• Tech employees share their salary negotiation tips, which helped boost their pay by tens of thousands of dollars.
• Their negotiation strategies include practicing pitches, using data, and leveraging multiple offers.
• Research and transparency are key in negotiating better compensation in tech roles, they said.

Sarra Bounouh has worked at consulting giant Accenture and three Big Tech companies.

But she still deals with imposter syndrome, especially when talking compensation.

"Going into a negotiation is always, at least for me, a very uncomfortable discussion," Bounouh told Business Insider. "I just want to push through and ask for what I deserve."

She and four other tech employees from Meta, Google, and Cisco shared their salary negotiation tips before joining a company or when trying to get promoted. They have used these strategies to add tens of thousands of dollars to their original offers in recent years.

Product manager at Meta

Avoid offering the first number. If you must, back it up with research, said Bounouh, a product manager who joined Meta earlier this year.

She suggested using resources like Levels.fyi or Glassdoor and selecting your role and geography to see recent offers and compensation that makes sense for that job.

"I personally don't like having detailed conversations about level and compensation from that first call with the recruiter because I want to meet the team, I want to meet the hiring manager, I want to get excited about the role," she said.

Bounouh prefers to negotiate her level and compensation once there's an offer on the table.

She said she often gets asked about salary expectations early in the process because recruiters say they want to save time for both sides.

She politely declines to share a number by telling the recruiter: "I don't have a number for your right now. I will need to do some research before getting back to you. At this stage of the process, I'm more focused on meeting the hiring manager and team."

Rehearsal is key for conversations about promotions or raises, she said.

Bounouh said she practiced her pitch for every job after Accenture and increased all three jobs' initial salary offers: Microsoft by 32%, Snap by 19%, and Meta by 37%.

Product manager at Oracle

Internal transfers between teams or offices are also an opportunity to negotiate your compensation package.

Ketaki Vaidya, who moved from Oracle's India to California office in 2022, said she approached her negotiation with an "everything under the sun is negotiable" mindset.

First, Vaidya looked at Glassdoor and talked to people who'd made the move to gather salary data. She wanted to ensure she was getting a fair offer for the US' cost of living.

"I was being given this offer for the credibility that I had built in the organization. I felt like I had an upper hand in negotiating," she said. "I was much more confident in asking for the things that I deserve — so it ended up being a very smooth transition."

After negotiating her base salary up to $80,000, she discussed other compensation components, including the timing of her next review, sign-on bonuses, relocation costs, paid leave, and remote work. She negotiated a sign-on bonus of $15,000 and a relocation allowance of $15,000, which weren't part of the initial offer.

Now, her compensation is about $130,000 annually, including stock units and bonuses.

Product manager at Cisco

When Varun Kulkarni switched from consulting to tech to work on more artificial intelligence projects, he was careful not to come off as aggressive during his pay negotiations.

Once he had offers from Cisco and others in hand in 2022, he was transparent with recruiters and mentioned other offers, without introducing his own counter number.

He asked recruiters how high they could go and what they thought about other offers.

"You want to kind of not be too pushy" he said.

His offer from Cisco already matched the market rate and what several competitors were offering, but he managed to negotiate it by 5%, bringing his total compensation to $180,000.

Product manager at Google

During his 2022 recruitment process at Google, Yung-Yu Lin used his employer at the time, PayPal, to land better offers from both companies.

He interviewed and landed jobs at several places — but their pay did not compare with Google's offer.

Lin decided to negotiate a retention package. PayPal countered with a 10% pay bump. He then renegotiated with Google.

Google offered a 20% raise on his original compensation at PayPal, which brought his offer to the $350,000 to $400,000 range as a senior product manager, including stock-based compensation.

Software engineer at Meta

Hemant Pandey, a senior software engineer at Meta, used other offers and research in his most recent job search.

After two years at Salesforce, in 2021 he applied to Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, and two other companies. He used offers from these companies to negotiate his compensation at Meta.

"Be very transparent that you have other offers. Even if you have interviews going on, mention those, because it's also leverage," he said. It signals to the recruiter that they have to move fast and work with your parameters.

Meta's recruiters matched the base salary and restricted stock units from the highest of all offers.

Aside from being transparent, Pandey said it is important to be proactive and research how compensation works in different companies. For example, candidates should compare how stocks are refreshed, he said. A refresher is when the stock option portion of an employee's compensation is updated.

"I also negotiated my sign-on bonus and said, 'Hey, at Salesforce, I'll be leaving my $30,000 to $40,000 of annual bonus if I join you. Can you help me accommodate that?'"

Pandey was offered $520,000 in annual pay, including stock options, in that 2021 move.

"The most significant thing happened in my career when I made the move from Salesforce to Meta, which was close to almost 80 to 90% hike" in pay, Pandey said.

Do you work in tech, consulting, or finance and have a story to share about your career journey? Please reach out at [email protected].

• I'm the youngest of three siblings — and the only Gen Zer.
• When I graduated this year, I faced the realities of job-hunting and adulthood.
• I learned lessons from observing my sisters and other millennials navigate their 20s.

After 16 years in the education system, my time as a student ended on a random Wednesday afternoon in April. I was finally free from lectures, tests, and group projects — but thrust into the realities of a scarier world: adulthood.

In this world, there were no set milestones to tell me I was on the right track. Everyone seemed to be on a path to something greater, but I felt directionless.

I know I'm not alone. Every 20-something has probably felt at least a little bit lost in life. But amid mass layoffs and the threat of AI replacing jobs, stepping into the job market as a fresh graduate in 2024 felt like diving head-first into an abyss.

An August report by an early careers platform, Handshake, surveyed 1,925 graduating students. They found that 57% of the students felt pessimistic about starting their careers — an increase from 49% of graduating students last year. Of the 57%, 63% said the competitive job market contributed to their pessimism.

The stress of not knowing whether I could secure a job was compounded by uncertainty about my career. I had studied journalism but wasn't sure if it was the right fit. I had the irrational fear that if my first job turned out to be the "wrong" choice, I'd be relegated back to the start line of the rat race.

Amid a brewing quarter-life crisis, I looked to my sisters, aged 28 and 31. They do many things that people of my generation may scoff at, like watching Instagram reels exclusively and using the laughing emoji. But they seem to have figured out one thing: life after college.

Here's what I've learned from watching them conquer the Roaring Twenties.

Life doesn't end when school ends

Toward the end of college, I mentally prepared myself for the fast-approaching expiration of youth.

"You must treasure your university days," relatives constantly reminded me at yearly Lunar New Year gatherings. They painted adulthood as a bleak portrait of bills, mundanity, and loneliness. So, when the time came, I was reluctant to let go of my identity as a student.

But as the youngest sibling, I also watched my sisters graduate from college, get married, and build their own homes. I saw them achieve promotions at work, find new hobbies, and start a life outside the one I knew of us growing up together.

Adulting isn't easy — I now know that. But there are also so many new milestones and freedoms that come with it, and there is so much to be excited about.

A job is just a job

My elder sister works in communications and the other in architecture. Even when their hours stretched into the night and weekends, they built a whole life outside work.

One started a sticker side business, and the other is now an avid runner.

It wasn't always smooth. My second-oldest sister burned out after working too much in her first job and took a career break. She prioritized work-life balance at her next job.

In that way, millennials and Gen Zers are alike. A 2024 report by Deloitte found that work-life balance topped the priorities for both generations when choosing an employer. When asked which areas of life were most important to their sense of identity, both generations agreed that jobs came second only to friends and family.

Distancing myself from the idea that my job had to be my one true passion lifted a weight off my shoulders. As much as I still want a job that gives me purpose, I also make time for other aspects of life that fulfill me, like working out and spending time with friends.

Just give it time

As with most worries, the fear that I'd never find a job was unfounded. In July, I started my first job as a junior reporter. But when the first day at work finally ended, I trudged home in a daze.

"I have to do this every day for the next 40 years?" I asked my second-oldest sister, who laughed. It wasn't that I didn't like the job. It was the change in routine from school life to a 9-to-5 that unsettled me.

"You'll get used to it," my sister said. Six months in, I still don't know if I will. But seeing my millennial counterparts thrive has encouraged me.

It's not just my siblings who have set an example. At work, my millennial colleagues are a constant source of guidance to the Gen Zers in the office. On social media, millennial influencers brand themselves as "internet big sisters" and give advice on navigating the complex years of their 20s.

Older millennials are now turning 40, but they were once in the position of Gen Zers, being scoffed at by the older generations for being "lazy" and changing work culture.

Now, they've drawn the map for Gen Zers' entry into the strange world of adulthood. It's made adulting just a little less scary.

• Demand for AI skills is expected to grow in 2025, driven by tech and non-tech firms.
• Tech industry hiring could rebound after several slow years, driven by demand for AI skills.
• AI skills are often scarce, with high vacancy rates for roles like natural language processing.

People and companies are placing big bets on artificial intelligence. One of the safer ones is that demand for workers with AI skills will continue to grow.

Labor market watchers told Business Insider that in 2025, as in 2024, many employers will likely be eager to hire people with skills in AI — like machine-learning specialists who train models, one of this year's most-talked-about roles — but also in wider areas that touch the technology.

In the tech industry, which has experienced years of lackluster hiring following a pandemic-era surge, there are early signs of a rebound, Hannah Calhoon, VP of AI at Indeed, told BI.

If that continues, she said, hiring will likely include roles involving AI.

Another area of demand, Calhoon said, could come from employers that aren't tech firms yet that need people skilled in incorporating off-the-shelf AI tools into their businesses and datasets.

However, unlike the tech giants, these employers aren't likely to try to build their own AI platforms, she said. So, rather than trying to recruit data scientists and those machine-learning engineers, these companies might instead want workers who can help decide which AI instruments to use and how to incorporate them into their workflow.

"What they're going to be looking for is people who understand those systems and can help them implement those tools in their business," Calhoon said.

That's likely to translate to increased demand in 2025 for roles involving AI implementation and transformation — jobs like applications administrators or solutions architects, she said.

