• A former Facebook executive said employees once let Mark Zuckerberg win when playing a board game.
• The incident sparked a debate about the potential pitfalls of playing a game with your boss.
• Business Insider asked workplace gurus how competitive you should be in such situations.

A new memoir by former Facebook employee Sarah Wynn-Williams included a claim that workers let Mark Zuckerberg win a game of Settlers of Catan. Her former colleague, who was also there, hit back and denied the claim.

The episode sparked a debate about the risks for employees of going head-to-head with their bosses in ostensibly friendly games.

Business Insider asked workplace gurus for their thoughts — and experiences — of playing games with a boss.

Elizabeth Hines recently started a new role as an HR manager. She told BI her new boss uses table tennis to chat and share business details with employees. "After I beat him several times, he no longer invites me for a game."

Hines said her boss has started talking to her less during the day and they had no personal contact at all for a week recently.

"I hope it's a coincidence, and it's temporary, but I definitely want to ask him about it later because it bothers me a lot," she said.

'How you lose reveals your character'

Jenn Whitmer, a leadership coach and speaker from Missouri, told BI that she had beaten bosses at games before.

"The healthy ones, even the competitive ones, take it in stride," she said. "The toxic, unhealthy ones became like toddlers. How you lose reveals your character."

Whitmer described one time when her then-boss while she was an assistant head teacher of a school who "shut down" and was "sullen and sulky" after losing a game.

Joaquin Paolo Arellano, a freelancer from Toronto who worked in customer-success roles for more than a decade, told BI he once beat a boss at a pickup basketball game — and he took it well.

It also had a positive effect on his career, he said, "perhaps because he can relate to me better."

Appreciating the losses

Joe Galvin, the chief research officer at Vistage, an executive coaching organization based in San Diego, said that leaders who take losing badly don't foster a healthy working environment.

"The best leaders understand that success isn't about always winning; it's about fostering an environment where employees feel challenged, engaged, and motivated to do their best," Galvin told BI. "If a boss expects to win every time — whether in a board game or in a board room — they're not just stifling competition, they're also stifling innovation."

He added that a leader's ability to handle losing "can also have significant impacts on employee engagement, company culture, and, ultimately, retention."

Nikki Innocent, a leadership coach and diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant in New York, told BI it could be healthy to "celebrate" losing and that a boss who doesn't create an environment where they can lose means they're not developing their resilience.

"It does a disservice not only to the individual person's ability to develop in life, but it does a disservice to the business's ability to weather the obstacles of the future," she said. "I wish we celebrated losing a little bit."

What's the vibe?

Hayley Lewis, a chartered member of the British Psychological Society who specializes in leadership and management, told BI that people judge whether it is "safe" to be competitive.

"That's the judgment we make based on the data we have around us. What do I see other people doing in the organization? What's the vibe I get from my boss? Am I likely to be more accepted if I just let this go and let the boss win?" Lewis said.

Anyone whose boss becomes upset after being beaten should consider how bad the response was, in her view.

If that response is abusive, Lewis said HR should be involved. If the boss was merely a bit grumpy, she suggests treating the incident as a learning moment: "The next time we all go out as a team, and somebody wants to play a game, I know not to win."

• An ex-Facebook employee has denied he let Mark Zuckerberg win at Settlers of Catan.
• He was challenging a new book by another former employee, who said her colleagues let Zuckerberg win.
• Dex Hunter-Torricke said Zuckerberg actually won by convincing other plans to gang up on him.

A former senior Facebook employee has denied that he let Mark Zuckerberg win a game of Settlers of Catan, challenging an account in a new book.

Dex Hunter-Torricke said that Zuckerberg actually won by convincing the other players to gang up on him, showcasing his "ruthlessness."

He was responding to a new book by his former colleague, Sarah Wynn-Williams, "Careless People," which was published Tuesday.

In the book, Wynn-Williams describes traveling the world with Zuckerberg and claims the incident happened in Indonesia.

"Everyone's really into it despite the blatant nerdiness of it all, building their little empires and strategically negotiating," Wynn-Williams wrote about the game. "But as the night wears on, it becomes more and more obvious that people are letting Mark win."

Wynn-Williams, who worked at the company from 2011 to 2017, writes that her fellow players never stole from Zuckerberg and failed to block his victory.

