July 2019 – On job automation, tech workers, burnout, wandering, and diversity training

  1. Less than 5% of jobs are at risk of being fully automated, but 60% of jobs could have at least 30% of their tasks automated. (McKinsey)
  2. Among the top 25 cities for U.S. job seekers based on competition for jobs, earnings potential, the reputations of local companies, and unemployment rates included cities of varying sizes. New York City is not among the top 25. (Indeed)
  3. Survey: nearly half (47%) of tech workers said that they did not think their compensation was fair given the cost of living in their home city. (Hired)
  4. Also, the salary gap between black and white tech workers increased by $5,000 in the past year.
  5. Defined by the World Health Organization as a syndrome “resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”, burnout has three elements: 1. feelings of exhaustion, 2. mental detachment from one’s job, and 3. poorer performance at work. But waiting until you’re already fully burned out to do something about it doesn’t help at all –and you wouldn’t wait to treat any other illness until it was too late. (WHO)
  6. Efficiency is overrated. You have to wander to create. “Wandering is an essential counter-balance to efficiency. You need to employ both. The outsized discoveries – the “non-linear” ones – are highly likely to require wandering,” wrote Jeff Bezos in Amazon’s 2018 annual letter to shareholders. (SEC)
  7. Julie Sweet will become the new chief executive of consulting firm Accenture. Sweet’s promotion means that 27 women now lead companies in the S&P 500. That’s 2% of all CEOs.
  8. Women score higher than men in most leadership skills. (Harvard Business Review)
  9. The top 10 emerging technologies in 2019 according to Scientific American.
  10. Does diversity training work? One-off trainings don’t. (PNAS)

STATUS BOARD

Work: I’m off to Spain for a few weeks. When we all come back from the summer, I’ll be taking on a few more coaching clients. To contact me simply reply to this email message.

Music: João Gilberto died last week. He’s the father of bossa nova and he influenced a lot of the Brazilian musicians that I follow.

Finished reading: The making of a philosopher by Colin McGinn.

Started reading: The ethics of authenticity by Charles Taylor.

Podcasts: Thanks to a suggestion by my friend Andrew, I’m discovering the Joe Rogan Experience.


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