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Charles Suppon has big plans for the Tunkhannock Area School District. At any given time, the northeastern Pennsylvania district’s chief operating officer can rattle off statistics about fields in which its schools excel: arts, AP classes and softball, as well as on-the-job training programs for future farmers, welders and more. Goats and chickens roam the high school’s courtyards, where students also tend to koi fish; in the hallways just beyond, high schoolers tinker with tractors, build furniture to sell and offer free tax services for the broader community. But Suppon speaks with vigor when he talks about the five-megawatt system he hopes to install across five solar arrays on the district’s buildings and surrounding property. The solar panels will heat the district’s pool and serve as the basis for new curricula and jobs training classes on the solar industry. For a rural district of around 2,000, Tunkhannock is punching above its weight class, he believes. “We’re a smaller school district doing big things.” Suppon’s district is in a bright red portion of Pennsylvania northwest of Scranton, narrowly outside one of the state’s more prolific natural gas regions. For him, solar is simply a pathway toward cost savings—just as natural gas, from which the district earns royalties off several leases, has been. Tunkhannock believes it could save upwards of $1 million a year by switching to solar, money that could be used for student initiatives. “It was always a financial decision,” Suppon said. “We wanted to be able to offset our energy costs, produce our own energy, and only pay distribution [fees] back to the grid.” There’s one catch: Tunkhannock’s plan to go solar is contingent upon winning more than $1 million in funding from the state’s Solar for Schools program. Currently in its inaugural year, Solar for Schools was born from a bill that faced an uphill battle in a legislature where environmental bills often die by attrition—a battle that required its creator, progressive Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia) to reach across the aisle and help marry what are often competing interests in the state—labor, education, and climate. But that money for Tunkhannock might not come through because of the stiff competition for the limited funds. While last year’s state budget gave the Solar for Schools program $25 million to disperse to school districts, the program received applications that add up to nearly four times that amount from schools and districts large and small, rural and urban, and conservative and liberal. “I was pleased, but hardly surprised,” Fiedler said in an email to Capital & Main of the demand. The disparity between the grant program’s budget and the size of its application pool mirrors a broader reality within the state Legislature: Despite clear and growing demand for solar energy, the political will to meet it has yet to catch up. A 2022 poll of more than 1,300 Pennsylvanians conducted by Vote Solar Action, an advocacy group urging pro-solar legislation at the state level, found that 65% of Pennsylvanians support large-scale solar farm development in the state. More than 80% said they support rooftop solar, while 73% support natural gas and 52% support coal. “I [have] visited nearly every corner of the state, from Waynesburg to Bethlehem, and in every place I met folks who wanted to save money on electricity, create good local jobs, and preserve the beauty of their communities,” Fiedler said. Yet the state lags far behind most others in solar development: Pennsylvania currently ranks 49th in the nation for its growth in solar, wind, and geothermal generation over the last decade, according to the nonprofit advocacy group PennEnvironment. It has fallen behind other major fossil-fuel producing states, like Texas, the country’s second-largest solar generator in 2023; California, where solar and wind together comprise close to half the state’s energy generation; and New Mexico, which Environment America, the national organization behind PennEnvironment, ranked 4th in the U.S. for renewable energy production in 2024. Just 3% of Pennsylvanians now have solar panels on their roofs, Vote Solar Action’s poll found—though 31% said they’d be interested in installing them. The lag could be attributed, in part, to interconnection delays by the regional grid operator PJM—though many of its neighbors in the same system, like Washington D.C., New Jersey, and North Carolina, have eclipsed Pennsylvania’s solar production. Because of increased demands predicted by PJM, utility bills in Pennsylvania are slated to increase this summer. Fiedler sees solar production as an antidote to what could be an oncoming energy crisis in the state. “We must generate more electricity,” she said. “Nuclear, wind, geothermal, and gas power plants can all be part of the solution, but the fact is we need energy now, and solar is the fastest.” But solar initiatives continue to hit gridlock in the halls of state power. After making its way through the state House last summer, a bill that would have enabled community solar—a program that allows multiple residents to enroll in a shared solar array separate from their homes—died in the Republican-controlled Senate. The bill’s author, Rep. Peter Schweyer (D-Lehigh), who introduced it as a way to make solar accessible for renters, apartment dwellers and those who can’t afford solar panels by themselves, has had to reintroduce the bill and start over again this session. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s attempt to pass an updated renewables target also failed to gain traction in the Legislature last session. Where a 2004 target required 0.5% of the state’s energy generation to come from solar, the new plan would have required the state to reach a 35% target by 2035 that included solar, wind, and nuclear energy generation. He has reintroduced it as part of a broader energy package dubbed the “Lightning Plan.” In a divided legislature, the fate of both initiatives is tenuous. As renewable energy faces sweeping attacks at the federal level under the direction of President Donald The President, states are stepping up to hold the line. Whether Pennsylvania will prove itself to be a meaningful player in this fight remains an open question. “Climate change has become politicized,” said David Masur, executive director of nonprofit advocacy group PennEnvironment. “Which then potentially can create more powerful special interests who are opposed to common sense policies and have a vested self-interest in the status quo, and politicians having sort of a knee jerk reaction to oppose things [that] are probably good even for their very own constituents.” Case in point: Solar for All, a federal grant program initiated by the Biden administration that awarded Pennsylvania $156 million for residential solar installations on low-income households, was designed to save residents $192 million over the next 20 years in energy costs while averting 43 million tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere, the equivalent of removing more than 9 million cars from the road for a year. These funds quickly became a negotiating chip. During deliberations over the 2024 state budget, a line was inserted into an omnibus fiscal code bill that prevented the state from accessing the funds. Though the Solar for All program was just one of several dozen federal environmental grants Pennsylvania won under Biden-era initiatives, the budget bill specifically calls out that one program. It requires legislative approval for the program’s funds to be disbursed. So, Fiedler sought out exactly that when she authored HB 362, a bill that would force the Legislature to vote on allowing the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, the state’s independent financing authority, to distribute funds it has already been awarded. Fiedler said the funds are already under contract with the federal government. HB 362 passed the House Energy Committee, which Fiedler chairs, in March. It now sits in the state House, home to a slim one-vote Democratic majority, as a battle to free the money falters after being confronted with a last-minute hurdle. Two days after the bill passed, Rep. Craig Williams (R-Chester County), introduced an amendment that would require the state’s utility regulator to promulgate regulations on net metering—a system that allows residential solar users to sell surplus energy back to the grid to incentivize the buildout of rooftop solar. Environmentalists fear the amendment could open the door to doing away with net metering—a major financial incentive for many residential solar owners. Reforming net metering has long been a priority of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative lobbying firm that disburses model bills to states, including those fighting renewable energy and attacking environmentalists. The group argues that paying solar owners for the energy they produce is costly for utilities—they pay them retail rates, rather than wholesale rates, and residential solar producers may end up generating enough energy to offset distribution fees they’d pay for the wires that move energy around the grid. Utilities then pass those costs onto consumers, and nonsolar users end up subsidizing their neighbors with solar panels, they argue. Williams has used similar language in opposing solar legislation; environmentalists generally disagree with this premise. Critics were quick to point out that, prior to joining the Pennsylvania House in 2020, Williams spent more than 10 years as general counsel for PECO, a Philadelphia-based utility that has come under fire from environmentalists for neglecting to increase its share of renewable energy. State lobbying and campaign finance records show the company spent more than $600,000 on lobbying in 2024, and donated $6,000 to Williams in 2024 between a failed run for attorney general and a successful campaign to keep his seat in the state House. The trade group that represents PECO and other utilities, the Edison Electric Institute, has long challenged net metering as states have grown their share of solar production. “The more people who generate energy from their homes, the less [utilities] get to build out their larger operations,” said Elowyn Corby, Mid-Atlantic regional director for Vote Solar Action. Williams’ amendment passed with support on both sides of the aisle. Environmentalists, however, consider it a poison pill—one that could weaken the state’s fledgling solar industry. “In Pennsylvania, probably the best thing we have going for solar is net metering,” said Masur, the PennEnvironment director. Minus Williams’ amendment, Fiedler’s Solar for All bill makes common sense, Corby said. “At its heart, the goal of this legislation is to make sure Pennsylvania doesn’t send federal money that belongs to our neighbors back to DC,” Fiedler said. The Solar for All program focuses specifically on serving homeowners who might otherwise be unable to afford solar panels of their own. In Pennsylvania, funds are specifically earmarked for low-income households, who are guaranteed at least 20% savings on their electricity bills. It’s unclear whether Fiedler will push forward to advance HB 362 now that it includes a threat to net metering. In the coming months, the state Legislature may also vote on initiatives that would put solar panels on municipal and emergency response buildings; warehouses and distribution centers; and townhouses governed by homeowners associations. Shapiro has proposed reupping the Solar for Schools program’s $25 million appropriation in the 2025-2026 budget, set to be finalized by June 30. Though Fiedler said she’s pleased to see the program reinstated, she said “that number is the minimum we should budget.” Jim Gregory, a former state representative and now executive director of the Conservative Energy Network-Pennsylvania, has committed himself to convincing his former colleagues of the importance of renewables in a diverse state energy portfolio. “If that money is going to be made available, we want to see it made available to low- and moderate-income families in rural Pennsylvania,” he said. Gregory said he’s watched as attitudes toward solar among conservatives in state government have shifted. “I don’t oppose anyone who wants to put solar on their rooftop or anything like that to help with utility bills,” said Rep. Kathy Rapp (R-Warren) at a recent meeting of the House Energy committee on Fiedler’s bill. Rapp has, for several sessions, introduced legislation requiring solar operators to create end-of-life plans for their arrays, which has yet to pass. Though far from an all-out embrace of solar, Rapp’s language offers a window into a softening stance on renewables. In 2019, Rapp wrote on her Facebook profile that solar and wind energy pose “serious environmental risks,” and called its supporters “radical Green New Deal proponents.” Despite past roadblocks, Fiedler remains optimistic about the fate of solar initiatives in the state. She sees the Solar for Schools program as evidence of broadening support for clean energy. “I believe there is political will for solar and all types of energy development in the state,” she said. “A lot of that success comes from the broad stakeholder coalition we built and from the support of colleagues on the other side of the aisle.” For school districts like Tunkhannock, the state’s ability to reach consensus has very real consequences. With the fate of federal solar tax credits unclear, district leaders say they are currently on the edge of their seats. The Solar for Schools grant could end up being a lifeline. “To say not getting potentially a million dollars in grant money wouldn’t affect us at all I think would be a lie,” said Suppon, the school district’s chief operating officer. This piece was originally published by Capital & Main, which reports from California on economic, political, and social issues. View the full article

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An upcoming exhibition at London’s Design Museum will let guests take a journey through Wes Anderson’s never-before-seen personal archives—from the coat worn by Gwenyth Paltrow in The Royal Tenenbaums to the original Grand Budapest Hotel model and the actual puppets used in the stop-motion film Fantastic Mr. Fox. The exhibition, titled “Wes Anderson: The Archives,” includes more than 600 objects collected by the iconic filmmaker over the past 30 years. It opens on November 21 and runs through the following July, and advance tickets are already on sale. Aside from a smaller initial showing at la Cinémathèque française, a collaborator on the exhibition, this will be the first time that Anderson’s archives have been displayed. In fact, most of the items have rested in storage ever since the shooting of their respective films. Rushmore An extensive archive Anderson’s personal object curation began after the making of his first feature-length film, Bottle Rocket, which was released in 1996. “Anderson’s meticulous collecting of these items began when he realized that everything that had been made for Bottle Rocket was owned and then sold off by the film’s production company,” the release explains. “So, from his second feature film—Rushmore—he personally took care of every item after shooting concluded, ensuring he was the guardian of all items crafted for each movie.” The Grand Budapest Hotel Because of this concerted effort, the Design Museum now has access to items from 1998’s Rushmore all the way up to Anderson’s most recent project, the 2023 short film anthology collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More. The Royal Tenenbaums Some of the most recognizable pieces in the collection include props, costumes, and puppets from Anderson’s films. From The Grand Budapest Hotel, there’s the original candy-pink model of the titular hotel, standing several feet tall; the film’s Boy with Apple painting, which becomes a central character in itself; and the jaunty concierge costume worn by Ralph Fiennes’s Gustave H. From The Royal Tenenbaums, there’s the much-emultated tan fur coat worn by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Margot Tenenbaum, as well as a poster of Richie Tenenbaum that’s shown in the film. And from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, costumes from the full ensemble cast will be on display together. Isle Of Dogs Fans of Anderson’s animated stop-motion films, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs, will get an opportunity that might be the most exciting of all: coming face-to-face with the characters themselves. Fantastic Mr. Fox A glimpse of Wes Anderson’s creative mind In addition to props from the films, “Wes Anderson: The Archives” plans to offer a peek into Anderson’s work process and lesser-known details from his career. Starting with the earliest point in his artistic evolution, the museum will show a screening of Anderson’s Bottle Rocket short film, the original 13-minute version of the eventual feature-length movie starring Owen and Luke Wilson. The short serves as the very first example of Anderson’s now-iconic style, and is often cited as the launchpad for his later fame. The Royal Tenenbaums Also on view will be a series of Anderson’s annotated notebooks from the set of The Royal Tenenbaums, as well as early sketches, storyboards, and polaroids from set. In short, it’s a Wes Anderson superfan’s most far-fetched dream, all contained in one museum showing. View the full article

Hawa Hassan was only 4-years-old when fighting forced her and her family from their home in Somalia. Hassan spent the next three years in Kenya, where some of her earliest memories were of running around tents in a refugee camp with her siblings and helping her mother stock the goods store she’d opened there. When she was seven, Hassan’s mother sent her to live with family friends in Seattle. It would be another 15 years before she saw her family again. “A lot of my childhood was spent wondering about my own background and my own identity,” said Hawa, a chef and entrepreneur who now lives in New York. “For many years, I had this deep desire to find people like myself and tell that story.” Hassan’s new cookbook, Setting a Place for Us: Recipes and Stories of Displacement, Resilience, and Communities from Eight Countries Impacted by War is the fruit of that longing. To write it, Hassan spent three years travelling and interviewing dozens of chefs and entrepreneurs from Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, El Salvador, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, and Yemen—countries perhaps better known to outsiders for civil strife than rich ingredients and complex flavors. The chapters are divided by country, each one offering a brief history; lush photos of daily life; several recipes; and at least one interview with a local grower, restaurateur, or community organizer. “My number-one goal is to tell a different story about what it means to be from these places,” Hassan said. “I hope that when people pick up this book, they come for the recipes, but they stay for the stories.” In the DRC she spoke with a baker who found success delivering mikate—or doughnuts—to customers during the pandemic. A brewer from Baghdad reflects on building a new life in New York and highlights masgouf—a grilled fish with tamarind sauce—as a must-try Iraqi dish. Though many of the people she spoke with have been displaced, Hassan said she intentionally focussed on food traditions and everyday life rather than conflict. “This was much more about the idea of home rather than what the temperature of a country is, or what your politics are,” she said. Mikey Muhanna, a social entrepreneur featured in Hassan’s Lebanon chapter, said that perspective came as a relief. “I was apprehensive at the beginning,” he said. “There’s a million orientalizing books, like, let’s go to war-torn countries and talk about real people on the ground, but the more I got to speak to her, and her collaborator [photographer Riley Dengler], I realized that they were coming from a place of real curiosity.” He said Hassan’s work offers a “blueprint” for how to report on communities other than one’s own. “It’s really powerful to see somebody who has the life perspective that Hawa has tell these stories with integrity, patience, and curiosity,” he said. Hassan traces the roots of Setting a Place for Us more a decade back to a six-month stay in Norway, where her mother and siblings eventually settled. After so many years apart, Hassan said she had to learn to find her place again in her family. “That’s when I started thinking about how I know it’s not only my family that has these big stories to tell about being othered or impacted by war or by family separation,” she said. Hassan was working as a model in New York at the time, but in Norway she spent hours in the kitchen with her mother making Somali food. When she returned to the U.S. in 2015 she started to lay the groundwork for her company, Basbaas, a condiment company with offerings like tamarind date sauce and coconut cilantro chutney. In 2020, she published her debut cookbook, In Bibi’s Kitchen, which she cowrote with Julia Turshen. A collection of recipes from grandmothers in eight eastern African countries, it won the James Beard Foundation award for Best International Cookbook. “The sauce [company] has helped me to inch my way onto the American dining table, and tell a story of not just being a Somalian girl, but being an African girl,” she said. She saw In Bibi’s Kitchen as an expansion of that story—offering a glimpse of women’s daily lives in East Africa. Following the success of In Bibi’s Kitchen, she was approached by Food Network TV to host her own show. She starred in Hawa at Home, where she cooked dishes like Doro Wat and made piri piri sauce, bringing East African food to new audiences. Her new book is a more intimate exploration of her life story—one that relates to millions of displaced people around the world. “Setting a Place for Us is the next layer of who I am that I’m willing to share, which is a person who’s been impacted by civil unrest, displacement, and family separation,” Hassan said. But despite the heavy subject matter, the book is largely optimistic—a celebration of the places people have returned to after years away or that that they continue to long for from afar. “My philosophy is we have no sad stories to tell,” Hassan said. Setting a Place for Us: Recipes and Stories of Displacement, Resilience, and Communities from Eight Countries Impacted by War will be published on Tuesday, May 13, by Ten Speed Press. View the full article

