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77 votes
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WWOOFING/workaway stories?
I've been looking into this sort of thing for a while. Looks like a nice way to get a change of scenery (if you don't know WOOFING is basically volunteer farm work for room/board). Anyone have...
I've been looking into this sort of thing for a while. Looks like a nice way to get a change of scenery (if you don't know WOOFING is basically volunteer farm work for room/board). Anyone have experience doing this in the USA/anywhere else? Would love to hear from you if so!
14 votes -
Is a degree worth it?
29 votes -
When the great apes at Furuvik Zoo in Sweden broke free from their enclosure last winter, the keepers faced a terrible choice
19 votes -
European Court of Human Rights rules that sex workers can seek compensation for lost profits, reversing Bulgarian decision about human trafficking victims
17 votes -
Are workplace romances a savvy investment?
17 votes -
Bosses imposed rigid policies requiring return to the office. Now they’re facing a wave of legal battles.
39 votes -
Amazon is warning employees they risk undermining their own promotion prospects unless they return to the office (RTO) for three days a week, as was mandated by CEO Andy Jassy months ago
60 votes -
Employees can be banned from wearing headscarves, top EU court rules
28 votes -
International Labor Organization report - almost 7% of annual deaths are linked to employment. Overwork kills 750,000 per year.
18 votes -
How meltdowns brought professional advocacy groups to a standstill at a critical moment (2022)
19 votes -
Inside an OnlyFans empire: Sex, influence and the new American Dream
32 votes -
I skipped to the ending
53 votes -
70% of US workers lie on resumes, new study shows
54 votes -
Ontario to ban Canadian work experience requirement in job postings
17 votes -
Fika, four-week-holidays and zero overtime – Sweden's stunningly healthy work culture
38 votes -
Union workers score big pay gains as labour action sweeps US
30 votes -
Some call us ungrateful middle-class feminists – but this is why women went on strike in Iceland
26 votes -
90% of women in India are shut out of the workforce
21 votes -
Seeking advice: How have you navigated misogyny in the workplace?
After a recent incident I've had with a male colleague at work this past week, I feel lost and downtrodden on how to move forward in my career. I've experienced various forms of misogyny in most...
After a recent incident I've had with a male colleague at work this past week, I feel lost and downtrodden on how to move forward in my career. I've experienced various forms of misogyny in most roles I've held, but this has been the worst offense I've encountered. It honestly has me sick with stress and I feel so alone in how to handle it.
For context, I am often the only woman on meetings and regularly have to lead groups of all men. I've done this all throughout my career and have accepted it as a norm. While I have encountered issues in the past, never anything as egregious as what I dealt with the other day. I am often having to verify and source technical information to ensure project items are on track and this requires me to connect with various individuals. When some recent concerns were brought forward for an ongoing project, I was continually given the runaround by this male colleague. Due to days passing and the lack of cohesion for the issue of concern, I attempted to have a group discussion amongst the relevant folks.
This action sent that male colleague into an absolute rage of which I was the target. An action that I have regularly done for months without issue and is a run-of-the-mill thing for communication was misinterpreted by him. Instead he viewed it as an attack and ran to my lead to accuse me of running to higher-ups to assert he isn't doing his work properly; a completely opposite story from what I had done. This male colleague proceeded to yell at me like an abusive ex and is proceeding with excluding me out of important discussions. My lead is also male and due to this male colleague running to him first, he sided with him when I attempted to connect about how I was treated. When talking with both men to explain or try to understand their perspective, I was continually talked over, hushed, and essentially silenced into submission. I was told I am now a risk to team cohesion and that I am causing problems when I have been receiving nothing but praise from all others for my work.
I'm honestly so distraught from this experience and the lack of support from my lead. Each meeting with the male colleague that screamed at me has me on edge and I feel sick when determining how to get the answers I need for my work. Instead I am having to find a way to get placed on another project and the stress of sorting this with my company's HR. My confidence in my capabilities feels wounded and I am filled with anxiety now even when talking about topics I am familiar with. I am struggling to move past this and have the energy to find something better.
For those of you who have experienced similar misogyny in the workplace, how did you overcome incidents like these? How did you stop feeling so broken by how it affected you? I'm so worried about landing another project or job that will have these same issues and I really don't know if I can take being treated by men like this in the professional world anymore. How do you interview or gage a company to determine you won't encounter this again? I am so bitter of continually seeing men have this behavior, yet have been rewarded in their careers by being elevated to positions of authority. Any advice, sharing of wisdom, or any support would be greatly appreciated.
45 votes -
PM Katrín Jakobsdóttir will take part in Iceland's first full-day womens strike in forty-eight years – calling for pay equality and action on gender-based violence
12 votes -
How do you help someone find a job?
I am helping someone look for a job related to coding (in Canada). Software development, web development, app development, etc. You get the idea. I have no connections in tech to help them...
I am helping someone look for a job related to coding (in Canada). Software development, web development, app development, etc. You get the idea. I have no connections in tech to help them network. And I don't understand what the difference is between an intermediate/intro position, what qualifications to help them highlight on their resume, or what is preventing them from finding a job. I know they've applied to hundreds of posts on LinkedIn and Indeed, etc. but they have only received a single interview (but no job).
