Here's the work news we're covering this week.
Nearly half of tech workers are job hunting in 2025 - but why? Join us as we dive into the shifting landscape of workplace benefits and what's really driving the Great Tech Migration.
Plus, is this the end of corporate happy hours? We explore the US Surgeon General's new alcohol advisory and its impact on workplace culture. From Airbnb's remarkable response to the LA wildfires to TikTok's controversial PTO policy, and Mark Zuckerberg's problematic comments about 'masculine energy' in tech - this episode unpacks the latest workplace trends shaping corporate America.
End on a positive note with updates on minimum wage increases across 21 US states affecting over 9.2 million workers.
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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
while I was working in corporate.
If I ever pitched, hey, weshould do like an edible bar.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Yeah, oh my God, I would have been fired.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Fired.
Hey going on, mel Happy.
What the fuck year is it?
Happy 2025.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
It does start to feel like a blur right.
I'm about to be 45 and I'm likehow old am I?
How do I forget?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You know, when you realize you've lived a lot of
life.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, yeah, and where it's just all melding together.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Just in this year alone, the amount of big crisis
news that happened is prettysubstantial.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, it's unbelievable what we're living
through.
Gosh, the wildfires happeningright now.
I can't stop watching it outthere.
I have some friends in LA thatare okay, but I said that it's
come close to the property.
That was a scary time.
We're living in turbulent times.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Indeed, indeed.
I know I always had thisquestion.
Is it always been thisturbulent, and are we just more
attuned to it because of socialmedia and we have all this
access to information?
Has it always been this nuts wejust now know about it all or
is it actually getting morenutty?
I?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
think both.
I think both because we haveswift access to information that
didn't exist a long time ago,but I also do think it's getting
increasingly nuttier.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
We're here.
New week, new headlines.
New week, new headlines Melwhat are you talking about today
?
A couple of things.
Nearly half of tech workers areseeking new roles 50% yeah,
that's a big loss.
And then I have some FIA newsabout minimum wage and some WTF
news about needing moremasculine energy in
(01:56):
organizations.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
More, more Fantastic.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
How about?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
you, the U S surgeon general came out with an
advisory on alcohol may causecancer.
Is this finally the end ofhappy hour?
I want to talk about that, andI also have some F?
Yeah and WTF news relatedactually to the LA wildfires.
I want to celebrate a companythat's getting it right, and
once you call out a company thatis absolutely getting it wrong,
(02:23):
let's do wrong, let's do it,let's do it.
Last week the US Surgeon Generalcame out with wanting to put an
advisory on alcohol, sayingthat it causes cancer.
Did you hear this?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
I did yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
This has been going on for a while the news that
wine isn't good for you,alcohol's not good for you,
Alcohol is not good for you,Beer is not good for you.
When you and I were growing up,it was like oh, maybe red wine
it's good for you.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
It's okay, it lasts a day.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yes, yes, italians drink it all the time.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
It's like everything.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Moderation yes.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
But now they're saying, man, what's that going
to do to happy hours at work?
A couple of things.
Yeah, there's definitely been ashift in alcohol culture, Cause
, like when you and I weregrowing up, it was still a big
thing but, I noticed youngergenerations are moving more
towards gardening.
With dispensaries it's a littlebit safer and I think you know
(03:26):
what the people are going to.
It's just like with smoking.
Right, they know the risk.
They're going to make their ownchoice on what they want to do.
You might see some impact.
But I think honestly, with anyhappy hour, you should be giving
options to everybody.
Not everyone drinks, so you doneed to think about what does a
quote-unquote happy houractually look like for coworkers
(03:48):
.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It's interesting because the majority of
networking events at workrevolve around alcohol.
Yeah, they still do.
We put together any kind ofconference and you're going to
have networking events that haveopen bar beer and wine and blah
, blah, blah, blah blah.
Interesting though the dataabsolutely backs up what you
just said.
Number one on the alcoholconsumption corporate events,
(04:11):
the idea of having networkingspecifically around happy hours
is down 30% actually becausethey're making space for
physical activity or doing thecooking class or the knitting
thing.
We saw that pick up duringCOVID where people were like
let's paint by numbers togetheron Zoom.
And the other thing is too GenZ, to your very good point.
They don't drink as much, theydon't want to drink as much.
(04:32):
And there's another piece herethat there's not as much of an
investment in professionalrelationships as there used to
be with Gen Z and with all othergenerations.
A lot of people are like hey, Idon't want to work 10 hours a
day and then go have a beer withsomebody and then talk about
work again.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Unless you're already work friends, maybe you might
do that on your own.
But what we always heard, asleaders too, it's not fun if
it's mandated.