There are other signs that the demand for talent involving AI is picking up.

Last week, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said that the company is experiencing "a big hiring surge" and working to fill thousands of roles to help sell products, including those involving AI. Benioff said the company has 9,000 referrals for the 2,000 positions it's opened.

Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, likewise recently talked up AI's potential. At an event with President-elect Donald Trump last week, Son said that the Japanese conglomerate would invest $100 billion into the US over the next four years and create at least 100,000 jobs in AI and related areas.

Already, other employers are looking to grow around AI. According to Indeed, job postings mentioning AI that saw the biggest growth in the first 11 months of 2024 were senior scientists, software engineering managers, research engineers, and researchers.

AI know-how is scarce for some roles

The market may be growing, though it can be hard for employers to hire in some AI-related areas. The talent firm Randstad reports that it's twice as difficult to find and hire senior-level workers skilled in AI and automation as it is for other senior-level jobs in different industries.

Vacancy rates for roles involving specialized AI skills, like developing natural-language processing models, are as high as 15%, Randstad found. That's about double the overall job vacancy rate in the US. Randstad's estimate on AI jobs is based on an assessment of some 10 million job postings and 136 million résumés in the third quarter of 2024.

According to Randstad, employers worldwide are having the hardest time finding workers skilled in natural language processing, predictive modeling, and "stakeholder communication." The firm notes that this is partly because such abilities are specialized yet also in demand across industries.

In the US, Randstad said, the vacancy rate for jobs that require skills like natural language processing stands at 14%.

Starting from a small base

Indeed recently reported that, as of September, the share of US job postings that mention generative AI or related terminology was up 3.5 times year over year.

Yet that doesn't mean that all employers are looking for GenAI whizzes. Indeed found that only 2% of employers globally included skills related to AI in their job descriptions. By comparison, more than 20% called for basic computer skills.

Nevertheless, Calhoon said, employers' demands for AI skills are only likely to grow.

"Maybe not next year, but three or four years from now, in many roles, there will be an expectation that people will have basic fluency in being able to use some of these platforms," she said.

That's likely in part because it's not only major employers that will expect workers to have AI skills.

Andy Schachtel, CEO of Sourcefit, an offshore staffing firm, told BI that businesses of all sizes are looking to AI to boost efficiency.

The US Chamber of Commerce found in a mid-2024 survey of 1,100 small businesses that four in 10 reported using generative AI, up from 23% in 2023. About three-quarters of small businesses surveyed said they plan to adopt emerging tech like AI.

That could add to the already surging demand for leaders who are experts in AI. According to a review of more than 35,000 public and private companies in the US by Altrata, a research firm focused on executive data, the number of people in the role of chief AI officer or its equivalent — a job many people may not have heard of until this year — was up 70% year-over-year through late October.

That demand is likely one reason that workers with AI skills or who possess capabilities working with AI tools are, on average, 34% more likely to change jobs, according to Randstad.

Nicole Kyle, who researches the future of work, told BI that even for parts of a business where AI might be expected to take on a good share of the workload — like call centers —its adoption would likely increase demand for other roles.

She said that in the case of call centers, for example, those added roles might include positions involving data governance and data cleaning, as well as customer experience. That's one reason Kyle, who's cofounder of CMP Research, said she remains optimistic about AI's impact on jobs.

"I do think net-net, it will create jobs the way other technological advancements have," Kyle said.

• Martins Lasmanis, the founder of Supliful, struggles with balancing startup growth and family time.
• Supliful quickly gained traction, and Lasmanis began working 16-hour days with three young kids.
• He now schedules family time and delegates work to manage 'dad guilt' and improve work-life balance.

My youngest son turned 3 this year — the same age as my startup, Supliful. As I watched my toddler playing on his birthday, I felt a strong sense of guilt creep up inside me. He wasn't a baby anymore, and I realized I'd missed out on him growing up.

"They grow up so fast!" is what all parents say. That day, this cliché suddenly felt terrifyingly real. Even worse — it felt as if, over the past three years, I'd spent more time growing my startup than paying attention to my children growing up.

That feeling was torturous

I've always wanted two things in life: a big family and my own business. Family is where I find peace and joy, and I find self-fulfillment in business. I've never been able to sit still and must be in constant motion.

In 2021, when I became a father of three and founder of a newly launched startup, I felt I was on the right path. My life goals were being met. I was nailing it.

While I didn't expect raising three kids and building a company from scratch would be easy, I didn't worry much either. I had already been there — a few years prior, I was running a successful online store while raising two preschoolers. I thought I had the experience necessary to handle the new responsibilities.

I was wrong

I soon realized my new venture had much more potential and was more complex and demanding than anything I had built before.

When I attracted serious interest from VC investors, my company was still in its ideation phase. We onboarded hundreds of users just three weeks after making our product public. By our second year in business, we were already making over $1M in revenue.

Success came with challenges and new responsibilities. I had to quickly grow our team, onboard new partners, and open a new fulfillment center on the other side of the world to ensure quality service to our clients — all while ensuring we didn't run out of money.

I spent my days on back-to-back calls with investors, business partners, and new hires. In the evenings, I sometimes had to help my colleagues pack and send out orders. I'd regularly travel between our office in Europe and the fulfillment center in Denver, feeling guilty for leaving my family behind every time.

My wife was extremely understanding

Throughout our 13 years together, my wife has always supported me. Although she wasn't happy about me staying late in the office or leaving for another business trip, she always encouraged me to pursue my career goals.

Without realizing it, my working days got longer. At one point, I worked 12 hours a day and sometimes as many as 16 hours.

I still tried to be as hands-on as possible with my kids. My wife and I had our own caregiving "shifts" — I covered mornings and after-work, taking the kids to and from school and day care. My wife handled the evening, taking care of dinner and putting the three to bed. We all tried to spend time together between dinner and my late work calls.

Eventually, a dreaded day came

"Daddy, you're working too much." My 7-year-old daughter caught me off guard. We had just finished our dinner one evening in September, and I prepared to disappear into my home office for another round of calls and emails. I responded "I know. I'm trying to build this business, but I should be more present with you."

I realized I was experiencing an enormous feeling of guilt — the feeling of failing as a parent because I wasn't there for my kids. While I saw my tight work schedule as a sprint that would eventually end, my kids only saw me working.

I had heard about "mom guilt," a term often used to describe the feeling women have when they believe they're not meeting their own or others' expectations in their role as parents.

I felt "dad guilt" — the dark side of entrepreneurship and many other demanding jobs requiring long hours. Every day, I feel guilty for not prioritizing my children or failing to build my startup.

I wish I had an easy fix to make this all balance out

I don't have a solution, but I have found a few things that make the weight easier to carry.

I make it a point to schedule family time on my calendar and never cancel it. I treat it as seriously as any work meeting and make a real effort to be present.

I set high standards, but I've had to remind myself that perfection isn't real. Sometimes, I take stock of the good I've done, balancing it against the areas I wish to improve. Reminding myself of these positives helps me feel more at peace with where I am.

I've delegated more work to my team, allowing me to spend more time with my kids this past month. We're moving to the US next year, so that will be another adventure.

Through it all, I'm beyond grateful for my wife. She's my best friend, and her unwavering support allows me to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams.

• Five people who earn more than $100,000 annually shared how they're spending their money.
• They're trying to balance spending on big purchases with saving for future goals.
• Some have spent money on a new car or travel, while others have invested in a home or startup.

For some, earning a six-figure income can facilitate a big splurge. For others, it's an opportunity to establish additional income streams or financial security.

Abid Salahi earns about $140,000 a year from his software engineering job. The 26-year-old, based in Vancouver, said his biggest purchase over the past year was a new car that cost roughly $37,000. Additionally, Salahi said he upgraded his home workspace.

Despite his earnings, one thing has been out of his reach: owning a home. The houses in his area that check his boxes cost more than $500,000. To afford a down payment, Salahi said he's saving and being more judicious about how much he spends dining out and at the grocery store.

Reaching a six-figure salary can be a challenge for some employees. The average annual salary for US-based full-time workers was about $82,000 as of November, the latest data available, per a New York Fed survey. Some workers who earn more than six figures have used the opportunity to set themselves up for potential future success.

Business Insider asked five people who've made more than $100,000 annually what they've spent their money on in recent years. BI has verified their six-figure earnings.

Balancing spending now and saving for the future

Earning a six-figure income has also created new opportunities for John, who's on track to earn roughly $250,000 this year by balancing a full-time and part-time remote IT role.

The millennial, who's based in California, said one of his biggest expenses over the past year was his sister's medical bills, which were about $30,000, he said.

When he spends money on himself, he focuses on fun and health. He hired a personal trainer, who charges about $130 weekly for a one-hour session. Last year, he spent about $9,000 on a three-week honeymoon in Asia.

While he's trying to take advantage of his money in the present, John said he's also prioritized saving for the future.

"I follow a concept of 'pay yourself first' — where I put money into retirement and savings first, and then the rest is disposable," said John. His identity is known to BI, but he asked to use a pseudonym due to fears of professional repercussions.

Looking forward, John said he's saving money for the children he hopes to have one day, a bigger car, and a home.

Corritta Lewis is also balancing spending now while saving for the future. Last year, Lewis earned roughly $280,000 from her consulting job and a travel blog she runs as a side hustle. The 35-year-old, who's based in Orlando, said she and her wife spend most of their disposable income on travel.

"We've been digital nomads for four years, so most of our money was used to travel the world and have amazing experiences," she said.

Despite her travel expenses, Lewis said she doesn't live a luxurious lifestyle and is focused on long-term saving. She aims to work part-time hours by her 40th birthday.

"Right now, we are prioritizing savings and investments," she said.

Investing in themselves and real estate

Margaret Pattillo took home around $128,000 last year from her digital marketing and PR business. The 27-year-old, who's based in Florida, said she's on track to earn more than $160,000 this year.

Pattillo used her earnings to buy a home earlier this year and has plans to buy a second home as an investment property. She tries to use her money to create additional income streams that will set her up for future financial success.

