✍️ Essential writing tips for remote workers

Good Morning,

If you live in Dallas and you’re on Instagram, check out our coffee shop gift card giveaway this week; we partnered with @DallasLoveList to highlight 5 of the best places in the city to work from.

If you’re like most remote workers, you probably enjoy working from new coffee shops - so we’ll be exploring other cities in the near future as well ☕️

👩‍👦 Return to office hurts working mothers and their employers. Bloomberg rounded up data that shows the negative impact RTO mandates have on working female caregivers:

• 53% of female office workers are also caregivers.

• 80% of those who are caregivers say that working remotely allows them to better balance work and caregiving responsibilities.

• 72% of female office workers say they will look for a new job if their flexible work options are taken away.

• As of 2023, 18% of working mothers left their jobs in the past year. The top two reasons are finding childcare and a lack of flexible location policy.

On the flip side: companies who switch from fully-in-office to fully-remote hire 6% more women. And separately, the emergence of companies like Keep Company gives hope that more executive attention will be paid to caregivers in the workplace. Flexibility leads to better retention, and better retention leads to better companies. (Bloomberg)

💰 Regional banks will be affected by office spaces losing value. Last week, we wrote about lower office values impacting the broader economy. Just days later, WSJ published an article discussing the impact this will have on regional banks, which could lead to a “doom loop.”

Regional banks increased their exposure to commercial real estate at double the rate of major banks since 2015 - and if they begin to fail, there will be far-reaching consequences.

Echoing our comments last week about long term leases slowing the CRE downturn, one M&T Bank leader said its CRE losses would be gradual; “It won’t be Armageddon all in one quarter.” (Wall Street Journal)

📆 Most hybrid office mandates aren’t effective. Here’s why: many executives instruct employees to be in an office a certain number of days every week, without further thought. But the point of “watercooler chat” is to bring the right people together.

The best way to do this is to devote specific days to specific teams who benefit from more interaction with one another. One workplace expert estimates only 5% of companies are orchestrating this collaboration. (Washington Post)

☕️ Need to boost your coffee mug collection? Esquire rounded up 23 great options, from the basics, to a temperature-controlled mug, to the mug below for your “favorite” Zoom calls! (Esquire)

✍️ Writing skills are even more important in a world of remote work. Clear writing shows you value the recipient’s time. And it ensures the message has no ambiguity, providing direction instead of confusion. Inc. gives us 5 fast tips to keep in mind as you craft professional messages from outside an office. (Inc.)

🦈 Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary favors remote work. Not only did he directly oppose Elon Musk’s past comment that remote work is “immoral,” but on the Erika Taught Me Podcast, he made his stance clear.

While discussing business strategies and personal finance tips, he elaborates on employee productivity measures: it’s best to be project-based and focus on outputs, instead of tracking time spent working. (🎙 Erika Taught Me)

💸 This millennial took a $35K pay cut to avoid an RTO policy. Remote work allowed him to move closer to his family, which is especially important to him because his father has a neurological disease. Even though his managers fully supported remote work, the decision was “out of their hands.” (Insider)

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Remote is better for families; why isn’t it talked about? Writer Erik Hoel clearly articulates the obvious benefit that always seems to be overlooked in media discourse: all else equal, remote work improves family life.

He points out the oddity that while American families are often used in political football, remote work hasn’t been particularly championed on either side of the aisle. But it seems like it should be:

Here’s hoping that even if the highest ranking media execs want all their employees in the office, remote work will at least get a little more coverage in the national conversation. (The Intrinsic Perspective)

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been added to the Clown Show.

In a recent internal meeting, he said: “If you can’t disagree and commit [to RTO], I also understand that, but it’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon because we are going back to the office at least three days a week."

It always annoys me when these CEOs acknowledge that it makes sense for employees to want to work remotely - then blatantly require the opposite.

But the winners in the future of work know that in this brave new world, location flexibility and company success are very intertwined.

Cheers,
Grant