Gen Z workers are sharing -- some say oversharing -- at the office. Older workers say they are intrigued -- and sometimes a bit alarmed -- at the "sheer amount of personal information" they're hearing from "younger coworkers."
To some, work-life balance means establishing a "hard line" between work and home.
To others, in particular younger workers, it's about "bringing their whole selves to work."
Business Insider calls the phenomenon a "clear sign" that “workplace culture is shifting.”
We now take our work home readily and easily, basically in our pockets with our phones. The lines are blurred no matter what. Why wouldn't they blur in the other direction as well? It feels kind of normal."
Workers interviewed by Business Insider say they are torn about the number of personal details shared by younger workers. While it may be "great to have open conversations about their anxieties around work," some workers interviewed by Business Insider say they feel unqualified to "weigh in" when younger workers share details about their mental health.
While oversharing isn't exclusive to Gen Z, younger workers appear to be more open about "sharing about family trauma, diagnoses, things that they're struggling with."
At what point does "being authentic" become "being unfiltered"?
In the course of reporting on the trend, Business Insider says it "heard from one woman who had to explain to an intern that it wasn't OK to take her bra off in the office, and another whose manager told her some pretty extensive details about her birth, including her mother's episiotomy."
Experts say many younger workers simply may not know "how to behave in what we consider traditionally professional ways" while at the office.
Younger workers have also "grown up in a social media era where everything is out in the open."
Read more via Business Insider, Inc.
As companies across the U.S. -- and beyond -- are "cracking down on how many days a week people can work from home," some workers say there's a "double standard" when it comes to who is allowed to work remotely, and who is not.
Workers point to executives who are enforcing in-office mandates while they "reserve the right to work wherever they please."
At Uber, workers who were subject to an in-office mandate of three days per week said they "were being summoned back to work while many corner offices sat empty."
A similar debate occurred at JPMorgan Chase, where employees were "ordered back to the office five days a week" despite some leaders continuing to work remotely.
Experts say remote work, and flexibility in general, is "fast becoming an elite perk."
Firms that allow senior leaders to "live and work remotely" may be in conflict with “the messaging that businesses benefit the most when employees show up in person.”
Read more via USA Today
In June, Ford announced it is requiring the "majority of its salaried workforce back to the office four days a week." A Ford spokesperson said the company believes working in-person will "help accelerate Ford’s transformation into a higher growth, higher margin, less cyclical and more dynamic company." Ford's new policy takes effect on September 1. (Reuters)
Beginning September 15, Canada's Bank of Montreal is requiring employees to return to working from the office four days per week. (Royal Bank of Canada announced a similar mandate back in May.) (Reuters)
Zillow: Zillow says the company's "remote-first approach" has meant a "surge in new applicants to its open jobs." On-site meetings, retreats and town halls help employees feel less isolated, but Zillow remains committed to "seeking talent wherever they are based." Zillow says it now has "employees in all 50 states." (Fortune)
Pinterest: The company's PinFlex program prioritizes "flexible work," allowing employees who want to work from home to do so, while offering those who want to work from an office the opportunity to choose that instead. Pinterest says their "remote work model" is "often cited as the main driver for candidates." Prior to the implementation of PinFlex, "two-thirds of Pinterest's workforce was based in the Bay Area." Bay Area employees now "only make up about a third of the workforce." (Newsweek, Tech.co)
Airbnb: The company says its "Live and Work Anywhere" policy has given them an advantage in "recruiting more qualified candidates, especially those located in non-tech hubs like Boston and Chicago." An Airbnb executive told Newsweek that "not all the best quality people in the world are within 50 miles of San Francisco," and that the policy has allowed Airbnb to "tap into [a new pool of] people who are experienced and have amazing skills from Kansas City to Miami to New York to Hong Kong to everywhere in between." (Newsweek)