Fun so it's if you're wantingto do things that build teams,
that foster networking,collaboration.
Think about how you build thatinto the actual work day, not an
(05:11):
extra thing for people to takeon, because everyone's at their
limit, I think with what theycan take on.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, I think focusing on those.
What are the real connectionsthat benefit work?
What are those authenticcommunity pieces that you can,
to your point, build in withinthe workday?
Absolutely huge.
Do you think happy hour isgoing to go away completely?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
No.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
No, I don't think so.
I think there's always going tobe a place where people want to
do that, and there are peoplewho go to happy hours that don't
.
They don't drink alcohol.
Bars do offer alternativesbeyond the cocktail, but I don't
think it'll completely go away.
I think there will still behappy hours.
I just don't think it'll be ascentral of a focus, and I think
that's a positive thing,although I would say stay away
(05:56):
from taking your employees on ahiking retreats, like that poor
guy that got lost a few monthsago's.
Avoid that kind of stuffbecause, again, that's not even
inclusive.
Someone has a disability.
How are they supposed to hikethrough the freaking woods?
Speaker 1 (06:09):
so just be thoughtful about this is the one where I
was like because it comes with awarning.
Yeah, we know it causes cancer.
Is this going to feel like toomuch of a liability for
organizations?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
I don't think so, because it's optional.
You have the option to drink.
They're not forcing you todrink.
So how is that?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
That's a liability for the org I was trying to flip
it and think about it this wayyeah, If I ever pitched hey, we
should do like an edible bar.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, oh my God, I would have been fired.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Fired I know today.
Why wouldn't you?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Why wouldn't you?
They have those edible likegourmet dining experiences.
They have one in Boston.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Weed is legal a whole bunch of places and a lot of
people will say that weed is ahealthier option than alcohol.
Yeah, yeah, but you could neverdo that.
You would never do that.
Most of us would be like youwould never do that.
The legal liability of that.
But then why is it okay foralcohol?
Still, that's where I was like.
I know, listen, I agree I don'tthink this is going to die
anytime soon, but I do thinkit's going to continue to
(07:13):
decline and I honestly thinkit's not a bad thing because
it'll probably give way for morereal, authentic connections and
community and we should rethinkwhat networking and community
looks like in an organizationCause I think that was just an
old school default.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
This is what it looks like.
It doesn't need to.
Nearly half of tech workers areseeking new roles.
This came out in an article inITProcom by Emma Wellicott.
Itprocom by Emma Wellicott.
The headline here decliningemployee benefits and reduced
(07:52):
flexible working options havemost tech staff looking
elsewhere.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Oh, so it's not an unemployment thing, it is a.
I'm looking.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I am looking, actively looking.
So the TLDR here, careersiteDice, conducted a survey and 47%
of tech workers said they wereactively seeking new roles.
47% this is a rise of 29% upfrom last year's survey.
That's huge.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
That's huge.
For the most part, mostcorporate organizations are
running anywhere between a 10 to15% turnover, like somewhere
around that right.
It's not like.
That's a high number.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, anyway, and salaries are on the rise in tech
, especially with AI.
There are a ton of hot jobareas in tech right now to get
into, but that's not what'sreally attracting or keeping
talent.
And, although it's important,it's not equating to employee
satisfaction and we've justtalked about this recently.
Like, salary has always beenKing, but culture is starting to
(08:59):
take precedent.
It's still important, but thereare other things leading the
way.
So, although salaries are onthe rise, folks are still
disappointed with salaries.
The report found that 6 in 10tech professionals still feel
underpaid.
This was the highest number toever be reported on the survey.
In fact, that 6 in 10 feelunderpaid.
(09:21):
The CEO of Dice noted they'reseeing a clear disconnect
between what tech professionalsvalue and what they're receiving
from their employers.
I'm going to argue I don'tthink that's just happening in
the tech market but, 47% ofpeople looking for new jobs.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
I also say a lot of times tech workers are your
higher salaried individuals aswell.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Salary is not what they're looking for, although
they feel like they're not beingpaid enough.
That's not the issue.
That is not what they'relooking for.
Although they feel like they'renot being paid enough, that's
not the issue.
That's not why they're seekingnew roles.
It's the total package, andthey're just feeling like they
might be getting the salary, butthey're not getting the total
package.
So what came out of the article?
It's not going to and this ismy prediction as well.
(10:06):
It's not just going to impactthe tech market.
I think we're going to see thatshift in prioritization of
salary to total package acrossthe board in every industry.
You and I talk about that often.
What they're saying is thetalent in tech is expecting job
security, benefits, flexibilityand development opportunities.