Wynn-Williams said she called out at one point when she saw one "particularly egregious" move and others flashed her looks.

When she asked Zuckerberg if he really wanted to win that way, he seemed "perplexed," she wrote.

"The accusation hangs in the air. Everyone pretends it doesn't," Wynn-Williams wrote. "I feel the dynamics in the room shift and not in a good way." Her book doesn't specify when the incident happened but she later describes climbing the Buddhist temple Borobudur, of which Zuckerberg posted a photo to Facebook in October 2014.

Hunter-Torricke took to Meta-owned Threads to call Wynn-Williams' account "a lovely anecdote that positions our heroic narrator as some sort of principled mind surrounded by a sea of yes men or something, and that we all liked to let Zuckerberg win."

"Except that's not what happened at all," he added.

Hunter-Torrick said his tactic was to eliminate weaker players so he could then go after Zuckerberg, "who was the toughest player." But then something "more interesting" happened.

"Zuckerberg said he was tired and wanted to sleep, and convinced the others to gang up on me so he could win! That's actually a much better story showing his ruthlessness," Hunter-Torrick wrote.

At the time of the game, Hunter-Torrick was head of executive communications at Facebook, now called Meta, and left in 2016 to be SpaceX's head of communications before joining DeepMind in 2023, per his LinkedIn.

Debbie Frost, a former spokesperson who was on the Indonesia trip, also posted to Threads about the book, calling it "a bunch of the stories are exaggerated or just didn't happen."

Asked to comment on the claims, a Meta spokesperson referred BI to Hunter-Torricke's posts. They also shared a statement calling the book "a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives."

• Some Gen Z workers are finding it hard to get into the workforce due to the demands of "entry-level" jobs.
• Leaders should value Gen Z's creativity and entrepreneurialism, not base decisions on "young-ism."
• Zoomers can push back against stereotypes by going into the office and listening to older colleagues.

Plenty of entry-level jobs are no longer entry-level.

Mona Mourshed, the CEO of the employment nonprofit Generation, said many employers are now looking for two to three years of work experience for such roles.

"Job vacancies are down for entry-level roles, and that's true across the world," she told Business Insider. "Then, on top of it, to get those job vacancies, hiring requirements have gone up."

Labor market commentators previously told BI there's a surplus of available workers, and this is only getting more true as highly skilled employees are being laid off from the likes of Meta, Google — and the federal government.

The "unbossing" of the workplace is also likely a factor, with millennial middle managers being squeezed out in the "Great Flattening" and wading into the hiring pool. Without these people in companies and mentoring junior employees, more experience is necessary for new hires to thrive.

The group most likely to be affected is Gen Z — the youngest cohort of workers, which is also set to make up 30% of the workforce by 2030.

Making it harder for young workers to find jobs could be short-sighted. "They tend to be entrepreneurial in spirit, they collaborate with their peers, and they embrace diversity," said Stephanie Chung, JetSuit's former president and the author of "Ally Leadership: How to Lead People Who Are Not Like You."

"The older generations need to come to grips that there are many ways to achieve the goal and that their way of working is one way," she told BI. "It's not the only way. "

Mourshed said most entry-level roles are not what they used to be: "When you went through a training, or you have a degree or a certificate, and you're seeking to get your first work experience — that's gone."

'Young-ism' on the rise

There are many influences at play, including negative stereotypes about Gen Z's work ethic and the balance tipping in favor of employers, making room for experienced talent over "underperformers."

Jennifer Moss, a workplace culture strategist and author of "WHY ARE WE HERE?: Creating a Work Culture Everyone Wants," told BI that "young-ism" is on the rise.

Gen Zers are sometimes labeled difficult, demanding, and even weird in interviews. Many are fed up with work and don't want to climb the corporate ladder, thinking the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

Some attribute this to the pandemic and being stuck at home in some of their most formative years. Moss thinks Gen Zers actually became more ambitious after lockdowns and now seek lives with purpose.

"This can be a great driver of engagement and lots of really positive business outcomes," she said.

Chung said employees hiring for entry-level roles should consider Gen Z's positives, such as their ability to think outside the box, courage to take calculated risks, and that they are "super collaborators."