In April 2024, Yahoo acquired Artifact, a tool that uses AI to recommend news to readers. Yahoo folded Artifact’s—which was cofounded by Instagram cofounders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom—into its revamped news app to help surface and curate content for readers. Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone came on the Most Innovative Companies podcast to talk about the acquisition, the company’s approach to news curation, and what the future could hold for the private equity-owned company. This interview has been edited and condensed. Yahoo acquired news discovery platform Artifact last year. Now, the technology is used in Yahoo’s revamped news app. Why did you acquire the platform? Artifact had come up as a startup founded by the Instagram cofounders. It used AI and advanced algorithms to pull in really great content and also do a great job of surfacing it. When we read that they were going to shut it down, I reached out to Kevin Systrom immediately to say we should talk about acquiring it. We basically took the backbone of the Artifact app and made it the Yahoo News app. We look to acquire companies if they can fill a gap for us. We’re not in the game of acquihires. It has to be a product fit. We’re the No. 1 news publication in the U.S. in terms of total traffic. We got to that point by being an aggregator. We’re aggregating thousands of sources and then using algorithms to surface the right ones for each of our millions of users. With Artifact, how are you using AI to personalize a user’s newsfeed? We hope the end user doesn’t think about it at all. It’s just about the Yahoo News app getting smarter at delivering the right content to you at the right time. We’re very pro publisher and we are a big part of the ecosystem. We send them traffic and give them revenue as part of it. We’ve been doing that for over 20 years. That is, in some ways, pro publisher, but AI summaries come up on search and articles get summarized via bullet points. That means users may not actually read the articles, and media companies will get fewer page views. I would think about it a little bit differently. If you go back to the beginning of how Yahoo has always worked with publishers, we’re a huge part of the ecosystem in sending traffic out. It’s very important to us to keep the ecosystem very healthy, at least how it historically was. I understand your point, and certainly that’s a new factor for publishers to worry about in terms of AI companies sucking in all their data. Everything we do is with the publisher. We brought all of our publisher relationships to Artifact. Even when there’s a summary, it’s not trying to [stop people looking at] the article, it is trying to pull out the highlights of [the article]. We will also summarize a topic across publishers just for helpful understanding. But again, it all goes back to sending people down the funnel to [media] properties. But they would only go down that funnel if they want to learn more, right? I don’t know how much time you’ve spent with any of these apps, but I’d say they’re bullet points, short tidbits at the top. They’re really not summarizing the whole article. A news algorithm designed for people can contribute to their biases. Yahoo’s role is nonpartisan, but how do you think about balancing the goal of providing a customer service with preventing the information that only reinforces a reader’s beliefs? We think a lot about it. We try to be very nonpartisan. It’s a hard job. One of the signs we’re getting it right is I get nasty emails from people on both sides. Part of our job with the algorithm is to make sure readers don’t go too [far] into the rabbit hole and that [they] actually can continue to see a balance of things. At the same time, our job is to customize for them as an individual, so the algorithms take that into account. But there are a couple other things happening. We also balance [AI curation with] human curation, which is part of Yahoo being the trusted guide for all these years. Then of course, we are working with trusted publishers that we have long standing relationships with—not sharing user generated content. How does the app fit into Yahoo’s business strategy? In any given month, we are usually the No. 2 ranked property on comScore in the US multiplatform or in the top five across desktop and mobile. We’re in the top five with Gen Z, and 90% of internet users in the US touch Yahoo in any given month. So monetization of one property is not our issue. We monetize very well. Most of it’s through advertising, like with any major freemium publisher or product. A certain percentage of our users subscribe to our more premium offerings in given categories like sports or finance or email. News is just a part of that. You’ve said job No. 1 is making every one of these products and brands under Yahoo superstrong on their own within the categories in which they operate. There’ve been news reports saying you might want to spin off different products and take them public. There’ve been other reports saying you might want to take the company public as a whole. I guess I’m trying to get a sense of what you think the future is for Yahoo. I would answer that maybe two ways. It’s our job to create value and grow the business, which 30 years old. But for those who don’t know, we were spun out of Verizon by Apollo, the world’s largest private equity firm in September 2021, then I came in as CEO. Most private equity firms want returns. There are two ways to get a return. If you’re a private equity firm, you could go public or you can sell. It is also possible that your investors feel that they have a tiger by the tail and want to hold out longer. I’ve founded startups, I’ve worked at big public companies. It doesn’t matter the size of your company, the name of the game is growth either way. That’s also a sign of a healthy company. It’s a sign that you’re delivering for users. We’ll create a very valuable company, whether it’s us stand-alone going public, or it’s someone acquiring the company. That said, we definitely have inbounds all the time, especially because it is owned by private equity of people trying to pick off part of our pieces of our company. Part of the private equity game is probably to listen to everybody and understand what your options are. Every search engine tech company that puts out any kind of content or that aggregates content is partnering with LLMs like Open AI or Anthropic. Who are you partnering with? Going back to the late 2000s, Yahoo has had a longstanding relationship with Microsoft, which led to an easy relationship with Microsoft copilot. We have the second largest email platform after Gmail, it’s in the hundreds of millions of users. Even a year before Apple announced this Apple Intelligence series of products that would show up in their mail product, we announced AI in Yahoo Mail, helping you search mail, summarize it, write, edit, and more. That partnership was done with OpenAI. We also are partners with Anthropic, with Google, and others on other products that we have. We work with everybody so far and we’ll continue to do so. We’re also internally building a bunch of our own AI products. I think it’s too important to leave it purely to third parties. We have to have our own expertise there. View the full article

Burnout is a pervasive issue that can be damaging to individuals and costly to organizations. As Fast Company has reported previously, 82% of workers feel at risk for burnout and could be costing companies an average of $21,000 per year in lost productivity. And while there’s no shortage of advice about how to prevent burnout, prevention isn’t always a level playing field. Here are some situations that may leave you more prone to burnout than others: 1. If you’re in the wrong work environment Kandi Wiens, senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the university’s master’s in medical education program, says that some people may be more at risk for burnout than others—especially those who are working in environments that aren’t compatible with their personality or temperament. Wiens, author of Burnout Immunity: How Emotional Intelligence Can Help You Build Resilience and Heal Relationships at Work, says that burnout, especially in the workplace, “ultimately comes down to a misalignment, or sometimes referred to as a mismatch, between someone’s personality or temperament and the environment that they are in.” So if you are an extrovert and were working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, that might have led to burnout, while your more introverted colleagues may have thrived. If you’re curious and open-minded and your workplace shuts down that kind of inquiry or experimentation, you may burn out faster. Clues that you might be in the wrong work environment include feeling resistance to the company’s work style or ideas. Wiens suggests people “pay attention to that resistance and check themselves.” Practice vocalizing your concerns about that resistance with someone you really trust. “What would that look like, and how can you do that in a way that is healthy for you?” she says. 2. If you’re prone to fawning Those who are constantly overextending themselves in an effort to please others in the workplace and are unable to set healthy boundaries are “fawners,” says clinical psychologist Ingrid Clayton, author of Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves—and