All of the things that weconsistently say are core to the
(10:28):
experience, because, at the endof the day, it is a two-way
contract between employers andemployees, and employers need to
recognize that, and that's howyou recognize it by actually
pulling together total packagesthat support the whole human
right.
That's going to be the bigdifferentiator for orgs going
forward.
So we'll see.
We'll see what happens.
I don't think they're going toget it.
(10:49):
Yeah, I don't think so either.
I think we'll cover some ofthat in WTF shortly, but there's
an interesting tug of warhappening between employers and
employees right now.
One to watch.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yeah, If last year was absolutely a employer market
.
I think this year we'll start tosee some employee market coming
back because we have peak 65happening.
We have a massive job marketand, honestly, a talent shortage
, especially in tech.
If the H-1B immigration stuffstarts to happen and we don't
have H-1B visa holders which, bythe way, can be anywhere from
(11:25):
65,000 to 85,000 professionals,by the way, can be anywhere from
65,000 to 85,000 professionals,mostly again in tech you're
going to have some of thatbalance of power go back to the
employees, but it's going to berocky for the next several years
as everyone's trying to figureout their ass from their elbow
with AI.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Absolutely yeah, all right.
So we have some f yeah, and wtfright, we do, we do.
I'm gonna start with my wtf.
You may have heard this, butmark zuckerberg went on joe
rogan's podcast and said mostcompanies need more masculine
(12:03):
energy I don't even know whatthe fuck that is.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Honestly, what are you even talking about?
Thank you, what are you talkingabout?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
exactly.
He also said there's a rise ofculturally neutered companies in
neutering neutered okay he usedthe word.
How cringe can you be?
Yeah, I just hear balls, that'sall yeahferring that there is
an imbalance of feminine andmasculine energy, one I'd like
(12:31):
to understand.
Dude, how the fuck are youdefining this?
What are you even talking about?
What does this even mean?
And also, I just want to remindeverybody this is coming from a
man who started Facebook so hecould essentially host the
college version of Hot or Notwe're around.
When Facebook first launched, hecompletely stole the idea for
(12:54):
Hot or Not to rate women oncollege campuses and to see who
was available.
That's why there used to be themy favorite the relationship
status someone always puttingwhat's complicated and you're
like it's not, it's just asituation, but like this coming
from that guy.
Also and this is my biggest petpeeve, I hate the shit so much,
(13:17):
he noted because he has threesisters and three daughters.
He wants women to succeed.
I have to be really honest here.
I cannot stand.
I cannot stand when men whobehave poorly and make these
bullshit statements hide behindthe fact but I'm a girl dad, but
(13:40):
I have women in my life.
If you have women in your life,why do you hate them so much?
Show up for them.
Don't make these statements.
What are you even saying, bro?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
This guy changes his mind on who the fuck he is.
More than anybody I've met inmy life the amount of just
flip-flopping on who he is to meconcerning as a leader, and
also I agree with you, I think,that idea of oh, I have a wife.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
I have daughters.
Yeah, what does that even mean?
It doesn't mean anything.
Then do things that supportwomen.
You can't hide behind the factthat you have women in your life
.
It doesn't mean you're not ashithead.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
No, and it doesn't mean your product doesn't
massively impact women.
Quite honestly.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Or your corporate environment that you're creating
and how that impacts women, orbeing one of the largest
organizations globally and howyou're setting precedent to make
workplaces even more malefriendly when you on, women are
leaving the workplace in droves,mainly because it's not for
(14:49):
lack of mentorship orover-mentored, it's a lack of
sponsorship and it's a toxicenvironment, no matter what
environment.
It's just unreal.
Anyway, he went on to say andI'll leave you with this oh my
God, it gets worse.
It gets worse.
Neutered masculine energy, allthe above.
If you're a woman, it probablyfeels like corporate worlds are
too masculine, but maybe womenjust don't have enough of that
(15:13):
masculine energy.
I'm just going to end with shutthe fuck up.
Yeah, what are you talkingabout?
What are you even talking about?
How do you feel about that?
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (15:30):
I think we're looking at someone who's wildly
unconfident and never has been,never will be, and is kissing
the ass of a couple people.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
He's afraid Trump's going to put him in jail, so
he's totally pandering to thatcrowd, also promoting toxic
masculinity.
That's what this is.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
So that's my WTF.
All right, my WTF and my FIAhas to do with the LA wildfires,
and one of the things I'malways looking at is how people
respond, especially in crisis,and I think that reveals a lot
about the character of a company, the value of a company,
whether they do something,whether they don't do something,
(16:10):
because, by the way, not doinganything when you could step up
to play is also saying something.
Yeah, or they do somethingactually counterproductive, and
this is an example of a companydoing something massively
counterproductive.
