“It was like, monologue!”

A number of AI tools are acting as a virtual Miss Manners in meetings, reminding people to share the mic and to modulate their speaking pace to sound less monotone.

Great story from Te-Ping Chen:
wsj.com/lifestyle/care…

Foreign executives are scared to go to China. Their main concern: They might not be allowed to leave.

With Chip Cutter Elaine Yu: wsj.com/business/china…

Breakfast at 7. Drinks until midnight. Calendar choreography. How executives are navigating New York’s busiest week. on.wsj.com/3Pq9gMD

Six days a month in the office. Live where you want the rest of the time. Pay your own way back to HQ.

How J.M. Smucker cracked the code on return-to-office: wsj.com/lifestyle/work…

Powerhouse reporting from this WSJ investigation. It finds that over 2,000 lead-covered cables — laid by Ma Bell between the late 1800s and 1960s — now pose substantial health risks. wsj.com/articles/lead-…

'Stop being so woke.' Current and former diversity and HR heads say they are hearing from employees discouraged about what they view as lost momentum in advancing inclusion AND employees pushing back against such efforts. With Te-Ping Chen wsj.com/articles/diver… via The Wall Street Journal

Diners are cranky over slow service and high prices, and restaurants know it. A number are working to improve service through more hands-on training of workers and better technologies to speed up meals. w/ Chip Cutter wsj.com/articles/diner… via The Wall Street Journal

Companies brace for Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action and consider how it could affect their own diversity policies. Lauren Weber and Chip Cutter report. wsj.com/articles/compa… via The Wall Street Journal

Airport employers roll out perks like ice cream and new boots to keep baggage handlers happy and avoid travel chaos. It’s a tough sell. “It is a lot nicer to work in Starbucks as a barista.” wsj.com/articles/memor…

Companies are slow-walking candidates, piling on new requirements and running prospective hires through additional rounds of interviews. The job-market tables have turned. What it’s like looking for an office job today. With Te-Ping Chen wsj.com/articles/why-i… via The Wall Street Journal

Companies are cutting white-collar jobs. The roles may never return.

A wave of layoffs that started as a response to rising interest rates and other economic pressures has morphed into something executives say is more permanent.

W/Harriet Torry:

wsj.com/articles/the-d…

Waste Management's CEO on the job market: “We can’t hire a truck driver to drive a trash truck for $90,000 in Houston, Texas, but I can hire an M.B.A. from a small school for $60,000, and I can get them all day long.”

wsj.com/articles/jobs-… via Lindsay Ellis Kailyn Rhone

New study finds that AI tools could more quickly handle most of the tasks that auditors, interpreters and writers do now. How can companies, schools and policy makers to help people adapt? “That’s a multi-trillion dollar problem.' wsj.com/articles/the-j… The Wall Street Journal w/ Lauren Weber

Many think it's the job of HR staffers to select the individual employees to lay off. But it's more likely business leaders in each area of a company suggest names of employees to target. @chipcutter on how companies choose who to lay off. wsj.com/articles/how-b… via The Wall Street Journal

Facebook parent Meta, like many companies, is wrestling with the problem of noisy hybrid offices. Here's a fascinating look at its efforts to find a solution, by Chip Cutter and Meghan Bobrowsky wsj.com/articles/insid…

New from me: Researchers estimate that more hair stylists, who earn an average of $35,000 annually, have to sign noncompetes than the general population of workers. The industry shows what politicians and regulators say is the issue with these contracts wsj.com/articles/how-d…

Bosses are back (if they do say so themselves). My latest with the indomitable Chip Cutter in the WSJ: wsj.com/articles/layof… Chip Cutter The Wall Street Journal

The current wave of corporate layoffs is spreading beyond high-growth technology companies as leaders prepare for a darkening economic outlook. Chip Cutter and Theo Francis report. wsj.com/articles/corpo… via The Wall Street Journal

🎧 Listen: In today's episode of The Journal podcast, a recently laid-off employee explains how the experience of losing his job has made him both more empathetic and cautious, and Chip Cutter shares the do's and don'ts of the modern-day layoff on.wsj.com/3WcAiso

An interview with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, in the role since 2007, on acquiring Figma for $20B, the state of the industry, hybrid work, longevity, and more (@chipcutter / Wall Street Journal)

wsj.com/articles/adobe…
techmeme.com/230109/p5#a230…