How to Find Our Way Back. This chronic people-pleasing is a “hybrid response to trauma,” Clayton says, noting that it’s an alternative to traditional fight, flight, or freeze responses. “It’s this hyper-attunement and managing other people—appeasing other people in a hyperarousal kind of way,” she says. “But it’s also hypoarousal, where there is a disconnect from ourselves, so we don’t know we’re fawning.” In her book, Clayton cites the example of a Harvard-educated law firm partner who was suffering signs of burnout. Through working with him, she helped him realize that the external validation he was seeking, as well as his inability to set boundaries, was leading to burnout. Such extreme people-pleasing can cause us to overwork and take on too much, ultimately leading to burnout. “Our worth is tied to these external markers rather than a connection with ourselves,” Clayton explains. “So, burnout is not just about output—the exhaustion of overdoing—but our loss of autonomy, authenticity, and knowing who we are at all. This is survival mode, and we are not meant to live there 24/7. Something has to give.” 3. If you lack self-awareness and self-advocacy skills When you’re encountering challenges in the workplace, whether they’re related to the culture being out of alignment with your personality and traits, or if you’re slipping into people-pleasing behavior, advocating for yourself is an important part of burnout protection. However, Wiens says that self-awareness is essential to understanding the issues that are causing friction with your personality or temperament and then being able to address them. Once you identify the issue, you can begin to take steps to mitigate it. For example, if you’re isolated and extroverted, you can purposefully design other ways to get the interaction you need. If your creativity is being stifled, you may be able to find other outlets for it. Wiens suggests thinking of it this way: “What is it in the environment that is a mismatch or misalignment with that thing that is triggered in me, and then what can I do to either change it or change the way I think about [it]?” She notes that people who lack self-awareness and the ability to examine their feelings face a fundamental hurdle in addressing the issues that could lead to burnout. Clayton notes that if you’re unable to advocate for yourself—including asking for what you need and setting boundaries when necessary—you may be more prone to burnout. Fighting burnout The good news, Clayton says, is that boundary-setting can be practiced and “built like a muscle.” Start by asking for what you need when the stakes are low—in a restaurant order, for example—to get in the habit. “Some people can kind of laugh this off if they don’t have this experience, but it’s very real that if you don’t have an experience of speaking up or setting a boundary where it felt safe and it was successful, you have to start to build that experience,” she says. While several factors may contribute to burnout, these three issues may accelerate it. However, through awareness and practice in mitigating these factors, workers can find a measure of protection from a pervasive malady. View the full article

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Artists and cultural workers are falling through the cracks of our economy at a time when their work has never been more needed in society. Their ability to exist and thrive is threatened by the cost of living and housing affordability crisis, our increasingly precarious economy, and cuts to grant funding under the new administration. Many exist in a structural grey area between independent gig workers and small business owners. Their work is often episodic, making them easily left out of safety net programs like unemployment and healthcare—this is especially true for artists from historically marginalized communities. To address these challenges, we need new systems and solutions to increase economic equity and ensure that our communities have access to creativity and culture. One such area we’ve seen a wave of interest and experimentation around the potential of in recent years is guaranteed income. What is guaranteed income? It refers to unrestricted recurring cash payments that people can use however they see fit to cover their basic needs and reach their personal and professional goals. Guaranteed income programs can be focused geographically on specific cities, on specific communities—for example young people, entrepreneurs, or parents—or a mix of both. Laura Zabel At Springboard for the Arts, we’ve been delivering one of the longest running guaranteed income programs in the country since 2021, focusing on both urban and rural artists and creative workers in Minnesota. Our 100 recipients to date include painters, sculptors, hip‑hop artists, singers, composers, teaching artists, performers, and writers who are receiving $500 a month over a five-year period. This has given us the opportunity to reflect on what we’ve learned and what insights we can offer to others thinking about doing this work. Adapt each program to the historical, cultural, and economic extractions in that community At its best and most effective, guaranteed income is a tool for justice and repair by supporting populations who have been exploited by social, cultural, and economic systems in America. These programs should be tailored to a community’s needs by considering the connection points between the economics, culture, and physical design of our cities and the impact of policy and planning harms from the past. Both cities and rural places bear the generational impact of economies based on the extraction of natural or cultural resources including redlining, land theft, the interstate highway system, and placement of industrial infrastructure, like trash burners, that has caused generations of environmental harm and adverse health impacts. The results of these policy decisions fall disproportionately on American BIPOC communities and neighborhoods, particularly Native and Black communities. Briuana Williams For our work in Saint Paul, we’ve focused our efforts in Frogtown and Rondo—two neighborhoods that are culturally vibrant, resilient, and community oriented, yet that continue to be disproportionately impacted by historical disinvestment, discrimination, and extraction. Rondo, for example, is a historically Black neighborhood whose cultural and business corridor was destroyed in the 1950s and ’60s by highway construction, causing generational economic and cultural harm that residents deal with to this day. Our rural work is focused in Otter Tail County, in West Central Minnesota. This community, like many rural areas across the U.S., is in the midst of economic transformation, including the loss of major employers, lack of affordable housing, and increase in predatory businesses like dollar stores and payday lending. Here, guaranteed income can be a tool for attracting and retaining the creative people these communities will need to imagine a different future. The focus on artists and creative workers is rooted in the idea that, like caregiving and community work, cultural work is a form of labor that communities depend on to be healthy but is not adequately valued by our current economy. Kandace Creel Falcón Use artists to help change the narrative about guaranteed income programs While the idea of guaranteed income is gaining traction across the country, there are still embedded cultural and political beliefs that limit how far economic justice policy change can go. These are often harmful tropes like: “Do people deserve it? How do they spend the money? Why don’t they just get a job?” One of the most effective ways of countering these questions is for people to experience the stories of these programs on a human level, which can transform pervasive narratives about inequality and poverty into belief systems of belonging, deservedness, and inherent self‑worth. In this way, artists—particularly those participating in guaranteed income programs and who are locally rooted in their communities—have a unique role to play in guiding and delivering a narrative shift around guaranteed income. With this in mind, we created a project within our wider guaranteed income work, collaborating with a cohort of artists on Artists Respond: People, Place, and Prosperity. In this program, artists created public projects highlighting the root causes that lead to the need for guaranteed income, and its impact on families and communities. (These projects were supported separately and outside of artists’ participation as guaranteed income recipients.) Kandace Creel Falcón Artists have designed projects that range from podcasts and coloring books, to postcards, a public installation, and a collaborative performance/dance meditation made available on YouTube, all of which use messages that are reflective of their local communities. A billboard on rural Highway 210 by artist Kandace Creel Falcón looked at guaranteed income’s connection to rural values, with the message “In Rural We Tend to the Herd” as a way to root messaging in the collective values of that community and counter individualistic narratives that attempt to malign safety net programs. Mickey Breeze Cross-sector investment and collaboration are key Our original pilot was a cross-sector partnership—designed in collaboration with the City of Saint Paul’s People’s Prosperity Pilot guaranteed income program and supported by local and national funders including the McKnight, Bush, Surdna, and Ford Foundations. We recently announced the expansion of this work, which includes extending the Saint Paul pilot and adding additional participants to the pilot in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, totaling 100 artists across both locations and committing to five years. The majority of the pilots taking place across America have been 12 to 18 months, in part because that’s the amount of time that cities were able to raise and access relief funds during the pandemic. These are a great start, but to have the kind of longevity that will allow us to make a meaningful—not just temporary—impact requires bringing more and different kinds of partners on board and moving from pilots to policy. This is an area where philanthropy has an opportunity to be a true partner by seeding longer-term pilots in more geographies and by supporting advocacy and policy work. Kashimana Research and evidence matters When it comes to expanding the reach and impact of guaranteed income, research and evidence matters. Groups like Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, led by Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, are