"I don't place much value in material items and I'm lucky that I get to travel for work frequently," she said. "I'd say my biggest goal is to build up as many cash-flowing assets as I can in the next 10 years."

Christopher Stroup has put his earnings toward a different type of investment: a new business.

Stroup earned roughly $130,000 last year working as a financial advisor. The 33-year-old, who's based in California, said his income has helped him improve his relationships with friends and family by giving him the budget to go out to eat and on trips. He said his goal is to travel to Europe at least once a year.

Over the past year, Stroup said the biggest thing he's spent his money on is the financial planning business he launched in September. He said his startup costs have included marketing expenses and hiring a team. However, he hopes the investment in his business will put him in an even better financial position.

"If it works out well, achieving my financial goals on my desired timeline has a much higher probability of happening," he said, adding that two of his main goals are owning a home and starting a family.

Are you making over $100,000 a year? Are you willing to share your story and the impact this income has had on your life? If so, contact this reporter at [email protected].

• Aditya Challapally teaches a Stanford Online course on generative AI for tech-adjacent professionals.
• Challapally explained how individuals can skill up technically or become an AI domain expert.
• He also said using tools like ChatGPT or Claude can help people understand AI better.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Aditya Challapally, a 30-year-old Microsoft employee who teaches a course for Stanford Online about generative AI. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

I started working in AI about a decade ago. I started as a data science intern at Uber, then did AI consulting at McKinsey, and later joined Microsoft, where I now work on Copilot.

I started guest teaching at Stanford four years ago and recently co-created a course called Mastering Generative AI for Product Innovation, which launched on Stanford Online in August 2024. It's an online, self-paced course that runs throughout the year. All of the research comes from talking to 300-plus users and 50-plus executives.

A lot of the people who take the class are tech adjacent, such as customer support representatives for a technical product, or product managers for a software or hardware product. They'll often be working on somewhat of a technical product and the course helps them understand gen AI a little bit more.

We teach three modules in this course. The first module explains what Gen AI is and where the biggest opportunities are. In the second module, we talk about what great Gen AI products look like.

The third module talks about how great Gen AI products are built and what individuals can do to set themselves up to be more influential, relevant, and useful when building Gen AI products.

These are the two main pathways you can take to do so.

Track 1: Skill up technically

When I go out and talk to Fortune 500 leaders, they say that their most burning need is for professionals who bridge both worlds — those who understand the business requirements but also understand the technical requirements.

This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to learn how to code, but you at least need to have enough technical literacy that you can translate product visions into technical requirements.

The beginner version is just getting really good at prompt engineering. This sounds like it would be quite basic, but understanding the exact limitations of prompts and all of the different tools across text, audio, and image makes you already very valuable in a business setting because you can help generate ideas even before they get to the technical team.

At an intermediate stage you also should start to understand a little bit about how gen AI systems work in systems design, like how gen AI models can be called within your data boundary.

Companies have data boundaries for which they have an agreement with their customers that their data can't go beyond. So if you're a bank, you may have an agreement with your customers that only the bank will use their information. If you send that in some sort of chat to OpenAI, that would be breaking the company data boundary. So something as simple as knowing that is already really helpful.

In the advanced stage of this track, there are two options.

Some people who don't work in big companies go deeper into understanding coding a little more. People who work in Big Tech companies usually dive deeper into system architecture. So they'll understand things like data boundaries and data flow diagrams in a lot more detail.

Track 2: Become an AI expert for your industry

The domain expertise track is where business people automatically lean toward and have an advantage. This is not necessarily knowing more about the industry, but knowing how gen AI can apply to the domain in more detail.

For example, in finance, you have to know things like what data you can use to train a specific model. You also have to know things like what types of privacy and security regulations you have to go through to get an app approved or release a gen AI-related app.

This skillset is so valuable that companies pay large amounts to consultants that have this specialized expertise. I know this guy who used to work as an operations manager at a bank and he figured out where gen AI was the most valuable. Now, companies will just call him to figure out where to launch their gen AI product.

Use the tools and learn their limitations to improve your prompts

The best thing I see people do is try to automate a lot of their lives with gen AI. They use ChatGPT or Claude for everything and that helps them understand the limitations of AI really well and how to prompt it.

When beginners start to use gen AI, they're not used to what I call the abundance of intelligence. They'll say "Can you give me a response to this text message?"

Experts who use gen AI a lot will say something like, "Can you give me 20 responses to this text message?" And then they'll go and use their taste to pick one.

Outside of work, I use it in many ways to think through a lot of plans. It's really helpful as a thought partner for me, even if for communication, for general planning, or for something even as banal as trip planning.

Instead of asking a friend for advice you should think about asking an LLM or a chatbot for advice. That's when you really start to understand how it's useful.

• I had a crush on my coworker and decided to tell him when my contract was up.
• He told me he was flattered but that he had a girlfriend.
• I wonder if the timing was off, but I'm glad I put myself out there.

I remember noticing him early on at my former job. He was funny and had a sunny smile, but he also struck me as confident and competent. A wave of excitement filled my heart every time he was around me, and I felt like a teenager with her first crush — even though I was in my mid-20s.

Maybe you don't like spoilers, but I do, so I will tell the truth right now. This is not a love story. This is a story of rejection after declaring my feelings to my former coworker when my contract ended.

I waited until my last day of work to finally confess my feelings for him, but I'm not sure it was the best decision.

I finally asked my coworker out

I didn't take the decision to tell him lightly. I debated with myself for a long time if I should tell him while we still worked together.

On one hand, I thought it would be heartbreaking for me if he politely declined and I had to see him every day. On the other hand, if he accepted my invitations and we began going out together, an awkward situation would arise. Even if we were working in different departments, being in a small company where we met every day surely didn't help my dilemma.

So, ultimately, I decided to come clean when my contract was finally up. When my six months ran out, I said goodbye to all my coworkers and devised a plan. I decided to finally confess my feelings as he stepped out of the office. Unfortunately, he didn't leave the office alone, so my plan was foiled. But I couldn't keep my romantic feelings to myself anymore.

When I got home, I wrote him a message, finally revealing that I had a crush on him and wanted to tell him in person, but there hadn't been an appropriate occasion. A few minutes afterward, I added that we could have a coffee together one day — if he wanted to.

My hands were sweating as I stared at the three dreaded bubbles showing he was typing. A long text message appeared; he was incredibly kind, even when rejecting me.

He said that he knows how difficult it is to declare your feelings, so he thanked me. Still, he was already seeing another girl.

Being rejected is painful. It can easily affect our self-worth and make us feel like failures. Even though I expected this rejection, I wasn't prepared for that intrusive emptiness that left me feeling lost and thinking that no one would ever want me.

Telling my friend what happened made things slightly more tolerable, but I needed a way to cleanse this intoxicating mixture of emotions from my body and mind.

Summer meant a lot of exercise classes in parks and on the beach. I decided to trade emotional pain for physical strain, and I went to a total-body class in July's heat. Moving my body and sweating felt amazing. It made me temporarily forget this situation.

I'm ultimately proud of myself

One question kept nagging me: Was it even worth telling him the truth?

But now that some months have passed, I don't have any regrets about how things went. Sometimes, I think if I had told him earlier, things could have gone differently, but anguishing over how something could have been is never sensible.

Regardless of the timing, I am proud of stepping out of my comfort zone and declaring my feelings. As an introvert, this can be incredibly challenging.

Even if it was painful at the moment, being rejected was better than remaining in doubt about his feelings.

Rejection is like a period at the end of a sentence. It can feel like an abrupt close, but endings often turn into new beginnings.

• This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Happy (early) holidays! If you're already thinking about what to do with money you might receive this season, perhaps follow this family's lead. They spent their $75,000 inheritance on a bucket list trip to South Africa. They say it helped them grieve.

On the agenda:

• For Generation Alpha, learning to read is becoming a privilege.
• How to pull off the quiet-luxury style, even if you're not rich.
• She stayed at an "otherworldly" Norwegian ice hotel. She'll never do it again.
• Inside the daily routine of a biohacker who wants to live to 150.

But first: A time to say thank you.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app here.

This week's dispatch

Dip into your holiday cheer fund

Even as many Americans are dealing with tipping fatigue, the holiday season can be a time to thank the workers who make their lives easier — with a tip.

According to Bankrate's 2024 Tipping Culture Survey, which surveyed 2,445 US adults earlier this year, many Americans plan to tip their teachers, childcare providers, housekeepers, landscapers, and mail carriers.

Etiquette expert Nick Leighton told Business Insider that it's important to ask those in your community how much they intend to tip since a tip amount is "made up of a constellation of factors, including the nature and length of the relationship with a person and what's considered 'typical' in your area."

Still, if you're wondering how much to tip the people who've helped you all year, here's some general guidance.

Etiquette expert Diane Gottsman told BI that a good tip is typically how much you'd pay childcare providers, housekeepers, and lawn care professionals for a normal visit. However, it may not be legal for teachers and mail carriers to accept tips. Instead, thoughtful non-cash gifts may be more appropriate.

Why our kids can't read

There has never been a golden age for reading scores in America, but a report from last year has raised alarm bells. Reading performance among 13-year-olds has hit its lowest level since 2004, the report found.

Legislators and school districts are touting new, expensive reading programs to improve literacy rates. However, teachers and parents say that's still not helping kids discover the joy of reading. Families who can afford it are moving their kids to different schools or hiring tutors, driving a deeper societal wedge.

Inside the reading wars.

Luxury on the low

Quiet-luxury style is still in vogue. It's all about using high-quality, understated pieces to create chic, effortless looks that say, "I'm rich."

Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow nail the trend. Luckily, quiet luxury is easy to duplicate. A personal stylist shared the tips to keep in mind for achieving the look.

Don't go overboard with logos.

Iced out

Dana McMahan and her husband spent $475 for one night in a Norwegian hotel straight out of "Frozen." Staying in the lodge, McMahon writes, was a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience with an "otherworldly" glow.

