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Pilita Clark

This Month

Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi test-drives an electric rickshaw in India. He also moonlighted as an Uber driver last year.

Wanted: more bosses on the shop floor

Too many leaders avoid spending time with workers doing the jobs the business depends on. But it can be easy for them to get caught up in the daily crossfire of drama.

October

In the office, subtle methods are required to halt prattlers at meetings.

Why coughing co-workers are the new pariahs

Since most of us are not required to host the Oscars or get sworn in as US commander-in-chief, it is fine to stay home if you’re sick.

Christ Church college at Oxford University.

Why it’s important to have an early alphabet surname

In the absence of quantitative signs of performance, the urge for recognition can make people obsess about what appear to be deeply trivial signs of success.

September

What, me? Retire? Just because I’m 80?

Ageism is still rife in the workplace, assuming older employees can hang onto a job at all. This is a problem, as not all Boomers are wealthy.

  • Updated
Regularly organising lunches with colleagues or face-to-face project-planning meetings can help build your social fitness over time.

Why you’re not alone in enjoying your job

Satisfied employees are convinced they are lucky exceptions in a world of toxic bosses and burnout.

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Could ever more elephantine salaries for relatively inexperienced people, in the law or anywhere else, skew the way applicants are hired?

The allure of the loud know-nothing

Do huge entry-level salaries encourage the selection of assertive, confident, forceful people rather than quieter, shyer rivals who are more competent?

August

Why saying ‘no’ at work is good for your career

Researchers who knocked back extra work put themselves under the microscope and made some important discoveries.

The new wave of climate claptrap

Misleading, misinformed or just plain baffling utterances continue to gush forth in the face of an increasingly evident problem.

I have watched older people in a raft of different sectors burn out, fall ill with stress, or just grow more tired and unproductive.

The most annoying thing about young people at work

They are often right, especially when it comes to working hours. Older workers’ acceptance of long, unhealthy working hours is what younger workers are challenging.

Tesla has suffered a raft of other pressures, from higher interest rates to supply chain glitches.

Why Musk’s antics now appear to be hurting his bottom line

After a string of inflammatory remarks on social media, Elon Musk seems to be turning off the most obvious customers for his cars.

  • Updated
J.D. Vance’s comments are not just astronomically offensive and politically witless, they also betray a serious misunderstanding of where the world is heading in the first half of the 21st century.

Beware the march of the childless voter

The number of non-reproducers is already large and it’s rising, and unfortunately for J.D. Vance, these people may not have kids, but they do have votes.

July

‘Humaning’ and other nonsense: why we put up with corporate twaddle

Office jargon will always be unstoppable because it makes us feel more secure, more of an insider and more able to tell someone something pronto.

Do you get sick on holidays? You’re probably a workaholic

Those of us who fall ill as soon as we stop work may need to rethink our approach to life.

This is the new normal for working from home and commuting into the office.

This is the new normal of office life

Flexible working patterns in a decent place that makes it easy to do the job you’re paid for is a basic recipe for success in a post-pandemic world.

  • Updated
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer can work and work with “ridiculously small amounts of sleep”, according to one of his ex-girlfriends.

The productivity hack that really does boost careers

Physical stamina is an oddly overlooked superpower in working life. But although it will take you a long way, it won’t always be enough to achieve enduring success.

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June

accent

Why your accent might be holding you back at work

Wall Street banks and big law firms are among employers addressing this potential discrimination.

London

Why workers are shunning plum foreign postings

Some companies have found that the impact of the pandemic has intensified a reluctance to move abroad for work.

May

The humble email sign-off is not what it used to be

It is not exactly clear when the sign-off turned into yet another tool in the arsenal of self-promotion deployed in so much of modern corporate life, but I do not see it fading any time soon.

How much fun should you have at work?

Jokes at work need to be deployed with skill and care. Yet, the best are glorious and the working world would be a far better place if we had a great deal more of them.

Dozens of men have more than five separate domestic violence victims each.

Domestic violence is also a workplace issue

Governments should take the lead on the problem, but other groups can do more, including employers. Companies can achieve much more than many imagine.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/pilita-clark-h0wnkt