integrating learning and research from local pilots into state and federal policy recommendations. Springboard for the Arts is working with the University of Pennsylvania Center for Guaranteed Income Research to collect data through community-led participatory research in both rural and urban locations, allowing us to understand what’s working and how people are using these funds. Emergent themes from this research are compelling, with monthly income contributing to general financial stability; participants’ ability to do longer term planning toward healthcare, savings, business ownership and housing; and increasing financial security so artists can generate creative work for their community and stay in their neighborhoods. This money is going toward rent and supplies but it’s also being put to everyday expenses like fixing a car so that an artist can get to their job or buying snow boots for their children. Being able to point to these tangible impacts allows us to bring in more partners and more effectively advocate for policy. Even if it feels tedious, having a growing body of data will bolster all of our efforts for both individual programs and the movement as a whole. The experience with our pilot has shown us that guaranteed income works as a tool for supporting both an individual’s economic security and their ability to contribute to their communities in creative ways. As our economy becomes even more stratified, there is an urgent need to advocate for policy innovations, like guaranteed income, that offer more Americans the freedom to take care of their families and communities and imagine and build a better future. The article was adapted from the chapter ‘Artists as Allies in Economic Justice’ in the recently released Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning. View the full article

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I’m no stranger to a certain amount of time-eating scrolling on social media, but TikTok is something else. I’ve been engrossed by the social media app for hours on end — and the TikTok algorithm is to blame. But the secret sauce that makes the app so addictive to users is exactly what has content creators and marketers tearing their hair out. Why do certain TikTok videos gain meteoric popularity while others, seemingly of equal quality, barely get a glance? The answer isn't just in the dance moves or trending sounds. The answers lie in a host of signals weighed and analyzed by the TikTok algorithm. The uncannily accurate recommendations are powered by an algorithm that delivers hyper-relevant video content that’ll make you wonder if they’re tracking you. Many creators find it mystical and feel the need to ‘hack’ or ‘game’ the algorithm, but that’s unnecessary. In this article, we’ll dive into the TikTok algorithm, how it works, and how you can work with it to enhance your visibility and engagement on the platform and, with any luck, grow your TikTok follower count. ⚡Work smarter, not harder: plan, organize, and schedule your TikTok content with Buffer. Here’s how →What is the TikTok algorithm?The TikTok algorithm is the recommendation system that decides which videos appear on a user’s For You Page (FYP) — the default homepage that surfaces content tailored to each person’s interests. It’s designed to keep users engaged by showing them videos they’re most likely to enjoy based on a wide range of signals. Unlike a chronological or follower-based feed, TikTok’s algorithm prioritizes content relevance over creator popularity. That means even new users with zero followers can have their content pushed to large audiences — if it aligns with what the algorithm thinks people want to see. At its core, the algorithm is built around one goal: maximize watch time and engagement by showing the right content to the right person at the right time. How does TikTok's algorithm work?TikTok’s algorithm works by analyzing thousands of signals by a user to determine what kind of content they most want to see. These signals — things like likes, comments, follows, and how long they spend on a particular video — determine what videos appear on their ‘For You’ page and in what order. TikTok's For You page, often abbreviated as FYP, has undeniably transformed how we consume content. The For You page is the first page you encounter on TikTok and is filled with recommended content and videos that get more accurate as you spend time on the platform. Unlike the algorithms of YouTube and Instagram (but similar toLinkedIn), TikTok’s recommendation system serves a mix of quality content from creators you follow and those you've yet to discover from one page. The blend of familiar and new content is tailored meticulously to user preferences, making the social network addictive and fresh. Many other social media platforms have taken a page out of TikTok’s book — like Instagram’s Reels feed and Threads’ own For You feed. TikTok does seem particularly good at getting users hooked on the app, leading folks to believe there’s some hidden secret behind the algorithm — which doesn’t seem to be the case. “There seems to be some perception that they’ve cracked some magic code for recommendation, but most of what I’ve seen seems pretty normal,” says Julian McAuley, a professor of computer science at the University of California San Diego. After viewing some internal documentation on the TikTok algorithm, he spoke to the New York Times. What sets TikTok apart, he said, is that they have “fantastic volumes of data, highly engaged users, and a setting where users are amenable to consuming algorithmically recommended content (think how few other settings have all of these characteristics!). Not some algorithmic magic.” Let’s take a closer look at how TikTok’s algorithm works for a new user: The user joins TikTok, sharing some basic information as they sign up like age and location. When they first open their brand-new TikTok account, their For You page will show them some of the platform's most popular recent videos, particularly among users who fit their demographic profile.As the user scrolls through the stream of videos, they may like a certain clip, follow a creator, or even tap over to that TikToker’s profile to watch more of their content. Every one of these tiny actions carries a certain amount of weight in the algorithm and signals how much the user liked the content.The more the user is active on TikTok, the more info the TikTok algorithm learns about them, and the better able it is to predict what they want to see. At its core, the TikTok algorithm prioritizes a few key elements, or ranking factors: EngagementThis includes likes, shares, saves, comments, and — perhaps most importantly — video watch time. While we don’t know for certain, a fascinating analysis by the Washington Post uncovered that the time users spend lingering on a specific post can have a huge impact on what kind of content is served to them as they continue to use the app. TikTok uses engagement like this as a signal that your content is valuable and worth showing to more users. The more engagement a video gets, the higher its chances of appearing in more FYPs. 👀Wait — does engagement really boost reach? It’s a little more nuanced. TikTok doesn’t promote content just because it has a lot of likes or comments — those metrics serve as signals within a much larger recommendation system. If a video performs well with a small initial audience, TikTok may test it with a larger one. But that next boost depends on how that new audience reacts, not just the engagement numbers alone.User interactionsWho your audience follows and engages with can influence the content they see. Video informationDetails like whether the video was created natively on TikTok, the information in the caption, and any embedded details within the video. Device & account settings Factors like location, language preference, and device type also play a (less important) role. Each one of these factors is in pursuit of one goal: to help users discover new, relevant content. One of the standout features of TikTok's algorithm is its emphasis on content relevance over creator popularity. This means that even if you're new to TikTok, your content can still get significant visibility if it resonates with users. Key tools in this discovery process include: Relevant hashtagsKeywordsCommon search phrasesFinally, TikTok won’t recommend certain content on your For You page if: It’s too graphic or endangers the safety of users,It’s tagged as “not interested”You’ve seen it alreadyThis focus on ensuring its users get the most relevant content is one of the best (or not great) things about TikTok because audience size doesn’t matter for your discoverability. Whether you have an existing platform or not, TikTok is an equal playing field for creators. ⏰Want to know when you should be scheduling your content for maximum engagement? We analyzed millions of videos to help pinpoint the best times to post on TikTok.Does TikTok use a “point system”?You may have come across viral posts or YouTube videos that reference a so-called TikTok algorithm point system — a scoring model that supposedly ranks user interactions (like likes, shares, and rewatches) with different values to determine whether your video should be shown to more users. While TikTok hasn’t publicly confirmed an exact points-based ranking model, it’s clear that some engagement actions carry more weight than others. For example, a rewatch or share may signal stronger interest than a like or follow, and could result in your video being tested with a larger audience. It’s helpful to think of these actions not as literal “points,” but as signals. The more valuable the signal (like someone sharing your video or watching it multiple times), the more the algorithm understands that your content resonated — and the more likely it is to recommend your video to others. Bottom line: Whether or not there’s a point system under the hood, focusing on engagement that reflects genuine interest (rewatches, saves, shares) is one of the most consistent ways to earn reach on TikTok. 