"These folks collaborate on everything from school projects, to slaying dragons while immersed in a fictitious game," she said. "Gen Z sees collaborating as a way of life — they don't know anything different."

Leaders create a company's culture, so they need to address workplace disengagement, said Leena Rinne, a VP at online learning platform Skillsoft.

"Feeling that Gen Z doesn't have a work ethic, that they're entitled, that they lack motivation — those can be addressed through leadership," she told BI. "If we believe those are learnable skills, then as an organization, as leaders, we should be investing in Gen Z to actually be able to do it."

Forging connections

Gen Zers can fight back against negative stereotypes, by realizing that technology cannot replace experience, Chung said.

Older generations have significant knowledge "that doesn't always get captured by computers," she said.

Going to the office more often is another good idea, in Chung's view, given the opportunities for forging connections and ad-hoc learning.

"Sometimes simply being present can lead to impromptu conversations that may enhance your thinking or change the trajectory of your career," she said.

Chung thinks workers should ask what they can gain from interacting with those outside their cohort. "Everyone can learn something from anyone if they're willing to try. All generations add value to a company — how do we both win?"

• Bosses are running low on empathy, and some companies are cutting roles.
• It's an employers' market, and some are using tactics to get rid of low performers.
• It may be time to work harder and not seek extra flexibility, said Suzanne Lucas, an HR consultant.

Bosses are running low on empathy. Some want their workers back in the office more often and are becoming less interested in the demands of mental-health-conscious Gen Zers wanting work-life balance.

They have a good enough reason: An era of revenge quitting may be on the horizon, but right now it's an employer's market.

Meta, Microsoft, BP, and Boeing are just a few of the companies laying off staff in 2025.

Some employers are also getting more creative about how they're letting low-performing staff go, engaging in tactics such as "stealth firing," in which they implement strict return-to-office mandates to make employees' roles increasingly uncomfortable and less appealing.

Others are cracking down on "little sins," terminating workers for small indiscretions. Meta fired some workers who used food vouchers improperly, while some EY staff met the same fate for watching multiple training videos simultaneously.

Joe Galvin, the chief research officer at the executive coaching platform Vistage, told Business Insider that bosses were under more pressure to ensure their employees are top performers.

Workers, on the other hand, are wrestling with what pandemic-era flexibility they're prepared to give up.

"Maybe bosses are saying, 'I don't have to put up with this millennial or Gen Z stuff,'" Galvin said. "There's a common thread underneath it all, and that's the tension between the boss and the worker."

Employers' market

The power dynamic between employers and employees is a constant pendulum, and it can swing at any moment.

"When it's an employers' market, which it is right now, companies are much more picky than when it's an employees' market," Suzanne Lucas told BI. Lucas is a human-resources consultant and writer who became known for her blog, Evil HR Lady.

Many highly skilled and experienced people have lost their jobs recently. Google has offered buyouts to 25,000 employees, and at least 65,000 federal workers have opted into President Donald Trump's deferred resignation program.

The volume of talent entering the job-seeking pool means "companies can be really choosy right now," Lucas said. "If you're a slacker, I can find someone to replace you. In other words, employees better be working hard."

Meta fired about two dozen staff last year for using their $25 meal credits to buy things other than food, but Lucas said it was never really about the actual purchases.

"Once somebody breaks that barrier, then everybody else starts breaking that barrier," she said. "It's really not a matter of punishing someone for buying toothpaste — it's a matter of making sure everybody knows that there is a line that you don't cross."

Protecting yourself

Mona Mourshed, the CEO of the employment nonprofit Generation, told BI workers could protect themselves in a turbulent environment by investing their time in new skills, particularly in learning about AI tools.

"What's very clear is that within every company, there are some people who are power users, and everyone else is dabbling or not really using it," she said. "We all need to figure out how to make the most of it."

Mourshed also recommended getting exposure to different parts of the business with projects or teamwork.

"Do that because, essentially, it enables you to have cross-functional skills," she said. "In your team, there might be some disruption, but maybe that creates an opportunity for you in a different team of the same organization, or potentially another one."

What's very clear, Mourshed said, is that "doing the same thing for a decade is a pattern of the past."

Lucas said not all companies would fire workers for small indiscretions, but if an employer is looking to let people go, those making minor missteps could be first on the list.