So TikTok told their LA-basedworkers to use their personal or
their sick time if theycouldn't work from home during
(16:32):
the LA evacuations.
Now here's the deal TikTok's LAcompany office closed because
they didn't have power.
Tiktok's LA company officeclosed because they didn't have
power.
Everybody had to work from home.
Yes, it was in Culver City.
The office wasn't gettingevacuated, but everybody lives
all the fuck over LA, so somepeople were in evacuation zone.
You had to use your sick timeduring an evacuation where your
(16:57):
house might get burned down anevacuation where your house
might get burned down.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Listen, if you're an employee and that's how your org
shows up, during a crisismoment where you could lose
everything, and you're justtrying to think about what the
hell do I prioritize to takewith me because I'm about to
lose everything, I don't knowI'd be making some really long,
hard choices about where myfuture is, because that's really
awful.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Yeah, human crisis isn't a policy decision.
It is not.
It is not, especially when, bythe way, tiktok employees have
10 sick days and then 15vacation days.
Basically, they don't have aton of PTO.
That's an awful policy.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
And it's just what are you doing?
What are you doing?
Why aren't you just saying dowhat you need to do, Protect
yourself, protect your family?
Again, going back to where'sthe humanity, I can't even
imagine logging into work.
I'd be just like I'll talk toyou.
When I talk to you, what's theF?
Yeah version of that youmentioned?
Speaker 1 (17:51):
So, yeah, the F?
Yeah version of this is listen,there are a ton of companies
that have stepped up to play,from Planet Fitness opening up
all of their gyms 24 hourfitness opening up all their
gyms for showers, wifi gym forfirst responders and for
evacuees.
Fantastic U-Haul you can storeyour stuff here for 30 days.
There are massive examples ofthis, but there was one company
(18:14):
that just stepped up super quick, organized very quickly and
they made a massive impact.
So Airbnb has pledged to houseat least 25,000 evacuees for
free.
Oh, wow, that's amazing.
That's a significant investment.
Number one, right.
Number two you and I both knowoperationally trying to pull
(18:36):
that off as an emergencyinternally.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Oh, that's a lot of work that's around the clock A
lot of work.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, made it happen.
And number three quite honestly, they don't have to do any of
that.
No, they don't have to do anyof that.
Let me give you an example.
Vrbo, which competes withAirbnb, very nicely said hey,
you can cancel for free If youhad a reservation with us in LA.
That's what they did.
That's great.
I think that's great.
(19:04):
It's something.
It's something.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Yeah, this is a.
That's an unprecedented offer.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Again, an Airbnb to me as one of these companies
that really tries very hard todo the right thing, even when
they go through layoffs, evenwhen they go through things like
restructuring as well.
If you remember, when they laidfolks off during COVID, they
were the company, one of thefirst companies, that did that
whole list of people that saidwe hate to have to lose this
amazing talent.
(19:30):
Here are their names.
Here's what they do Pick fromthis list.
That was Airbnb.
So I really think, looking atsome of these companies that are
showing up to play Airbnb,booey Love it.
I love seeing it.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
That's good, yep.
My F yeah, that I'm closing onis 21 US states have upped the
minimum wage as of January 1.
Fantastic I know we talkedabout this last year of January
1.
Fantastic, I know we talkedabout this last year.
That's going to help over 9.2million workers, many of which
already fall below the povertyline, and this is a massive,
(20:11):
important change because, as youand I discussed last year,
minimum wage has not beenfederal.
Minimum wage has not beenupdated since 2009.
10 states out of those 21 statesnow offer at least $15 an hour
or more, which impacts over athird of all US workers.
(20:32):
So they suspect that it's goingto have a considerable impact
to the workforce and by 2027,that can increase to nearly half
the workforce.
And by 2027, that can increaseto nearly half the workforce.
And this increase across theboard will increase someone's
salary on average between $201per year up to $1,291.
So over 9 million workers aregoing to benefit from this
(20:55):
increase.
Love to these states.
So if you live in one of thesestates, check it out Maine,
vermont, washington, montana,minnesota, illinois, michigan,
new York, rhode Island, southDakota, ohio, new Jersey,
connecticut, california,colorado, nebraska, missouri,
virginia, delaware, arizona andAlaska.
(21:17):
Very nice, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Very nice, yeah, very nice, yeah.
Golf clubs I love it, I love it, and that'll be the last
increase for at least four years, I know, or 20.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
No, I'm just joking.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Oh man, all right.
Positive thinking, positivenews.
Positive news.
Positive news, positive news.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yeah.
So listen, if you are a minimumwage worker and you are unaware
of this increase and you livein one of those states, check it
out.
Really good news.