5 ways to work with the TikTok algorithmUnderstanding the TikTok algorithm is the first step, but how does it translate into actionable advice for creators or tactics that can be worked into a marketing strategy? Here are some ways to harness the algorithm's nuances to enhance your content's reach and engagement. Leverage TikTok SEOIt’s no secret that TikTok users treat the platform like the short-form video version of Google. Gen Z, in particular — TikTok’s largest demographic — uses TikTok like a search engine. As a result, SEO (search engine optimization) should be a key part of any TikTok social media marketing plan can be a powerful way to get more views and followers on TikTok. You’ll find our comprehensive guide to TikTok SEO here, but here’s a quick-start guide: Understand what your audience is searching for: Look at what hashtags are popular on TikTok within your niche and the questions you and other creators in your niche get in the comments. Search for keywords that match your content ideas, and check out the 'Others searched for' keywords in the results. TikTok’s Creative Center is also a brilliant source of popular content, from trending songs to up-and-coming creators. You can also try keyword research tools like Google Trends, Answer the Public, or Exploding Topics.Identify your keywords: Choose 2-3 keywords that will match common search terms from your audience. When you create your content, make sure the video actually covers those topics or answers those questions. Optimize your videos with your keywords: When you upload your video, weave your keywords in as many places as possible — your video caption, captions, and even on-video text can have an impact.Use all the tools in TikTok’s toolboxYou should be making relevant and engaging content, but that only works if your content is seen in the first place. By keeping to TikTok’s rules of reach, you can ensure your content is always optimized for reach so you can focus on posting. Here are some evergreen tasks to consider as you make your next TikTok: Use relevant or trending hashtags. Three to five hashtags are recommended as the sweet spot for boosting discoverability.Incorporate trending audio from the TikTok audio library. Here’s our guide to finding trending TikTok sounds while they’re still popular. Add conversation-starting captions to your videos and sprinkle in relevant keywords.Experiment with carousels: TikTok’s photo carousels are a great way to disrupt the feed and stop users from scrolling past. Embrace native TikTok features. Whether it's filming directly within the app or using features like Stitches or Duets, staying native can give you an edge. For more robust editing options, use CapCut, which is owned by TikTok’s parent company Bytedance. Check your next TikTok against this checklist💡The TikTok Creative Center is a goldmine of information – use it to discover what’s popular (or rising in popularity) among your audience.Once you’ve built a considerable content library, dive deep into your analytics to understand what performs best. Which videos do your viewers rewatch? Which ones do they share? At what times are they watching your videos? Use this data to refine your content strategy. Publish content consistentlyTikTok's ecosystem thrives on rapid content consumption – if you miss a day, you might miss a whole trend. That’s why the most popular advice is to post frequently and consistently. However, it’s important to balance that with the knowledge that while regular posting can boost visibility, it's crucial not to sacrifice quality for quantity. A well-thought-out video that taps into a trend or resonates with an audience can perform better than multiple hastily-made ones. There’s a lot of advice for what makes the most engaging content – use a hook! Hop on trends! However, your goal is to find a relevant audience, just as much as the algorithm’s goal is to deliver relevant content. So, you need to make content that resonates with your audience. Consider creating a signature so you’re instantly recognizable to your audience, even if they’ve never met you. For example, Notion creator, Easlo, starts most of their videos showing their laptop, which they then open. The videos all have a muted tone in their signature black and white, along with text on the screen that tells the viewer what to expect. Nikita Redkar makes videos breaking down complex topics in more approachable ways for her audience, usually while wearing pink and walking down the street. She’s become known for this style to her 700k+ audience. More than anything, a successful TikTok marketing strategy means keeping a close eye on the metrics and applying these learnings to future content. If there’s a particular type of content that people always watch to the end, that might be a good focus point for you. Niche down to reach your target audienceTikTok offers a diverse creative playground, but if you have a goal you’re trying to achieve as a creator (awareness for your business, for example), defining your niche can help you stand out. Niching down doesn’t have to make your content boring – it just means you know how to frame your content for the audience you’re targeting, and every additional follower outside that group is a bonus. Ayomi Samaraweera started posting career-focused content on TikTok, which won her a brand deal with only a few thousand followers. Doubling down on a niche early on allowed her to grow quickly. One way to take a list of content ideas to new heights is by starting a content series. Fashivly’s Ashlyn Greer makes videos creating outfits based on coffee orders, usually from suggestions commented from their followers. Whether you're into DIY crafts, dance, or digital marketing tips, honing in on a specific niche can help you build a dedicated and engaged audience. Whether you're into DIY crafts, dance, or digital marketing tips, honing in on a specific niche can help you build a dedicated and engaged audience. Balance creativity with conformityThere are two sides to the TikTok creator coin. Every creator brings a unique voice and style to the platform. While being aware of prevailing trends is essential, this uniqueness will set you apart. However, while you can make whatever you want (within the guidelines), you should also look to fit in by creating content that looks like everything else on the app. This doesn’t mean copy-pasting someone else’s creation style but focusing on creating what the person scrolling through the app expects from the next video on their page. For example, Mitra, Buffer’s social media manager, makes TikToks that feel natural to TikTok but also show who we are as a company. One of the charms of TikTok — and the expectation from its users — is its raw, unfiltered vibe. Users often resonate more with content that feels genuine. Many creators, especially brands, struggle on TikTok because they’re replicating the polished look of the content they create for other social media platforms. Think of it as a dance between fitting in and standing out. You want to be recognizable as part of the TikTok community but also offer something fresh and unique. You have to meet them where they are while using the app. This doesn't mean you can't produce high-quality, polished visuals. Pro creators have learned how to create content their audience wants to see, even if it has an elaborate style. Their success comes from the fact that the content still feels personal, as if a real human is sharing a moment of their life behind the screen. Go beyond virality to build genuine connectionsViral content can boost visibility, but what happens after the virality fades? Building genuine connections ensures long-term engagement and growth. Some ways to do that include: Engaging with your community: TikTok isn't just a platform to broadcast; it's a community. Engage with your followers, respond to their comments, and collaborate with fellow creators. These genuine interactions can foster loyalty and turn casual viewers into dedicated fans.Collaborate with other creators: Speaking of collaborations, you should explore this often-overlooked strategy for growth on TikTok. Working with other creators, especially those in complementary niches, can introduce your content to a whole new audience.Leverage TikTok success off-platform: If you've built a substantial following on TikTok, consider directing them to other platforms. Whether it's your blog, email list, or another social media channel, diversifying your audience ensures you're not putting all your eggs in one basket.The TikTok algorithm, while intricate, is not insurmountable. Remember, in TikTok's vast, dynamic universe, authenticity and genuine engagement will always shine brighter than fleeting virality. So, creators, roll up your sleeves, tap into your unique voice, and let the TikTok journey begin! View the full article

Email: It’s one of the more evil of the necessary evils. We all spend a significant chunk of our days wading through messages, to the point that it can feel like a never-ending task. Save us, artificial intelligence! The good news: AI is revolutionizing how we interact with our email. And the best part? Many AI email tools offer free tiers that are actually useful. If you’re looking to supercharge your Gmail experience, reclaim your time, and take a bit of work out of your workflow, look no further. Compose AI: Effortless email drafting Ah, the dreaded blank email draft. Thanks to AI, its days are fortunately numbered. The Compose AI extension integrates directly into your Gmail compose window and offers intelligent suggestions as you type. Simply provide a few keywords or a brief description of what you want to say, and watch the AI craft a well-written draft for you. There’s also a super handy one-click email-reply feature, which suggests quick replies based on the context of messages you receive. The free version offers 1,500 AI-generated words per month, while premium plans unlock additional generations and access to more advanced writing styles. Paid plans start around $10 per month. InboxPurge: Cut the clutter An overflowing inbox can be a needless source of stress, but AI-powered extensions are stepping in to help you regain control. InboxPurge offers a free plan focused on helping you declutter your Gmail. It uses AI to identify and categorize emails and allows you to quickly unsubscribe from identified newsletters and delete or archive entire categories of messages. InboxPurge offers 20 free cleanup actions each month, while premium plans start at $4 per month and unlock more advanced automation features. There’s also a onetime $5 plan that unlocks all features for a week—perfect for periodic binge-decluttering sessions. Mailmeteor: Enhance email productivity Mailmeteor is primarily a mail-merge tool, with a free plan that offers features for boosting your email productivity and organization. Use it to send follow-up emails at the perfect time, even if you’re not online. With the free plan, you can run three campaigns concurrently and send 50 personalized emails each day to multiple recipients. Paid plans start at $5 per month and unlock higher sending limits for mail merge, more detailed tracking features, the ability to personalize emails with more variables, and integrations with other tools. Concisely: Summarize emails automatically Don’t have time to read every lengthy email in detail? Neither does anybody else. That’s why AI-powered summarization tools are such lifesavers. The free Concisely extension can quickly analyze long emails and provide you with a brief overview of the key points, boiled down to a single sentence. It’s especially useful for newsletters, reports, or lengthy discussions where you only need the core information. The extension is free at the moment, with no paid plans available. Grammarly: Watch your tone AI-powered tone analysis extensions can help you communicate more effectively. Grammarly has a free version that analyzes the tone of your messages to let you know how you might sound to the person on the other end. There are also built-in grammar-checking features, of course, which help you come across more clearly and professionally to your recipients. The free version of Grammarly offers grammar, spelling, and punctuation checks, as well as basic tone detection, plus some limited AI text generation. Paid plans start at $12 per month and unlock more advanced tone suggestions, clarity-focused rewrites, vocabulary enhancement suggestions, and plagiarism detection. View the full article

