocking exposé on 110-hour workweeks pushing bankers to hospitalization and burnout, while examining the devastating impact of tariffs that threaten the very existence of America's small business backbone.
Listen for:
- The brutal reality of 110-hour workweeks and how they're becoming normalized across industries
- Why small businesses that make up 99.9% of American companies are facing extinction from 145% tariffs
- How tariffs are already creating job losses that will ripple through the entire economy
- The shocking story of the "morale pizza party" that turned into a demand for even more work
- Why container shipments are down 35-50% at major ports and what that means for your job
- Simple actions you can take to protect yourself from toxic work expectations
- How to support small businesses in your community before they disappear
Episode Highlights
⏰ 4:15 Work Crisis: How 110-hour workweeks led to hospitalizations at a major financial firm and what it reveals about toxic leadership
⏰ 10:30 Small Business Reality Check: Why these companies employ half of America and what happens when they can't survive
⏰ 15:45 The Tariff Tsunami: Real examples of businesses facing impossible choices between raising prices or closing down
⏰ 20:20 Employment Domino Effect: How every four shipping containers equals one American job (and they're disappearing fast)
⏰ 25:30 Survival Guide: Practical steps for protecting your work boundaries and supporting local businesses
Join us for the real, unfiltered story behind the work headlines affecting all of us right now.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. We are not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Thanks for listening!
Hey! We love new friends! Connect with us!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Mel Plett, talent strategist coach and someone
who survived big law, big fourand more than a few broken org
charts.
I'm Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I've led people strategy at Nike and Deloitte.
I like my advice how I like mycoffee strong and no bullshit.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
We host your work, friends, the podcast that breaks
work down, so you stay ahead,we talk work stuff, the human
stuff, the awkward messy, whatthe f*** is actually happening
stuff.
Each week we drop new episodeswith real talk, smart guests,
fresh insights and straight-upadvice.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hit play.
We've got you Ahas and ahas and, yeah, the occasional F-bomb or
two Mel.
What's going on?
What's the good word?
Have you watched the Conclaveyet?
Did you watch the Conclave?
I have not.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I have not but man US Pope, and in your hometown
Chicago.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I know this is.
Look at the connection.
You're welcome.
It's interesting.
It's exciting.
What does that mean for thechurch?
I have no idea.
Yeah, no clue.
If you want to go for adifferent aspect of papal life,
the Wall Street Journal'spodcast.
The Journal did an amazingepisode on the financial crisis
hitting the Vatican.
Completely worth the listen,especially if you're curious
about what this new Pope'smandate might be.
(01:09):
Yes, a saint, but also has tobe a CFO.
So there you go, it'll beinteresting.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Yeah, the church is a big business.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, yeah.
So there was some papal newsthat dropped this week, which we
certainly don't cover on thispod Promotion at the Vatican,
which is pretty exciting.
Yeah, promotion at the Vatican,which is pretty exciting.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Some of the funniest things I've seen so far on
TikTok.
Like his siblings are on TikTokbeing interviewed.
Imagine you're just like, yeah,my brother's the Pope and this
one girl said her mom dated himin high school and he talked I
don't know if how true this isso to get with a giant like salt
shaker of salt, but like theywere joking around about how, oh
(01:49):
, your first boyfriend is nowthe pope oh my god, I would die
happy like how funny is that?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
like you can't beat that in cocktail conversation.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
You have now just won for life.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
The fun fact about me icebreaker challenge anything
you do thousand percent likeyeah, the yeah, two truths and a
lie.
You're fucked.
If you're in a conversationwith that person, they have the
best one they have the bestwe're back with new week, new
headlines.
What are you talking abouttoday?
Speaker 1 (02:19):
yes, I am talking about the Wall Street Journal
article that came out reallyscathing 110-hour workweeks.
This article is claiming that110-hour workweeks were driving
young bankers at a boutiqueMidwest firm to the brink.
So I'm going to talk about that.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
I feel like we're hearing more and more 110-hour
workweek conversations.
Those don't always end well atall for people.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Not at all.
What about you?
