Work and Life Resources During COVID-19

Now that the pandemic is officially over—in spite of spiking cases nationwide— many leaders are calling for a return to the physical office.

Farmers Group CEO Raul Vargas recently mandated everyone be back in the office because it breeds creativity, camaraderie, and collegiality.

According to Business Insider, “The CEOs of Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan have said remote work is a solution for some, but not all, and larger companies like Disney and Starbucks have recently updated their requirements for employees to work in offices at least a few days per week.”.

By Megan Hudson

It’s no secret the Covid-19 pandemic turned the world on its axis and changed every facet of life as we know it. Offices emptied and busy cities went quiet for months on end until finally earlier this year the smoke began to clear.

In the post-pandemic era, we ushered in our new normal.  It’s been a long and continuous period of adjustment that has not come without its challenges.  

All hail to the 2023 college graduates, the class that was sent home from their dorms and classrooms in March 2020 of their freshman year due to COVID concerns.

As commencement season peaks, wisdom rings from podiums around the country in speeches from illustrious icons offering what they may hope is affirmation at the start of careers.

Maybe, just maybe, Karen Graham can attribute her new career as vice president of marketing and brand for Evite back to her mom who loved to throw parties when she, her younger brother and older sister were growing up in the northern suburbs of Chicago.

“I’ve always loved events, I’m very social, but I haven’t thought before that my mom loved throwing parties. She went big for birthday parties. So something rubbed off on me,” says Graham, who is in charge of rebranding Evite, the 24-year-old online invitation platform.

Because it’s about time to take time for you.

We’ve all been through some difficult times in the last two years. We’ve heard many of you talk about feeling stress and burnout. And even if that’s not you, it’s still important to “Take Time for You.”

Issue 191 — February 21, 2022

If you were eagerly awaiting the “Sex and the City” reboot, “And Just Like That,” perhaps you were one of many who concluded that you can’t go home again and expect it to be a satisfying visit.

I loved the iconic television series back in the day. Yet I can see that trying to update it while maintaining the elements that made it so much fun in its first go-round was an impossible task. Because its current iteration takes place in a culture chastened by a pandemic and awakened to deep seated racial injustice that makes the whiteness of the original four female friends, especially in one of the world’s most diverse cities, seem so out of place.

You are double vaxxed, boosted and spatially safe, yet you work regularly with colleagues, clients and customers who are not.

Never mind the masking issue, you are in contact in-person—and remotely—with people who are opposed to treating COVID-19 the same way you do and it is causing disruption, discontent and malaise in the workplace.

How as a leader do you maintain professional distance and your own safety as well as a safe and fair workplace culture?

“Every story has value, every woman has value and can make her valuable contribution, not just the rich, famous and powerful,” says Rebecca Sive, author of the new book, Make Herstory Your Story: Your Guided Journal to Justice Every Day for Every Woman.