I am at a loss - how do I help this person? How do you help someone find a job in a field you don't understand or have any network to help them meet the right person? Tech specific advice would be a godsend, but really any job-search related tricks, tips, etc. that I can pass on would be greatly appreciated.
16 votes -
Revenge of the nerds is a fantasy, it’s the jocks who have more successful careers
13 votes -
What happens when a woman chooses career dominance over her relationship
24 votes -
I guess this whole time I was a small minority - enjoying working in person
I’m a software engineer. Any time this topic comes up it’s clear I’m the odd one out. Recruiters will tell me “don’t worry, we’re fully remote!” but that’s not what I want to hear. Co-workers that...
I’m a software engineer. Any time this topic comes up it’s clear I’m the odd one out. Recruiters will tell me “don’t worry, we’re fully remote!” but that’s not what I want to hear. Co-workers that are mandated to return to office go on a quiet rebellion to stay at home (and to be clear, I love that they are displaying the power that laborers have even without a union). But for me the quality of the work is lower when remote. Video calls suck and are emotionally draining. Collaboration is core to doing work for me. Sure I can close tickets just fine from home. But what if I’m there to wrap my head around the entire system and all of the people involved in it?
A few things I’m aware of that influence my opinion here:
- I don’t have kids
- I am comfortable asserting my free time. I take plenty of time off and typically work six hour days, never with any push back from anyone. I can usually get much more done in six hours than is asked of me
- Programming is my dream job
Thankfully I am still able to find fully in-person opportunities around me. So this is really just a matter of understanding the rest of the labor market. I don’t need to or want to change anyone’s mind here.
46 votes -
After many years, migrant workers in Norway won legal protection from exploitative agencies – but now a European Free Trade Association ruling puts progress in peril
3 votes -
California public school students will learn about labor rights under first-of-its-kind law
44 votes -
Amid strikes, one question: Are employers miscalculating?
27 votes -
South Korean teachers seek protection from harassment by students' parents
38 votes -
For the fourteenth year running, Iceland takes the top position in the Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum
11 votes -
‘Once we win California, the nation is next’: What a caste discrimination ban means for Americans
19 votes -
Lord Sugar documents east London’s rubbish mountains
7 votes -
How human translators are coping with competition from powerful AI
7 votes -
Study shows Germany's East-West divide in top positions
13 votes -
Why am I becoming a teacher?
First of all, this is a lot about me and myself and I'm sorry it's a bit self-centered; it's been bouncing around my head and I want to get it out somewhere. Please let me know if this isn't...
First of all, this is a lot about me and myself and I'm sorry it's a bit self-centered; it's been bouncing around my head and I want to get it out somewhere. Please let me know if this isn't appropriate here.
Secondly, teachers or those in training to become one: I want to hear your thoughts on this question.
Why am I becoming a teacher?
I've been finding that I'm asking this question of myself a lot lately. My goal is and always has been the same for years: I want to teach, I feel good teaching, I feel I have a purpose and that purpose has been what's driven me forward when I wanted to give up. Truly though - why do I want to be a teacher?
I could do the same style of work in other settings. I could become a tutor, self-employed or otherwise, and assist students in a specific capacity. I could be a YouTuber, creating video essays on self-researched subjects of passion. I could be a writer, bringing the same content through literature to a wholly different audience. In all of these, there is the potential to make more money, reach a wider audience, and leave a more indelible impact upon the world.
So, why am I becoming a teacher?
15 years ago, I dropped out of college, suffering depression. I wasn't the only one depressed; aside from the millions of others reeling from mental health issues, the economy was entering a recession in 2008. I was a NEET - jobless, out of school, and seemingly stuck. My family (read: my dad, stepmom, and sisters) had abandoned me - they had other matters to worry about than their wayward son - and I was fortunate my mother whom I'd dissociated from years before reached out to me. With her help, I got back on my feet, moved across the country, and began looking for work with slight hope. I volunteered one day to read at the school she worked at, and the teacher in the room went to the admins and demanded I be hired on the spot. I was.
Thus began a journey of discovery. I was good at something, and I felt good about doing it. I felt something to replace my depression and self doubt: worthiness.
Over the years, I honed my craft and continued sporadically attending school - when I could afford it - in order to become able to lead my own classroom in our private school/daycare. That was 7 years ago, and I've been teaching prek (4-5 year olds) since then. I'm able to teach reading, writing, mathematics, chess, life lessons, history, biology, astronomy, geology, entomology... the list goes on and on. I have a passion for learning, and for sharing that learning.
Is that why I am becoming a teacher?
The biggest obstacle to achieving my ultimate dream - teaching in public schools - was always the degree. I had dropped out of college twice - in 2008 and again in 2013 - before finally completing an Associates degree in 2016. I felt that, financially, getting my bachelor's would never happen. Massive student loan debt (private debt north of $30k) and low wages in childcare meant I wasn't getting anywhere. Life changes though, and the stars aligned - the private debt was written off, I got out of defaulting on my federal loans, and just in time to qualify for a state program to get me in school again and have a full ride scholarship. It was happening!