But would she do it again? Absolutely not. As it turns out, sleeping on ice isn't the most comfortable arrangement.

An Arctic abode.

Biohacking and business

Every morning, longevity clinic co-owner Kayla Barnes-Lentz, 33, spends 2.5 hours biohacking. Her routine includes her first round of electromagnetic field therapy, a workout, sun exposure for her circadian rhythm, sauna time, a shower, and more — all before breakfast. Her goal is to live to 150.

Barnes-Lentz told BI that her longevity habits — many of which aren't fully scientifically proven — have helped her reverse her biological age by 11 years.

Her daily routine.

What we're watching this weekend

• "Virgin River": Netflix's drama series about a small town returned for season six this week.
• "Juror No. 2": Clint Eastwood's courtroom drama film is now streamable following a quiet theatrical release earlier this year.
• "Beast Games": YouTuber MrBeast's new game show kicked off this week on Prime Video, featuring 1,000 contestants vying for a hefty $5 million cash prize.

See the full list

What to shop

• Not too late to save on jewelry: Though it might be too late to get them for Christmas, Blue Nile's jewelry makes incredible gifts for yourself or a loved one. During its holiday sale, rings, bracelets, earrings, and more are up to 50% off.
• Actually comfy ankle boots: A good pair of ankle boots is versatile, comfortable, and durable. But not all pairs are created equal, so we've rounded up 17 styles to meet your needs, like waterproofing, affordability, and everyday wear.
• Avoid another price hike: YouTube TV will join the wave of streaming services raising prices next year. If you're planning a switch, these are some of the best alternatives to consider.

More of this week's top reads:

• Mark Cuban says 60 is the new 40. He follows 3 habits to stay youthful.
• BI's Rachel Hosie tried microtox: the antiaging treatment that smoothes without freezing the face.
• Ultraluxury hotel brands are turning to cruise ships and private jets.
• A gut-health scientist who trained as a chef shared her 2 easy, go-to breakfasts.
• A travel reporter stayed at one of the most expensive lodges next to the Serengeti National Park, where she fell asleep listening to lions roaring.
• The cancellation of 'Freaks and Geeks' broke Linda Cardellini's heart. It also taught her a valuable lesson.
• Review: The 6 best places to order last-minute Christmas dinner online in 2024.
• A Greek Mediterranean diet expert shared the best advice for Americans who want to eat better on a budget.

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York City. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York.

• Jobs in management consulting can be difficult to land, especially at prestigious firms.
• Management Consulted offers coaching from former MBB consultants and online courses.
• The COO said case interview prep and keeping options open can help aspiring consultants break in.

Jobs in management consulting can be notoriously difficult to land, especially for job seekers hoping to join a prestigious MBB firm — McKinsey, Bain, or BCG.

That's where career coaches come in.

Some aspiring management consultants call in the professionals to walk them through every phase of the application process, from choosing which firms to apply to, submitting their resume and cover letter, and prepping for case study interviews.

Management Consulted, founded in 2008, has worked with more than 15,000 candidates and helped them land jobs at over 170 different firms, according to Namaan Mian, chief operating officer. In addition to online curriculums, the company has around 25 coaches, all of whom formerly worked at an MBB firm.

A top coaching package offered by Management Consulted costs $4,500 and is aimed at those who are at least six months away from actually submitting job applications to firms. The package includes 20 hours of 1:1 sessions with coaches, edits on your resume and cover letter, and access to their online classes.

According to Management Consulted, 80% of their premium clients get at least one job offer from a consulting firm.

For anyone interested in getting into consulting, with the help of professional coaches or not, Mian emphasized a few things that all candidates should focus on.

Don't put all your eggs in one (MBB) basket

Some people interested in consulting are set on joining a prestigious firm, like an MBB or a Big Four — EY, PwC, KPMG, and Deloitte.

While some Management Consulted clients do land at those firms, Mian said it's important applicants keep their options open, and that there are often great opportunities at lesser known firms.

"There are literally hundreds of consulting firms out there doing amazing work," he said. "Some of them pay just as well as the MBB or the Big Four, and nobody's ever heard of them."

Mian noted that Management Consulted's salary report, which includes salary data from more than 100 firms, shows there are plenty of lesser-known companies with high-paying starting salaries.

He said they generally advise clients to identify and focus on six to eight firms. The goal is for clients to have several offers at the end of the process that they can leverage against one another.

Timing is key

Hiring in consulting works on pretty specific timelines, which vary depending on where the applicant is in their schooling, Mian said.

For undergraduates, applications are typically due in June or July, interviews are conducted in August, and offers are given by September or October for positions that start the following summer.

That means undergraduates should ideally figure out by the second semester of sophomore year that they want to go into consulting, so they can start prepping and applying to land internships for their summer after junior year.

For first-year MBAs seeking internships, application deadlines are typically in November, with interviews in January, and offers extended by the end of January for positions that summer.

For second-year MBAs looking for a full-time role. Application deadlines are in August and September, followed by interviews and offers.

Mian said being aware of these timelines so you can prepare and network well in advance is key to landing a consulting role. He said how long you've prepared is "the number one determinant in terms of success."

"If you wait to start preparing for the interview until you already have one, it's almost always too late," he said.

Focus on mastering case studies

Case interviews are a unique and notoriously tough part of getting hired in consulting.

In a case interview, candidates are presented with a business problem and need to develop a plan to solve it in real time. Preparing for case interviews can be the most time-consuming part of getting a job in consulting.

"Case interviews are a skill that I would say don't come naturally to any human being," Niam said, adding, "You have to talk, you have to think, and you have to write at the same time."

Getting to the level of competency needed to succeed in a case interview requires a lot of practice, and specifically practicing out loud with a friend or coach.

That's why starting to prepare early, well before you even submit your application, is crucial, he said. If you wait until you get an interview there won't be enough time to get good as case studies.

Make sure you actually love business

Mian said that although it may seem obvious, before deciding to become a consultant you need to make sure you love business — reading about business, thinking about business, and talking about business.

"At the end of the day, you are solving business problems for larger organizations, and all of your projects have one of three outcomes: You are either working to increase revenue, decrease costs, or update the organizational design," Mian said. "That is my second-grade definition of what a consultant does."

Plenty of people are drawn to consulting because of the prestige and high-paying salaries, he said, but find once they are actually in the job, often spending the majority of their days as a new consultant in Excel, they don't enjoy it.

"If you don't like solving business problems, you're not going to like consulting," he said.

Have a news tip or a story to share? Do you work in consulting or have you worked with a consulting career coach? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• After 10 years in elementary education, I decided I no longer wanted to be a teacher.
• I wanted a more flexible job that allowed me to stay at home with my kids.
• When time allows, I'm able to make more money than I did as a teacher and have a better work-life balance.

When I went into education, I did so with the best intentions. Being a male elementary school teacher was sort of like being a unicorn. It is extremely rare for a man to be teaching early elementary. There were plenty of single-mom families in the area where I lived, and I knew many students didn't have a male role model at home to inspire them, so I thought I could fill this void. I took the responsibility seriously.

But after ten years in the field, I had to tap out for a few reasons. None of the reasons really had to do with the students themselves. The pay wasn't great (after 10 years of teaching I was still taking home just around $3,000 a month) and I didn't enjoy the politics of teaching. But, the most important reason was probably that my wife and I were ready to start a family. She often works long hours and I didn't want someone else to raise my children. I thought I could find a way to contribute financially and still be home with the children.

Becoming a freelance writer

Before I went into education, I had been a journalist for a few years. It wasn't something I really enjoyed at the time and I didn't see myself wanting to cover mundane board meetings forever. If you ever suffer from insomnia, just drop in on these meetings occasionally. It's like an instant sleeping pill.

Still, I thought I was a decent writer. I've certainly read worse over the years from people who made their living as professional writers. So while I was still teaching, I joined Upwork, a website that connects freelancers with those looking to hire contract workers. Upwork allows people or companies to search for a specific type of writer they are looking for to complete their project at hand. You are competing against other writers who are also applying, but Upwork is a great tool to use when you are first attempting a freelance career.

To begin, I set my fees low to get my foot in the door. Then it wasn't long before I had clients who were asking me to write for them on either a weekly or monthly basis. As an unexpected bonus, most of the topics I covered genuinely interested me. Health and fitness, education, and even ghostwriting children's books were all things I enjoyed writing — and I was getting paid to do it.

Fast forward four months

As I was wrapping up my last weeks in the classroom before the school year ended, I realized I could go give my notice that I would not be coming back to teach the following August.

I had just made $6,000 in one month from freelancing — and that was while I was still teaching. I would definitely miss my students and all the friends I had made, but being able to set my own schedule, work from home, and raise my kids was something I could not pass up. My wife and I were having children later on in life, and the math showed me I would probably not get the chance to spend as much time with my kids as other fathers, so I switched careers.

My plan is mostly working well

I'll admit, I underestimated how much time I would have to write while taking care of two babies at home. I've really had to narrow down my client list over the last five years, picking the ones that are truly worthwhile. Now I only accept writing assignments I can get excited about.

Though I only have about 15 hours of free time at home a week where I can focus on writing, I have made the most of it. In fact, you can find my two children's books "Ellie and Jack: Third Grade Ghost Hunters," and "Ellie and Jack: Third Grade Vampire Hunters," on Amazon and other sites. I always wanted to write children's books, and after helping thousands of children become better readers over the years, I think I have a pretty good idea on the types of stories they love to read. Weaving my teaching past into my current career has been a joy.

With one child getting ready for kindergarten and the other just a couple of years away, it won't be long before I will have more time to write once again.

• Roofers, construction helpers, and grounds maintenance workers have higher fatal injury rates than many other jobs.
• Last year, logging workers had the highest rate per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers at 98.9.
• The overall rate dropped from 3.7 fatal injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2022 to 3.5.

Logging, transportation, and hunting work can be risky jobs in the US based on the latest fatal work injury rates released by the Labor Department.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published data on fatal injuries at work in 2023 by industry and occupation.

