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Gallup recently released new data on employee engagement, and the results are dismal. Just 3 out of every 10 employees are actively engaged—which is the lowest percentage in a decade. But despite decades of effort and investment in tackling disengagement, this persistent issue endures. If you conduct an Amazon search for books on employee engagement, you’ll get thousands of results. There are also dozens of apps and “platforms” that promise to “unleash human potential” and “help people transform,” not to mention countless, self-described “coaches” offering services related to “re-engaging” the workforce. We’ve seen the rise and fall of “perks culture,” added opp…

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. Typing isn’t always the best way to get your thoughts down. Sometimes talking through an idea leads to better clarity. New AI tools can reliably transform those spoken thoughts into clean, organized text. I’ve spent months experimenting with voice AI tools—first on my phone, and now on my laptop. They’ve been helping me pull ideas from my brain onto paper. The tools below have become crucial to my workflow. Why voice AI beats traditional transcription Traditional transcription simply converts speech to text. Mod…

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. From a young age, feedback from authority figures shape our self-perception. Unfortunately, too many young people internalize the message that they should only pursue what comes easily to them. I know this firsthand. As a student, I was interested in STEM but found it challenging. After an educator told me to focus on what I was “good at,” I believed I could never succeed in sci…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. This week, Zillow economists announced that they expect U.S. home prices, as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index, to rise 1.1% between January 2025 and January 2026. That’s a downward revision from their previous 12-month forecast, which had projected a 2.9% increase in U.S. home prices. “Zillow’s latest forecast anticipates home value growth in 2025 to be weaker than previously expected,” wrote Zillow economists on Wednesday. “New listings were higher than expected out of the gate this year, and inventory expectations that were revised higher ha…

Arizona’s highest court has created a pair of AI-generated avatars to deliver news of every ruling issued by the justices, marking what is believed to be the first example in the U.S. of a state court system tapping artificial intelligence to build more humanlike characters to connect with the public. A court in Florida uses an animated chatbot to help visitors navigate its website, but the Arizona Supreme Court is charting new territory with the creation of Victoria and Daniel. Made of pixels, the two avatars have a different job in that they serve as the face of news coming from the court just as a spokesperson made of flesh and blood would do—but faster. The use of A…

Across the city of Chengdu, China, the quiet but remarkable buildings of Liu Jiakun has slowly pierced through the dominant stereotype of bombastic Chinese architecture. Liu, who has just been named the 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, has spent the past three decades carefully injecting pieces of socially conscious and transformative architecture into his hometown. Liu’s work includes subtle museums, historically informed preservation projects, and progressive urban projects that blur the edges of private space and public good. “In a world that tends to create endless dull peripheries, he has found a way to build places that are a building, infrastructure, …

Siri Chilazi is a senior researcher at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Iris Bohnet is a professor of business and government at Harvard Kennedy School and co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program. What’s the big idea? Fairness is not merely a choice; it is a way of moving through the world. For life and work to exhibit more fairness, people need to embed fair behavior into everyday choices, routines, and systems. Everyone can show up in ways that allow for a diversity of people to be seen, heard, and valued at the table. Below, co-authors Siri and Iris share five key insights from their new book, Make Work Fair: Data-Dri…

Efforts to hollow out the federal workforce by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have resulted in a dramatic rise in layoff announcements. The latest monthly data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows that employers in the United States announced more than 172,000 layoffs during February, which was an increase of 245% from January and the highest monthly total since mid-2020, during the pandemic. Further, it was the highest number of layoffs for the month of February since 2009, in the middle of the financial crisis and subsequent Great Recession, when more than 186,000 layoffs were announced. So far, through the first two mo…

As I write this, the most pleasing sound is washing over me—gentle waves ebbing and flowing onto the shore. Sadly, I’m not actually on some magnificent tropical beach. Instead, the sounds of the sea are being generated by my Mac. Yet, more than just being pleasing to the ear, this sound, and others the Mac can generate, have helped boost my focus in recent months when I’m under deadline and trying to get work done. The feature is called “Background Sounds.” Here are some of the benefits I’ve gotten from it and how you can use it, too. The pandemic made me realize background sounds help me focus I know some writers who need absolute silence when they are workin…

“Insane project idea: all of wikipedia on a single, scrollable page,” Patina Systems founder Tyler Angert posted on X earlier this month. “Even better, an infinitely scrolling Wikipedia page based on whatever you are interested in next?” replied Bloomberg Beta VC James Cham. “WikiTok,” added Angert. insane project idea: all of wikipedia on a single, scrollable page — Tyler Angert (@tylerangert) February 3, 2025 New York-based app developer Isaac Gemal stumbled across the discussion the following evening. Within two hours, WikiTok was live. If you’re the type to instinctively pull up Wikipedia to fact-check anything and everything, this app is made for you. W…

