Thanks for that .. I find the kind of stories you've told quite uplifting. Especially considering the ugliness that's been dominant in the news recently. Although I'm aware that humankind's predominantly selfish motivations haven't changed much since written history. Maybe I'm going through a "too much media news" cycle of depression ... I might need to wean myself off for awhile to make sure that dark thoughts are kept at bay.

I think that's a real easy trap to fall into.

We constantly hear about all the ugly things going on and we naturally tend to make it the norm in our mind. We have to remember that in a world of seven billion people, there are plenty of bad things that are going to happen every day to keep the media saturated with it, even though it really represents a tiny fraction of people's actual experience.

 

I think that's a real easy trap to fall into.

We constantly hear about all the ugly things going on and we naturally tend to make it the norm in our mind. We have to remember that in a world of seven billion people, there are plenty of bad things that are going to happen every day to keep the media saturated with it, even though it really represents a tiny fraction of people's actual experience.

I agree ... it can easily become a trap. And I do believe that gratitude is always a good thing. In fact, that's what's been keeping me afloat.

That's been the spirit of my message in my previous posts. My apologies if I gave the impression of pessimism. Sometimes I let the "real world" get the better of me.

 

Most of us here have had mostly positive interactions with business and management over our job history because we were/are money makers. I do see pessimism about the upcoming generations as they seem to have in general pretty unrealistic expectations of their actual value and worth to business at the level of expertise they bring to the table.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mar...ey-need-525000-a-year-to-be-happy/ar-AA1kQ56J

Millennials want half a million dollars annually to be happy. But that's a lot higher than what both older and younger generations want, per a recent survey.

In mid-November, financial services company Empower released the results of a survey conducted by The Harris Poll in August that asked 2,034 Americans aged 18 and over if they think there is a price ot happiness. The average respondent said they think they need a $284,167 annual salary to be happy, and for millennials, that amount was much higher at $525,000.
...
But inflation cooling off isn't enough for consumers to feel relief in their wallets. As Business Insider recently reported, millennials' financial well-being has plummeted, according to Morning Consult's latest iteration of its well-being index. While baby boomers' well-being score rose to 4.04 from August 2022 to August 2023, millennials' score declined to .94, the biggest decline across all age groups. The index is based on a scale from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 0 to 100. A one-point jump is associated with things like credit scores going up, which happened four-fold for boomers.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/offices-sitting-empty-landlords-handing-150748386.html
With Offices Sitting Empty, Landlords Are ‘Handing Back the Keys’

Office landlords, hit hard by the work-from-home revolution, are resorting to a desperate measure in the real estate world: “handing back the keys.”

When this happens, the landlord stops paying the mortgage on the office building or declines to refinance it. The bank or investors who made the loan then repossess the building.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/rea...uy-houses-living-with-mom-and-dad/ar-AA1mj9EZ
Millennials have found a way to buy houses: Living with mom and dad

“It was a huge gift that they gave to me,” he said. Forfeiting the freedom of living alone “was a very fair price to pay for what I got out of it.”

The rush of millennials leveraging free or discounted rent with their relatives coincides with the increasing prevalence of multigenerational households. The number of Americans who live in multigenerational households has quadrupled since the 1970s, according to Pew Research Center’s analysis of census data.

 

https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/10/24033994/google-reorganization-fitbit-park-friedman-ar-layoffs

Google’s hardware division just took a body blow. The company has confirmed it’s laying off hundreds of hardware workers, especially in its augmented reality division — and 9to5Google is reporting that Fitbit co-founders James Park, Eric Friedman, and other Fitbit leaders are leaving the company entirely.

Update, 1:42AM ET: It’s not just Fitbit and AR. Around a thousand Google layoffs were just confirmed, and there may be more.

 

https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-...-days-after-landing-72-million-from-feds.html
Computer chip maker announces furloughs at Oregon factory days after landing $72 million from feds

 

https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/twitch-layoffs-daniel-clancy-video-18601372.php

Clancy, in his blog post, wrote, “I also want to acknowledge how disappointed I was yesterday that this information leaked. I am sorry for all of the anxiety that it caused over the last several hours.”
He added that he’d hoped Twitch workers would hear about the layoff round directly from the company Wednesday morning. Anyone affected would then quickly learn they were laid off in a follow-up email.

