9 stories
About six years ago, we experienced a fundamental shift in how and where work got done. A huge number of roles transitioned to be completely remote or hybrid, but the way many companies evaluate performance is still built around an in-office workforce.
When a new employee starts at Netflix, they spend the full first quarter of their new role being onboarded. The result is an impressive 11% annual turnover rate, less than half the national average of 23.4%.
Most managers worry about their lowest performers becoming a drag on the team. But some of the biggest productivity bottlenecks start at the other end of the spectrum. High performers naturally attract work.
The average knowledge worker uses four times the number of tools they used in the early 2000s, but the software surge hasn’t translated to an increase in productivity or employee satisfaction. In fact, 96% of employees are dissatisfied with the tools they have been given to manage their work.
We’re all familiar with the experience of working for a micromanager. It’s the director who constantly checks on you via your employee tracking software or the owner who feels the need to sit in on every meeting you schedule with a client.
A few years ago, Shopify rolled out a tool that calculated the cost of every meeting based on the length and specific attendees. Include three employees in a 30-minute meeting? The average cost could range anywhere from $700 to $1,600.
At the end of 2025, 51% of remote-capable U.S. workers were working in a hybrid role. At this point, more office employees work in a hybrid job than in fully in-person or fully remote roles. But just because hybrid work is common, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Not terribly long ago, hiring a freelancer meant getting some short-term help. Freelancers were used to help cover a temporary spike in workload, a one-off project, or a specific skill gap your full-time team couldn’t fill.
When you’re feeling overwhelmed, productivity is usually the first thing to go. It’s not (usually) because you don’t care, but because it feels like too much. Trying to optimize your time or follow a system when you’re barely keeping your head above water sounds ridiculous.
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