Workplace Trends

I had three kids in four years. During those early chapters, I navigated a mix of roles: private equity investor, CFO, founder. I closed deals while nursing newborns, took calls on mute while multi-tasking, and found creative ways to keep showing up at work and at home. None of it was easy, but flexibility made it possible. Each maternity leave was different. Each return to work came with new trade-offs. But what stayed constant was the value of autonomy and being trusted to deliver, whether from the boardroom or my kitchen counter. That’s why I worry when I see blanket return-to-office mandates. The research is clear: these policies disproportionately impact women, especially working mothers. With US birth rates falling and labor force participation still recovering, this is a material, long-term economic issue. Don't get me wrong, I loved being in the mix and in my new role, I’ve already seen how hallway run-ins, spontaneous coffee chats, and in-person energy can spark ideas and open doors that wouldn’t exist on Zoom. There’s real power in proximity. I also know, deeply and personally, that working from home can be a lifeline. The future of work should be about performance, not presence. Impact, not optics. And yes, collaboration matters. So does inclusion. If we want more women in leadership, more diverse boards, and more innovation across sectors, we have to recognize that careers don’t move in straight lines and success doesn’t always wear a suit or commute five days a week. Let’s build workplaces that reflect the messy, beautiful reality of modern life. That means sometimes coming in and sometimes staying home. Back to the office? Or stay remote? Maybe we’re asking the wrong question.

A Return To Office mandate is a funny thing. A trade-off of lower workforce productivity, morale, retention, engagement, and trust in exchange for...managers feeling more in control. It's more a sign of insecurity and incompetence than sound decision-making. The fact that 80% of executives who have pushed for RTO mandates have later regretted their decision only makes the point further, and yet every few months more leaders line up to pad this statistic. In case your leaders have forgotten, return to office mandates are associated with: 🔻 16% lower intent to stay among the highest-performing employees (Gartner) 🔻 10% less trust, psychological safety, and relationship quality between workers and their managers (Great Place to Work) 🔻 22% of employees from marginalized groups becoming more likely to search for new jobs (Greenhouse) 🔻 No significant change in financial performance while guaranteeing damage to employee satisfaction (Ding and Ma, 2024) The thing is, we KNOW how to do hybrid work well at this point. 🎯 Allow teams to decide on in-person expectations, and hold people accountable to it—high flexibility; high accountability. 🎯 Make in-person time unique and valuable, with brainstorming, events, and culture-building activities—not video calls all day in the office. 🎯 Value outcomes, not appearances, of productivity—reward those who get their work done regardless of where they do it. 🎯 Train inclusive managers, not micromanagers—build in them the skills and confidence to lead with trust rather than fear and insecurity. Leaders that fly in the face of all this data to insist that workers return to office "OR ELSE" communicate one thing: they are the kinds of leaders that place their own egos and comfort above their shareholders and employees alike. Faced with the very real test of how to design the hybrid workforce of the future, these leaders chose to throw a tantrum in their bid to return to the past, and their organizations will suffer for it. The leaders that will thrive in this time? Those that are willing to do the work. Those that are willing to listen to their workforce, skill up to meet new needs, and claim their rewards in the form of the best talent, higher productivity, and the highest level of worker loyalty and trust. Will that be you?

State of the product job market: 1. There’s indeed a shift to hiring more senior PMs 2. Remote PM jobs are shrinking fast (down 35% from peak, and still shrinking) 3. More than one in five open PM roles is based in the San Francisco Bay Area (and still growing) 4. Bengaluru, India, is now the most popular location outside the U.S. for PM roles 5. The three most common hard skills that hiring managers are looking for from PMs are SQL, Jira, and experience with LLMs 6. The fastest-shrinking roles right now are diversity and scrum masters 7. Machine-learning engineers and data engineers are the most in-demand tech functions right now This analysis is based on exclusive data from two companies that I’m partnering with: 1. TrueUp, which tracks new job openings across all tech companies globally 2. Live Data Technologies, which tracks job changes (hires, departures, and promotions) across all companies in the U.S. Combining these two data sources reveals a whole new perspective on what’s really happening in the job market. Loads more surprises and insights in the full post: https://lnkd.in/gjArRAXm I’m going to continue tracking job market data and sharing regular updates on what’s changing in the product hiring market every few months or so. If there’s any data or questions you want us to dig into, please let me know in the comments.