"My advice to the employees is to realize that you need to be a good worker — it's called work for a reason," Lucas said. "Maybe work harder. Maybe now isn't the time to be asking for extra benefits and extra flexibility."

• It's looking like job market conditions will improve in 2025.
• Employees who are feeling burned out and dissatisfied may decide to "revenge quit."
• Bosses can prepare by focusing on empathy and meaningful communication.

With a job market heating up and employee resentment boiling over, "revenge quitting" looks to be on the horizon for 2025.

Edel Holliday-Quinn, a business psychologist, told Business Insider that some workers feel burned out and undervalued in part due to increased workloads and a back-and-forth about hybrid working.

In 2025, she said, many people are therefore thinking: "New year, new job."

"The job market is starting to loosen up, and for those who have been simmering with frustration, this might be the year they finally quit—not just quietly, but loudly," Holliday-Quinn said.

"Revenge quitting," she said, is where employees leave not just to move on "but to make a point."

Burnout and toxicity

Employment analysts previously told BI that the Great Detachment is plaguing workplaces and is one of the biggest challenges leaders face.

Partner that with the fact it might be easier to switch jobs next year, and employers could soon realize their best talent is jumping ship.

"If we as HR leaders don't act now, we do run the risk that a lot of those employees will just decide the opportunities are not there for them in the current company," Ciara Harrington, the Chief People Officer of the corporate training platform Skillsoft, told BI.

"Once the market opens up and they start getting the calls again, you could see an increase in your attrition," she said. "If any other employer wants this person, they're probably somebody you want to retain as well."

According to workplace experts, employees across all industries are increasingly engaging in "productivity theater" and performative busyness to get through their workday, and the workforce as a whole is disengaged.

They're struggling in other ways, too. For the ninth year in a row, the employee benefits platform Businessolver surveyed 20,000 employees, HR professionals, and CEOs across six industries on the state of workplace empathy. The report found that 42% of all respondents and 52% of CEOs reported working in a toxic environment.

In 2023, people were "rage applying" for jobs, angrily scrolling through job ads when they were fed up. Revenge quitting is similar, with the added vengeance of moving on to something better.

Stretched too thin

Beth Hood, the founder and CEO of the leadership and management training platform Verosa, told BI that employee dissatisfaction "rarely stems from a single event."

"It's often a gradual erosion of 'intrinsic motivators' such as connection, meaning, and safety," Hood said. "When these motivators are left unmet, resentment and detachment can grow, eventually leading to employees walking away, often in frustration or as a way of reclaiming control."

Holliday-Quinn, who has worked in senior roles at Citi and PwC, said employees have reported being stretched thin, due to cuts and heavier workloads, made worse by the attack on middle managers.

"Dissatisfaction has been quietly brewing," Holliday-Quinn said, with a period of layoffs and RTO mandates.

"This disconnect between leadership and the workforce isn't just a communication issue," she said. "It's a retention crisis waiting to happen."

Generational dynamics are also at play, with Gen Zers being skeptical about climbing the corporate ladder for little payoff. Younger workers are "less willing to tolerate outdated workplace cultures or rigid hierarchies," said Holliday-Quinn.

"Companies that don't adapt to these expectations will struggle to retain the next wave of talent," she said.

How to prepare

Harrington told BI that company leaders need to be trained to have crucial conversations with their direct reports because "most team members leave a manager, not a company."

The Businessolver report found that while 55% of CEOs believe they lead with empathy at work, only 28% of employees actually agreed.

Harrington said listening goes a long way, as does filtering down information from above effectively.

"I'm a really big believer in investing in leaders really is investing in the company as a whole," she said. "Because if they're doing their job, they're going to be working on the individual team member engagement, retention, and motivation."

Harrington said if an employee has been treated with empathy and felt heard in their current role, they're more likely to help with the transition or stay longer to meet deadlines during their notice period rather than being checked out and unhelpful.

"You're much more likely to get that really helpful and good transition," Harrington said. "Which will help massively with business continuity.

For others, though, "revenge quitting" could impact them greatly.

"2025 is shaping up to be a wake-up call for employers," Holliday-Quinn said. "Those who have relied on control over connection or ignored the mounting dissatisfaction within their teams are about to face the consequences."