The Decade in Review: Work

WORKPLACE

We Are the Greatest Generation

If an alien came to Earth and demanded, "Take me to your species' typical workplace," we'd probably show them a WeWork.

Because despite its spectacular crash landing this fall, there is no other company, or story, that better represents the workplace's evolution this decade than Adam Neumann's office rental startup.

The backstory

Neumann cofounded WeWork in 2010. The business model: Rent office space from landlords, splice it into bite-sized units, then sublease it to tenants. While coffee shops offered wi-fi, WeWork with its comedy nights and communal coffee offered something else entirely: community.

• Neumann referred to this community as the We Generation, which "cares about the world, actually wants to do cool things, and loves working," he told Fast Company.

After heapings of investment from SoftBank, by mid-decade WeWork was one of the most valuable private startups in the world. In September 2018, the company topped JPMorgan to become the largest tenant of office space in Manhattan.

But Neumann wasn't just satisfied with office space—he saw an appetite among young workers to mix the work with the personal.

• WeWork opened a gym and spa in NYC's Financial District.
• WeLive is its residential unit. "Stay for a few nights or move in for months," its website reads.
• WeGrow was the educational arm overseen by Adam Neumann's wife, Rebekah. In October, it announced it was shutting down.

Growth comes at a cost

Some critics consider WeWork's #ThankGodItsMonday attitude "performative workaholism."

• Of this culture, NYT's Erin Griffith writes, "not only does one never stop hustling—one never exits a kind of work rapture, in which the chief purpose of exercising or attending a concert is to get inspiration that leads back to the desk."
• Griffith quotes the cofounder of software company Basecamp, who called the hustle-mania "grim and exploitative."

These days, WeWork is worth a fraction of the $47 billion valuation it once knew. The company last month said it would lay off around 2,400 employees globally, almost 20% of its workforce.

What brought it down? Probably some combination of greed, hubris, and simple real estate economics. What will likely live on is the flexible, open, and communal workplace it popularized.

Bottom line: The We Generation is up for grabs, and rivals from Knotel to China's Ucommune are preaching their own gospels. But don't count out WeWork just yet: The company opened 52 new buildings across the world in December, a record high.

MORALE

Work Got You Down?

In 2016, a French court had to affirm workers' rights to disconnect from company email and phones after hours. And last year, the World Health Organization officially labeled "burnout" an occupational phenomenon.

• Definition: a syndrome caused by "chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed"
• Symptoms: exhaustion/energy depletion, reduced professional efficacy, increasing negative feelings about work

Sound familiar?

Burnout was once primarily associated with medical professionals. Now, it's frequently tied to office jobs "where employees feel overworked, undervalued, and pressured to place their careers at the center of their lives and identities."

• The causes: unmanageable workloads, poor communication, unreasonable time pressures, overloading, bad time management, and always-on tech, to name a few. Or to name many.

Last year, Gallup found that about two-thirds of U.S. workers experience burnout on the job, making them more likely to take sick days, feel less confident in their work, or look for another job. Compounded across an organization, burnout can "trigger a downward spiral in individual and organizational performance."

Millennials have been called "the burnout generation" (to much controversy), but there may be truth to their despair. Gallup found that millennials are burning out faster and harder than older generations.

Silver lining: Unemployment has fallen and workplace benefits and culture have (mostly) improved. While burnout's increased, so has people's general engagement with work.

DIVERSITY

Boardroom Diversity Is...Still Not Good

Pop quiz: Remember this chart from Monday? What does it represent?

Answer: Mentions of "diversity" on earnings calls since 2008.

After reading 150 consultant reports on the importance of diversity and inclusion (D&I), executives know that a workforce composed of people with different backgrounds means better business outcomes. But...they're still struggling to get there.

Numbers first

Fortune 500 boards remain overwhelmingly white and male...so much so that California passed a law requiring companies headquartered in the state to have at least two or three female directors (depending on board size) by the end of 2021.

There's been progress. From 2010–2018, the number of Fortune 500 boards with diversity greater than 40% grew from 54 to 145, according to a Harvard Law and Deloitte study. Between 2016 and 2018…

• African American/Black and Asian/Pacific Islander women saw the largest gains in board seats (26.2% and 38.6%, respectively).
• But higher "recycle rates" (serving on multiple boards) signal that more diversity =/= an increase in the absolute number of minorities and women on boards.

Some companies like Dow, Comcast, and Salesforce created c-suite positions dedicated to D&I. And 600+ CEOs have joined initiatives like CEO Action promoting diversity, accountability, and unconscious bias training.

Bottom line: Public and media pressure have forced businesses to be more accountable for D&I, but most boardrooms and factory floors still look decades away from proper representation.

EMPLOYMENT

Who Do You Work For?

The U.S. unemployment rate fell from almost 10% at the start of the decade to 3.5% at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s last count. BLS's 2009 predictions that employment growth would be concentrated in the services sector, especially professional/business services and healthcare/social assistance, were pretty spot on.

• The chart above represents broad industry categories. While manufacturing technically posted a net gain over the decade, it was still home to some of the worst-performing sub-industries over the last 10 years, including many apparel manufacturing sectors.

This year, BLS predicted that the U.S. economy will add 8.4 million jobs from 2018 to 2028, which would be less than the preceding 10 years. Some of the fastest-growing occupations are in solar panel installation, wind turbine servicing, home health and personal care, and occupational therapy.