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
(22:04):
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
which is likely going away bythe end of this week and
Instagram.
So please join us in thesocials.
And if you like this and you'vebenefited from this episode and
(22:29):
you think someone else canbenefit from this episode,
please rate and subscribe.
We'd really appreciate it.
That helps keep us going.
Take care, friends.
Bye friends.
Bye friends.
You.
while I was working in corporate.
If I ever pitched, hey, weshould do like an edible bar.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Yeah, oh my God, I would have been fired.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Fired.
Hey going on, mel Happy.
What the fuck year is it?
Happy 2025.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
It does start to feel like a blur right.
I'm about to be 45 and I'm likehow old am I?
How do I forget?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You know, when you realize you've lived a lot of
life.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, yeah, and where it's just all melding together.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Just in this year alone, the amount of big crisis
news that happened is prettysubstantial.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, it's unbelievable what we're living
through.
Gosh, the wildfires happeningright now.
I can't stop watching it outthere.
I have some friends in LA thatare okay, but I said that it's
come close to the property.
That was a scary time.
We're living in turbulent times.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Indeed, indeed.
I know I always had thisquestion.
Is it always been thisturbulent, and are we just more
attuned to it because of socialmedia and we have all this
access to information?
Has it always been this nuts wejust now know about it all or
is it actually getting morenutty?
I?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
think both.
I think both because we haveswift access to information that
didn't exist a long time ago,but I also do think it's getting
increasingly nuttier.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
We're here.
New week, new headlines.
New week, new headlines Melwhat are you talking about today
?
A couple of things.
Nearly half of tech workers areseeking new roles 50% yeah,
that's a big loss.
And then I have some FIA newsabout minimum wage and some WTF
news about needing moremasculine energy in
(01:56):
organizations.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
More, more Fantastic.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
How about?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
you, the U S surgeon general came out with an
advisory on alcohol may causecancer.
Is this finally the end ofhappy hour?
I want to talk about that, andI also have some F?
Yeah and WTF news relatedactually to the LA wildfires.
I want to celebrate a companythat's getting it right, and
once you call out a company thatis absolutely getting it wrong,
(02:23):
let's do wrong, let's do it,let's do it.
Last week the US Surgeon Generalcame out with wanting to put an
advisory on alcohol, sayingthat it causes cancer.
Did you hear this?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
I did yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
This has been going on for a while the news that
wine isn't good for you,alcohol's not good for you,
Alcohol is not good for you,Beer is not good for you.
When you and I were growing up,it was like oh, maybe red wine
it's good for you.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
It's okay, it lasts a day.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yes, yes, italians drink it all the time.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
It's like everything.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Moderation yes.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
But now they're saying, man, what's that going
to do to happy hours at work?
A couple of things.
Yeah, there's definitely been ashift in alcohol culture, Cause
, like when you and I weregrowing up, it was still a big
thing but, I noticed youngergenerations are moving more
towards gardening.
With dispensaries it's a littlebit safer and I think you know
(03:26):
what the people are going to.
It's just like with smoking.
Right, they know the risk.
They're going to make their ownchoice on what they want to do.
You might see some impact.
But I think honestly, with anyhappy hour, you should be giving
options to everybody.
Not everyone drinks, so you doneed to think about what does a
quote-unquote happy houractually look like for coworkers
(03:48):
.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It's interesting because the majority of
networking events at workrevolve around alcohol.
Yeah, they still do.
We put together any kind ofconference and you're going to
have networking events that haveopen bar beer and wine and blah
, blah, blah, blah blah.
Interesting though the dataabsolutely backs up what you
just said.
Number one on the alcoholconsumption corporate events,
(04:11):
the idea of having networkingspecifically around happy hours
is down 30% actually becausethey're making space for
physical activity or doing thecooking class or the knitting
thing.
We saw that pick up duringCOVID where people were like
let's paint by numbers togetheron Zoom.
And the other thing is too GenZ, to your very good point.
They don't drink as much, theydon't want to drink as much.
(04:32):
And there's another piece herethat there's not as much of an
investment in professionalrelationships as there used to
be with Gen Z and with all othergenerations.
A lot of people are like hey, Idon't want to work 10 hours a
day and then go have a beer withsomebody and then talk about
work again.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Unless you're already work friends, maybe you might
do that on your own.
But what we always heard, asleaders too, it's not fun if
it's mandated.
Fun so it's if you're wantingto do things that build teams,
that foster networking,collaboration.
Think about how you build thatinto the actual work day, not an
(05:11):
extra thing for people to takeon, because everyone's at their
limit, I think with what theycan take on.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, I think focusing on those.
What are the real connectionsthat benefit work?
What are those authenticcommunity pieces that you can,
to your point, build in withinthe workday?
