U.S. colleges have seen a big decline in enrollment since the pandemic began. More than 1.3 million fewer students are enrolled in colleges now than in Spring 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. In a tight labor market, it may make sense to skip getting a college degree and get a job instead. But what happens when the market turns soft, and employers can be more choosy? We hear about Kiah Peschel’s pandemic-driven decision to drop out of college and why she’s n...
Aug 09, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast At the height of the pandemic, major companies like Amazon, Walmart, Walgreens and CVS expanded benefits for workers, including access to more paid sick leave. Now, some of them are starting to pull back on those benefits. The benefit expansion seemed to signal the arrival of a more worker-centered workplace, but could the cuts signal a return to the way things were before the pandemic? We talk to Brian Kropp, a VP at the consulting firm Gartner, about why some companies are walking back expande...
Aug 02, 2022•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’ve taken you through some of the biggest moments in a career, from hire to retire. But how do you navigate your career during this time of uncertainty? In this episode, WSJ Life & Work columnists Rachel Feintzeig and Callum Borchers answer your questions on the changing job market, including how to get ahead when a lot of the workforce is still at home, putting your best foot forward to land a job, and if a potential economic downturn could signal the end of the Great Resignation. Send us you...
Jul 05, 2022•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast From afar, retirement looks like a promised trip to Shangri-La at the end of our working lives. But for many, the abrupt change in the speed of life or loss of work identity can be very jarring. For Dr. David Ekerdt, a professor who spent his career studying retirement, and Dr. Sherry Mendelson, a writer and psychiatrist, the expectations of leaving the working world did not match the reality. Drawing on knowledge from their working years and their own retirements, they share tips on how to prep...
Jun 28, 2022•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Exhausted by your job? Need to take care of family? Want to pursue a passion? Or maybe you need to take some time away from the grind. More workers now expect to take a break sometime in their careers. But can stepping away from work hurt your chances of getting back in the game? We hear from three people who went through it, and how they came back. And Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO of the career re-entry company iRelaunch, gives us tips for how to take a break without breaking your career. Links Sub...
Jun 21, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast You’ve been working for a while now. Maybe you’re at the top of your game, but you’re feeling stagnant. You might be wondering: where has my motivation gone? This happened to Marissa Dacay as she was rising in the marketing division at Adobe. But instead of finding greener grass at a new company or in a new role, Marissa worked with her employer to pivot within Adobe. We talk about how she did that - and speak with organizational psychologist Allison Gabriel about three keys all employees need t...
Jun 14, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast The word “networking” may conjure images of cocktail parties filled with strangers handing out business cards. But, in reality, effective networking is about making deeper connections with potential allies. Chris Mossiah is a VP at JP Morgan Chase and a member of the LGBTQ community, and tapped into that community to be more authentic at work while growing their career. Also, networking expert Dorie Clark reveals how even introverts can succeed at networking and why dinner parties can be better ...
Jun 07, 2022•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Salary, vacation days and benefits: negotiating at work can feel like a second job. But Yale professor and negotiation expert Barry Nalebuff says few of us do it right. He says it helps if you think about … pie! We explain what that means - and he answers your questions about navigating tricky situations at the bargaining table. Plus - we want to hear your career advice! Email us at aswework@wsj.com, or leave us a voicemail at 212-416-2394. For Further Reading: Barry Nalebuff’s book on negotiati...
May 31, 2022•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Most people who’ve made it know: there’s no success without failure. But learning how to recover and keep going after failure can be a challenge, even for seemingly successful people. Author Min Jin Lee gave up a career in law to become a professional writer, and confronted rejection, shame and her own fear of failure head-on. It took many years of struggle before her second novel Pachinko became a best-seller and was turned into an Apple TV series. She says the experience led her to believe tha...
May 24, 2022•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast This year’s crop of new college graduates are walking into one of the hottest job markets in generations. Some are demanding big paychecks from their new employers, but money isn’t the only thing on their “must have” list. WSJ reporter Lindsay Ellis brings us conversations with new grads who are prioritizing company culture and work life balance. Jeff Beavers, Michigan State University’s executive director of career services, digs into the difficulty of networking during COVID times and how stud...
May 17, 2022•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Having trouble figuring out where to go next in your career journey? The next season of As We Work will take you through all the steps, from getting that first job right out of college all the way to retirement. We’ll talk about the changing expectations from new graduates, the lessons that come from failure, how to network and even how to negotiate at work. We’d love to hear your questions about how to negotiate a better salary, benefits, more time off, or anything else you might want from your...