Fatal injury rates at work were down overall last year. "A worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2023 compared to 96 minutes in 2022," a news release from BLS on Thursday said.

Three civilian occupations had rates above 50 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. Logging workers had a fatal injury rate of almost 100 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2023, way above the overall rate of 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers last year. That rate of 3.5 was a tick down from the rate of 3.7 in 2022.

Below are the 10 deadliest jobs in the US based on fatal work injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.

10. Structural iron and steel workers

Fatal work injury rate: 19.8

Number of fatal work injuries: 9

9. Miscellaneous agricultural workers

Fatal work injury rate: 20.2

Number of fatal work injuries: 146

8. Grounds maintenance workers

Fatal work injury rate: 20.5

Number of fatal work injuries: 226

7. Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

Fatal work injury rate: 26.8

Number of fatal work injuries: 984

6. Helpers in construction trades

Fatal work injury rate: 27.4

Number of fatal work injuries: 16

5. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers

Fatal work injury rate: 31.3

Number of fatal work injuries: 62

4. Refuse and recyclable material collectors

Fatal work injury rate: 41.4

Number of fatal work injuries: 41

3. Roofers

Fatal work injury rate: 51.8

Number of fatal work injuries: 113

2. Fishing and hunting workers

Fatal work injury rate: 86.9

Number of fatal work injuries: 19

1. Logging workers

Fatal work injury rate: 98.9

Number of fatal work injuries: 52

• As a graduate student at Stanford, Alex Yin, 32, had to decide between two internship opportunities
• He chose an internship in Bhutan, even though it was less relevant to his career.
• During his monthlong stint as an IT consultant, he learned how to grow from discomfort.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alex Yin, 32, an options trader from New Jersey. He graduated from Stanford Graduate School of Business in June. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

As a Stanford Graduate School of Business student, deciding where to intern was tough.

I had two offers under the school's international program, the Global Management Immersion Experience. In order to graduate, fulfilling this program is required — either through the work abroad program or by taking a course on international business.

My first option was to work for a family office in Madrid, analyzing various investments. I had studied finance and statistics undergrad at New York University and had spent seven years in Chicago trading options at a large firm. It seemed like a natural fit and could be useful for anything I wanted to do in the future.

But I also had a second offer — a monthlong internship as an IT consultant at a hazelnut farm in Bhutan.

I had wanted to go to Bhutan ever since I went on vacation to Tibet when I was 17. It was such a magical place, and I wanted to return to a similar environment. I also knew it was a difficult country for visitors to visit as the government limits tourism.

It was a battle between my heart and my head. My heart was screaming, "Go to Bhutan! It doesn't matter what the job or company is. It's a cool opportunity."

Usually, I trust my head, but for this, I just listened to my heart.

I took the second offer

In August 2023, I flew 14 hours from New York to New Delhi and another five hours to Bhutan.

On the night I arrived, I met the CEO of Mountain Hazelnuts — an eccentric and friendly British man. The next morning, he took me to Tiger's Nest, an iconic monastery in Bhutan. It was an intense two-hour hike with steep and muddy trails.

Before the trip, I told myself I wouldn't care how uncomfortable it was and that I could spend a month without complaining. But it was day two, and I was like, "Wow, this is not easy. It's hot. I'm sweaty. There's a lot of poop around me. I'm about to fall." Still, I pushed through, and it was a magical experience at the top.

Later, we took a 16-hour car ride to Lingmethang, a small town in the eastern part of Bhutan, where I would work. I stayed in a three-bedroom home above the corporate office.

My week was divided between days in the office and field visits. As an IT consultant, my job responsibility was to manage a very limited IT budget and improve the security of their backup systems.

There was a point when I realized I'd actually never done any of this stuff before. "Am I qualified for the role?" I wondered to myself.

However, I learned that you can achieve a lot if you spend your time fully focused on solving a problem, even if you haven't had that direct experience before.

After work, I'd go to the village, drink a beer, and eat some momos, a type of dumpling, with my colleagues. They were locals between the ages of 25 and 45, and could all speak English well. I had to adjust to the simplicity, but I really appreciated it after a year at Stanford, where social events were nonstop.

Growing from discomfort

My biggest takeaway was that transitioning from a comfortable to an uncomfortable state isn't easy. But once you're in that uncomfortable state, it's pretty easy to maintain it.

In the village, I didn't have a lot of creature comforts. I had a pretty spartan life. But I was just as happy there, without the technology and distractions I had in Palo Alto. It's such a beautiful place that I didn't feel bored.

At night, I'd fend off mosquitoes, as locals don't kill them. I ran out of mosquito repellent in the first week, which was hard. The food also took a bit of getting used to, as it was mostly vegetarian.

Now, I live in New Jersey and am back in options trading. Although the internship was not entirely relevant to my career, it helped me gain confidence that if I try my best to solve a problem, I can still accomplish something.

I also appreciated how cohesive the company in Bhutan was. Although it wasn't doing well, everyone wanted to contribute their best. They held company barbecues where people would bring their families, dance, and sing into the night. I never heard anyone complaining during my time there.

I have found that this cohesiveness is hard to find in the US, where firms incentivize loyalty with money. I'd like to apply that to my future work places.

I will never regret choosing Bhutan, and I plan to return for a visit at some point.

• AT&T's CTO told his US team there wouldn't be "one-for-one" seating upon the full office return.
• He added that AT&T would stagger its five-day-a-week mandate as more office space was constructed.
• Some teams may see their full office return delayed if construction doesn't finish in time, he said.

AT&T Technology Services employees in the US won't have "one-for-one" seating when they begin returning to the office five days a week in the new year, the company's chief technology officer wrote in a new memo.

The telecom giant's CTO, Jeremy Legg, detailed how the new in-office policy would be implemented across his US team in a Wednesday memo obtained by Business Insider.

The new in-office requirement for US AT&T Technology Services employees will begin a phased rollout on January 6 and is expected to be fully implemented for most teams by March 3, the memo said.

"Our purpose at AT&T is connecting people to greater possibility," Legg wrote. "We firmly believe that working together, in person and in proximity to our peers, is the best way for ATS employees to fulfill that purpose."

Legg oversees AT&T's technology organizations for business, consumer, IT and cloud, data and analytics, security, network architecture and AT&T Labs, and new product development. The AT&T Technology Services team has roughly 10,000 workers in the US.

AT&T told BI that organizations within the company have the flexibility to determine the right approach for their teams based on business needs and that many were staggering the return of employees.

The memo came after BI first reported that AT&T was tightening its return-to-office mandate from three days a week to five full workdays.

Legg said in the email that the company understood that not every employee could be on-site every single day because of "travel, vacations, or other reasons" and that "leaders will work with employees to provide the needed occasional flexibility."

While several expansion projects are underway in Atlanta and Dallas, Legg said AT&T "will not offer one-for-one seating per employee" and the company "will observe capacity vs. demand and make adjustments" as needed.

Legg's memo said that teams assigned to AT&T's Atlanta-area locations would be notified if their full-return-to-office date was delayed as construction on additional space progressed.

Several employees have told BI that workspace capacity has been a challenge, even with the prior hybrid arrangement.

Employees told BI it's common for workers to end up sitting in the hallways or working in the cafeteria to avoid running afoul of the company's attendance-tracking system.

One employee said their office had more than 1,200 people assigned to it but only about 150 desks available.

"I know returning to the office 5 days a week is a significant change for some," Legg said in his memo. "By coming together in person, we can strengthen our connections, foster a vibrant culture, and achieve our shared goals."

Read the full memo

Dear ATS U.S.-Based Management Employees,

Our purpose at AT&T is connecting people to greater possibility. We firmly believe that working together, in person and in proximity to our peers, is the best way for ATS employees to fulfill that purpose. By fostering in-person interactions, we can form stronger relationships, build trust and enhance our collaboration, innovation, and overall effectiveness as a team.

Full-Time Office Presence in 2025

That's why l'm asking all employees with Full Time Office designations (NFTO, MFTO CFTO) to return to the office full time, with staggered starts based on management level and office space availability. FTO employees in ATS will work in the office full-time, 5 days a week according to this schedule:

• January 6, 2025: All U.S.-based supervising level 4s and above
• February 3, 2025: All U.S.-based supervising level 3s and above in all locations except Atlanta and Alpharetta¹
• March 3, 2025²: All other U.S.-based management employees in all locations except Atlanta and Alpharetta¹

¹Construction of additional space is underway at Lenox, with an expected readiness date between April and June. As construction progresses, employees in Atlanta and Alpharetta will be notified when it's time to work in the office 5 days a week.

²Construction of additional space for ATS teams is underway at Dallas Headquarters and at 2900 West Plano Pkwy. Employees in these locations will return to the office March 3 if the space is ready. If completion is delayed, we will communicate further instructions to affected teams.

As we stagger the return to 5 days per week per the timeline above, FTO employees should continue to be present in the office 3 to 5 days per week. There is no change in expectations for Future Office Workers or virtual workers. We periodically review the needs of the business and may occasionally change an employee's office designation based on those needs.

Fostering Collaboration

Between now and early first quarter 2025, we will be working with Global Workplace Services to align teams to neighborhoods on each of our campuses.

Even with employees working full time in the office, we know that not all employees will be in every day due to travel, vacations, or other reasons. We will not offer one-for-one seating per employee. We will observe capacity vs. demand and make adjustments working with Workplace Services as needed.

Flexibility and Accountability

We know employees occasionally need to work remotely for various reasons. Leaders will work with employees to provide the needed occasional flexibility. This balance between flexibility and accountability is essential to maintaining our high standards of performance and collaboration. Senior leadership will review overall presence trends via How and Where We Work presence dashboards. With this data, we will work toward improving things like seating, availability of amenities, and parking options.

Next Steps

The How and Where ATS Works SharePoint site is your definitive source of information on returning to the office full-time, including campus and neighborhood information as it becomes available. It is currently being updated to reflect the changing expectations for our organization. Supervisors can also answer questions. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved.