What are you covering?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I'm talking about impacts of tariffs on employment
in small and medium sizedbusinesses, because they make up
the backbone of this economyand we're already starting to
see less hiring because of thetariffs.
So I want to talk about what'sgoing on and, if they continue,
what you can expect from a jobmarket perspective.
Oh yeah, there you go.
I know everyone's probably sickof hearing about tariffs and
(03:17):
they have very specific jobimplications.
You're starting to hear thestories in daily life and it got
me thinking about what ishappening, what's going to
happen and what could happen,specifically as it relates to
small and medium-sizedbusinesses, because small and
medium-sized businesses in theUS make up 99.9% of the
(03:38):
businesses in the US and theywill be the most impacted by
tariffs.
So I wanted to look at, if thatgoes, what happens, especially
to employment, hearing storiesabout people that ordered $1,100
of clothes from China andthey're getting a bill from DHL
for $2,300.
Or a florist that used to sella rose stem for 65 cents is now
(03:59):
having to sell it for $1.89.
Are you hearing these stories?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, yeah.
I watched a congressionalhearing this week about the
impact of small business.
This retailer was sharing thatshe needs to do her holiday
orders within the next two weeks, but she can't.
She used the example of thepopular mid-calf booth.
I like a good mid-calf who doesn, but that's her most popular
(04:25):
item and it typically costs her$50 to work with artisans and
craftsmen in China to make theseboots.
And what they were telling hernow is the cost is going to be
approximately $150 to get thatsame product.
That was the price you wouldcharge her customer for the boot
, because they're custom madeboots.
(04:46):
But in order for her to makethe same profit, she now has to
charge $300 for that boot, andthat will alienate her customer
base, and so it's not a goodfinancial decision.
And that was an example of oneproduct she can't order for her
holiday inventory, whichessentially impacts her entire
business, and for her currentinventory she has shipment to be
(05:08):
picked up, but she can't ingood conscience pay the tariffs
on it because it's worth morethan the goods she bought, and
so now it's a poor financialdecision, so that could bankrupt
her business.
So she's not picking up thegoods she needs, so essentially
her shelves.
They're going to be updated.
She's not going to be able tofulfill orders and she's going
(05:30):
to run out of business as aresult.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
We're seeing tariffs for various countries from 10%
all the way up to 145%, akaChina.
Small and medium-sizedbusinesses get about 46% of
their goods from China.
So your story around the shopowner with the boots is
something that is almost half ofsmall and medium-sized business
owners are facing, and tounderstand the full impact of it
(05:54):
, I think we need to look atjust how important SMBs, or
small and medium-sizedbusinesses, are to the US
economy.
They make up anywhere between33 to 35 million businesses in
the US.
They represent like I said justto repeat because it's very
important 99.9% of all USbusinesses and they employ
(06:15):
almost half of the people inthis country.
They contribute 43.5% to the USGDP about $5.9 trillion and
when we talk about SMBs, we'retalking about any company that
has 500 or fewer employees.
They typically are makingsomewhere between $1 million and
$40 million a year.
(06:36):
So that could be your localbookstore that employs 10 people
and makes $2 million a year.
It could be your smallmanufacturing firm that employs
499.
It makes $12 million a year.
That makes up 99.9% of thebusinesses in this country and,
like I said, most of thosebusinesses are getting goods
(06:58):
from other countries.
Almost half of them are gettingtheir goods directly from China
, which right now is standing at145% tariff, which people
cannot afford.
These businesses when they hurtfinancially, it hurts employees
.
We feel it through job losses,price increases and reduced
(07:22):
spending power.
Weeks.
Be on the lookout over the nextcouple of months.
Let's talk about just supplychain disruptions Again getting
those goods to get on theshelves so we can continue to
have employees that are stockingthose shelves, selling those
goods.
Putting them all together,whatever Ocean Freight.
(07:45):
You and I have been talkingabout supply chain and what's
going on with the ports thisweek.
Overall, from China it's down50 to 60% since tariffs took
place.
The Port of LA, which is thebiggest port on the West Coast,
is down 35%.