Watch any Olympic event, and you’ll notice this universal ritual: The moment an athlete completes their performance, they turn to their coach for feedback. There’s no defensiveness—just a hunger to know how to improve. They understand that even the smallest adjustment could be the difference between standing on the podium or watching from the sidelines. For athletes, feedback is not criticism. It’s a tool for enhancement. This mindset isn’t confined to sports. High performers in every field—whether that’s business, academia, or the arts—share an insatiable appetite for actionable feedback. It’s their secret weapon for continual improvement. Why feedback fuel…

We all know the people pleaser in the office—the one who takes on extra work, stays late without being asked, and is at the full disposal of the department manager. They also may agree with whatever the majority says and will dodge conflict, even though they are in the right. But does this mentality pay off? Likely not, say experts. Who exactly is a people pleaser? A people pleaser is someone who abandons their own needs and values to try and make someone else happy, explains Amy Morin, a psychotherapist and the author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do. While on the surface, you may think this selfless approach will fast-track you at work, however, this…

A little over a decade ago, Netflix decided to take streaming into its own hands: Instead of relying on commercial content delivery services, the streamer built its own servers from scratch, and gave them away to internet service providers. Since then, Netflix has distributed over 18,000 of these servers, now installed in 6,000 locations spread across 175 countries, forming the company’s Open Connect content delivery network. Now, Netflix is ready to take this tech beyond movies and TV shows: The company has begun to develop its own cloud gaming infrastructure, with servers that could eventually allow any Netflix member to play complex games on their smart TVs without…

Tesla’s sales of its China-made electric vehicles dropped 49.2% in February from a year earlier to 30,688 cars, the lowest since August 2022, as the U.S. automaker faces pressure from Chinese rivals in a relentless smart EV price war. Tesla, which makes its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in China, sold 93,926 Chinese-made vehicles worldwide in the first two months, down 28.7% year-on-year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). January-February sales were distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday shifting from February last year to late January this year and due to a partial suspension of Model Y production for upgrade work. Still, Chin…

Microsoft said Wednesday that its profit for the October-December quarter grew 10% as it works to capitalize on the huge amounts of money it has spent to advance its artificial intelligence technology. But while its overall profits and revenue beat Wall Street expectations, it slightly missed projections for its closely watched cloud computing business, a centerpiece of its AI efforts. The company reported net income for the quarter of $24.1 billion, or $3.23 per share, beating Wall Street expectations of $3.11 per share. The Redmond, Washington-based software maker posted revenue of $69.6 billion in the quarter, up 12% from the previous year, also beating expectations.…

Dive into the exhilarating world of innovation with FC Explains, a video series that spotlights the game changers and visionaries from Fast Company’s prestigious Most Innovative Companies list. This annual ranking celebrates the trailblazers who are reshaping industries and cultures, pushing boundaries, and transforming the world. First up is Bluesky. View the full article

David Beckham is entering the $152 billion supplement industry with IM8, a health and wellness brand launched in partnership with Prenetics. View the full article

As climate change causes increasingly severe natural disasters, it’s also increasingly threatening our art, culture, and shared history. In the recent Los Angeles wildfires, billions of dollars in fine art may have been consumed; architectural gems by Richard Neutra, Gregory Ain, and others were destroyed; and the warehouse of Belmont Music Publishing, a repository chronicling Austrian-American composer Arnold Schoenberg, was lost in what the composer’s son called “a profound cultural blow.” For museums, archives, and libraries, which often operate as nonprofits on limited budgets, meeting these increased risks poses significant financial constraints. This challenge …

If you’ve ever felt frustrated by job listings that seem too good to be true or lead nowhere at all, you’re not alone. The truth is, the job market is full of fake postings and ghost jobs that can waste your time or even put you at risk. To help you navigate this confusing landscape, nine experienced experts have shared their advice on red flags to watch out for, so you can differentiate between legitimate opportunities and scams designed to exploit job seekers. Look for salary transparency In my experience, the biggest red flag has nothing to do with the job description or the company website. The real issue shows up when a listing has zero mention of salary—or wo…

Even if you’re a regular Alexa user, there’s a good chance you haven’t discovered some of its most efficient features. Actually, strike that: There’s a good chance you’re only using your Alexa device to set timers and play music. But Alexa does so much more! Here are five commands to add to your vernacular that could save you tons of time with regular use. “Alexa, check traffic” Once you link your home and work addresses in the Alexa app, simply asking to check traffic will give the time between your home and office by default—always handy when you’re heading out the door. You also can ask for traffic conditions to a certain destination. Alexa just told…

Early in their leadership journey, many leaders believe they need to have all the answers and be experts in every aspect of their team’s work. They assume that credibility comes from knowing every detail, every strategy, and every technical nuance. However, the most effective leaders soon realize that leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about knowing enough to ask the right questions, spot key trends, and guide their teams toward success. Rather than micromanaging or dictating processes, strong leaders focus on creating clarity through shared goals and measurable outcomes. By setting clear performance metrics, they establish a common language with their…