Inkhouse “Meet The Press” Panel: Rethinking the Workplace

Last week we hosted a virtual “Meet the Press” Panel with esteemed journalists including: Trey Williams, senior writer at Fortune; Matthew Boyle, senior reporter for Bloomberg’s new Work Shift section; Aki Ito, senior correspondent at Insider; and Tara Weiss, senior reporter at WorkLife [Digiday Media], to learn how companies, business leaders and employees are rethinking the workplace.

The pandemic has changed the business world in potentially permanent ways. Weiss described this period of time as the “messy middle,” where companies are experimenting with various return to office (RTO) policies and perks to keep their people engaged—it’s almost like throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. And we have a long way to go in terms of figuring it out. Boyle believes it’s not a dichotomy, it’s a real disconnect with many leaders and employees not seeing eye to eye.

Flashy incentives like professional headshots, free lunches and meditation rooms might get people in the door, but don’t necessarily retain them. 

We discussed the fall of hustle culture (kudos to Ito for her long-form piece on this topic) and the rise of “quiet quitting”; generational preferences (listen for Williams’ smart analysis of why younger employees actually enjoy the office); the emerging trend of regional work hubs; the increasing generational—and demographical — divides forming in the workplace and how cultures risk becoming homogenized over time. 

If you missed it, check out the recap below.