Over here in Portland we'redown 51%.
Tacoma is down 28%.
89% of companies have alreadycanceled orders due to
(08:08):
uncertainty and this has suchhuge ripple effects.
You and I were talking earlierfor every container, ie that big
box that they put on the backof a truck to ship somewhere
else.
Those come off of ships.
For every four containersunloaded in the US, that's one
American job 51%, 28%.
(08:38):
We're already seeingunemployment and we're already
starting to see this.
Employment in small andmedium-sized businesses declined
already last month.
This time last year it was 1.6%, this year it's 3%.
That equates to 366,400 lessjobs in the small and
medium-sized business space thanthere were last year.
So we're already starting tosee it.
Most of these small andmedium-sized businesses are a
(09:01):
bit in survival mode.
They're freezing hiring,they're laying people off and
they're waiting to see what'sgoing to happen, because they
don't know if they can buy, theydon't know if they can hire,
they don't know if they can holdon.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
You've talked about this, but right, like the
implications, it's after thosefour containers that one dock
workers job is gone.
But then the truck driver whowould pick up those goods, their
job is gone Down to the stockperson who would stock the
shelves, that person's job isgone.
(09:32):
Now, all of a sudden, it'sthree jobs gone automatically
from this one downstream effect.
It's going to get reallyintense really quickly.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Love that funnel that you just walked us through.
In terms of, that's the impactof jobs.
On the other end, on theconsumer end, prices of things
that are on the shelf are goingto go through the roof.
The boots you paid $150 forlast year, paid $150 for last
year.
At minimum they're going to be250, maybe 300.
(10:01):
And so you're going to buy less, and the less you buy, the less
jobs there are.
So now we're in this viciouscycle.
This has done irreversibledamage to small and medium-sized
businesses because even if theysaid psych, we'll go back to
the way it was.
Go back to your shoe lady,right, if she makes half the
sales she made last year, that'senough to put most small,
(10:24):
medium-sized businesses underRight out of business.
Yeah, they're out.
This is not a what should youdo.
It's an awareness of my biggestconcern with these tariffs is
not large companies, it's smalland medium-sized companies that
might not survive this.
So much of your life isexperienced within a 10, 15 mile
radius.
Yeah, protect that.
(10:45):
This is the thing when lifefeels on fire for me is to start
thinking about what can Icontrol, what are little things
I can do, like buying a bookfrom Powell's instead of buying
a book from Amazon.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Wall Street Journal came out with an article this
week titled 110-Hour WorkweeksDrove Young Bankers at a
Boutique Firm to the Brink.
This article alleged thatjunior bankers at Robert Baird's
industrials team enduredextreme workloads, often
exceeding 110-hour work weeks.
The article also alleged thatthere was a morale-boosting
pizza party that turned into acall for increased performance.
(11:24):
Many assumed the party was agesture of appreciation for the
hard work that they've beendoing over past several weeks,
like some of them had beenworking around the clock,
sleeping in the office all thebad things that are equated to
this.
However, during that gathering,managers told the team that
they needed to step up theirperformance, and when some
bankers raised concerns abouttheir long hours, they were told
(11:47):
they should work moreefficiently.
Reports also indicated thatsome employees suffered severe
health issues, includinghospitalization, again all
alleged.
The situation garneredattention after an anonymous
online post went viral, leadingto internal discussions and the
dismissal of a mid-level bankerwho had been associated with the
(12:09):
demanding work culture.
And I just want to call outthis isn't unique, as you just
mentioned, right, you and I haveseen this popped up all the
time, and in fact, last yearalone, we did an entire little
mini study on the salariedworker, because this is across
industries.
We see it in legal, we see itin consulting, we see it in
(12:29):
health care, we see it inbanking, and what we're seeing
is that there are thesepersistent challenges right
across anything that's having todo with well-being or
boundaries with work, despitepublic outcries about this,
despite people crying uncle,because you're a human being,
not a robot who shouldn't beworking 24 hours a day.
