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Workplace

Yesterday

Stuart McDonald got a job in an AI start-up company after performing a trial interview that lasted three days.

After a 72-hour interview, Stuart got the job

Trial interviews are coming in 2026. With some companies expecting three to five trial days in the office, recruiters say you better save your sickies.

This Month

A graphic depicting the difficulties of accessing crypto from a will: a hammer attempting to break a block of ice with Bitcoin inside.

It’s evident which way bitcoin is headed

Readers’ letters on the bitcoin craze, investor diligence, psychological injury claims, the Nats’ views on renewables ‘costs’, and solutions to the energy crisis.

Skydiving instructors say they have little to no pay rises in decades.

Free fall: Skydivers strike for first time as pay plummets

Rolling stoppages will include no tandem jumps with anyone over 85kg, as the union asks: “Would you want your mum strapped to an underpaid instructor?”

How this CEO gets the most out of his workday

Discover why Tim Helyar, the country head for State Street in Australia, holds key meetings in the mornings, and makes decisions on Mondays rather than Fridays.

Back to the workplace - the trend is catching on.

Unions put holidays, redundancy pay in their sights

Employers are preparing to fight an ambitious union agenda in the new inquiry following campaigns for increases in annual leave and redundancy pay.

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A wave of jargon is swamping office workers.

Tracking and decoding corporate jargon

A tracker of our growing list of corporatespeak – and our suggestions for plain-language alternatives. Consider it your jargon dictionary.

November

According to the Offshore Alliance, its posts about Chevron are just Aussie humour.

Chevron’s unprecedented war with unions over a Facebook page

Of all the efforts of gas giants to shut down the Offshore Alliance’s spicy social media activity, it was cut and dry copyright law that (temporarily) worked.

Popcorn brain is a state of reduced attention span caused by constant digital stimulation.

3 signs you have popcorn brain and how to overcome it

Having your attention pulled in multiple directions at once affects your relationships at home and has an impact at work too.

 AI becomes just another layer of software sitting on top of yesterday’s organisation structure.

Why the productivity payoff from AI at work is so poor

The technology is ready. The problem is our workplace relations framework requires prior permission to use artificial intelligence.

Usman Khawaja.

What Usman Khawaja got wrong about discrimination in corporate Australia

Instead of encouraging Asian-Australians to do the hard yards that lead to the top, the cricketer is promoting an entitlement culture that is a sure road to failure.

The Christmas throngs may be muted this year as shoppers go online for their gifts.

Fines a warning to bosses who don’t ask first about working Christmas

A judge in a test case has ruled that BHP must pay almost $100,000 for rostering workers on without talking to them about it first.

Victoria’s WFH laws may kill internships at Bosch

Bosch Australia president Gavin Smith says he despairs for Victoria’s future under work-from-home laws that may prompt his company to stop offering internships

Curtis Stone’s $4m flop forced him to rethink everything

The celebrity chef’s first restaurant was a smash hit, which he considered a genius move. But the next venture quickly taught him how wrong things could go.

Swinburne chancellor John Pollaers said the university council will ‘review’ calls for an independent investigation into him.

University chancellor in fiery Senate grilling over management style

John Pollaers says Swinburne University council would review calls for an independent investigation into deep staff unrest at the Melbourne-based institution. 

John Pollaers, Swinburne Chancellor

‘His own fiefdom’: Staff concerns deepen uni governance crisis

Chancellor John Pollaers will be grilled about his leadership style at a Senate inquiry on Monday, following unrest at the university and staff departures.

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Meet the CEO determined to end pointless meetings

BHP’s Mike Henry is taking an unusual approach to one of the big black holes of corporate life.

CFMEU Victoria’s head of training Steven Deer.

Sacked chief of CFMEU training unit charged with 21 fraud offences

The charging of Steven Deer marks another significant milestone for police as they crack down on alleged corruption in the building sector.

Carson Plant makes $200,000 a year auctioning rare Pokémon cards.

The man making $200,000 a year auctioning trading cards on livestream

The quiet but lucrative market for trading cards and other collectors items is going live to meet growing demand for the “eventification” of everything.

Former MSO managing director Sophie Galaise now lives in Canada. Where within the great white north is less clear.

Leon Zwier and the MSO can’t find their witness, Sophie Galaise

It’s the latest turn in the ongoing legal saga over the orchestra’s cancellation of pianist Jayson Gillham’s contract after pro-Palestinian comments.

Whyalla test looms for BlueScope’s history-making new CEO

The steel maker’s incoming boss, Tania Archibald, is being urged by investors to maintain capital discipline in any bid for the Whyalla steelworks.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/workplace-hzd