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    Linked: Half of workers say they will only apply for hybrid or working from home jobs

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I think that makes sense, and it might fit for a lot of US workers too. I know in the eDiscovery industry we are seeing more desire for flexibility, and salaries going up pretty significantly. Though we aren’t seeing the same level of disinterest in looking for a new role. Does that suggest that fewer workers in our industry have found what they are looking for in terms of flexibility and money? Or do they see the reality of changing jobs for a 15-25% pay increase versus what they’d get by staying?

    That’s an interesting thing to think about. Do you know how your employees feel about that? Do you know what they want to stay? What will entice them to leave?

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    Linked: Does your remote team really need an in-person offsite?

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 4 minutes

    As the future of work settles in a bit, in the sense that we are now working remotely by choice more than by COVID requirement, we are seeing a large shift toward the desire to work remotely. I believe that shift is everyone listed above. For introverts, people with disabilities, people with adult or child care requirements, working remotely is bliss. (I did it even before COVID.) We can still do the other things that are important in our lives without being forced to a specific location, and we can do it without being forced to be in the same physical space as people we may or may not like.

    The problem is, and we see this clearly in the discussion below, doing things in-person is how we’ve always done things. The custom of having a quarterly or annual offsite was designed in a workplace that has always catered to extroverts and people who were available to be at the office for longer and longer hours. That culture has always excluded people. Think about the after-work drinks custom. How many moms got to attend instead of hurrying home to their kids, and how many men got to attend simply because somewhere there was a mom hurrying home to take care of the kids instead of them? How many introverted employees never showed up, or showed up out of a sense of guilt, quietly sipped their drink, and left as soon as it seemed polite to do so? And don’t even get me started on the number of employees in recovery who cannot, and should not, go out drinking with the group. 

    But, what did you hear about these events? They were great, we had a blast, we really got to bond with other folks from the team, etc. That feedback all comes from the minority that actually gets to go, and enjoys being in a group setting.

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    Linked: Everyone is burned out. That’s becoming a security nightmare

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute

    OK fine, my near-weekly encouragement to see your employees as human beings first, and look out for them as human beings haven’t convinced you that burnout is a problem for your business. How about the fact that tired, burned-out employees eventually just check out and create a security nightmare?

  • Social Media Has Everyone Using Fear and Outrage to Get Attention, even the NY Times

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I’m making an example of the Times because they like to consider themselves America’s “Paper of Record”, and even they are now using fear and outrage to gain attention, no better than a Twitter or Facebook troll, but it’s happening everywhere. It’s also no surprise that it’s becoming popular among all media outlets because it works. If we’ve learned anything from fake news sites, biased cable channels, YouTube “experts” and social media influencers it’s that you will never lose an audience by making people afraid. You will get their attention, you will stimulate a fear-based response that causes their brain to kick into survival mode and become hyperalert to dangers, which you are happy to continue to feed them.

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    Linked: Instagram Has Quietly Been Asking Users to Set Up Multiple Accounts

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute

    I know I’ve read elsewhere over the years that this was actually popular with teens, to have a “public” Instagram and then one just for friends. Even an old out-of-touch guy like me has had two Instagram accounts for years. One to just be me and have fun with, and one to focus on mental health stuff.

    It seems to me like Instagram is just catching up with what we’ve been doing, and trying to juice up some numbers among the folks who hadn’t already considered doing this, right?

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    Linked: 5 Ransomware Predictions for 2022

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    It makes sense, for the reasons Jim points out. Your ability to collect ransom payments is diminished if the organization has backups they can simply rebuild with. So, if you can find a way to lock not just the live data, but also the backups, you stand to make more money.

    What I wonder is if this will cause organizations to look at that old-school offline backup option? Keep a copy of your data physically away from your network, locked in a drawer or closet, etc.

    But, is that even feasible any longer?