It's not unique, and last year,bank of America was also under
(12:51):
scrutiny for something similar,for another alleged banker's
death related to 100-hour workweeks and Korn Ferry.
I just highlighted them lastweek in my newsletter.
They came out with an articletalking about the 60-hour work
week and the return.
Not that they were notadvocates for it, but their
research was amplifying how,even if you work 50, 55 hours a
(13:14):
week, you're not doing your bestwork.
That's a wall.
That's the max most people canwork, and so my question is if
that's the max and we know thisis the capacity limit for human
beings, why are we asking formore?
And if you're a client or astakeholder or a shareholder,
why are you expecting more whenpeople aren't going to do their
best work?
And you're't going to do theirbest work and you're not going
(13:36):
to get the best work from them.
It just seems like a snakeeating its tail at this point.
What do you think about this?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
I think it points to a strategy that's not working.
I think it points to using avery lazy tactic, ie asking
people to just be more efficientand work more, as opposed to
recognizing that you actuallyneed more people or more agentic
(14:03):
AI or something of this sort.
Your resource planning is offcompletely and it also,
philosophically and morally, isbeneath the position of
leadership.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
100 hundred percent, because leadership models the
way.
At least it sparked aconversation and whoever was
allegedly causing the issueremoved immediately, because
sometimes it is that you findout that there's somebody who's
asking people to work nights andweekends, and that's not your
culture, nor do you want it tobe.
But damn, leaders have aresponsibility here to protect
(14:34):
the health and wellbeing of thepeople that work for them.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
You hear these stories and I always try to get
to the bottom of.
What is that leader or thatboss or that company?
What do they really think aboutemployees Like?
How do they view them?
And whenever I hear storieslike this, I'll just be very
honest I feel like there areleaders in place that think, um,
employees are there to worklike a dog and they don't trust
(15:00):
that they're working enough.
So it's just, it's almost likeI'm going to get the most out of
you.
I don't care if you're a humanor not.
I'm going to push you to yourlimit and they don't care.
I literally think they don'tcare.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I've always wondered like when does that happen for
someone, that they start to notrecognize the humanity and the
people that work with them orfor them?
I just don't get it.
But the research shows that theoutput is going to be shit.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Those people aren't reading the fucking data.
Either they were asked to dothat or when shit hits the fan,
their emotional reaction is toget in control.
Yeah, and they're not going tobe like, wait, maybe my strides
off or or maybe I need to thinkabout this differently, or maybe
I haven't led my team do thehighest value work or whatever.
It's never a reflection on them.
You see this organizationally.
You see this in leaders too.
(15:51):
I'm going to get myself into aposition of control and they go
to the most basic position,which is butts in seats.
I need to see time.
Yeah, it's so weird.
It's basically.
It's basically hell.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I'm so bored with this story yeah, it's so
ridiculous and we shouldn't behearing any stories like this.
And just yesterday there wasanother banker who sadly passed
away.
They're coming out to say thathe had a drug overdose, but they
directly like there are theseclaims.
You can't directly correlateanything.
(16:25):
But in these industries whereyou see high addiction rates,
it's because they're nothandling the stress well, and
you see it often in a number ofdifferent industries.
Anyway, friend to friend, here'sour advice.
If you're an employee today,here's what you can do Assess
your work hours, identify yourown patterns of overwork.
Here's what you could do nextweek.
(16:47):
Start to initiate conversationswith supervisors about your
workload, seeking clarity onwhat's really expected, and
start to build your ownboundaries, because your
workplace isn't going to do thatfor you and you need to decide
what you're willing to trade off.
If you find that you're havingthis conversation and it's met
with pushback or you need towork more efficiently, you might
(17:08):
need to have some largerconsiderations to think about,
like whether you still want towork for that company and then
just going forward, if you're ina leadership position or in a
seat of influence, if you're onthe C-suite or an executive, you
really need to start advocatingfor org policies that promote
greater balance here and careand protection for your people,
(17:29):
greater guidelines around theexpectations of what constitutes
the infamous work emergency.
I think that's a really sageadvice If you're in that
situation.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
these are all ways that you can put yourself in the
control seat.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Don't rely on anyone else to do it.