Equal Pay Day moved BACKWARD in 2025 to March 25th, revealing a harsh truth: transparency without enforcement doesn't create equality. 60% of job postings now include salary information—up from just 18% in 2020—yet women still earn just 85 cents to a man's dollar. Even more disturbing? The gap is widening. Of 98 countries with equal pay laws, only 35 have implemented any accountability mechanisms. We're seeing the illusion of progress without the substance. True salary transparency requires action at every level: For individuals: - Share your salary information with "trusted" colleagues - Explicitly ask for pay ranges before interviews - Document salary discussions and decisions - Normalize compensation conversations in your workplace - Research industry standards using sites like Glassdoor and Payscale For managers: - Conduct regular pay equity audits in your teams - Establish clear compensation criteria based on skills and responsibilities - Remove salary history questions from your hiring process - Advocate for transparent promotion pathways For organizations: - Implement formal pay bands with clear progression criteria - Regularly publish company-wide gender and racial pay gap data - Create accountability mechanisms for addressing inequities - Train managers on recognizing and addressing unconscious bias in compensation decisions The data is clear: companies with meaningful transparency see pay gaps narrow significantly in the first year alone. But posting a salary range isn't enough if there's no accountability behind it. Let's move beyond performative transparency toward meaningful equity. Please share this post if you think salary transparency should come with real action. Joshua Miller #SalaryTransparency #PayEquity #Workplace

The preliminary benchmark revision for March 2025 nonfarm payrolls is -911,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced September 9. The revision is huge and only slightly larger than the -902,000 for March 2009 that came at a time when payroll cuts were massive during the Great Recession. It is bigger than 818,000 in the preliminary revision for 2024, although the final revision was smaller at -598,000. In any case, the size of the revision will mean that when the annual revisions for 2025 are released in February 2026 with the January 2026 monthly employment report, payroll changes are going to look weaker than previously reported. The annual revisions normally go back five years. The benchmark revision for private payrolls is -880,000. About a quarter of this is in wholesale (-110,000) and retail (-126,000) where businesses are restructuring under new trade and tariff policies, and from some large retail changes restructuring and/or closing. Also figuring into the large downward revision is shrinking in the professional and business sector (-158,000), information (-67,000), and leisure and hospitality (176,000). Knock-on effects of loss of funding from the federal government and/or adoption of AI tools is affecting the former two; the latter may be adding fewer jobs as businesses turn to automation where possible and reduce offerings that involve the need for actual people to perform in light of loss of immigrant workers. The revision for government (-31,000) heightens the loss of jobs at the federal level. #benchmarkrevision Please do not use without attribution. Prepared without use of AI. Copyright © Theresa A Sheehan

BREAKING: The job market is cooling with hiring down 5.8% in March, according to LinkedIn's latest data. Worth noting: 62% of CEOs are now predicting a recession within six months, up from 48% just last month. Smart job seekers aren't panicking; they're strategizing. So, what does this mean for you if you're currently job searching or considering a move: 1️⃣ Target growing industries: Healthcare added 53,600 jobs last month, with social assistance adding 24,200 and retail trade gaining 23,700. Meanwhile, Utilities (+0.4%) and Holding Companies (+5.9%) were the only industries showing month-over-month hiring increases. 2️⃣ Develop future-proof skills: LinkedIn's report highlights several in demand skills plus I've added several employers value in uncertain times: • AI literacy and technology adaptation • Conflict mitigation and communication • Adaptability and agility • Data analysis capabilities • Cost management expertise • Supply chain knowledge (especially as tariffs impact operations) • Automation-related skills (as manufacturers focus on "more automation rollouts") Companies implementing AI are seeing 10% revenue increases—they need talent who can leverage these tools while demonstrating agility, which Aerotek's April report calls "the X factor that will give companies an edge." 3️⃣ Consider geography: The Sunbelt continues to outperform with Miami-Fort Lauderdale showing a 4.8% hiring boost and Phoenix maintaining strong numbers. Meanwhile, St. Louis (+4.2%) and Denver (+1.9%) are bright spots in other regions. If you've been searching for a while: Revisit how you present your skills: Highlight how you can help companies navigate uncertainty and control costs—top priorities as businesses prepare for potential downturn. Expand your industry targets: If you've been focusing on manufacturing (-10.3% YoY) or government (-17.3% YoY), consider how your transferable skills apply to healthcare, retail, or utilities. Consider contract roles: With economic uncertainty, many employers are shifting to flexible hiring strategies—these can be excellent foot-in-the-door opportunities. In every economic shift, there are still thousands of jobs being filled daily. Position yourself where growth is happening and showcase the skills employers need most right now. What strategies are working in your job search? Share them with me below. #LIPostingDayApril #Careers #LinkedInTopVoices