May 10, 2022•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Now Hiring: No degree required. A growing number of tech companies are looking to fill roles that require special skills, but not necessarily a college diploma. They’re being called “new collar” jobs. Now, some people who have worked hourly jobs like food service or retail are setting themselves on a new career track and many are getting paid to learn on the job. In this conversation from the WSJ Jobs Summit, Joanna Estanislao details her journey from working hospitality to a full-time role with...
Apr 26, 2022•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Experience is usually a plus when looking for a job, but if you’re a more “seasoned” worker, subtle biases could stand in the way of landing the position you want. It’s called ageism: the belief that older employees aren’t as adaptable or desirable. But there are simple ways to position yourself so a hiring manager can see past the dates on your resume and instead see the skills you’ll bring to the job. At the WSJ Jobs Summit, Tess Vigeland spoke to Ginny Cheng, a career coach and Global Head of...
Apr 19, 2022•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast What does it mean to stand up to your employer and demand change? Recently, workers at Disney successfully pushed their CEO to speak out against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. And they are not the only ones to become activists on the job. Google employee Tanuja Gupta helped organize a walkout that led to a change in company policy, and influenced a federal law banning forced arbitration in sexual misconduct cases at work. She details why she stayed at a company she calls a microcosm of the deba...
Apr 12, 2022•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do we make meaningful connections at work when our colleagues are just images on a screen? Lucy Suros, CEO of e-learning company Articulate, says creating virtual hangouts where people don’t work is just one way to build company culture when you don’t have any offices. And workplace and leadership expert David Burkus tells us why maintaining work relationships, even while working remotely, is essential for long-term career growth. Also, Nitin Nohria, former dean of the Harvard Business Schoo...
Apr 05, 2022•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Addressing and improving mental health has become a workplace touchstone in the past few years. Many employees report feeling anxious, stressed and even burned out. But social psychologist Dr. Amy Cuddy says we are experiencing something more specific to this moment, something she calls “pandemic flux syndrome.” Host Tess Vigeland spoke with Cuddy at the WSJ Health Forum about why feeling powerless is particularly detrimental to mental health, how business leaders can help their workers cope and...
Mar 29, 2022•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ford Fund Director Pamela Alexander and former Fifth Third Bank Senior vice president Nicole Johnson-Scales reached similar positions on the corporate ladder. But, like many women in the upper levels of the corporate world, the pandemic made them reevaluate their career goals. Stay on the corporate ladder or step off? Maybe leap to a totally new one? And, as two of a small number of Black women in the top echelons of corporate America, what would their decisions mean for other women with ambitio...
Mar 22, 2022•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Salary transparency has become a buzzword, from legislatures to social media, as a way to help improve pay equity in the workplace. But talking about how much we earn is still a no-go for many people. That is partly because the notion that we are “paid what we are worth” is so ingrained in our thinking. Today on the podcast, writer Victoria Walker talks about why she defied the taboo and shared her salary publicly. And sociologist Jake Rosenfeld explains why the “pay for performance” model is a ...
Mar 15, 2022•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast After 11 years behind the mic at the business and economics show “Marketplace,” Tess Vigeland had reached the top of her game. That’s when she decided to leap. She left her job with no backup plan to travel across Southeast Asia with nothing but a suitcase, a backpack and a camera bag. Tess’ story took place years before the Great Resignation began. As she likes to say, she was a “quitter before quitting was cool.” It’s just one reason she’s diving into the changing workplace in "As We Work." He...
Mar 12, 2022•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast The pandemic has upended our work lives. Between the Great Resignation, hybrid work and other changes, many of us are reevaluating our relationship to our job. In the inaugural episode of As We Work, host Tess Vigeland sits down with WSJ Life & Work coverage chief Nikki Waller and business reporter Chip Cutter to discuss what is changing and how bosses are managing through it. Plus, WSJ columnist Rachel Feintzeig helps us mind our manners back at the office. Questions? Stories? Get in touch with...
Mar 08, 2022•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast As We Work is a new podcast from The Wall Street Journal about the changing dynamics of the workplace and how to navigate them. Each week, host Tess Vigeland speaks with experts, WSJ reporters and workers like you. Episode 1 will be available March 8. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 01, 2022•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