This episode was produced,edited and all things by us
myself, mel Plett and FrancescaRanieri.
Our music is by Pink Zebra andif you loved this conversation
(18:06):
and you want to contribute yourthoughts with us, please do.
You can visit us atyourworkfriendscom, but you can
also join us over on LinkedIn.
We have a LinkedIn communitypage and we have the TikToks and
Instagrams, so please join usin the socials.
And if you like this and you'vebenefited from this episode and
you think someone else canbenefit from this episode,
(18:28):
please rate and subscribe.
We'd really appreciate it.
That helps keep us going.
Take care, friends.
Bye, friends.
Thank you.
I'm Mel Plett, talent strategist coach and someone
who survived big law, big fourand more than a few broken org
charts.
I'm Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I've led people strategy at Nike and Deloitte.
I like my advice how I like mycoffee strong and no bullshit.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
We host your work, friends, the podcast that breaks
work down, so you stay ahead,we talk work stuff, the human
stuff, the awkward messy, whatthe f*** is actually happening
stuff.
Each week we drop new episodeswith real talk, smart guests,
fresh insights and straight-upadvice.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hit play.
We've got you Ahas and ahas and, yeah, the occasional F-bomb or
two Mel.
What's going on?
What's the good word?
Have you watched the Conclaveyet?
Did you watch the Conclave?
I have not.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I have not but man US Pope, and in your hometown
Chicago.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I know this is.
Look at the connection.
You're welcome.
It's interesting.
It's exciting.
What does that mean for thechurch?
I have no idea.
Yeah, no clue.
If you want to go for adifferent aspect of papal life,
the Wall Street Journal'spodcast.
The Journal did an amazingepisode on the financial crisis
hitting the Vatican.
Completely worth the listen,especially if you're curious
about what this new Pope'smandate might be.
(01:09):
Yes, a saint, but also has tobe a CFO.
So there you go, it'll beinteresting.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Yeah, the church is a big business.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, yeah.
So there was some papal newsthat dropped this week, which we
certainly don't cover on thispod Promotion at the Vatican,
which is pretty exciting.
Yeah, promotion at the Vatican,which is pretty exciting.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Some of the funniest things I've seen so far on
TikTok.
Like his siblings are on TikTokbeing interviewed.
Imagine you're just like, yeah,my brother's the Pope and this
one girl said her mom dated himin high school and he talked I
don't know if how true this isso to get with a giant like salt
shaker of salt, but like theywere joking around about how, oh
(01:49):
, your first boyfriend is nowthe pope oh my god, I would die
happy like how funny is that?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
like you can't beat that in cocktail conversation.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
You have now just won for life.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
The fun fact about me icebreaker challenge anything
you do thousand percent likeyeah, the yeah, two truths and a
lie.
You're fucked.
If you're in a conversationwith that person, they have the
best one they have the bestwe're back with new week, new
headlines.
What are you talking abouttoday?
Speaker 1 (02:19):
yes, I am talking about the Wall Street Journal
article that came out reallyscathing 110-hour workweeks.
This article is claiming that110-hour workweeks were driving
young bankers at a boutiqueMidwest firm to the brink.
So I'm going to talk about that.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
I feel like we're hearing more and more 110-hour
workweek conversations.
Those don't always end well atall for people.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Not at all.
What about you?
What are you covering?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I'm talking about impacts of tariffs on employment
in small and medium sizedbusinesses, because they make up
the backbone of this economyand we're already starting to
see less hiring because of thetariffs.
So I want to talk about what'sgoing on and, if they continue,
what you can expect from a jobmarket perspective.
Oh yeah, there you go.
I know everyone's probably sickof hearing about tariffs and
(03:17):
they have very specific jobimplications.
You're starting to hear thestories in daily life and it got
me thinking about what ishappening, what's going to
happen and what could happen,specifically as it relates to
small and medium-sizedbusinesses, because small and
medium-sized businesses in theUS make up 99.9% of the
(03:38):
businesses in the US and theywill be the most impacted by
tariffs.