UNIFORM

"Power Hoodie" Doesn't Have the Same Ring

Miss the rush of putting on jeans for Casual Friday? Reconsider the joy of sliding into Monday in stretchy high-waist leggings.

The 2010s were the decade the office dress code died. Per GQ c. 2013: "It's a freelancer's world now, and even in the cubicle maze there's a newfound respect for individual opinion, a brave tie, an assertive plaid, a well-placed monogram."

How business casual became the norm: 1) With low unemployment, businesses needed better perks to attract employees 2) rejection of sexist fashion norms and 3) the understanding that everyone deserves to feel the pleasure of a cool breeze ruffling their summer dress on a hot July afternoon.

• There have been clever attempts to fuse old and new, like "dress pant yoga pants" and button-downs made to be worn untucked.
• Even JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs now let you layer the Patagonia over jeans and a t-shirt.
  Where we draw the line: Shoeless offices.

OUTSOURCING

Where We're Sending Work...or Not

When U.S. companies used to think about outsourcing, they typically considered China, India, or the Philippines. But over the last decade, that trio's dominance may have diminished.

10 years ago…

India and the Philippines were already top outsourcing destinations, especially for low-cost IT services and call centers.

• The Philippines actually overtook India as the world's call center capital in 2011. In the words of Univ. of Maryland Prof. Jan Padios, the rise of domestic call centers was "not just an economic pivot for the country, but a cultural fulcrum that could redefine Filipino identity for ages to come."

But more companies were moving operations to China. The country presented some drawbacks (higher labor costs, lower English skills, smaller delivery centers), but it had millions of young grads with engineering and management degrees and was still cheaper than the U.S.

But now...

Incomes have climbed in all three countries.

China: As of 2015, Chinese manufacturing costs have reached parity with the U.S., according to AlixPartners. And most procurement and purchasing execs no longer view China as a cheap destination for manufacturing, but rather a central hub in global supply chains, according to a 2017 IHS Markit survey.

India: Indian IT outsourcing giants like Infosys and Wipro are struggling to secure deals with big tech companies. One problem? These tech companies started building their own outposts abroad instead of outsourcing.

Philippines: New government programs halting the construction of call centers, improvements in AI, and the arrival of Chinese gambling firms could upend the call center industry, the South China Morning Post reports.

GIG ECONOMY

Are 9 to 5 Days at the Office Over?

The growth of technology platforms connecting workers to one-off jobs has made gig and freelance work an increasingly powerful force in the U.S. economy. As we close out this decade...

• 29% of U.S. workers have an alternative work arrangement as their primary job (Gallup)
• 36% of U.S. workers participate in the gig economy full- or part-time (also Gallup)
• 11% more workers freelance full-time compared to 2014 (Upwork)
• $1.3 trillion in revenue is brought in by independent workers (MBO Partners)
• 53% of Gen Z workers freelanced this year (Upwork)

Zoom out
Not all gig economy jobs make workers better off, says Gallup. While many freelancers have flexible and comfortable arrangements, contingent gig workers (like contractors and temps) are often treated like employees...but aren't treated to the benefits.

Some politicians are trying to change that. This year, California passed a bill that would make gig companies like Uber and Lyft reclassify workers as employees instead of independent contractors—upping the protections they'd receive and putting severe pressure on those employers.

JOBS

We're Not Writers, We're Content Ninjas

We've all dreamt of Hagrid breaking down our door to tell us we're wizards. The closest we'll probably get is a tech company jazzing up its customer service role with a fancy title.

Adding spice to job descriptions isn't a new phenomenon. Six Sigma management techniques popularized "black belts" at Motorola and GE in the '80s and '90s. Early tech companies hired “evangelists,” and Apple's first "Genius Bar" opened in 2001.

• This decade, titles like guru, ninja, rockstar, genius, and wizard fluctuated in popularity, according to Indeed data.
• Different regions have their own flavor. Ninjas are popular in Maine, rockstars in Idaho, and gurus in Oregon.

It's a corporate strategy to appeal to younger workers. But some HR experts worry that vague titles end up confusing candidates searching for jobs and deterring minority candidates from applying.

Zoom out: Seemingly small words companies use to describe jobs can indicate something deeper about the role or even an organization's culture. Take a recent analysis of Big Tech job postings: What does Amazon's frequent use of "maniacal" or Uber's emphasis on doing "whatever it takes" convey?

COMEDY

Top HR Violations (+Subsequent Sanctions) 2010–2019

2010: Violence directed at office fax machine in fit of anger; suspended without pay two days.

2011: Pejorative references to “millennial” generation; one day PTO docked.

2012: Voluble use of profanity during office Skype demonstration; two days PTO docked.

2013: Failure to pay company freelancer for seven years; suspended with pay one day.

2014: Drooling in communal nap pod; nap pod privileges revoked two weeks.

2015: Visible eye-roll during “Enhancing Customer Experience” meeting; gym privileges revoked two weeks.

2016: Voluble use of profanity during office Slack demonstration; meditation room privileges revoked one week.

2017: Pejorative references to “boomer” generation; sauna privileges revoked two days.

2018: Indecent exposure due to inadequate elastic on “workleisurewear” pants; one day PTO docked, additionally requested to purchase suitable attire.

2019: Failed to affix “looking” emoji to coworker’s Slack message; termination.

Answers