Americans Avoid Going to Work

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said he expects China to produce "some very strong companies" because of the country's workforce.

"There's just a lot of super-talented, hardworking people in China who strongly believe in manufacturing," Musk said in an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday.

"They won't just be burning the midnight oil. They will be burning the 3 a.m. oil," he continued. "They won't even leave the factory type of thing, whereas in America people are trying to avoid going to work at all."

Musk himself famously slept on the floor of Tesla's Fremont factory during the "production hell" for the Model 3.

"I wanted my circumstances to be worse than anyone else at the company," he told Bloomberg in 2018. "Whenever they felt pain, I wanted mine to be worse."

Last month, workers at Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory were required to sleep at the facility as production resumed following a three-week shutdown, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A memo, which Bloomberg reported, indicated that each worker would be provided with a sleeping bag and an air mattress and expected to work 12-hour shifts with one day off per week.

But workplace tides may be shifting in China after tech workers there protested the "996" schedule that had many working 72 hours per week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for six days.  READ MORE...

Women Initiate Divorce

Divorce is common. For instance, in 2019, one million American women divorced.

Though divorce is financially costly, particularly for women, the percentage of divorces initiated by women is higher than men-initiated divorces. Furthermore, a surprisingly large number of women report post-divorce life satisfaction. For an explanation of this paradox and reasons why women divorce, we turn to a recent paper by Parker and collaborators, published in the February 2022 issue of Current Opinion in Psychology.

The authors argue, using the evolutionary theory, that various mismatches between the sexes increase the likelihood of divorce. These mismatches are detailed below. (Note, most of what follows applies to divorces initiated by women in heterosexual relationships in Western countries.)

Good genes, deep pockets, and other mismatches in mate preference
When it comes to mate selection, women value characteristics such as masculinity, facial symmetry, attractiveness, and social dominance. Quite a few of these characteristics signal good genes. For example, they correlate with health and physical strength, which are attributes that increase survival and reproductive success.

Why might a desire for genetically superior men result in mate preference mismatch? Because men with good genes are usually more interested in short-term relationships and do not make the best long-term partners (e.g., are less resourceful). So, women, especially those able to financially support themselves, may not feel motivated to stay in a relationship with such men.

Another mismatch concerns financial resources: Not only do women desire physically healthy and attractive romantic partners, but they also often desire resourceful mates (i.e. rich and successful men).

Mating preferences concerning money and resources might have an evolutionary explanation—e.g., women’s need to rely on men capable of providing for them during pregnancy and breastfeeding, which are periods of high energy expenditure and low mobility.

Though these mating preferences have not changed, society has changed drastically. Fewer women need to depend on men; indeed, an increasing number of women outearn their husbands.  READ MORE...

The Future of Work

The future of work is uncertain. Some say robots will dominate the workforce, perhaps eliminating human jobs altogether. The guesswork doesn't stop in imagining possible futures of an even more technology-driven economy. Amid such speculation, it’s easy for business owners to feel unsure about how to plan for the next decade.

In this article, we’ll look at the underlying trend expected to dominate the future workplace: The rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Recently, Gartner made six predictions about how businesses will work by 2028 (full content available to Gartner clients). These got us thinking about two critical impacts AI will have on the future workplace, what these mean for small and midsize businesses, and how business owners and HR leaders can start preparing for these trends in advance.

Prediction #1: AI will replace a number of middle management jobs

Ever imagined taking orders from a robot? This could soon be a reality.

Machine bosses will replace human bosses by the end of the decade. Algorithms that boss employees around, also known as robobosses, will be responsible for assigning work based on skill sets. Robobosses will also decide whether employees will get a promotion and what their salary increases will be.

Here are the top reasons why businesses will be interested in implementing robobosses:

• Data-driven decision-making: It’s true that robots can't show emotions or empathy, but there's one area where they can outperform humans: data-driven decision-making. AI can scan large datasets and apply predictive algorithms to provide actionable insights to business owners. For instance, a roboboss can use factors such as efficiency, skill, knowledge, and motivation level to select team members for projects. This practice will ensure that members with the right skill set and work attitude are chosen, which will increase the chances of timely project completion.
• Cost-effectiveness: Robobosses will take over most middle management tasks, eliminating the need for multiple middle management positions. This will not only lower the salary costs associated with middle managers but also make team management more efficient.
• Availability: Unlike human bosses, robobosses will be available 24/7, making it easier for businesses to manage a global workforce operating in different time zones.
• Impact of this prediction – 2020 vs. 2030

Team composition at the beginning of the decade
Today’s teams comprise employees with expertise in particular skill sets brought together by organizational hierarchy. For instance, a marketing team consists of members who have expertise in search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, social media marketing, and analytics. Each team has a manager who supervises projects, manages conflicts and people-centric issues, assigns tasks to members, and ensures smooth project execution. The team manager is also responsible for monitoring employee performance and scaling the team size (up or down) as per business requirements.

Team composition at the end of the decade
By the end of the decade, a large number of teams will be autonomous with robobosses responsible for functions currently performed by team managers. Robobosses will manage project allocation, deadlines, delivery, and communication. Smart machines will be responsible for ensuring coordination among different teams, such as sales, marketing, and finance. They will also monitor employee performance and assess the need for upscaling or downsizing based on predicted project workloads.  READ MO