So I wanted to look at, if thatgoes, what happens, especially
to employment, hearing storiesabout people that ordered $1,100
of clothes from China andthey're getting a bill from DHL
for $2,300.
Or a florist that used to sella rose stem for 65 cents is now
(03:59):
having to sell it for $1.89.
Are you hearing these stories?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, yeah.
I watched a congressionalhearing this week about the
impact of small business.
This retailer was sharing thatshe needs to do her holiday
orders within the next two weeks, but she can't.
She used the example of thepopular mid-calf booth.
I like a good mid-calf who doesn, but that's her most popular
(04:25):
item and it typically costs her$50 to work with artisans and
craftsmen in China to make theseboots.
And what they were telling hernow is the cost is going to be
approximately $150 to get thatsame product.
That was the price you wouldcharge her customer for the boot
, because they're custom madeboots.
(04:46):
But in order for her to makethe same profit, she now has to
charge $300 for that boot, andthat will alienate her customer
base, and so it's not a goodfinancial decision.
And that was an example of oneproduct she can't order for her
holiday inventory, whichessentially impacts her entire
business, and for her currentinventory she has shipment to be
(05:08):
picked up, but she can't ingood conscience pay the tariffs
on it because it's worth morethan the goods she bought, and
so now it's a poor financialdecision, so that could bankrupt
her business.
So she's not picking up thegoods she needs, so essentially
her shelves.
They're going to be updated.
She's not going to be able tofulfill orders and she's going
(05:30):
to run out of business as aresult.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
We're seeing tariffs for various countries from 10%
all the way up to 145%, akaChina.
Small and medium-sizedbusinesses get about 46% of
their goods from China.
So your story around the shopowner with the boots is
something that is almost half ofsmall and medium-sized business
owners are facing, and tounderstand the full impact of it
(05:54):
, I think we need to look atjust how important SMBs, or
small and medium-sizedbusinesses, are to the US
economy.
They make up anywhere between33 to 35 million businesses in
the US.
They represent like I said justto repeat because it's very
important 99.9% of all USbusinesses and they employ
(06:15):
almost half of the people inthis country.
They contribute 43.5% to the USGDP about $5.9 trillion and
when we talk about SMBs, we'retalking about any company that
has 500 or fewer employees.
They typically are makingsomewhere between $1 million and
$40 million a year.
(06:36):
So that could be your localbookstore that employs 10 people
and makes $2 million a year.
It could be your smallmanufacturing firm that employs
499.
It makes $12 million a year.
That makes up 99.9% of thebusinesses in this country and,
like I said, most of thosebusinesses are getting goods
(06:58):
from other countries.
Almost half of them are gettingtheir goods directly from China
, which right now is standing at145% tariff, which people
cannot afford.
These businesses when they hurtfinancially, it hurts employees
.
We feel it through job losses,price increases and reduced
(07:22):
spending power.
Weeks.
Be on the lookout over the nextcouple of months.
Let's talk about just supplychain disruptions Again getting
those goods to get on theshelves so we can continue to
have employees that are stockingthose shelves, selling those
goods.
Putting them all together,whatever Ocean Freight.
(07:45):
You and I have been talkingabout supply chain and what's
going on with the ports thisweek.
Overall, from China it's down50 to 60% since tariffs took
place.
The Port of LA, which is thebiggest port on the West Coast,
is down 35%.
Over here in Portland we'redown 51%.
Tacoma is down 28%.
89% of companies have alreadycanceled orders due to
(08:08):
uncertainty and this has suchhuge ripple effects.
You and I were talking earlierfor every container, ie that big
box that they put on the backof a truck to ship somewhere
else.
Those come off of ships.
For every four containersunloaded in the US, that's one
American job 51%, 28%.
(08:38):
We're already seeingunemployment and we're already
starting to see this.
Employment in small andmedium-sized businesses declined
already last month.
This time last year it was 1.6%, this year it's 3%.
That equates to 366,400 lessjobs in the small and
medium-sized business space thanthere were last year.