What happens when return-to-office mandates ignore the data? According to a Barron’s report, JPMorgan Chase’s own internal survey—completed by 90% of its workforce—shows employee sentiment has dropped significantly since the full return-to-office policy began in March. The lowest-scoring areas? 🔻 Work-life balance 🔻 Health and well-being 🔻 Internal mobility While CEO Jamie Dimon remains convinced that the company performs better in person, the workforce is signaling something different—and it’s time we pay attention. Full return-to-office mandates are not only outdated—they're risky. What I see is that all generations are now expecting some level of flexibility, and when leaders dismiss that shift, morale declines and attrition rises. Top talent doesn't just disengage. They start making exit plans. As HR and business leaders, we must do two things: 1️⃣ Reevaluate the ROI of in-office presence. If the goal is collaboration, innovation, or mentorship, then measure those outcomes—not attendance. Proximity without purpose is not strategy. 2️⃣ Design flexibility as a business accelerator, not a perk. Flexibility, when done right, fuels productivity, autonomy, and trust. It's not about letting people off the hook. It's about giving them the tools and conditions to do their best work. Here’s the hard truth: People don’t resist coming to the office. They resist coming back to systems that ignore their lives, their input, and their evolving expectations. How would you react if your company had a RTO mandate? #FutureOfWork #ReturnToOffice #HRLeadership #WorkplaceStrategy #HybridWork #EmployeeExperience #WellbeingAtWork #LIPostingDayJune

Continuing Claims Reach New Post-Pandemic High   The latest rise in continuing jobless claims stands in stark contrast to what the unemployment rate suggests about the labor market. Claims data now point to rising labor market slack, as business conditions grow increasingly uncertain amid shifting trade, fiscal, and monetary policies.   It’s now harder for unemployed workers to find jobs than at any point in the past three years. With business confidence still subdued compared to earlier this year, companies are pulling back on hiring—particularly for entry-level positions.   A much stricter immigration policy has placed a ceiling on the unemployment rate by limiting labor supply. But that doesn’t mean jobless workers can easily step in to fill open roles, as mismatches in skills or location remain key barriers.   The claims data align more closely with last week’s increase of just 74,000 in private payrolls—far below what the topline jobs number suggested.   While the unemployment rate remains a key labor market gauge for the Federal Reserve, this may be a moment when that single metric is no longer sufficient to guide its decision on interest rates.

"Our CEO wants us to follow Amazon back to five days a week." Your company isn't Amazon, so you might want to look at the data on the impact of mandates and the reality of #RTO trends. Amazon will survive. They'll lose talent, more as the economy continues to pick up, and have lots of disengaged employees. But they are a machine. Your company isn't Amazon; they don't have Amazon's management systems and processes, and mostly likely don't compensate people nearly as well. Changing one factor doesn't make you the same, and likely makes you worse. Here's the latest, my semi-regular roundup of data on #ReturnToOffice and #Hybrid data, sources are all linked in the slides: 🔸 Mandates don't improve performance: add the work of Sean F. (Cornell), Andra Ghent & Vasudha Nair (U. Utah) to Mark Ma's study showing no financial benefits, not even a Wall Street pop (p1) 🔸 CEOs who impose are are on average older, white men with a high power ratio -- their comp vs the rest of the C-suite indexes higher than average (p1) 🔸 The people who leave are longer tenured and higher performers, aka people who are marketable, and women who are put in a vice. Kudos Gartner, U of Chicago's Austin L. Wright et al & Upwork (p1) 🔸 New study in Nature by Nick Bloom et al showing +33% reduction in attrition from #hybrid, while Blind reports 73% of Amazon employees are considering leaving -- I know several firms recruiting people out (p2) 🔸 Not only are teams more #distributed post-pandemic, the most important work in companies is often cross-functional projects where teams are spread across time zones, not buildings on campus (p3) 🔸 Flex Index data showed 67% of US firms are flexible, down from 69% in Q2, corresponding with an uptick in unemployment -- which since reversed (p4) 🔸 Industries where #RTO is highest are those conducting layoffs (tech, media, prof services) or with big financial stakes in #CRE (real estate, financial services) (p5, 6) 🔸 Over 90% of firms founded after 2010 are #flexible and the average lifespan of S&P 500 companies dropped from 67 years in the '40s to 15 by 2023 (p 7, 8) 🔸 The "winner" these days is some form of #hybrid, usually 2-3 days a week which matches what most employees want (p 9, 10) 🔸 Office utilization has risen slightly this year. Kastle Systems shows flat results for 2 years, CBRE says the average in US is 32%, up from 29% last year (p 11, 12) The uptick in utilization comes from RTO and firms moving to smaller leases. CBRE reports the average renewal is 21% smaller, and new leases 32% smaller. On top of that, 40% of the office space tenanted at the start of the pandemic has yet to come up for renewal. “The winding down is not over" said CoStar's Phil Mobley in yesterday's #WSJ along with Rob Sadow. If your CEO is pushing for #RTO, ask what problem we're trying to solve and invest in fixing that. Play the long game. Invest in figuring out what works, for your company. #FutureOfWork #remote #ReturnToOffice