I’ve only recently started to watch FX’s restaurant comedy-drama “The Bear” and it stresses me out. Don’t get me wrong — it’s a great show, but it fills me with anxiety. The flames, the clatter of plates, the shouting (“CORNER!”), the sweating, the tight spaces, the lines out the door, and did I mention the shouting?
Anxieties aside, a recent article from The Wall Street Journal highlights that the show’s popularity seems to contradict the current discourse about all things work. “It’s jarring,” writes columnist Jason Gay, “to watch the aggressive workaholism of ‘The Bear’ amid the current reconsideration of work and work-life balance that’s been happening since the pandemic. Not a day passes without a new account of employees re-evaluating priorities; frustrated bosses urging staffers back to their offices; or social media phenomena like ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘lazy girl jobs,’ which really are rejections of wanton careerism.”
So what gives? Has the show, as one restaurateur remarked in the article, “pushed [the industry] back 20 years?” Jason doesn’t buy it: “I think the characters want to break the cycle,” he writes.
To find out why he thinks so, be sure to check out the top spot on our must-read-article list below. And further down the list, you can also find out why remote work is not to blame for decreased productivity; what the true cost of meetings may be; and why industry leader John Vlastelica believes challenging times can help recruiters drive meaningful change at their companies.
Here are the must-read articles from this week:
1. ‘I’m a Psycho’ — What ‘The Bear’ Says About the Work-Life Revolution (The Wall Street Journal)
2. While CEOs Blame Remote Work for Decreased Productivity, Here’s the Bigger Picture (Forbes)
3. The Glaring Cost of Meetings (Axios)
4. Why It’s Time To Upskill HR Professionals in Generative AI (Spiceworks)
5. Don’t Waste Constraints: How Challenging Times Can Drive Change (LinkedIn Talent Blog)
6. ‘A Real Sense of Chaos Ensued’: Is It Time to Embrace the Corporate Ladder? (BBC Worklife)
7. 12 Employer Branding Metrics for HR to Track (AIHR)
8. Why Hybrid Work Can Become Toxic (Harvard Business Review)
9. This Leadership Style Fosters More Consistent Hiring (ERE)
10. How Much Do You Need to Be Financially Secure? Americans Now Cite a Surprisingly High Salary (Fast Company)
Here is the must-listen podcast:
Find Your Purple Squirrel (Hired and Inspired)
