This article was originally published in Bloomberg.
Welcome to this week’s Work Shift newsletter. I’m Matt Boyle, your work bestie. If you’re coming to us by way of a friend, please consider signing up on your own. In this episode, we explore how nostalgia works inside organizations, for good and for ill. But first…
Conference-palooza
It’s that time of year: Workplace and HR industry conferences are coming fast and furious on our calendar.
I attended the WorkTech conference in New York yesterday, and got to hear from executives at IBM, Google and Mastercard talk about how they’re redesigning offices. (I would have preferred more discussion of what isn’t working, but alas.) Today, workplace media and insights firm Charter is holding its own summit.
Later this week, workplace wonks will convene upon Stanford University for Nicholas Bloom’s annual remote work research conference. And if you can get to Paris next week, the Unleash World show promises to be “where the HR world meets” — it’s also where my Bloomberg colleague Jo Constantz will be, so look out for future dispatches from there.
What industry conferences are highest on your list, and which ones can you safely skip? Let me know and we can plan to meet up at the next one!
Executive Nostalgia
Like you, I’ve been reading a lot of hot takes about Amazon’s recent decision to force workers back to offices five days a week.
In the back and forth online, one phrase kept popping up that I couldn’t get out of my head: “Executive nostalgia.” Most observers used the term pejoratively to argue that Amazon’s move reflected CEO Andy Jassy’s fervent desire to return to a bygone, Mad Men-esque office era that many of us would prefer remains firmly in the rear-view mirror.