Additional Thoughts

I know returning to the office 5 days a week is a significant change for some. As we outlined during Analyst and Investor Day, we have tremendous momentum in growing this company the right way. That momentum will accelerate when we reap the benefits of faster collaboration and innovation. By coming together in person, we can strengthen our connections, foster a vibrant culture, and achieve our shared goals.

Your dedication and commitment to excellence are the driving forces behind our success.

Thank you for your continued hard work and support. I look forward to seeing you all in the office and working together to create an even brighter future for ATS.

Jeremy

If you are an AT&T worker who wants to share your perspective, please contact Dominick via email or text/call/Signal at 646-768-4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends using a personal email and a nonwork device when reaching out.

• AI tools can help reduce the need to attend some work meetings and boost productivity.
• These apps can summarize meetings, answer workers' questions, and train employees.
• This article is part of "Transforming Business," a series on the must-know leaders and trends impacting industries.

Matt Martin knows about meetings run amok.

He's the CEO and cofounder of Clockwise, which aims to help people manage their work calendars so they have more time to get things done — and not just sit in meetings.

Earlier this year, in a bid to be more efficient, he started using an artificial-intelligence tool called Granola to help him take notes in meetings and summarize takeaways and to-dos.

The result for Martin is time saved and "actually pretty damn good notes," he told Business Insider.

Efforts to reduce the sting of meetings are perhaps as old as meetings themselves. Yet the imperative can feel more urgent thanks to our propensity, hardened during the pandemic, to wedge more gatherings into our calendars.

Now, thanks to AI, we might soon have fewer work meetings — or at least attend fewer. It's likely, according to execs leading the development of the technology, that corpulent calendars will be no match for AI-powered notetaking apps capable of being everywhere all at once.

And AI meeting bots won't serve just as digital scribes. They'll resemble all-knowing, indefatigable assistants able to take on tasks like answering questions on our behalf, interviewing job candidates, and training workers, execs told BI.

The boss' avatar

Sam Liang generally has as many as 40 meetings a week.

It's not practical for him to attend each one, so sometimes he sends an AI stand-in. This is easy enough for Liang since he's the CEO and cofounder of Otter, an app that records audio from meetings and produces a real-time transcript using AI.

Liang told BI he uses Otter to forgo some meetings. He then reads the summaries or listens to the recording. Liang expects more leaders will soon do this.

He estimated that perhaps 20% of C-level executives would use AI avatars to attend routine meetings on their behalf by the end of 2025.

In his case, Liang has an avatar that acts like a "personalized agent." Otter trained the AI using seven years' worth of Liang's meetings, along with emails and some Google docs he wrote on topics like product principles, Otter's strategies, and why the company does certain things.

"When people ask me those questions, my avatar can answer probably 90% of those," Liang said.

This knowledge can flow to new hires at Otter. Liang said his AI avatar could use what he's said and written to explain his vision for the company, its strategies, and its origin, for example.

A view of the future

The ramifications of having an ever-present AI available to document our workdays — and beyond — will be similar in scale to that of the introduction of the internet, said Terry Sejnowski, a distinguished professor at the University of California, San Diego, who's a neuroscientist and the author of the book "ChatGPT and the Future of AI."

"Nobody predicted the impact it was going to have on our lives," Sejnowski said. "Same thing here. It's going to take decades."

He said keeping track of meetings and other interactions would go well beyond capturing audio or video. Sejnowski sits on the scientific advisory committee for Softeye, a startup developing glasses intended to work with a smartphone to serve as an AI assistant. Similar attempts have been made, of course. Remember Google Glass?

Ray-Ban Meta glasses allow users to take photos and videos. In September, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said updates to the glasses aimed to let users translate certain languages, scan QR codes, and capture images of what they've seen so they can refer to them later when, for example, they need to buy something.

Softeye's plan, Sejnowski said, is to have glasses that constantly recognize objects and people around the wearer and provide related information. He said they would also take snapshots and store them, along with the time they were taken. That would make it possible, he said, to reconstruct where a user was — and rely on the AI assistant.

"You can ask it questions," Sejnowski said. "Did I promise anything to this person?"

Highlight reels of meetings

Richard White, like so many other desk workers, found himself stuck on endless Zoom calls during the pandemic.

He found it frustrating to take notes, jump to another call, and have little time to clean up his takeaways in between. Plus, White said, even good notes weren't always reliable after too long.

"Do you really remember what was important?" he said.

Four years ago, White started Fathom, a company that uses AI to capture video and generate notes from meetings.

People don't necessarily want a transcript, he said, though it's often necessary for AI to work its meeting magic — including generating notes, making to-do lists, and updating data on customer-relationship management.

White said that what most meeting-goers are after, aside from a list of action items, is a better recall of the ephemeral and unstructured information that's often delivered at these gatherings. Showing up, White said, is often the only way to access it.

He said AI notetakers would be able to produce highlight reels of key meeting moments. The goal, White said, would be to reduce "meeting inflation" by enabling fewer people to attend them while maintaining information flow.

"You'll have an AI that actually goes out and listens to every meeting in your org and comes back and tells you, 'Here's the five minutes of content you should pay attention to today,'" White said.

White said an accessible record of all but the most sensitive meetings within an organization could serve as a basis for identifying gaps in training or generating feedback. That's in part because AI can now accurately discern sentiment and tone — something that's become possible only in the past six months to a year, he said.

Beyond that, he said, AI meeting bots will be able to act on ideas. So if someone in a meeting proposes creating a document, the AI would have a draft ready soon after.

White doesn't expect we'll necessarily each have individual bots that go to meetings on our behalf. He said that would quickly result in meetings swimming with AI avatars.

The best approach, White said, would be to use a "federated" system where all the meetings are accessible. That way, anyone not in the meeting could access the content through a personal agent that lives in the cloud, he said.

White said bosses could ask AI for instances in which a meeting was positive or when participants grew frustrated. A search might take the form of, "Give me a pricing discussion that didn't go well," he said. That goes well beyond parsing a transcript for the word "price," he added.

"The tech is finally there, and it's really good," he said.

An interview with AI

AI could also help document meetings with prospective employees, said Alan Price, the global head of talent acquisition at Deel, a global human resources company that helps employers hire abroad. Price told BI that Deel had begun using AI meeting tools to reduce the time and personnel needed to hire for roles like customer service.

That's important because when Deel posts that type of job, Price said, the company might soon have some 4,000 applications. So Deel uses an AI bot to conduct an initial interview with promising candidates. Then, a recruiter can evaluate the summary of the interview and, if necessary, review the audio and video to determine whether the candidate should move on to an interview with a person.

Price said that rather than spending 30 minutes on a single interview, a recruiter could review five or six interview summaries in that same time.

That bump in efficiency has enabled a single recruiter to hire 30 to 35 candidates within about two weeks, he said.

"The recruiter makes the decision," Price said, "but it's streamlined."

• Companies use "stealth firing" to quietly reduce staff without public layoffs.
• It involves dismissing employees for minor offenses to avoid public backlash.
• This tactic can harm company culture, leading to low morale and potential legal issues.

Some companies are opting for a new tactic in slimming down employee numbers — "stealth firing."

Meta let go around two dozen staff in October for using their $25 meal credits to buy other items, including laundry detergent and acne pads, while EY fired many more for "cheating" and taking multiple training courses at once.

The Financial Times, which first reported the EY firings, referred to these instances of being dismissed for minor offenses as "stealth firing."

Joe Galvin, the chief research officer at the executive coaching platform Vistage, told Business Insider that this sneaky sacking is "a "covert behind-the-scenes activity" that "violates the principle of respect for the individual."

A corporation might think: "I'm trying to downsize a little bit without saying I'm downsizing a little bit," Galvin said.

"So you go through this process that does nothing but break trust."

Short-term gain for long-term problems

Stealth firing leads from an era of "quiet firing," where companies methodically made employees' roles increasingly uncomfortable and less appealing, such as implementing strict return-to-office mandates.

This trend, along with the quietly agreed-upon severance packages of "silent layoffs," is a tactic to avoid the optics of publicly cutting dozens of staff.

Cynthia Patterson, the founder of the HR consultancy firm PeopleOps.how, who has 20 years of experience in HR across tech, AI, healthcare, and retail industries, told BI that while quietly trimming headcounts in these ways may work in the short term, they can cause serious issues for a workplace.

"Any short-term outcome is offset by the negative cultural impact," Patterson said. "Employees are left second-guessing their own value and stability, creating an environment of anxiety and mistrust."

A lack of trust and stability can lead to low morale, reduced productivity, and a stressed-out workforce.

"This dynamic mirrors the patterns of toxic and/or abusive work cultures, where fear and uncertainty are used — intentionally or not — as tools for behavioral control," Patterson said.

A shift in power

People are also perceptive, and employees who see their colleagues be shown the door for minor indiscretions will only make them wary and dissatisfied.

Patterson told BI companies who push people out in arbitrary ways are mistakenly viewing avoidance as kindness.

"Employee performance management is part of running a business," she said. "And it can't be skipped because it feels uncomfortable or inconvenient to the employer."

Stealth firing, Patterson said, simply exposes a company's inability or unwillingness to have honest, necessary conversations about performance — and "signals to employees that the organization doesn't have integrity."

Galvin told BI that companies willfully harming their reputations in this way may find they are the ones suffering and bleeding talent if an era of revenge quitting hits in 2025.

"The signs are pointing up toward a really strong 2025 — our community is energized, hiring's going back up again, investments are going up, expectations for profits and revenues are up," he said. "The power shifting."

Weigh up your options

It's always a smaller world than you think when it comes to work and looking for your next job, Ciara Harrington, the chief people officer of the leadership training platform Skillsoft, told BI.

"It's in the interest of everybody to keep good relationships," she said. "I don't think anybody really wants to leave a company on bad terms."

Sometimes, companies have to let their staff go, and the best thing for everyone is to do so with respect and honesty. That way, while the news isn't what the employees hope for, they still maintain a level of respect for the company.

