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Workplaces Are in Denial Over How Much Americans Have Changed
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Workplaces Are in Denial Over How Much Americans Have Changed

Employers are trying desperately to ignore that we’ve become fundamentally different humans

Alvin Chang
The Guardian, 2022
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The COVID-19 pandemic triggered widespread experiences of loss and grief. The resulting trauma has changed people’s attitudes and priorities. Still, many companies now plan a return to pre-pandemic ways of working. This retrograde approach remains out of step with employees’ evolving worldviews – and the reality of an economic system that fails to deliver for most workers – explains journalist Alvin Chang in this eye-opening piece for The Guardian.

Summary

COVID-19 has changed people’s attitudes toward work and life.

Pandemics don’t just have a profound impact on the daily rhythms of people’s lives; they also alter the way people think more fundamentally about their existence and priorities. Nine million Americans lost a close relative to COVID-19, and the pandemic left individuals to grapple with their own mortality and rethink the way they want to spend their finite time.

Many employees started to question their fixation on excessive work and career advancement and started to put more emphasis on their personal lives. Almost a quarter of Americans, meanwhile, now say they want a job that provides them with a larger sense of purpose.

The pandemic...

About the Author

Alvin Chang is a US data and visual reporter for The Guardian. 

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