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is a credit for child care expenses fair to employees without kids? Recently a viral video and announcement has gone around of a company offering credits up to $3,000 a month for child care expenses. This is fantastic! However, as a child-free person I’m concerned about a benefit worth tens of thousands of dollars a year only being offered to a segment of employees who have young children. When point this out, am I the bad guy? How can a workplace support all their employees? I don’t think you’re the bad guy. I do think, though, that child care expenses are in a different category than nearly anything else — this country does a terrible job of supporting parents with young children, there is very little safety net available, and daycare costs are exorbitant. There’s little else a company could offer that would meet a pressing need on the same scale … and it’s a need that, if it’s not met, is far more likely to drive women out of the workforce than men. You could definitely argue that if they’re going to offer it, they should also offer a similar dependent care reimbursement for employees caring for sick or elderly family members … but I can’t fault them for seeing a very pressing and significant need and responding specifically to that. That said, I’d hope that any company that’s doing this for parents has also ensured they’re offering really good health insurance to everyone and is flexible when people need time off for reasons other than young kids. 2. Interview question: “what does ChatGPT know about you?” I just saw something post that a “great” interview question a potential employer should ask is this (paraphrased): “Go to ChatGPT or another AI you’ve interacted with and ask it to summarize what it knows about you from your conversations.” Bananapants, right? I don’t have work-related conversations with AI, so I don’t see how that would be relevant. This smacks of an interviewer trying to trick a potential hire into disclosing information like their sexuality, family status, religion, and the like. No decent company should endorse this technique, and I’d run like my tampon string was on fire if anyone asked me this, whether or not I even chat with AI! Agreed. Moreover, lots of people don’t have conversations with ChatGPT or similar AI’s, or don’t log in when they do (so nothing is saved). This is just bad thinking. 3. How to tell our director she’s not invited to a meeting I work on a team with five other coworkers, and we all work remotely and in a global capacity (some in the U.S. and some in Europe). We have a weekly team meeting that has recently gotten out of hand attendance-wise. Our department director, who manages several teams (including ours) has forwarded the invite so many times the meeting now has 15+ people on it. A few of my colleagues expressed a desire to have a very informal, small group meeting every week with just our team so we can catch up on our weekends, ask questions in a casual way, and just generally team build together. Our director found out about this meeting and now not only demanded we forward the invite to her, but is asking us to move the time to fit her schedule. Is there a way to nicely say her seniority changes the vibe of the meeting? “We’d planned this just for X staff — the idea was to serve a different purpose than a larger meeting or one with senior managers.” If she asks what that different purpose is, you could say, “It’s part connection-building, part informal updates and mutual help. We wanted to keep it very casual so we could maintain that vibe.” If she insists on being there anyway, you may need to let the meeting die off and then reconstitute it in a different, more casual (and perhaps more impromptu) form. 4. Why is it taking so long to get rejections? This morning I learned that, after careful consideration and with utmost respect for my impressive credentials, a potential employer would not be moving forward with my application. I submitted that application on January 5. I am writing this four months and two days after I submitted that application. And this is not totally out of the ballpark for response times since I started trying to transition from freelance to full-time a whole damn year ago. I’m not sure how to phrase this question except: “What the actual fuuuuungible tokens is going on here?” It can’t possibly be taking this long for all hiring decisions to be made, can it? Is this the “new normal”? And if so, how are employers okay with leaving roles empty for so long?! And if not…WHAT is WRONG with me? This doesn’t strike me as that weird (or new)! A lot of employers don’t send out rejections until they’ve made a hire for the job (as opposed to rejecting people on a rolling basis as they go), and four month from advertising to hire isn’t pretty solidly within the range of normal. Sometimes you hear about someone getting a rejection a year or more after applying for a job, and that is ridiculous, but four months isn’t. It accounts for time for applications to come in, time reviewing those applications, deciding who to move forward, doing initial screens, doing a couple of rounds of interviews, checking references, extending a negotiating an offer, and waiting for the offer be accepted. Four months is actually pretty decent for a lot of professional jobs. Related: how long should it take to hear back after you apply for a job? 5. Can I say no to a new job duty? I work in the hospitality industry. My official title is general assistance. My main work is supposed to be in the kitchens. It’s mainly to help assist the chefs. However, lately we are being made to spend less and less time doing that and we are being required to spend more time collecting coffee cups from other parts of the building, on top of our normal jobs of assisting the chefs. It’s not something I enjoy doing. Do I have the right to refuse a job that’s not really have anything to do my official role? Legally? No. They can add new duties to your job, and can make doing those new duties a condition of remaining employed with them. That said, you and your coworkers might be able to push back if you can show that it’s negatively affecting your primary duties (like if you’re not available for your main job when needed). Or if you have a lot of capital and know they don’t want to lose you over it, sometimes you can simply explain that it’s not work you’re interested in doing. But when it’s something like collecting cups from other parts of the building and your job is “general assistance,” you probably don’t have a lot of leverage, I’m sorry to say. Related: how to say no to things at work The post an unfair credit for child care expenses, telling our director she’s not invited to a meeting, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

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On Small Business Breakdown this week, our panel is back and taking on some of the biggest headlines in business. The crew tackles the possibility that AI could be threatening Google. Here what each of our panelists has to say on that topic. Also, the Small Business Breakdown team talks about the trust factor and what it means to entrepreneurs and business owners. See what they say about that and other topics on this week’s episode below … Small Business News Here is a roundup of the latest small business headlines from the last week … GoDaddy Survey Finds Small Business Owners Remain Optimistic Despite Economic Concerns A new survey from GoDaddy Inc. reveals that while nearly half of U.S. microbusiness owners anticipate a weakening national economy in the coming months, most still maintain confidence in the growth prospects of their own enterprises. North Carolina Community College System Partners with Goldman Sachs to Support Rural Entrepreneurs The North Carolina Community College System announced it is partnering with Goldman Sachs to launch the 10,000 Small Businesses initiative across the state. The effort is part of Goldman Sachs’ $100 million national Investment in Rural Communities, aimed at bolstering small business growth and economic development. ADP Marks National Small Business Week with Insights from Nearly 18,000 Entrepreneurs In recognition of National Small Business Week, ADP has released insights drawn from nearly 18,000 small business owners across the United States as part of its Grit & Wisdom Contest. The initiative invited small business owners to share their best strategies for success, revealing recurring themes and advice aimed at helping entrepreneurs thrive in a challenging business environment. Etsy Rolls Out Spring Product Updates to Improve Seller Experience Etsy has launched a series of product updates aimed at streamlining the seller experience and improving business management tools on the platform. The updates, announced April 25, 2025, focus on listing enhancements, shop management improvements, and expanded support options for sellers. SBA Reminds Pennsylvania Small Businesses of Upcoming Deadline for Drought Relief Loans The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is urging small businesses and private nonprofit organizations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia affected by the September 2024 drought to apply for federal disaster loans before the June 2, 2025 deadline. Salesforce Launches Agentforce for HR Service to Streamline Employee Support Salesforce has announced the launch of Agentforce for HR Service, a new set of AI-powered tools embedded within its