The alternative is that employees post on public platforms such as LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit, and job review sites about their negative experiences, such as how they felt undervalued and lied to.

Patterson said these stories could reach future employees, customers, investors, and even employment lawyers, opening up companies to potential legal disputes.

"Strong companies know their employees are human beings and deserve to be treated as such," Patterson said.

Galvin told BI that if there are signs that your company is looking to stealth fire you, it's time to start weighing your options.

Even if your employer isn't planning on firing you, if their communication is poor, and you feel unsafe, it's best to get out anyway.

"In the absence of a story, we create one," Galvin said. "If you sense that's happening to you, you either have the direct conversation with your manager or start looking for your next job."

• Jamie Jackson worked in HR for over 20 years and is now a podcaster and consultant.
• Jackson said when you're no longer engaged or growing at work, it could be time for a new role.
• Updating skills and preparing a job search toolkit can aid in career transitions.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jamie Jackson, a 43-year-old podcaster and consultant in Nashville. It has been edited for length and clarity.

As someone who has worked in HR for over 20 years, I've had this conversation countless times. People often confide in me, saying, "Jamie, I don't know what to do next."

They feel stuck in their roles, want to advance, or are considering a new job — but that can be just as scary because it means stepping outside their comfort zones. I've been there, too, wondering whether it's time to quit my job for something new.

If this is you, here are four key signs you've been in your role too long and what you can do next if you need to make a change.

1. You no longer feel motivated

Your engagement level is a good indicator of whether you've been in your role for too long.

For example, you may have previously felt engaged in meetings but now find it harder to do so because you no longer feel motivated.

Or, perhaps you once enjoyed conversations with coworkers at the watercooler or over coffee — asking about their weekends or holiday plans — but now you simply do what you need to do and move on.

2. There's no room for growth

Another sign is feeling stagnant in your growth.

For example, I once worked at a company for five years and kept being promised a promotion. Over time, it became clear it wasn't going to happen — they didn't see me moving up.

For a long time, I believed their promise was coming, but it never did. To advance, I realized I'd need to change companies because the growth I wanted wasn't going to happen there.

Sometimes, there simply isn't room for growth, and when that's the case, it's a clear sign that it's time to make your next move.

3. Your feedback has plateaued

Or, you might find yourself hitting a feedback plateau.

For instance, you may consistently receive the same performance reviews, with your manager saying that you're meeting expectations but not exceeding them — suggesting you've reached a stopping point.

If you're thinking to yourself, "I don't have anything else to offer. I'm doing the same job I was doing three years ago without additional constructive feedback or recognition," it might be time to switch roles.

4. You're burned out

Another sign is burnout. In the past, I had a job where I felt physically sick going into work.

I remember one time needing to pull over to the side of the road to puke because I was so stressed.

As I sat in a parking lot trying to compose myself, I thought, I have to find another job. I knew my mental health was more important — but as I didn't have the luxury of quitting on the spot, I found another job first.

For others, there are times when environments are insanely toxic, and they need to get out immediately — and they should, but when possible, it's important to have a plan in place.

Either way, burnout or feeling physically sick from work might be a sign that it's time for a change.

If you realize you're no longer happy in your role, you need to do some self-reflection

Ask yourself, what are my goals? Where do I want to be? In your mind, try to understand where you want to be in six months, a year, or even further into the future.

Do you need a new title or a promotion, and if so, how do you get there? Before doing anything, it's really important to understand what you want. Then it's time to take aligned action.

Brush up on your skills

Maybe you're perfectly content with your current role; you just need to be challenged more. By learning new skills, you can push for more responsibilities.

You can use resources like LinkedIn or YouTube to brush up on skills like Excel or explore additional training or certifications offered by your current company. New skills can help you stand out in your current role or make you more appealing to potential employers.

Get your tool kit ready

If you're looking to land a new job, you need to learn new skills and prepare your toolkit.

This includes updating your résumé, refreshing your LinkedIn profile, and researching the salary you should be making.

When you start looking for a new job, knowing your market value is key — especially if you've been in your current role for a while and aren't sure what the going rate is. From there, talk to your mentors, colleagues, and friends, and let them know you're looking for something new.

You might say something like, "Hey, I think by March, I'm really going to start looking for another job — so can you keep your eyes and ears open?"

That can really help.

December isn't the easiest month to get a new job, with the holidays and people taking time off. However, January can be a better time as companies enter the new fiscal year — new budgets and new positions are being rolled out. But you can always be passively looking.

Some of us are content where we're at, but if you're no longer interested in stepping up or taking on new challenges, it might be time to reassess your role.

If you're an HR professional with unique career advice you would like to share, please email Manseen Logan at [email protected].

• VCs are increasingly looking for candidates with deep technical expertise, especially in AI.
• Increasingly, VCs square off with the hottest AI companies to secure top talent.
• VC firms can't compete with companies like OpenAI on compensation.

Matt Hoffman, head of talent at M13, an early-stage venture firm, is preparing to hire a new junior investor sometime next year. As recently as a year ago, he would have sought out someone from a top business school or consulting firm. Now, he wants someone with deep technical expertise.

"The technology is just getting really sophisticated," Hoffman said. "You need to have enough sophistication to be able to understand the tech you are assessing."

As venture firms struggle to raise new funds, they have been hiring fewer roles and even shedding staff. On rarer occasions when they are hiring, they are increasingly seeking out candidates with deep domain expertise, especially in artificial intelligence.

"We certainly noticed it in the past 3 to 6 months, and like a lot of VC, once it kind of takes momentum, it snowballs, and all the other VCs are doing it," Hoffman said. "The traditional MBA background will not be sufficient for the best investors going forward."

Evaluating previous generations of startups required less sophistication, according to Deedy Das, who this year was hired as a principal at Menlo Ventures, which backs OpenAI rival Anthropic. He previously worked for nearly a decade in senior engineering roles at Facebook, Google, and Glean, a buzzy AI-powered search startup valued at $4.6 billion.

"To understand Facebook, you don't need to be technical to get it," Das said. "You know people go online to use an app and connect with their friends. You can see how it can make money. For AI, if I tell you I have the best model in the world, how are you, as a non-technical person, going to call my BS on that?"

Ben Lerer, managing partner at Lerer Hippeau, says he wants to hire "younger people who are more natively growing up with AI and think about AI as less of a novelty and more of just a sort of inevitability."

Hiring for the investing theme du jour

Mark Suster, a partner at Upfront Ventures, says he used to recruit from blue-chip consulting firms like McKinsey & Company and Bain & Company, whereas recent hires have all brought specific expertise in areas the firm wants to focus on.

"I don't think generalist works anymore because venture capital is too competitive now," said Suster.

"We're going much deeper in our industries, and so when we went to invest in healthcare, we hired a healthcare expert. Now that we're doing more semiconductors, we're trying to get somebody with semiconductor experience. We're doing more with satellites, so we want someone from day one who understands the customer and the technology."

Upfront is currently hiring for an investment associate focused on machine learning and AI.

Last year, Khosla Ventures hired John Chu as a partner, who held senior engineering roles at Meta and Opendoor. This fall, Katie Jacobs Stanton, a longtime Twitter insider turned venture capitalist, hired a former engineering leader to her firm, Moxxie Ventures.

Ashwin Lalendran worked on drones at the Air Force Research Laboratory, shipped 3D vision software for Apple's mapping and self-driving-car projects, and led a team of engineers to scale the world's largest private-owned network of ocean sensors at Sofar Ocean.

He joins Moxxie's deep bench of operators to assist with sourcing, evaluating, and closing deals in deep tech, hardware, and national security, areas where Moxxie has deepened its focus over the past year.

Firms have long hired from certain networks based on the investment theme du jour, according to Yoni Rechtman, a principal at Slow Ventures, an early investor in Robinhood and PillPack.

During the fintech boom, Stripe was the hot ticket, and investors rushed to hire from the fintech giant.

Today, firms are chasing after ex-Palantir and OpenAI employees to fill out their ranks — some of them are restaffing after years of hiring slowdowns or job cuts, though such moves remain rare in the venture industry — and to add expertise and networks in their fields of interest.

Slow Ventures is looking to add as many as four associates over the next year based on the quality of talent on the market, Rechtman said. Being technical as an associate is a plus but not a requirement, though. "Being credible with founders because you worked at OpenAI is great," Rechtman said, "but doesn't necessarily mean much for your ability to pick stocks well."

VC firms can't compete with startups on compensation

Increasingly, venture firms find themselves squaring off with the hottest AI companies to secure top talent, according to Dan Miller, a recruiter and partner at True Search. "For a lot of VC firms, the stiffest competition for talent over the last year has been OpenAI," said Miller.

He's worked with several venture firms on partner and principal searches that lost candidates to the ChatGPT-maker. That is largely because OpenAI offers salaries above market rate and a chance to contribute to cutting-edge research and development. Those candidates, in turn, gain experience that opens doors to top-tier venture firms down the line, Miller added.

The average salary for a VC with 1-3 years of experience is $264,000, according to Glassdoor, an anonymous job review site. By contrast, OpenAI's median yearly total compensation is $534,197, according to Levels.fyi, which tracks compensation data at tech firms and startups.

"No VC will pay what a good AI engineer can make a company," said M13's Hoffman. "So our job is to find people who get excited about working in venture and helping to build a number of companies rather than just one."

Das said he did take a step down in pay when he joined Menlo Ventures after Glean, "but I wasn't concerned because if this worked, it would be a long-term bet where the comp would be fine," Das said.

He explained that he was excited to try venture because he was ready for a new challenge and also thought his technical chops would give him an edge over generalist investors evaluating AI infrastructure and machine learning deals.

"I thought a lot of venture capitalists were actually pretty terrible doing diligence on companies that were technical because they weren't technical."

Das was recently on a call with co-investors, and they needed his expertise. They were stumped and needed help understanding some of the jargon the founder of an AI startup was using.

"I chuckled because every second pitch I see is some version of fancy technical lingo, which actually doesn't mean much if you dig into it," Das said. "That's something a traditional investor has a really hard time seeing through."

