Power Reads: 5 Interesting Articles That Will Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in leadership and the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. Each day we can become a better version of ourselves.

1. 16 former PepsiCo executives are now Fortune 500 CEOs

When Laxman Narasimhan was hired to be the next Starbucks CEO in September, he joined a club that includes the chief executives of some of America’s biggest and best-known companies—Brian Cornell of Target, Chris Kempczinski of McDonald’s, Ed Bastian of Delta Air Lines, Al Kelly Jr. of Visa, Ron Coughlin of Petco, Lauren Hobart of Dick’s Sporting Goods, Vivek Sankaran of Albertsons, Dave Kimbell of Ulta Beauty, Mary Dillon of Foot Locker, and Ann Mukherjee of Pernod Ricard North America.

“What do these leaders have in common? They all spent significant time rising through the ranks of the same company. But they aren’t alums of the expected “academy companies” known for turning out leadership talent, such as Procter & Gamble, nor a buzzy tech pioneer famous for its management culture.”

No, these chief executives earned their chops selling fizzy drinks, hummus, and chips at PepsiCo.

2. More Bosses Order Workers Back to the Office as Job Market Shifts

Employers are losing their patience with empty desks in the office. Companies including investment giant Vanguard Group, workplace technology company Paycom Software Inc. and others have sent directives to employees in recent weeks, urging workers to follow existing hybrid schedules or to come into the office on additional days in 2023, according to internal memos viewed by The Wall Street Journal and interviews with employees. In some cases, bosses have told those who fail to comply that they could face termination within weeks.

“Employees at some companies have challenged new directives in corporate all-hands sessions. Those pushing to remain at home say they find in-office work unproductive and commuting inefficient. Employers, meanwhile, say bringing workers back together is important because it helps with issues such as problem solving, training new hires and reinforcing corporate culture.”

“There’s a little bit of a tug of war going on right now,” said David Garfield, global head of industries at consulting firm AlixPartners, who has worked with executives on how to approach return-to-office discussions. “Employers are not having an easy time of it.”

3. As More People Return to the Office, Here’s How the 2023 Workplace May Get a New Look

As employers shift away from remote work and bring employees back to the office, the next phase of pandemic-related workplace design is expected to kick into gear as employers reimagine how and where they bring employees back.

“A new formula for space is emerging as companies shrink their total square footage, swap private desks for collaboration areas and incorporate perks aimed at enticing employees back to physical spaces. And while a crowd of companies was quick to try to offload as much unused office space as they could over the past couple of years, some are beginning to once again reevaluate how much space they need.”

"People are still spending less time in the office than they were before the pandemic, and companies now, especially with rising interest rates, are looking at what they should do with underutilized space as they enter cost-containment mode," Jessica Morin, CBRE's head of office research in the United States, told CoStar News. "Some have tried putting excess space on the sublease market, but other tenants are holding back on putting that underutilized space on the market because there's a fear that they may eventually need it back to support future growth or if they want to increase office attendance."

4. 2022 Was the Year for Working From Home, Will Things Change in 2023?

2022 represented an important inflection point for the work-from-home crowd. The phenomenon moved from being a function of necessity (minimizing the threat of spreading a virus during a global pandemic) to one of entropy, as the work-from-home situation remained largely consistent despite the improving pandemic situation. 

“As of September 2022, 16% of companies worldwide were fully remote, growing 91% over the past 10 years and by 44% over the past 5 years, according to CodeSubmit. ”

Now that workers have gotten a taste of the freedom that comes from working remotely, statistics show they want more of it. More than 95% of employees want their work arrangement to at least be partially remote, according to FlexJobs and 74% of professionals expect remote working to become the new normal. 

5. Stay for Pay? Companies Offer Big Raises to Retain Workers

Workers who stay put in their jobs are getting their heftiest pay raises in decades, a factor putting pressure on inflation.

“Wages for workers who stayed at their jobs were up 5.5% in November from a year earlier, averaged over 12 months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. That was up from 3.7% annual growth in January 2022 and the highest increase in 25 years of record-keeping.”

Faster wage growth is contributing to historically high inflation, as some companies pass along price increases to compensate for their increased labor costs. Prices rose at their fastest pace in 40 years earlier in 2022. Inflation has cooled in recent months but remains high. Federal Reserve officials are closely monitoring wage gains as they consider future interest-rate increases to slow the economy and bring down inflation. 

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great and hugely impactful week!