We are back with our weekly digest on workplace trends. As much as everyone hoped that the wave of layoffs would roll back, that’s not the case.
Before anyone could recover from recent Meta and Twitter job cuts, Amazon followed suit with what’s expected to be the company’s largest layoff in history.
Learn more about this and other news that shapes the future of the modern workplace in this episode of our weekly digest.
Layoffs
Amazon begins layoffs as economic woes mount | TechCrunch
According to the company’s internal data, Amazon is planning the largest layoff in its 30-year history, with up to 10,000 employees affected. Particularly, the devices division behind Alexa, Echo Products, and Fire Tablets is expected to be heavily impacted by the upcoming job cuts.
U.S. autonomous delivery vehicle startup Nuro cuts staff by 20% | Reuters
In an internal email to its staff, co-founders admit that “hiring aggressively” in the last two years was a mistake and expect the number of laid-off employees to reach 300. In 2021, the company led a $600 million in Series D with Tiger Global Management and reached over $8.6 billion in valuation – nevertheless, the startup finds itself pressured by the worsening microeconomic conditions.
Roku lays off 200 US employees | The Verge
2022 has been challenging for companies with a heavy focus on entertainment and advertising. Roku, one of the key players in ad tech, has been on the decline since Q2 of this year. As the result, the company is planning to reduce its “headcount expenses”. Letting go of 200 US employees seems to be one of the steps in that direction.
Cisco Plans Restructuring While Giving Upbeat Forecast | Bloomberg
A lot of tech companies had a rough Q4, but Cisco was not one of them – their report claims a 6.5% increase in revenue. Nevertheless, an ambitious restructuring project is in the works, costing the organization $600 million. As part of the effort, Cisco will allegedly trim its workforce by 5%, which means it will approximately 4,100 employees go.
Remote and hybrid work
1. Revitalizing Culture in the World of Hybrid Work | Harvard Business Review
“Stagnant culture” is a standard excuse for CEOs who are eager to bring their employees back to the office. While they are not wrong about the toll remote work had on organizational unity – only 25% of remote employees feel connected to their organizations – this data should encourage executives to redesign their approach to hybrid work rather than give up flexibility and cost-cutting opportunities it brings forth.
2. Think Hybrid Work Doesn’t Work? The Data Disagrees | Gartner
“If hybrid work doesn’t work for you, you are probably not doing it right”, Gartner argues. Its recent blog post makes a case for human-centric hybrid work by showing how it helps leaders improve retention and performance on their teams.
3. Security and HR teams must work together in a hybrid work world | VentureBeat
Hybrid work is still in its infancy – which is why there are more questions about it than answers readily available. Executives are still trying to balance between office and remote schedules and figure out how much flexibility they should provide. As if that wasn’t enough, a layer of security expectations is pressing on executives, now that job-seekers want to make sure their future employees don’t take performance tracking too far.
4. ‘I’m Working Remotely, But My Company Won’t Let Me Move Out of State’ | The Cut
When we talk about remote work, we usually mention the freedom to move around and freely choose where to settle or spend a few months. However, it’s not uncommon for managers to not be supportive of their employees changing zip codes – and they might have valid reasons.
Leadership and management
1. How leaders can move past hurdles to delegate better | Quartz
If, as a manager, you feel overworked and overwhelmed, chances are you are not relying on your team enough and are trying to hold on to tasks you should be delegating. Knowing what to stay invested in personally and what to trust your team is challenging – but, with the right framework, you can become skilled at delegating in relatively short time.
2. Taking a skills-based approach to building the future workforce | McKinsey
Talent shortage is an ongoing challenge in today’s job market. It’s hard to find skilled data scientists, software engineers, ML developers, and experts in other emerging fields. To solve the problem, leaders turn to upskilling and reskilling their workforce – and the strategy is paying off.
3. ‘Reverse mentorship’: How young workers are teaching bosses | BBC Worklife
Leaders might feel pressured to stay the most knowledgeable people on their teams and feel uneasy when “lectured” by younger employees. Yet, data shows managers shouldn’t beat themselves up for having to learn from juniors – data suggests that “reverse mentorship” will become commonplace in the workplace of the future.
4. For ‘hardcore’ workers, sleeping at the office makes a comeback | The Washington Post
A stereotype of a passionate coder pulling in all-nighters at offices may have been glorified by the likes of “Silicon Valley” but companies were trying to step out of the “hustle culture” and prioritize work-life balance. Yet, it seems that the “hardcore tech hustler” stereotype is back in vogue, with top-tier CEOs like Elon Musk promoting the culture of 24/7 grind.
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Taking a skills-based approach to building the future workforce