• Grace Chang occasionally commutes from Washington, DC, to NYC for work.
• She said the four-hour commute is worth it because the job is a good fit for her.
• Remote working arrangements have made it easier for some Americans to become supercommuters.

Grace Chang says the occasional four-hour commute to her job is worth it but could be unsustainable in the long term.

Earlier this year, Chang, 28, felt burned out from her finance job at a hospitality company in Washington, DC. She began exploring new opportunities but struggled to find a role in DC that would allow her to grow and be less demanding.

After expanding her search outside the Beltway, Chang accepted a financial planning and analysis position, which she started in May. The role pays $120,000 annually, but it came with a downside: a commute roughly every other week from DC to New York City. Chang asked that the name of her employer be excluded for privacy reasons.

For her journey, Chang said she wakes up around 4 a.m. on Monday, catches the 5:05 a.m. Amtrak train at Union Station, arrives in New York City around 8:30 a.m., and is at her midtown Manhattan office 30 minutes later. She usually stays in New York until Wednesday or Thursday, and since her company doesn't pay for lodging, she crashes with friends or family who live in or near the city.

"I'm not 100% sure if the job is worth the commute, but it pays the bills and is a good stepping stone for other opportunities in the future," she said.

Chang is among the supercommuters who have embraced long treks to work in recent years: A Stanford University study published in June defined a supercommuter as anyone with a journey of more than 75 miles. The study, which was conducted by Stanford economists Nick Bloom and Alex Finan, found that the share of supercommutes in the 10 largest US cities was 32% higher between November 2023 and February than between the same time period four years earlier.

The economists said this uptick was likely tied to increased remote working arrangements. For example, some Americans who moved away from cities during the pandemic — in part for lower housing costs — decided they could tolerate their commute when their employers called them back to the office.

Supercommuting isn't the long-term goal

Chang said her employer doesn't have a specific in-office policy, but her manager wants her to work in person sometimes, particularly during busier periods.

When Chang landed the job, she never seriously considered moving to New York City. She and her husband have lived in the DC area for over a decade, and her husband works locally.

"We have friends and community here and didn't want to uproot so quickly," she said. "After I started making the commute, I just got used to it."

Staying with friends and family has helped Chang save money on accommodations while she's in New York, but her commute still comes with a financial cost. If she buys well in advance of her trip, she said she can generally get a one-way train ticket for less than $100. She said Amtrak offers a 10-ride ticket pass for $790, which amounts to $79 per one-way ticket.

However, Chang said her role would likely have a lower salary if it were based in DC, in part because the city has a lower cost of living than NYC.

In recent weeks, Chang's manager said she could reduce her commute to once a month. She said she'd previously requested a less frequent commute once she was fully trained for her job: She's been in the role for over six months.

While Chang is open to jobs closer to home, she said she's enjoying her current role and is getting the career development she wanted.

"It's definitely not a long-term goal or aspiration to continue to do this, but what has made this doable is having a positive mentality toward commuting," she said. "If I dreaded it every week, I would have quit in the first month."

Do you have a long commute to work? Are you willing to share your story with a reporter? Reach out to [email protected].

• Staff at major companies have asked their leaders if there are plans to follow Amazon's full return to office.
• Firms like Meta, Google, and Microsoft have a hybrid setup — however, execs say they're eyeing productivity.
• Research findings on the subject are varied, and the debate will likely continue in 2025.

Executives at major companies are referencing a specific term to hedge when asked by employees if they plan to follow in Amazon's footsteps and implement a return to 5 days a week in the office.

That word? Productivity.

While Amazon has been the most high-profile example this year of a full return to office policy, set to go into effect in January, telecom giant AT&T has also elected to double down on in-person work with a similar 5-day policy, Business Insider first reported.

In the wake of Amazon's announcement, executives at both Google and Microsoft, which require employees to be in the office at least 3 days a week, have fielded questions from staff wondering if the days of hybrid work are numbered.

Microsoft's executive vice president of cloud and AI, Scott Guthrie, said the company wouldn't change the hybrid work policy unless it noticed a drop in productivity, BI reported in September.

In October, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company had no plans to order employees back to the office, so long as employees remain productive during their at-home work days, BI previously reported.

Over at Meta, Mark Zuckerberg said last year that "early analysis of performance data," indicated productivity increases for early-career engineers in the office at least 3 days a week. A few months later, the company announced it was requiring employees to return to the office 3 days a week.

Executives at Dell called the company's sales team back to the office 5 days a week starting at the end of September, writing in a memo, "Our data shows that sales teams are more productive when onsite."

Though Amazon did not explicitly name productivity as a reason for its full return to the office, CEO Andy Jassy emphasized a similar term: effectiveness.

Being back in person 5 days a week makes it "easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and, teams tend to be better connected to one another," he wrote at the time.

For those committing to a full return to office, preparing campuses for the influx of employees in the new year is its own challenge. Amazon has since delayed the announced January 2 effective date of the new mandate for some employees because it doesn't have enough office space in some locations, BI reported earlier this month.

As CEOs and company leaders keep an eye on how employees in remote or hybrid setups perform, various studies since the onset of the pandemic have attempted to measure and compare the productivity of employees who work at home and in-office. Research studies have produced conflicting results, further complicated by the matter of how best to define or measure productivity.

Goldman Sachs, which has a 5-day-in-office policy, reviewed several analyses that used different ways of evaluating changes in work-from-home productivity, from call-center workers who were randomly chosen to work from home to comparing the productivity of randomly assigned remote workers with their in-office peers.

In short, it's hard to say for sure, and executives are deciding what their long-term setup will be after a year in which some of the world's biggest companies put a renewed focus on being "lean" and "efficient."

Meanwhile, some employees have returned to commuting in (sometimes "coffee-badging" in and returning home), others have relocated to comply with a policy change, and some have resigned to pursue a hybrid or fully remote opportunity. As companies tighten their belts and conduct layoffs, other workers have taken to workplace forums to wonder if some of the RTO mandates have been a possible "quiet layoffs" tactic.

As more major global companies revisit their policies and make changes, CEOs are likely to face more questions on the topic going into the new year.

For some, the answer is simple: Stay productive and we'll stay flexible.

• One of the biggest parts of preparing for a job interview is running through practice questions.
• We asked recruiting pros for their top interview questions and how a candidate should answer them.
• Here's what they told us.

When you're preparing for a job interview, one of the first things you can do is research what previous candidates have shared about their own interviews with that employer. Some of the most helpful information to glean, if you can find it, is what interview questions you might expect to be asked.

To help job seekers who might not be able to find common questions asked by a specific company, we asked five recruiting professionals for their favorite questions to ask in job interviews.

They also broke down how candidates should answer and what the answers can reveal about them. Of course, the slate of questions asked in an interview can vary based on the recruiter's personal preferences, the role, and other factors — but these go-to questions from recruiters are a good place to start.

Here's a look at questions recruiters love to ask that they say can be particularly telling about a candidate.

'Tell me a time when you found a way to improve a process, made something more efficient, or otherwise introduced an improvement when you weren't asked to do so.'

Kyle Samuels, who spent 20 years in senior-level executive recruiting and is now CEO of executive search agency Creative Talent Endeavors, said he likes this question because it helps identify "proactive leaders who are willing to answer difficult questions and drive business results."

He recommends candidates use the STAR method — focusing on the situation, task, action, and result — to answer this question and really highlight their "initiative and drive."

"I'm also looking for candidates who can stand up to additional questioning well and describe specifics within each example or story they share when responding," he said.

He shared with us one example of how a STAR-formatted answer to this question might look:

• Situation: "Our SaaS solution isn't cutting it."
• Task: "I was assigned to fix the problem."
• Action: "I spoke to other CTOs to get recommendations, found a final list of five, and then evaluated them against the incumbent so we could make the right hiring decision."
• Result: Explain the end result and what happened after taking the actions described.

'Tell me about a time when something went terribly wrong with a project.'

This question shows a candidate's "ability to take responsibility for mistakes, solve problems, communicate effectively, and collaborate with others," said Lauren Monroe, who leads the creative practice group at Aquent, a staffing agency for creative, marketing, and design roles.

An ideal answer would "name the specific challenge faced, acknowledge the mistakes made, and identify the actions taken, lessons learned, and solutions implemented to solve the problem," she added.

'What key elements need to be in your next role, and what would be a dealbreaker for you?'

Amri Celeste, a recruitment manager and interview coach, likes this question because it gets at "what a candidate is really looking for in a role and whether the role we're discussing matches what they expect in their next role."

"It's also an opportunity to open up a more honest dialogue about their values, work style, and career goals, which helps me learn about not only how well they suit the role, but also how well they might suit the team and management style of the manager," she said.

'Tell me about yourself.'

It's a tried-and-true interview question, and Andrew Fennell, a former corporate recruiter and the founder of the résumé-builder website StandOut CV, leans on it to set the tone in interviews.

"After introducing myself and explaining how I've arrived to the point of this interview, I ask the candidate to do the same," he said.

"It relaxes the atmosphere a bit, makes it a bit more conversational, and allows the candidate to give a well-rounded summary of their experience and skills," he added.

'Tell me about the greatest impact you made at a company and what helped you achieve that impact.'

Tessa White, a former head of HR, is the CEO of The Job Doctor and the author of "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success."

Besides asking about a candidate's achievements, White also tries to gauge their ability to problem-solve by asking questions about challenges they've encountered in the past.

She'll ask, for example, "Tell me about a time you were at odds with someone or a department and you were able to successfully move through it."

Other times, she might say, "Tell me about a time when an initiative or project you were leading wasn't going the way you hoped. How did you handle it and what is your philosophy for addressing obstacles?"

For all of these questions, she said the ideal answer should be "authentic and real." If it's not, a recruiter can "sniff it a mile away," she said.

"I'm not looking for the answer you think I want to hear," she said. "I'm looking to see an imperfect person that has insight into their strengths as well as someone who understands how to learn from previous mistakes."