The New Way We Work

You can't get a job without experience, but you can't get experience without a job. Tricky, right? Well, it won't seem so tough after you hear Kate's tips. Then, listen to one of our favorites episodes from the show's archives on mistakes to avoid when writing your resume.

There are a lot of variables, like timing and budget, that don’t have much to do with how good you are at your job. Still, here’s the best way to set yourself up for success.

We're taking a quick detour from our AI interview series on The New Way We Work to dig into another big issue when it comes to adapting to change at your job — ageism.

Joe Thomas, cofounder and head of product at Loom Atlassian discusses how asynchronous work is a beneficial collaboration approach to modern work.

Like it or not, artificial intelligence is very likely going to be a part of your workplace reality. In fact, it might be already. And on the next several episodes of The New Way We Work, we're going to explore how AI is already changing our jobs and what we can expect in the future — both the good and the bad. New episodes every other Monday starting February 3rd.

For the past five years, Fast Company has published the annual Queer 50, a list of the most influential LGBTQ leaders in business, tech, and beyond. The list is a celebration of queer representation and influence in the highest ranks of business. Honorees include those working on addressing the most relevant topics of our time, including responsible AI, trans rights, healthcare, and the future of work. In this episode, we wanted to hear from some of our Queer 50 honorees about the strengths that enable their best work and what inspires them to work through challenges. To read more detailed profiles of 2024’s Queer 50 honorees, go to fastcompany.com/queer-50.

One in five American workers have signed a noncompete clause in their employment contract, and many likely had no idea what they were agreeing to. Noncompete clauses typically prevent workers from joining competitors for a certain period of time after their employment; and although many people only expect to see those restrictions only in high-level positions, they actually apply to a surprising number of jobs. Low-wage workers in fast-food service, nurses and other healthcare professionals, and even temporary Amazon employees have all found themselves bound by noncompete clauses that make it nearly impossible to find another job. Earlier this spring, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) banned the use of noncompetes for most workers, prompting legal challenges from business organizations that will continue for many months. But if that ban goes into effect, the FTC believes it could raise wages by as much as $300 million. Evan Starr, an economist and professor of management and organization at the University of Maryland, studies noncompetes and believes the ban would also enable greater innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 61 million adults in the United States have at least one disability, and for nearly half that population, the disability is invisible or at least not apparent. These conditions often don’t manifest in ways that are immediately evident to others—such as chronic pain, diabetes, autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, arthritis, and more. And although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990 to protect against discrimination, many employees or job candidates are reluctant or scared to disclose a disability for fear they wouldn’t be treated fairly or even get hired in the first place. And it seems many employers are clueless about what they’re doing wrong. So how can we make advocacy easier, open up opportunities, and build a world of work that works for everyone? Ludmila Praslova, a professor of psychology at Vanguard University, recently wrote about how her autism affected her onboarding experience at a new job. In her new book, ‘The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work,’ Praslova delves into the challenges of self-advocacy, disclosing a disability, and what employers need to change to create neuro-inclusive environments.

Leaders have tried to sell work as ‘one big family’ for years. With the proliferation of terms like ‘office besties’ and ‘work spouses,’ many employees have viewed work as a type of family too. But anyone who has been passed over for a promotion they deserved or laid off after years of hard work knows the hard truth: Work isn’t your family. In fact, work can make people feel lonely by preventing them from connecting with their community, and some mental health experts have called loneliness a health epidemic. So, how can we prioritize our mental health and our ambition at the same time? How can we feel less alone at work and foster meaningful relationships while still protecting our ‘real lives’? To dig into these questions for answers, we talked with Ann Shoket, former editor-in-chief of ‘Seventeen’ magazine; author of ‘The Big Life,’ a guide for career-driven young women; and CEO of TheLi.st, a private community of innovators across media, technology, and business.

No matter what job you have, you’ve probably felt at various points in your career that you don’t make enough. And because money can be a taboo topic, we rarely reveal what our salaries are—even with the people we’re closest to. In a recent survey, only about half the participants said they share their salary with family members, while just 32% said they share how much they make with close friends. This secrecy helps keep gender, racial, and executive-to-worker pay gaps thriving. Fortunately, the tide has been slowly turning in the past few years. More companies have adopted at least partial-salary-transparency policies, and even some states and cities have introduced laws supporting salary transparency or salary ranges. Hannah Williams, a content creator and host of the TikTok channel, Salary Transparent Street, has a knack for talking to people about salaries. She believes that it’s a conversation we need to have in order to make work a better deal for everyone.

Fifty percent of people say they’ve quit a job because of a bad boss. Why are so many managers unable to effectively manage? And is there a way to learn how to be a better manager? Leadership coach Lia Bosch joins host Kathleen Davis to talk about what companies get wrong about management and how bosses can be better at their jobs.

The New Way We Work is back for a new season next week and we are unpacking the biggest problems with work! Problems like lack of pay transparency, how hard work too often goes unrewarded, how the wrong people end up as managers, and so much more.