So we're already starting tosee it.
Most of these small andmedium-sized businesses are a
(09:01):
bit in survival mode.
They're freezing hiring,they're laying people off and
they're waiting to see what'sgoing to happen, because they
don't know if they can buy, theydon't know if they can hire,
they don't know if they can holdon.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
You've talked about this, but right, like the
implications, it's after thosefour containers that one dock
workers job is gone.
But then the truck driver whowould pick up those goods, their
job is gone Down to the stockperson who would stock the
shelves, that person's job isgone.
(09:32):
Now, all of a sudden, it'sthree jobs gone automatically
from this one downstream effect.
It's going to get reallyintense really quickly.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Love that funnel that you just walked us through.
In terms of, that's the impactof jobs.
On the other end, on theconsumer end, prices of things
that are on the shelf are goingto go through the roof.
The boots you paid $150 forlast year, paid $150 for last
year.
At minimum they're going to be250, maybe 300.
(10:01):
And so you're going to buy less, and the less you buy, the less
jobs there are.
So now we're in this viciouscycle.
This has done irreversibledamage to small and medium-sized
businesses because even if theysaid psych, we'll go back to
the way it was.
Go back to your shoe lady,right, if she makes half the
sales she made last year, that'senough to put most small,
(10:24):
medium-sized businesses underRight out of business.
Yeah, they're out.
This is not a what should youdo.
It's an awareness of my biggestconcern with these tariffs is
not large companies, it's smalland medium-sized companies that
might not survive this.
So much of your life isexperienced within a 10, 15 mile
radius.
Yeah, protect that.
(10:45):
This is the thing when lifefeels on fire for me is to start
thinking about what can Icontrol, what are little things
I can do, like buying a bookfrom Powell's instead of buying
a book from Amazon.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Wall Street Journal came out with an article this
week titled 110-Hour WorkweeksDrove Young Bankers at a
Boutique Firm to the Brink.
This article alleged thatjunior bankers at Robert Baird's
industrials team enduredextreme workloads, often
exceeding 110-hour work weeks.
The article also alleged thatthere was a morale-boosting
pizza party that turned into acall for increased performance.
(11:24):
Many assumed the party was agesture of appreciation for the
hard work that they've beendoing over past several weeks,
like some of them had beenworking around the clock,
sleeping in the office all thebad things that are equated to
this.
However, during that gathering,managers told the team that
they needed to step up theirperformance, and when some
bankers raised concerns abouttheir long hours, they were told
(11:47):
they should work moreefficiently.
Reports also indicated thatsome employees suffered severe
health issues, includinghospitalization, again all
alleged.
The situation garneredattention after an anonymous
online post went viral, leadingto internal discussions and the
dismissal of a mid-level bankerwho had been associated with the
(12:09):
demanding work culture.
And I just want to call outthis isn't unique, as you just
mentioned, right, you and I haveseen this popped up all the
time, and in fact, last yearalone, we did an entire little
mini study on the salariedworker, because this is across
industries.
We see it in legal, we see itin consulting, we see it in
(12:29):
health care, we see it inbanking, and what we're seeing
is that there are thesepersistent challenges right
across anything that's having todo with well-being or
boundaries with work, despitepublic outcries about this,
despite people crying uncle,because you're a human being,
not a robot who shouldn't beworking 24 hours a day.
It's not unique, and last year,bank of America was also under
(12:51):
scrutiny for something similar,for another alleged banker's
death related to 100-hour workweeks and Korn Ferry.
I just highlighted them lastweek in my newsletter.
They came out with an articletalking about the 60-hour work
week and the return.
Not that they were notadvocates for it, but their
research was amplifying how,even if you work 50, 55 hours a
(13:14):
week, you're not doing your bestwork.
That's a wall.
That's the max most people canwork, and so my question is if
that's the max and we know thisis the capacity limit for human
beings, why are we asking formore?
And if you're a client or astakeholder or a shareholder,
why are you expecting more whenpeople aren't going to do their
best work?
And you're't going to do theirbest work and you're not going
(13:36):
to get the best work from them.
