Gen Z teams

Generation Z entered the workplace when there wasn’t even one to go to. Those years, marked by a global health crisis and social unrest, helped shape their views about life as well as work. Many of them were home as their parents’ workplaces closed, so they got a ground-floor view of what jobs really looked like, and they didn’t like what they saw: a work-life balance that left little time for life, management that seemed to not care about the mental health of their employees and an organisational structure that didn’t give workers much of a voice. Now, they have an opportunity to shape the workplace as they begin to enter the ranks of management themselves. While members of Gen Z — generally defined as people born sometime between 1997 and 2012 — now account for only 16.8pc of the total workforce, according to data analysed by ADP Research Institute, they are ascending rapidly: Employers promoted Gen Z workers into management 1.2 times faster in 2023 than in 2019.

(Adapted from “What’s It Like to Work for a Gen Z Boss? Very Different,” by Anne Marie Chaker, published on March 10, by the Wall Street Journal)

Adani probe

US prosecutors have widened their probe of India’s Adani Group to focus on whether the company may have engaged in bribery as well as the conduct of the company’s billionaire founder, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Investigators are digging into whether an Adani entity, or people linked to the company including Gautam Adani, were involved in paying officials in India for favourable treatment on an energy project, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the confidential effort. The probe, which is also looking at Indian renewable energy company Azure Power Global, is being handled by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Justice Department’s fraud unit in Washington, said people familiar with the matter. “We are not aware of any investigation against our chairman,” Adani Group said in an emailed statement.

(Adapted from “US Probing Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani And His Group Over Potential Bribery,” by Tom Schoenberg and Ava Benny-Morrison, published on March 15, 2024, by Bloomberg)

Automated cars as offices

As automated driving gets closer to reality, car designers and technology companies are giving more thought to what people might actually do in their cars when they no longer have to drive them —including how they may use them to work. Prototype designers are experimenting with interiors that break all the rules. Once a car no longer needs a human driver, the room inside can be designed as a lounge or an office with a desk. Nearly one in five automobile buyers who participated in a 2022 survey conducted for consulting firm McKinsey said if they didn’t have to drive themselves, they wanted their car to be designed as a fully functioning office. The annual McKinsey consumer survey was conducted in December 2022 and polled 27,036 people worldwide.

(Adapted from “Self-Driving Cars Might Just Transform the Way We Work,” by William Boston, published on February 19, 2024, by the Wall Street Journal)

Working from office

More and more workplaces are calling employees back to the office. If you started your career remotely, this may be a big shift for you. How can you manage it? 1) Reimagine your routine. Figure out what time you need to be at your desk, and then rework your schedule to make sure you’ll be there on time. This may involve waking up earlier to run a few errands and calculating your commute. 2) Get the right gear. For instance, you may need a backpack to carry your laptop to and from the office, or noise-canceling headphones to help you avoid distractions. 3) Pay attention to office culture. Observe how people act in meetings, how often your colleagues take breaks, and what appropriate work clothes look like. 5) Embrace the opportunity. Take advantage by interacting with your peers, your boss, and your coworkers regularly.

(Adapted from “Going Into The Office For The First Time?” by Elizabeth Grace Saunders, published by HBR Ascend)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, March 18th, 2024