Absolutely huge.
Do you think happy hour isgoing to go away completely?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
No.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
No, I don't think so.
I think there's always going tobe a place where people want to
do that, and there are peoplewho go to happy hours that don't
.
They don't drink alcohol.
Bars do offer alternativesbeyond the cocktail, but I don't
think it'll completely go away.
I think there will still behappy hours.
I just don't think it'll be ascentral of a focus, and I think
that's a positive thing,although I would say stay away
(05:56):
from taking your employees on ahiking retreats, like that poor
guy that got lost a few monthsago's.
Avoid that kind of stuffbecause, again, that's not even
inclusive.
Someone has a disability.
How are they supposed to hikethrough the freaking woods?
Speaker 1 (06:09):
so just be thoughtful about this is the one where I
was like because it comes with awarning.
Yeah, we know it causes cancer.
Is this going to feel like toomuch of a liability for
organizations?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
I don't think so, because it's optional.
You have the option to drink.
They're not forcing you todrink.
So how is that?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
That's a liability for the org I was trying to flip
it and think about it this wayyeah, If I ever pitched hey, we
should do like an edible bar.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, oh my God, I would have been fired.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Fired I know today.
Why wouldn't you?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Why wouldn't you?
They have those edible likegourmet dining experiences.
They have one in Boston.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Weed is legal a whole bunch of places and a lot of
people will say that weed is ahealthier option than alcohol.
Yeah, yeah, but you could neverdo that.
You would never do that.
Most of us would be like youwould never do that.
The legal liability of that.
But then why is it okay foralcohol?
Still, that's where I was like.
I know, listen, I agree I don'tthink this is going to die
anytime soon, but I do thinkit's going to continue to
(07:13):
decline and I honestly thinkit's not a bad thing because
it'll probably give way for morereal, authentic connections and
community and we should rethinkwhat networking and community
looks like in an organizationCause I think that was just an
old school default.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
This is what it looks like.
It doesn't need to.
Nearly half of tech workers areseeking new roles.
This came out in an article inITProcom by Emma Wellicott.
Itprocom by Emma Wellicott.
The headline here decliningemployee benefits and reduced
(07:52):
flexible working options havemost tech staff looking
elsewhere.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Oh, so it's not an unemployment thing, it is a.
I'm looking.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I am looking, actively looking.
So the TLDR here, careersiteDice, conducted a survey and 47%
of tech workers said they wereactively seeking new roles.
47% this is a rise of 29% upfrom last year's survey.
That's huge.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
That's huge.
For the most part, mostcorporate organizations are
running anywhere between a 10 to15% turnover, like somewhere
around that right.
It's not like.
That's a high number.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, anyway, and salaries are on the rise in tech
, especially with AI.
There are a ton of hot jobareas in tech right now to get
into, but that's not what'sreally attracting or keeping
talent.
And, although it's important,it's not equating to employee
satisfaction and we've justtalked about this recently.
Like, salary has always beenKing, but culture is starting to
(08:59):
take precedent.
It's still important, but thereare other things leading the
way.
So, although salaries are onthe rise, folks are still
disappointed with salaries.
The report found that 6 in 10tech professionals still feel
underpaid.
This was the highest number toever be reported on the survey.
In fact, that 6 in 10 feelunderpaid.
(09:21):
The CEO of Dice noted they'reseeing a clear disconnect
between what tech professionalsvalue and what they're receiving
from their employers.
I'm going to argue I don'tthink that's just happening in
the tech market but, 47% ofpeople looking for new jobs.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
I also say a lot of times tech workers are your
higher salaried individuals aswell.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Salary is not what they're looking for, although
they feel like they're not beingpaid enough.
That's not the issue.
That is not what they'relooking for.
Although they feel like they'renot being paid enough, that's
not the issue.
That's not why they're seekingnew roles.
It's the total package, andthey're just feeling like they
might be getting the salary, butthey're not getting the total
package.
So what came out of the article?
It's not going to and this ismy prediction as well.
(10:06):
It's not just going to impactthe tech market.
I think we're going to see thatshift in prioritization of
salary to total package acrossthe board in every industry.
You and I talk about that often.
What they're saying is thetalent in tech is expecting job
security, benefits, flexibilityand development opportunities.
All of the things that weconsistently say are core to the
(10:28):
experience, because, at the endof the day, it is a two-way
contract between employers andemployees, and employers need to
recognize that, and that's howyou recognize it by actually
pulling together total packagesthat support the whole human
right.
That's going to be the bigdifferentiator for orgs going
forward.
So we'll see.
We'll see what happens.
I don't think they're going toget it.
(10:49):
Yeah, I don't think so either.