It just seems like a snakeeating its tail at this point.
What do you think about this?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
I think it points to a strategy that's not working.
I think it points to using avery lazy tactic, ie asking
people to just be more efficientand work more, as opposed to
recognizing that you actuallyneed more people or more agentic
(14:03):
AI or something of this sort.
Your resource planning is offcompletely and it also,
philosophically and morally, isbeneath the position of
leadership.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
100 hundred percent, because leadership models the
way.
At least it sparked aconversation and whoever was
allegedly causing the issueremoved immediately, because
sometimes it is that you findout that there's somebody who's
asking people to work nights andweekends, and that's not your
culture, nor do you want it tobe.
But damn, leaders have aresponsibility here to protect
(14:34):
the health and wellbeing of thepeople that work for them.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
You hear these stories and I always try to get
to the bottom of.
What is that leader or thatboss or that company?
What do they really think aboutemployees Like?
How do they view them?
And whenever I hear storieslike this, I'll just be very
honest I feel like there areleaders in place that think, um,
employees are there to worklike a dog and they don't trust
(15:00):
that they're working enough.
So it's just, it's almost likeI'm going to get the most out of
you.
I don't care if you're a humanor not.
I'm going to push you to yourlimit and they don't care.
I literally think they don'tcare.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I've always wondered like when does that happen for
someone, that they start to notrecognize the humanity and the
people that work with them orfor them?
I just don't get it.
But the research shows that theoutput is going to be shit.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Those people aren't reading the fucking data.
Either they were asked to dothat or when shit hits the fan,
their emotional reaction is toget in control.
Yeah, and they're not going tobe like, wait, maybe my strides
off or or maybe I need to thinkabout this differently, or maybe
I haven't led my team do thehighest value work or whatever.
It's never a reflection on them.
You see this organizationally.
You see this in leaders too.
(15:51):
I'm going to get myself into aposition of control and they go
to the most basic position,which is butts in seats.
I need to see time.
Yeah, it's so weird.
It's basically.
It's basically hell.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I'm so bored with this story yeah, it's so
ridiculous and we shouldn't behearing any stories like this.
And just yesterday there wasanother banker who sadly passed
away.
They're coming out to say thathe had a drug overdose, but they
directly like there are theseclaims.
You can't directly correlateanything.
(16:25):
But in these industries whereyou see high addiction rates,
it's because they're nothandling the stress well, and
you see it often in a number ofdifferent industries.
Anyway, friend to friend, here'sour advice.
If you're an employee today,here's what you can do Assess
your work hours, identify yourown patterns of overwork.
Here's what you could do nextweek.
(16:47):
Start to initiate conversationswith supervisors about your
workload, seeking clarity onwhat's really expected, and
start to build your ownboundaries, because your
workplace isn't going to do thatfor you and you need to decide
what you're willing to trade off.
If you find that you're havingthis conversation and it's met
with pushback or you need towork more efficiently, you might
(17:08):
need to have some largerconsiderations to think about,
like whether you still want towork for that company and then
just going forward, if you're ina leadership position or in a
seat of influence, if you're onthe C-suite or an executive, you
really need to start advocatingfor org policies that promote
greater balance here and careand protection for your people,
(17:29):
greater guidelines around theexpectations of what constitutes
the infamous work emergency.
I think that's a really sageadvice If you're in that
situation.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
these are all ways that you can put yourself in the
control seat.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Don't rely on anyone else to do it.
This episode was produced,edited and all things by us
myself, mel Plett and FrancescaRanieri.
Our music is by Pink Zebra andif you loved this conversation
(18:06):
and you want to contribute yourthoughts with us, please do.
You can visit us atyourworkfriendscom, but you can
also join us over on LinkedIn.
We have a LinkedIn communitypage and we have the TikToks and
Instagrams, so please join usin the socials.
And if you like this and you'vebenefited from this episode and
you think someone else canbenefit from this episode,
(18:28):
please rate and subscribe.
We'd really appreciate it.
That helps keep us going.
Take care, friends.
Bye, friends.
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!