🪴 33 aesthetic WFH upgrades

Good Morning,

On a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Bill hosted his friend Derek Thompson for a “Future of Everything” segment, in which they mentioned that flying cars had famously been expected by 2020.

But Derek also mentioned that, while we don’t have flying cars, we do have technology that helps us in ways we didn’t expect:

No (regulated) flying cars just yet — but there are driverless cars, creating a strange new opportunity for mobile offices as well.

And as someone generally against commuting, I’ll concede that if a larger network of autonomous cars can make it easier to be productive while traveling to work, it would take away some of the sting of having to go into an office every now and then.

I like to think the Jetsons’ fan base would have been enamored with the futuristic concept of remote work.

Before we dive in, a note from the Premium Ghostwriting Academy:

Struggling to make more than $5k/month as a writer?

Here’s how to finally escape the freelancer hamster wheel:

• Stop positioning yourself as a “freelancer”—instead, be a Premium Ghostwriter

• Stop writing “anything” for “anyone”—instead, create a Premium Offer

• Stop trawling Fiverr or newsletters for clients—instead, use Premium Outreach

Stop “freelancing.”

Start Premium Ghostwriting.

Want to learn more?

Get a FREE, 5-step crash course on how to become a Premium Ghostwriter below.

Click here to get started.

Remote Source Job Board

Featured companies:

Avery Dennison: 28 remote jobs
Hugging Face: 26 remote jobs
Writer: 70 remote jobs

🤝 Find Remote Jobs Here

Need to Know

📊 Jobs report: higher unemployment
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, and hourly wage growth dropped to the lowest level we’ve seen in the last few years.

They also shared that overall job growth was lower than expected. These figures are making a stronger case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September, with the intent to spur more job growth. (CNBC)

💰 Wells Fargo WFH denial costs $22.1M
A former managing director at Wells Fargo was laid off after requesting to work from home to accommodate his disability. The layoff occurred prior to any resolution being found for the formal request.

Per HR Dive, “The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities and prohibits discrimination based on disability.”

Hopefully this serves as a warning for any other organizations that aren’t supporting employees who require remote work to perform their jobs well. (HR Dive)

🛒 Walmart’s RTO ultimatum continues
In May, Walmart announced they were requiring many corporate employees to either move to one of a few regional hubs or be terminated.

And of course, there are positive sound bites from Walmart’s HR leaders: “We know many associates are in the process of moving and are already enjoying the benefits of being together with their teams in offices on a more regular basis,” and the gaslighty “people didn’t even realize how isolated they were.”

But past the canned corporate language, how do employees really feel? One person on the Zoom call when this was announced called the policy “a bunch of bullshit,” and an employee interviewed for this article — likely representative of most of his remote colleagues — was frustrated that he and his wife had such little time to make a decision that would drastically alter their lives. He opted to leave Walmart as a result. (Bloomberg)

🔎 Job search tips during August slowdown
There’s typically a hiring lull in summer months, so it’s especially important to be proactive now when it comes to your job search. A few suggestions from this author:

• Set specific goals, such as number of applications sent per day or week.

• Spend time researching companies you might want to work for, or at least companies in the industry you’d like to work in. Interviewers often appreciate interviewees who clearly understand the company they’re applying to.

• Practice your interviewing skills. If you have more downtime than usual, it’s a great opportunity to hone your talking points and body language habits for future video interviews.

• Don’t stop networking; new relationships can become beneficial when hiring picks up in the next few months.

There’s never a wrong time to do all of the above, but August is a particularly smart time to prepare for the traditional hiring spike seen in September-November for job seekers. (Forbes)

👨🏾‍💻 Tech CEOs backtracking on RTO
Tech CEOs are significantly dialing back their return-to-office mandates; only 3% are insisting on full-time office work. (Is this… victory?!)

The primary reasons are that CEOs continue to get a lot of pushback from employees on more time in office, and they’re starting to see how their companies benefit from flexible remote and hybrid policies. (Fortune)

Stuff We Like

🪴 33 “aesthetic products” for a WFH makeover
Some favorites: a vertical plant stand, a retro-style keyboard, self-adhesive under-desk drawers, a desk chair that lets you sit criss-cross, and an acrylic dry erase board — with plenty of other cool, sometimes-hyphenated products to discover. (Buzzfeed)

🪑 Herman Miller chair reviewed
TechRadar calls the Herman Miller x Logitech Vantum “an ergonomic chair with the flair of a sports car.” They give it 4/5 stars with mostly positive praise. If you’re in the market for a high-end desk chair (a bit steep at $895) that only takes 5 minutes to set up, check it out. (TechRadar)

🏝️ Cyprus: underrated digital nomad haven
Cost of living on this island is substantially lower than Spain and Italy. And with a generally warm climate, low crime rates, lots of beaches, and interesting cultural history, it should be on your list if you’re planning to work from Europe.

Cicadas? As long as the they aren’t as populous as they were in the US this year, keep Cyprus in mind. (Travel Off Path)