I think we'll cover some ofthat in WTF shortly, but there's
an interesting tug of warhappening between employers and
employees right now.
One to watch.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yeah, If last year was absolutely a employer market
.
I think this year we'll start tosee some employee market coming
back because we have peak 65happening.
We have a massive job marketand, honestly, a talent shortage
, especially in tech.
If the H-1B immigration stuffstarts to happen and we don't
have H-1B visa holders which, bythe way, can be anywhere from
(11:25):
65,000 to 85,000 professionals,by the way, can be anywhere from
65,000 to 85,000 professionals,mostly again in tech you're
going to have some of thatbalance of power go back to the
employees, but it's going to berocky for the next several years
as everyone's trying to figureout their ass from their elbow
with AI.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Absolutely yeah, all right.
So we have some f yeah, and wtfright, we do, we do.
I'm gonna start with my wtf.
You may have heard this, butmark zuckerberg went on joe
rogan's podcast and said mostcompanies need more masculine
(12:03):
energy I don't even know whatthe fuck that is.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Honestly, what are you even talking about?
Thank you, what are you talkingabout?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
exactly.
He also said there's a rise ofculturally neutered companies in
neutering neutered okay he usedthe word.
How cringe can you be?
Yeah, I just hear balls, that'sall yeahferring that there is
an imbalance of feminine andmasculine energy, one I'd like
(12:31):
to understand.
Dude, how the fuck are youdefining this?
What are you even talking about?
What does this even mean?
And also, I just want to remindeverybody this is coming from a
man who started Facebook so hecould essentially host the
college version of Hot or Notwe're around.
When Facebook first launched, hecompletely stole the idea for
(12:54):
Hot or Not to rate women oncollege campuses and to see who
was available.
That's why there used to be themy favorite the relationship
status someone always puttingwhat's complicated and you're
like it's not, it's just asituation, but like this coming
from that guy.
Also and this is my biggest petpeeve, I hate the shit so much,
(13:17):
he noted because he has threesisters and three daughters.
He wants women to succeed.
I have to be really honest here.
I cannot stand.
I cannot stand when men whobehave poorly and make these
bullshit statements hide behindthe fact but I'm a girl dad, but
(13:40):
I have women in my life.
If you have women in your life,why do you hate them so much?
Show up for them.
Don't make these statements.
What are you even saying, bro?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
This guy changes his mind on who the fuck he is.
More than anybody I've met inmy life the amount of just
flip-flopping on who he is to meconcerning as a leader, and
also I agree with you, I think,that idea of oh, I have a wife.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
I have daughters.
Yeah, what does that even mean?
It doesn't mean anything.
Then do things that supportwomen.
You can't hide behind the factthat you have women in your life
.
It doesn't mean you're not ashithead.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
No, and it doesn't mean your product doesn't
massively impact women.
Quite honestly.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Or your corporate environment that you're creating
and how that impacts women, orbeing one of the largest
organizations globally and howyou're setting precedent to make
workplaces even more malefriendly when you on, women are
leaving the workplace in droves,mainly because it's not for
(14:49):
lack of mentorship orover-mentored, it's a lack of
sponsorship and it's a toxicenvironment, no matter what
environment.
It's just unreal.
Anyway, he went on to say andI'll leave you with this oh my
God, it gets worse.
It gets worse.
Neutered masculine energy, allthe above.
If you're a woman, it probablyfeels like corporate worlds are
too masculine, but maybe womenjust don't have enough of that
(15:13):
masculine energy.
I'm just going to end with shutthe fuck up.
Yeah, what are you talkingabout?
What are you even talking about?
How do you feel about that?
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (15:30):
I think we're looking at someone who's wildly
unconfident and never has been,never will be, and is kissing
the ass of a couple people.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
He's afraid Trump's going to put him in jail, so
he's totally pandering to thatcrowd, also promoting toxic
masculinity.
That's what this is.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
So that's my WTF.
All right, my WTF and my FIAhas to do with the LA wildfires,
and one of the things I'malways looking at is how people
respond, especially in crisis,and I think that reveals a lot
about the character of a company, the value of a company,
whether they do something,whether they don't do something,
(16:10):
because, by the way, not doinganything when you could step up
to play is also saying something.
Yeah, or they do somethingactually counterproductive, and
this is an example of a companydoing something massively
counterproductive.
So TikTok told their LA-basedworkers to use their personal or
their sick time if theycouldn't work from home during
(16:32):
the LA evacuations.
Now here's the deal TikTok's LAcompany office closed because
they didn't have power.
Tiktok's LA company officeclosed because they didn't have
power.
Everybody had to work from home.
Yes, it was in Culver City.
