Research from Gallup suggests that workers were the most pessimistic about their living standards since the company started measuring this in 2009, with around a third experiencing anger, stress, and sadness at work. The company pinpoints loneliness as a factor in these findings, with a growing number of us struggling to connect with people either inside or outside of work. This was exacerbated by the pandemic, when so many of us worked remotely, with the various video conferencing platforms going some way toward replicating the human contact we so crave, but failing in various crucial ways ..read more

Picture a world of futuristic tales with spaceships zipping around and gadgets doing mind-blowing things. Now, think about how those cool ideas actually turn into real things we use. Well, researchers from the University of Akron found some interesting stuff about the link between sci-fi stories and patents. They dug into documents at Syracuse University, uncovering unique thoughts from Hugo Gernsback, a big name in sci-fi. Back in 1926, he not only started the world’s first all-sci-fi magazine but also edited it. But here’s the twist—Gernsback wasn’t just a magazine guy; he was also an engine ..read more

The ability of technology to augment humanity is not a new one, but with the release of generative AI in 2022, there were renewed calls for tech to help humanity rather than replace it. A recent roundtable was hosted by the UK Government Office for Science to discuss the matter. It featured academics from across the UK. Augmenting humans Some technologies are still new and not clear in how they’re used, and not many people are using them. We don’t really get how much impact they have. In the UK, where most jobs are in services and knowledge, technologies that boost our thinking could make trai ..read more

A new study from the University of Michigan suggests that the health of older adults is linked to their chances of falling for scams. According to the study, three out of four older adults say they’ve faced scams through phone calls, texts, emails, mail, or online in the past two years. Three in ten admit to being scammed at least once. Health matters The study shows that the health of older adults affects both their ability to spot a scam and their likelihood of being scammed. People between 50 and 80 years old who reported fair or poor physical or mental health, disabilities, or memory issue ..read more

When it comes to keeping employees happy and productive, giving them raises seems like a safe choice. However, a new study from CU Boulder Leeds School of Business suggests that tying pay to performance can backfire, making employees less engaged and lowering their productivity. “Pay for performance is a double-edged sword,” the researchers explain. “When used wisely, it can really motivate people and increase their sense of competence. But oftentimes employees feel like they choke under pressure.” Common practice About three-quarters of organizations use pay-for-performance compensation, whic ..read more

Workers who switch to different jobs, teams, or companies—called seconded employees—can boost innovation, according to new research from ESMT Berlin. Even though people and organizations want to pick new ideas, they often reject them because they’re tricky, risky, and hard to predict. The study looked at seconded employees at the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2000 to 2012. The NSF gives out research money, and some employees work there temporarily. The researchers checked grants given from 1998 to 2012. The NSF has a program where both regular and seconded employees act as program dir ..read more

A new study from the Social Mobility Foundation finds that if you’re a professional worker from a working-class background, you’re making around £6,291 less each year compared to those from a professional-managerial background. That’s a 12% pay gap, even if you’re doing the same job. The study found that folks from a professional-managerial background earn, on average, £51,728, while those from a working-class background earn £45,437. This pay gap means that on November 17th, which they call Class Pay Gap Day, workers from the working class essentially start working for free, taking home nothi ..read more

I’ve written in the past about my general skepticism around the unicorn craze that seems to have gripped the startup world over the past few years. I argued that focusing on a $1 billion valuation distracted us, and indeed founders themselves, from developing the kind of profitable and sustainable businesses that ultimately benefit society. Whereas when the term was first coined, there were less than 40 unicorns, there are now reported to be around 2,500 in the wild. The growth in startups with unicorn status is often touted as an example of the rude health of the startup world. A poor measure ..read more

Recent research from Nottingham University Business School just found something surprising about company mergers. Usually, people think mergers are bad because they reduce competition and hurt innovation. But this new study challenges that idea. People who watch over mergers, called antitrust authorities, have been against them because of past research saying they’re bad for innovation and competition. Boosting innovation But the new study says the opposite. It suggests that mergers can actually boost innovation and help society, especially when companies have what’s called “passive cross-owne ..read more

Research from Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) found that a CEO’s last name can significantly impact their job security and boost their pay by as much as 4.9%. The study looked at data spanning 16 years, tracking how people in the U.S. perceived CEOs’ last names and where they came from. This perception was then linked to CEO pay and job security. The study adds to what we know about cognitive dissonance, suggesting that people’s opinions about a person can be swayed by their name. The research had several key findings findings: If a CEO’s last name gets more favorable, their total pay c ..read more