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. A Rude Awakening Is Ahead for Young Employees

Workers of a certain age and attitude will have to reckon with the coming recession. Rising inflation and a market downturn guarantee layoffs. The days of expecting employers to be grateful for your application will be gone soon.

“People who started work in the past dozen years are about to experience their first tough job market. Younger employees—not all, but many—will need to make more realistic demands of the workplace.”

The last recession ended in mid-2009 with unemployment at 9.5%, about 2.5 times what it is today. Anyone who finished college since 2010 has known mostly good times in the job market. The same is true of many who entered the workforce directly from high school. There was competition, but it was for employees rather than jobs.

2. Millennials Were Optimistic About Their Financial Future—but Now, Not So Much

This is a nerve-racking time for me and my friends. As I’ve written before, many of my millennial peers did pretty well during the pandemic (so well, in fact, that I felt some guilt about it). We kept our jobs and saved more money, because we had fewer opportunities to spend. Many of my friends also took the opportunity to rethink their lives—changing jobs, getting married, moving to new places—in search of greater fulfillment.

“That rosy picture has suddenly changed. After being lucky enough to ride the longest bull market in U.S. stock-market history, my cohort is now facing the first prolonged market slump to hit our entire generation as adults. On top of that, surging inflation is diminishing our spending power and general quality of life. And talk of a recession is adding to our fears and eroding the confidence we had in our ability to retire comfortably.”

After a couple months of treating my 401(k) balance like a plague, I recently decided to rip the Band-Aid off and take a peek. Yes, I winced. But truthfully, it wasn’t until I foolishly googled, “How much should you have in your 401(k) by 36?” that I felt the sting of the moment, with a sense of both frustration and futility washing over me. According to many estimates, I wasn’t close to where I should be—just when it feels like the good times are over.

3. The Office Tower Has a New Job to Do

As workers opt to stay home, developers are packing commercial buildings with amenities that mix private and public spaces. 

“In 2015, private equity giant Blackstone Inc. purchased the Willis (née Sears) Tower and began a half-billion-dollar renovation that would radically change the role the former tallest building in the world would play in downtown Chicago.”

Today, anyone — not just workers in the 108-story office tower — can sample from a wide range of new public amenities inside the building. At a new multi-level food hall, you can grab breakfast at Do-Rite Donuts and Chicken or spend $19 on a bluefin tuna roll at Sushi San. The Color Factory, an interactive (as in: Instragrammable) art museum, opened up in June, beckoning tourists and locals with chromatic thirst traps. A 75,000-squre-foot conference center hosts group meetings, and weddings are in the works. On the tower’s podium, yoga classes and concerts can be held on a new 30,000-square-foot landscaped roof garden. Office workers in need of an early happy hour can find one in a new bar on the 33rd floor that opens at 3 pm.

4. Open Office: How LinkedIn Redesigned Its Flagship for Hybrid Work

At LinkedIn's new flagship office, desks are no longer the primary focus.

“With dozens of different work settings and conference room setups, the company is using its office as a hub for its hybrid workforce.”

WSJ gets an exclusive look inside.

5. Are Zoom Layoffs An Inevitable Part Of The Future Of Work?

When Better.com’s CEO fired 900 workers over Zoom at the end of 2021, the backlash was swift and fierce.  

“However, the concept of mass Zoom firings has since become a commonplace in today’s distributed workforce. For instance, Carvana recently fired 2,500 employees via Zoom and email, while fintech firm Klarana laid off 700 staffers using a pre-recorded message. ”

The sudden wave of layoffs comes just months after corporations went on hiring sprees to meet skyrocketing demand in society’s self-proclaimed post-pandemic era. But now that demand is waning due to inflation’s burden and companies’ profit margins are slimming, leaders are realizing they may have overhired.

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