HR Service platform designed to simplify and personalize employee support experiences. Fiserv Reports Modest Uptick in Small Business Sales for April Small business sales in the U.S. rose slightly in April, according to the latest Fiserv Small Business Index released by Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE: FI). The seasonally adjusted Index increased by one point to 151, reflecting a 0.4% month-over-month increase in sales and a 3.2% increase year-over-year. Adobe Express Survey Reveals How Small Business Owners Are Hustling with Passion and Creative Tools Adobe has released new survey findings showing how small business owners in the U.S. are redefining entrepreneurship through digital savvy, relentless hustle, and tools like Adobe Express. Gas Prices Hold Steady Amid Declining Oil Costs, AAA Reports The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline edged up slightly this week to $3.18, according to AAA. While this time of year often sees seasonal increases in prices due to rising demand, a drop in crude oil prices is helping to stabilize prices at the pump. Small Business Breakdown: The Impact of Tariffs on Sellers and Consumers On Small Business Breakdown this week, our expert panel discusses, at length, the impact potential tariffs will have on small businesses and consumers. Specifically, the panel talks about how companies will market tariffs and how they handle the potential for increased costs for their products. DoorDash Rolls Out Real-Time Tools to Streamline Merchant Operations DoorDash has announced a suite of new features and product updates designed to give merchants greater control and flexibility when managing online orders. Walmart Launches ‘Grow with US’ Program to Support American Small Businesses Walmart has introduced a new initiative called Grow with US, a voluntary four-step program aimed at helping small businesses succeed in Walmart stores and on its online Marketplace. Announced on April 29 by John Furner, President and CEO of Walmart U.S., the program is designed to simplify the process for U.S.-based entrepreneurs to navigate the complexities of retail and expand nationally. This article, "Small Business Breakdown: Is AI a Threat to Google?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

On Small Business Breakdown this week, our panel is back and taking on some of the biggest headlines in business. The crew tackles the possibility that AI could be threatening Google. Here what each of our panelists has to say on that topic. Also, the Small Business Breakdown team talks about the trust factor and what it means to entrepreneurs and business owners. See what they say about that and other topics on this week’s episode below … Small Business News Here is a roundup of the latest small business headlines from the last week … GoDaddy Survey Finds Small Business Owners Remain Optimistic Despite Economic Concerns A new survey from GoDaddy Inc. reveals that while nearly half of U.S. microbusiness owners anticipate a weakening national economy in the coming months, most still maintain confidence in the growth prospects of their own enterprises. North Carolina Community College System Partners with Goldman Sachs to Support Rural Entrepreneurs The North Carolina Community College System announced it is partnering with Goldman Sachs to launch the 10,000 Small Businesses initiative across the state. The effort is part of Goldman Sachs’ $100 million national Investment in Rural Communities, aimed at bolstering small business growth and economic development. ADP Marks National Small Business Week with Insights from Nearly 18,000 Entrepreneurs In recognition of National Small Business Week, ADP has released insights drawn from nearly 18,000 small business owners across the United States as part of its Grit & Wisdom Contest. The initiative invited small business owners to share their best strategies for success, revealing recurring themes and advice aimed at helping entrepreneurs thrive in a challenging business environment. Etsy Rolls Out Spring Product Updates to Improve Seller Experience Etsy has launched a series of product updates aimed at streamlining the seller experience and improving business management tools on the platform. The updates, announced April 25, 2025, focus on listing enhancements, shop management improvements, and expanded support options for sellers. SBA Reminds Pennsylvania Small Businesses of Upcoming Deadline for Drought Relief Loans The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is urging small businesses and private nonprofit organizations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia affected by the September 2024 drought to apply for federal disaster loans before the June 2, 2025 deadline. Salesforce Launches Agentforce for HR Service to Streamline Employee Support Salesforce has announced the launch of Agentforce for HR Service, a new set of AI-powered tools embedded within its HR Service platform designed to simplify and personalize employee support experiences. Fiserv Reports Modest Uptick in Small Business Sales for April Small business sales in the U.S. rose slightly in April, according to the latest Fiserv Small Business Index released by Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE: FI). The seasonally adjusted Index increased by one point to 151, reflecting a 0.4% month-over-month increase in sales and a 3.2% increase year-over-year. Adobe Express Survey Reveals How Small Business Owners Are Hustling with Passion and Creative Tools Adobe has released new survey findings showing how small business owners in the U.S. are redefining entrepreneurship through digital savvy, relentless hustle, and tools like Adobe Express. Gas Prices Hold Steady Amid Declining Oil Costs, AAA Reports The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline edged up slightly this week to $3.18, according to AAA. While this time of year often sees seasonal increases in prices due to rising demand, a drop in crude oil prices is helping to stabilize prices at the pump. Small Business Breakdown: The Impact of Tariffs on Sellers and Consumers On Small Business Breakdown this week, our expert panel discusses, at length, the impact potential tariffs will have on small businesses and consumers. Specifically, the panel talks about how companies will market tariffs and how they handle the potential for increased costs for their products. DoorDash Rolls Out Real-Time Tools to Streamline Merchant Operations DoorDash has announced a suite of new features and product updates designed to give merchants greater control and flexibility when managing online orders. Walmart Launches ‘Grow with US’ Program to Support American Small Businesses Walmart has introduced a new initiative called Grow with US, a voluntary four-step program aimed at helping small businesses succeed in Walmart stores and on its online Marketplace. Announced on April 29 by John Furner, President and CEO of Walmart U.S., the program is designed to simplify the process for U.S.-based entrepreneurs to navigate the complexities of retail and expand nationally. This article, "Small Business Breakdown: Is AI a Threat to Google?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

In a world of growing disorder, the European project is now about hard powerView the full article

Gulf state’s offer to replace ageing presidential plane raises ethics concernsView the full article

Gold sells off amid reports of trade talks progress View the full article

TriNet, a leading provider of comprehensive human resources solutions for small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), has announced the launch of several new HR products and enhancements aimed at helping entrepreneurs manage the complexities of an evolving business environment. The announcement was made on May 8, 2025. The new solutions are designed to address the growing challenges SMBs face, including economic uncertainty, workforce changes, and disruption driven by artificial intelligence. According to TriNet, these enhancements are intended to give businesses greater control, clarity, and efficiency in their HR operations. “Today’s announcement underscores our commitment to delivering innovative HR solutions that empower small and medium-size businesses to focus on growing their business and their people,” said TriNet Chief Technology Officer Jeff Hayward. “These newly-launched solutions will provide our SMB customers and their employees with more clarity and confidence to help make even better HR decisions for themselves and their company.” AI-Powered Personal Health Assistant Among the new offerings is a Personal Health Assistant, powered by Healthee. This AI-driven tool provides employees with personalized, 24/7 online access to healthcare information, helping them make more informed benefits decisions throughout the year. TriNet plans to make this feature available to customers by late 2025. Streamlined New Hire Onboarding TriNet has also introduced significant upgrades to its Professional Employer Organization (PEO) mobile app. The latest update allows administrators to input new hire information directly from their mobile devices, saving time and increasing efficiency. The platform’s document management capabilities now include secure e-signature functionality, powered by Box, enabling employees to easily review and sign key documents from any location. Enhanced Employee Development Tools The company is also expanding its support for employee learning and development. In collaboration with 360Learning, TriNet’s learning management system now features an AI-powered content creation tool that facilitates faster development of customized training programs. Additionally, TriNet will soon offer clients access to a premium content bundle with over 1,000 on-demand training courses to help employees build critical skills. New Offerings to Support Employee Wellbeing TriNet’s Marketplace now includes new options to promote employee wellbeing. These include My Secure Advantage, a service that provides financial wellbeing coaching, and Wellhub, a platform offering holistic wellness benefits. These additions are designed to help small businesses support the financial, mental, and physical wellbeing of their workforce. TriNet’s latest offerings are part of its broader strategy to help small and medium-size businesses remain agile and competitive in a rapidly changing business environment. The new tools reflect a growing demand for HR solutions that combine convenience, intelligence, and comprehensive employee support. This article, "TriNet Unveils New HR Product Enhancements to Support SMBs Amid Economic Uncertainty" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article