The office wasn't gettingevacuated, but everybody lives
all the fuck over LA, so somepeople were in evacuation zone.
You had to use your sick timeduring an evacuation where your
(16:57):
house might get burned down anevacuation where your house
might get burned down.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Listen, if you're an employee and that's how your org
shows up, during a crisismoment where you could lose
everything, and you're justtrying to think about what the
hell do I prioritize to takewith me because I'm about to
lose everything, I don't knowI'd be making some really long,
hard choices about where myfuture is, because that's really
awful.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Yeah, human crisis isn't a policy decision.
It is not.
It is not, especially when, bythe way, tiktok employees have
10 sick days and then 15vacation days.
Basically, they don't have aton of PTO.
That's an awful policy.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
And it's just what are you doing?
What are you doing?
Why aren't you just saying dowhat you need to do, Protect
yourself, protect your family?
Again, going back to where'sthe humanity, I can't even
imagine logging into work.
I'd be just like I'll talk toyou.
When I talk to you, what's theF?
Yeah version of that youmentioned?
Speaker 1 (17:51):
So, yeah, the F?
Yeah version of this is listen,there are a ton of companies
that have stepped up to play,from Planet Fitness opening up
all of their gyms 24 hourfitness opening up all their
gyms for showers, wifi gym forfirst responders and for
evacuees.
Fantastic U-Haul you can storeyour stuff here for 30 days.
There are massive examples ofthis, but there was one company
(18:14):
that just stepped up super quick, organized very quickly and
they made a massive impact.
So Airbnb has pledged to houseat least 25,000 evacuees for
free.
Oh, wow, that's amazing.
That's a significant investment.
Number one, right.
Number two you and I both knowoperationally trying to pull
(18:36):
that off as an emergencyinternally.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Oh, that's a lot of work that's around the clock A
lot of work.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, made it happen.
And number three quite honestly, they don't have to do any of
that.
No, they don't have to do anyof that.
Let me give you an example.
Vrbo, which competes withAirbnb, very nicely said hey,
you can cancel for free If youhad a reservation with us in LA.
That's what they did.
That's great.
I think that's great.
(19:04):
It's something.
It's something.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Yeah, this is a.
That's an unprecedented offer.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Again, an Airbnb to me as one of these companies
that really tries very hard todo the right thing, even when
they go through layoffs, evenwhen they go through things like
restructuring as well.
If you remember, when they laidfolks off during COVID, they
were the company, one of thefirst companies, that did that
whole list of people that saidwe hate to have to lose this
amazing talent.
(19:30):
Here are their names.
Here's what they do Pick fromthis list.
That was Airbnb.
So I really think, looking atsome of these companies that are
showing up to play Airbnb,booey Love it.
I love seeing it.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
That's good, yep.
My F yeah, that I'm closing onis 21 US states have upped the
minimum wage as of January 1.
Fantastic I know we talkedabout this last year of January
1.
Fantastic, I know we talkedabout this last year.
That's going to help over 9.2million workers, many of which
already fall below the povertyline, and this is a massive,
(20:11):
important change because, as youand I discussed last year,
minimum wage has not beenfederal.
Minimum wage has not beenupdated since 2009.
10 states out of those 21 statesnow offer at least $15 an hour
or more, which impacts over athird of all US workers.
(20:32):
So they suspect that it's goingto have a considerable impact
to the workforce and by 2027,that can increase to nearly half
the workforce.
And by 2027, that can increaseto nearly half the workforce.
And this increase across theboard will increase someone's
salary on average between $201per year up to $1,291.
So over 9 million workers aregoing to benefit from this
(20:55):
increase.
Love to these states.
So if you live in one of thesestates, check it out Maine,
vermont, washington, montana,minnesota, illinois, michigan,
new York, rhode Island, southDakota, ohio, new Jersey,
connecticut, california,colorado, nebraska, missouri,
virginia, delaware, arizona andAlaska.
(21:17):
Very nice, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Very nice, yeah, very nice, yeah.
Golf clubs I love it, I love it, and that'll be the last
increase for at least four years, I know, or 20.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
No, I'm just joking.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Oh man, all right.
Positive thinking, positivenews.
Positive news.
Positive news, positive news.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yeah.
So listen, if you are a minimumwage worker and you are unaware
of this increase and you livein one of those states, check it
out.
Really good news.
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
(22:04):
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
which is likely going away bythe end of this week and
Instagram.
So please join us in thesocials.
And if you like this and you'vebenefited from this episode and
(22:29):
you think someone else canbenefit from this episode,
please rate and subscribe.
We'd really appreciate it.
That helps keep us going.
Take care, friends.
Bye friends.
Bye friends.
You.
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