Now we live in a post-pandemic world... Do I still want to become a teacher?
At first, attitudes were siding with teachers. There was sympathy for their struggles and worries, the low pay and high barrier to entry. That quickly changed, as it did for medical workers and others in the pandemic world. Teachers struggle more now than they have before. Fewer resources, more troubled students that desperately need help, more resistance from parents and communities trying to prove that teachers and schools aren't necessary in the way they have been, and more burnout and shortages across the nation.
I see all this and yet I press on. Why?
The thing is, I'm not sure. My resolve is strong and I've been persistent and diligent in my schooling. I've worked too long and hard to give up this opportunity. Why do I still want to teach, though? Why not find an administrative job with potentially more pay and better work environment? Why not leave education altogether and use my skills elsewhere?
It comes back to what drove me forward in the first place: purpose. I feel in direct connection with the future by doing what I do. I feel like in some miniscule, imperceptible, but meaningful way, I can help create a better world tomorrow by doing what I do today. It gives my life meaning, and nobody and nothing can take that from me. I've changed hundreds, potentially thousands, of lives already. Students return years later to tell how much I meant to them - these are students I had known at ages 4 and 5 who still remember me a decade later!
So, why am I becoming a teacher?
Because someone has to do it, and that someone might as well be me. I enjoy my work, I enjoy the ups and downs, I enjoy the struggles and challenges and overcoming them, I enjoy making difficult topics understandable to young minds, I enjoy what I do even when I hate it. To me, that's love.
With good luck and a positive outlook, I'll be graduating with a degree in Early Childhood Education next September. It may not be prestigious, it may not make me a lot of money, but it will allow me to continue on the path I've set myself. Thanks for reading.
26 votes -
Meeting bloat has taken over corporate America. Can it be stopped?
46 votes -
US offers nearly half-a-million Venezuelan migrants legal status and work permits following demands from strained cities
16 votes -
Confessions of a McKinsey whistleblower
24 votes -
Thirty criticisms that hold women leaders back, according to new research
25 votes -
Is understaffing a new norm?
I'm asking this as a genuine question, not as a hot take. Where I'm coming from: My husband and I went to dinner the other night -- apologies from the waitress on being shortstaffed. A sign on a...
I'm asking this as a genuine question, not as a hot take.
Where I'm coming from:
My husband and I went to dinner the other night -- apologies from the waitress on being shortstaffed. A sign on a local store asks for patience with the lack of staff. The people staffing order pickup at a nearby department store aren't enough to keep up with orders. At my most recent doctor's appointment I spent almost 45 minutes in the exam room waiting to be seen (for an appointment I had to make over a year ago). A few hours after the appointment I went to pick up a prescription, and it hadn't even begun to be processed yet. There was only one cashier working, and she was having to jump between the in-person line and the drive-thru lane. At my job we don't have enough substitute teachers, so we're dependent on regular teachers covering classes during their "prep" periods.
This is merely a recent snapshot from my own life that I'm using as a sort of representative sample, but it feels like something that's been building for a while -- like something that was going to be temporary due to COVID but has stuck around and is now just what we're supposed to get used to. I remember that I used to keep thinking that understaffing would eventually go away over time, but it seems like it's just standard practice now?
Is this something specific to my experiences or my local area (I'm in the US, for context)? Are other people seeing the same thing?
Assuming it isn't just me, is there anything out there besides anecdotes that addresses this phenomenon? I don't want to lean solely on gut reactions, but I also can't deny that nearly every business I go to seems visibly short-staffed all of the time.
124 votes -
The housing crisis driving America’s teacher shortage
27 votes -
Robots are pouring drinks in Vegas. As AI grows, the city's workers brace for change
19 votes -
Reflections on a strike as turning point - How to destroy a creative industry and how to save it
13 votes -
All work and no pay: Findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher survey
14 votes -
Female surgeons sexually assaulted while operating
38 votes -
Where have all the girlbosses gone?
20 votes -
New research debunks the gender pay gap myth that 'women don't ask'
33 votes -
What are the best resources for finding work in today's climate?
I've been a professional in the IT sector for the past 25 years, and during that time I've gone through several different methods of finding my next gig. Back when I started out, the internet was...
I've been a professional in the IT sector for the past 25 years, and during that time I've gone through several different methods of finding my next gig. Back when I started out, the internet was still a relatively new thing, so I got my first few positions by answering ads in the local newspaper (remember those?)
Two years ago, I decided to try my hand at writing novels, and while that has been quite fulfilling personally, it hasn't yet started to pay any bills so I've had to keep my IT skills sharp and hold down a standard job to pay the bills.
Now though, I find that I'm looking a lot harder at the companies and people I work for, and I'd like to be able to shop around a bit more for a position at a place that is more in line with me as a person.
To that end, I'm wondering what methods are more commonplace now for finding employment, as opposed to my standard, which is pretty much indeed and the occasional linkedin find. Which methods have you had the most success with?
22 votes -
Some small towns in America are disbanding police forces, citing hiring woes
23 votes -
UK government looks to rollback sickness benefits
18 votes