Not only did Joe Biden say “the pandemic is over” a week ago, but Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair whose hawkishness is roiling markets, said shortly afterward that the economy is now moving towards a “new normal.”
If you grant that the pandemic is ending and that a new normal is here, what does that look like? The early signs are: not very good.
The pandemic forced many Americans into constrained ways of working and socializing. Interactions generally became more limited, outside of Zoom and occasional confrontations over mask policies. Americans now really are interacting more and holding back less, proving both Biden’s and Powell’s words true, and the results aren’t so pretty. From the remote-work wars to “crisis” levels of automotive violence and new STD infections to the well-documented sense of “burnout” inside and outside the workplace, the pandemic is pulling back to reveal an America rife with bad behavior, coming apart at the seams.
In the workplace, bosses and employees increasingly spar over what the “place” should be. CEOs, often from the boomer generation, tend to demand workers return to the office—if not straight back to pre-pandemic routines then at least clocking in a few days a week. The “hybrid” approach draws complaints, too, with Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman in June calling it “the hell of half measures” and the “worst of three options.”
Many workers, led by the vocal Gen Z, demand fully remote work in response, countering that they're more productive at home without the office distractions and time-consuming commutes (and much of the working portion of Gen Z only knows a remote work world of work). Middle managers, for their part, resent getting hit by the crossfire.
Trying to be heard over the fray are public health officials worried about the possible emergence of new, dangerous COVID variants. “We have so little experience with coronaviruses and how they play out,” Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, told Fortune this week. “We’re kind of in limbo land right now.”
Meanwhile headline-grabbing clashes between corporate bosses and union organizers, including at Amazon and Starbucks, enhance the sense of confrontation. In some cases, unions are helping to fight return-to-office mandates, and Americans increasingly view them in a favorable light.
This week, federal labor regulators accused Amazon of singling out union organizers for discipline, while the company called the allegations “completely without merit.” And an employee who helped lead a union campaign at Starbucks accused the coffee giant of forcing her out in retaliation. Workers United accused the company, which denied the charge, of applying scheduling and availability policies in a discriminatory manner against Jaz Brisack, leading to her separation from the company.
Outside of work, Americans are letting loose more. One upshot is an uptick in sexually transmitted diseases.
“People are feeling more liberated,” Mike Saag, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told the Associated Press this week.
That followed a speech Monday by Leandro Mena of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in which he called expanding STD prevention in America “imperative,” with the rate of syphilis cases last year reaching its highest since 1991. A surge in monkeypox cases further highlighted the worsening problem of diseases spread mostly through sex.
The situation is “out of control,” David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, told the AP.
Also out of control, the National Transportation Safety Board said this week, are roadway deaths in the U.S., which it said are at crisis levels despite a slight second-quarter drop. Nearly 43,000 people were killed last year, the greatest number in 16 years, as Americans returned to roads after pandemic stay-at-home orders.
The agency recommended Tuesday that all new vehicles in the U.S. be equipped with blood alcohol monitoring systems that can stop an intoxicated person from driving. A significant portion of roadway deaths are alcohol related—about 30% in 2020, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “We need to make sure that we’re doing all we can to save lives,” said NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy.
Accidents surged during the pandemic as less-congested roads spurred riskier driving. Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, told the Associated Press this week: “What it may be is that we’re seeing an easing of some of the issues that were caused by the pandemic—speeding, open roads, risky driving issues. Traffic is returning to normal [but] the fatality rate is still very, very high.”
Meanwhile, after years of prioritizing workers’ well-being during the pandemic, some corporate leaders are suffering from “do-gooder fatigue,” as one executive headhunter described it to the Financial Times, adding, “The feeling is, we need to get back to business.”
But overlooking burnout and mental health among employees could backfire. While remote work became the norm during the recession, it also blurred the lines between home and work life, leading to burnout as employees juggled their workload with childcare and other challenges.
Teuila Hanson, LinkedIn’s chief people officer, warned earlier this year that organizations need to make mental health a top priority as employee burnout reaches “historic levels” and the “Great Reshuffle”—workers “reconsidering not just how they work but where and why”—transforms the workplace.
According to research from global recruiter Robert Walters, three major “living crises” will further drive the Great Reshuffle: the rising cost of living, a post-pandemic mental health “time bomb,” and the prioritizing of purpose over profession.