What a nice guy

 

Those poor robots losing their jobs.
https://media.irobot.com/2024-01-29...uring-Plan-to-Position-Company-for-the-Future

BEDFORD, Mass., Jan. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT), a leader in consumer robots, announced that it will implement an operational restructuring plan designed to position the Company for stabilization in the current environment, while focusing on profitability and advancing key growth initiatives to extend its market share in the mid-tier and premium segments. This plan was approved following iRobot's and Amazon's mutual decision to terminate their previously announced merger agreement. That announcement can be found here.
...
These actions will also result in a reduction of approximately 350 employees, which represents 31 percent of the Company's workforce as of December 30, 2023, with the majority of notifications taking place by March 30, 2024. As part of this workforce reduction, iRobot expects to record restructuring charges totaling between $12 million and $13 million, primarily for severance and related costs, over the first two quarters of 2024, with the majority of the restructuring charges anticipated in the first quarter of 2024.

 

Those poor robots losing their jobs.
https://media.irobot.com/2024-01-29...uring-Plan-to-Position-Company-for-the-Future

They can learn to code.

 

So many wounded warriors on the 'Front-lines' making drinks.

 

So many wounded warriors on the 'Front-lines' making drinks.

Mx. Pink Hair is going to be running around in circles for the rest of her/his/their life. Starbucks is training for her/him/them (or whatever).

 

 

Maybe it's just me, but this was painful to watch -- it just rambled on and on, saying the same things over and over and never answering the very questions that it claimed it was going to explain over and over. Several times it claimed that NYC doesn't care about all of the empty office space -- and never gave a hint of a reason as to why that is supposedly the case, or why landlords with so much unleased space aren't lowering the sky-high rents in order to get tenants in. All-in-all, this 15+ minute video seemed to have about 30 seconds worth of content.

 

Maybe it's just me, but this was painful to watch -- it just rambled on and on, saying the same things over and over and never answering the very questions that it claimed it was going to explain over and over. Several times it claimed that NYC doesn't care about all of the empty office space -- and never gave a hint of a reason as to why that is supposedly the case, or why landlords with so much unleased space aren't lowering the sky-high rents in order to get tenants in. All-in-all, this 15+ minute video seemed to have about 30 seconds worth of content.

It is what it is. How could you monetize 30 seconds worth of content?

 

https://fortune.com/2024/02/09/gen-...ears-minimum-wage-employers-resume-in-person/

Gen Z grad with 2 degrees breaks down in tears sharing the responses she received from minimum wage employers after handing out her resume in New York

But it wasn’t long before the Pace University graduate realized that not even “two degrees in communications and acting” is enough to land a $16 an hour job in New York in the current tough job market.

LOL "communications and acting”

 

https://fortune.com/2024/02/09/gen-...ears-minimum-wage-employers-resume-in-person/
View attachment 314911
Gen Z grad with 2 degrees breaks down in tears sharing the responses she received from minimum wage employers after handing out her resume in New York


LOL "communications and acting”

I feel for her ... yet another naive young person that blindly believed in the "follow your dreams" pitch by some "universities" without even considering market reality.

 

I feel for her ... yet another naive young person that blindly believed in the "follow your dreams" pitch by some "universities" without even considering market reality.

I don't, as the sinking ship is of her own making likely called, lack of skill and talent in an over saturated job market. Her dream job was to be a influencer, the university has classes for future influencers. She got it what she attended school for but it doesn't pay the bills because she can't crack the influencer 1% that make a living wage.

 

They recently featured a couple

I feel for her ... yet another naive young person that blindly believed in the "follow your dreams" pitch by some "universities" without even considering market reality.

during an evening news segment. Couple attending KSU (Kent State University) who had amassed between them $100,000 in student loan debt. Their major? Oh yeah, Physical Education. I guess they are following their dream, common sense be darned.

Ron

 

https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/cisco-layoffs-4000-san-jose-18668136.php
Bay Area tech giant Cisco will lay off more than 4,000 in 5% staff cut