🎉 Are you unhappy at work?

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Read time: 2.5 minutes

Good Afternoon Party People! 🎉

Back with another PARTAY!

PARTY PLAN 🎉

😡 Are you unhappy at work?

✖️ The latest in layoffs

📱 Answering texts/emails after hours…

And, of course, MEMES!

MEME OF THE DAY

WORKPLACE

Are You Unhappy at Work?

BambooHR’s eNPS survey, which measures overall employee satisfaction and loyalty to their companies, showed some brief optimism in Q1. That optimism was quickly washed away with Q2’s numbers.

Here are the key points from the most extensive employee happiness survey:

• The Employer Net Promoter Score (eNPS) spike for employees with less than 3 years of tenure in Q1 has stabilized, with similar happiness trends continuing into Q2. Good news!

• Large organizations saw the biggest decline in employee happiness in Q2.

• The happiest employees work at businesses with under 75 employees.

• Overall, new hires are 2% happier. Probably haven’t experienced coworkers microwaving fish in the break room or wearing too much perfume yet.

• The travel and hospitality industry experienced a 12% drop between Q1 and Q2 of this year. Researchers noted that this was a slight year-over-year improvement.

• The tech industry reached a four-year low. “Persistent layoffs” and inflation were to blame for these workers’ unhappiness according to a BambooHR spokesperson.

• Healthcare worker happiness dropped 7% in Q2. Workers cited lack of sufficient compensation as the reason for their dissatisfaction.

• Workers in the restaurant, food, and beverage industries reported lower satisfaction. Researchers noted that this sector’s eNPS score drops every summer. “Heat-related illnesses and fatigue” were named as a major issue this year.

• Construction and nonprofits were the happiest industries.

Key to workplace happiness: work at a construction or nonprofit company with fewer than 75 employees!

JOBS REPORT

The Latest in Layoffs (via MacroEdge)

• General Motors to eliminate over 1,000 software engineers in large reduction of its tech workforce.

• Stellantis’ Trenton Engine Complex in Michigan, which produces V-6 Pentastar engines for Ram, Chrysler, and Jeep, will close next week and all 600 workers will be laid off temporarily. 2,450 workers in Detroit will be permanently laid off.

• Mastercard is cutting 3% of staff, equating to over 1,000 employees.

• Bass Pro announced more layoffs at its manufacturing plants in Lebanon and Bolivar. In the Ozarks aluminum ops, the company reduced its workforce by 10%.

• Cisco will layoff around 5,500 employees.

• Sonos is laying off around 6% of its workforce.

• Cancer detection firm Grail is eliminating 500 roles - 30% of its entire workforce.

• Tyson Foods is laying off 400 employees in North Carolina.

• LL Flooring (formerly Lumber Liquidators), LLC - one of the largest flooring retailers in the United States has filed for bankruptcy. 1,000+ employees expected to lose their jobs.

• Farmers Insurance initiated more layoffs last week, with a full agent unit cut.

• Paramount to eliminate 15% of its workforce - amounting to around 3,000 employees.

• Off-Strip Las Vegas hotel-casino Rio confirms layoff of some employees. Great news for gamblers! They must be winning!

• LegalZoom will eliminate 15% of its workforce.

• EventBrite set to eliminate 10% of its workforce.

• Teradata, a cloud platform, to eliminate around 700 roles (10%) in a substantial cost reduction effort.

• Texas Children’s Hospital is laying off 5% of its workforce - or over 1,500 employees.

• Dell Technologies to reportedly lay off thousands of employees - with estimates as high as 12,500.

• As of last week, technology sector job cuts are on pace to set a new monthly high for the year with tens of thousands of tech sector job cut announcements this month across tech organizations.

CULTURE

Texts and Emails After Work Hours…

It used to be a badge of honor to answer emails and texts after hours. It showed the bosses that you were dedicated and hungry to work.

Many companies even offered incentives for working extra (not just 1.5X OT pay).

For example, investment banking firm Goldman Sachs used to pay for employee dinners if they were on-site working past 7 p.m. AND they’d pay for a taxi or Uber to get home!

Most employees could probably find something to do for two hours if it meant free dinner and a ride home.

But the cultural work winds have changed. FastCompany reports that answering texts and emails after hours may be backfiring…

Now, bosses are more incentivized to retain employees because the labor market is so shallow. That means preventing burnout. If employees cannot shut off their phones and computers outside of work hours, they can easily call a recruiter and find a new job.

Especially with the help of job-seeking tools like Job Party.

Last year, one study found that 81% of remote employees check and answer emails and texts outside of work hours.

Here are the top 5 reasons experts say it’s backfiring on companies and employees:

• Employee satisfaction surveys: Companies are paying close attention to employee retention and satisfaction trends. This data is used to calculate bonuses and raises. Being overworked is not a good thing. In fact, in many cases, it penalizes the bosses, which can snowball down to the employees.

• Knee-jerk reactions: Texts are short. Employees may have a well-intentioned desire to deal with a quick text, but the decision is often uninformed and can end up backfiring.

• Brain fatigue: Responding to texts and emails outside of work hours takes away from the things that are supposed to recharge your brain battery. Whether it’s time with family, watching sports, or sleeping, it’s important to prioritize those things so you can be on your A-game when it is time to work.

• Mistaken identity: One small slip of the thumb, and you risk sending a work email to a good friend. Or a work enemy. Double oops if the text contains confidential information or gossip about an employee or client. Of course, you didn’t mean to send the text to the wrong person, and now, inadvertently, you’ll have even more of a mess to clean up. Your quick response just cost you time and energy to rectify the situation.

• Being a “keener”: “Keeners” are overperformers in the office. Before the pandemic, these people were the ones who routinely moved up the corporate ladder by demonstrating their ability to work harder than everyone else. Now, as employers face staff burnout which affects their bottom line, being a keener is less socially acceptable. Employers are encouraging workers to work less and be more efficient to avoid burning them out and having to replace them. “Work smarter, not harder” has never been more true!

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