“The crucial act here is for employers to listen and play an active role in alleviating some of the personal issues in employees’ lives before they reach that irreversible crisis point,” said Chris Hickey, CEO of Robert Walters North America. “Companies need to be more in tune with the issues impacting their employees if they want to avoid the Great Reshuffle.”
Detecting those issues isn’t always easy. Lime Group, a health insurance firm, has warned about “pleasanteeism,” a phenomenon in which workers, when returning to the workplace, put on a brave face and present the very best versions of themselves. That, says the company, can undermine efforts to promote an open dialogue about mental health in a work setting.
“Businesses are sleepwalking into a mental health crisis,” the firm warned.
“The well-being of employees is central to the bottom line,” Arianna Huffington, CEO of consulting agency Thrive Global, said during Fortune’s Reimagine Work Summit earlier this year. Companies need to be more flexible with not just where, but also when employees work, she said: “We are now beginning to realize that the human operating system is different. Downtime for the human operating system is not a bug, it’s a feature.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Dubbed the Waterline, the tower is planned to be 1,022 feet tall, which would surpass a Houston skyscraper to become the tallest in Texas.
A new study has found artificial sweeteners may be linked to heart disease and the risk of stroke.
The Buccaneers could use a few good pass catchers. There’s one who’s available for any team to sign. Tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronk, according to JoeBucsFan.com, attended the regular-season home opener against the Packers. Per the report, there have been discussions about a potential return. The issue, however, is “sensitive” because tight end Kyle Rudolph [more]
A Noble High School senior is suing to overturn a state law regulating school bathroom use by biological sex.
The U.S. is seeing evidence that Russia is "struggling" in its invasion of Ukraine and has warned Moscow that there would be "catastrophic consequences" if it were to use a nuclear weapon in its war against Kyiv, the White House national security adviser said Sunday. Jake Sullivan, in an interview with ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos, pointed both to the protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin's mobilization of 300,000 reservists and to what Sullivan called "sham" annexation referendums in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine.
Snowden, 39, fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after leaking secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the NSA, where he worked. U.S. authorities have for years wanted him returned to the United States to face a criminal trial on espionage charges.
King Charles III has a decision to make regarding the children of his son Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. No definitive statement has been given regarding their use of prince and princess.
MarketWatch Picks has highlighted these products and services because we think readers will find them useful; the MarketWatch News staff is not involved in creating this content. With markets posting double-digit losses, inflation breaking decades-old records, and the Federal Reserve steadily increasing interest rates, among other factors, the likelihood of a full-blown recession may seem inevitable. What’s more, Roger Aliaga-Diaz, the fund manager’s U.S. chief economist and head of portfolio construction, told MarketWatch Picks that he thinks a recession is “most likely” to occur sometime in 2023.
Jessica Savage found herself unemployed during the pandemic. As money became tight, she decided to launch a business with her older sister Tina. Now 'Two Sisters Grazing" is a thriving Detroit Charcuterie/Graze Company.
The latest version of the COVID-19 virus can evade current vaccines and treatments.
The FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee votes against Spectrum's (SPPI) poziotinib for treating non-small cell lung cancer in previously treated patients with HER2 exon 20 mutations. Stock down.
Is Pfizer stock a sell on an expected decline for Covid vaccine sales in the third quarter? Is PFE stock now a sell?
Quest Diagnostics has doubled the footprint and employee count at Cleveland HeartLab since acquiring the Cleveland lab test innovator in 2017.
With the Annual Enrollment Period Coming Up, Author and Medicare Expert Ari Parker Shares His Top Tips for Navigating Medicare Decisions
Actor says experience was “scariest week” of her life
There's arguably no mealtime option with more versatility than a well-made salad. The dish can be a delicious way to get plenty of healthy vegetables in a single sitting, but it can also incorporate your other favorite items, such as fruit, nuts, or cheese. And while the ingredients can change from one bowl to the next, they all rely on a dressing to bring the flavors together. But before you head into the kitchen to put together a salad of your own, there's a new recall from the Food&Drug Admin
A college student walking in Florida on her first day of classes was struck by lightning that melted her clothes, burned her skin and blew up her smartwatch.
Our hope is that we can help make the cascade of threats to your mental health a little easier to manage.
PCOS is a common reason why women have difficulty getting pregnant. Here are the symptoms to look out for.
Over 60 ready-to-eat meat products sold by one company in Illinois are being recalled due to possible listeria contamination.