Helicopter Parents Could Learn From Their Trad Moms and Dads

 Helicopter parents are getting worse.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a growing number of Gen Z parents are actively intervening in their children’s job searches, interviews, hiring processes, and even early career issues.

According to the Journal, parents are calling companies about their adult children’s performance reviews, benefits choices, and even calling in sick for them.

According to one survey, 20 percent of Zoomers had a parent attend a job interview with them.

One staffing executive had to fire a 24-year-old twice — once to the employee, who failed to show up for meetings four times, and again to his irate mother who demanded her son be given another chance.

Needed: Trad Parent Wisdom

Ironically, the parents who are hovering over their children now grew up two or three decades ago under trad parents who raised them in an opposite manner.

Not only did our trad parents not obsess over us, they made us go outside to play and not come home until supper, and we knew we had better not be late.

We were free to roam, invent, and discover on our own. We learned how to socialize, make friends, and deal with some of the jerkier kids without a parent anywhere to be found.

True, families were bigger back then and there was always an older sibling around to help us get out of scrapes.

When a big bully busted up my hand-built go-kart, my big sister kicked the tar out of him — he was two years older and 70 pounds heavier than she, but I will never forget the image of her sitting on his back, pounding her fists into his sides as he cried like a baby.

Trad parents didn't give us unwarranted praise. Rather, our parents specialized in admonishing us for the millions of things we were doing wrong — not getting to school on time, not getting high enough grades, not keeping our beds made.

In fact, if we were ever accused of any wrongdoing by other adults, our parents sided instantly with the accusers.

“What did you do now, Tommy?”

We had to prove, beyond any reasonable doubt, that we were not at fault — though, truth be told, we usually were at fault.

Adults Must Figure Life Out on Their Own

When my parents dropped me off at college, they didn't worry about the life challenges that awaited me. They could barely contain their glee that I wouldn't be eating everything in their refrigerator or racking up auto repairs on our Ford Pinto with Jim Rockford maneuvers (don't ask).

They gave me a big jar of peanut butter and some crackers and advised me there was no point in writing home for money — as there wasn't any.

I admit my blue-collar father did intervene in my studies. Worried I would never find a job as an English major, he insisted I minor in something practical.

Thanks to his meddling, I became the only person to ever graduate from Penn State with a major in English and a minor in air-conditioning and heating.

In any event, our trad parents knew that the process of becoming a well-functioning adult required us to figure most things out on our own.

Looking back, that is the greatest gift they gave us.

End Helicopter Parenting Before It’s Too Late

As I said, it’s ironic that so many of today's parents, who enjoyed a trad-parent upbringing, are suffocating their kids’ development by endlessly meddling in their affairs.

It has gotten so bad, reports the Journal, that employers increasingly view heavy parental involvement as a red flag — a signal that Zoomers with especially meddlesome parents likely lack independence and the ability to make their own decisions.

I sure hope these kids figure out how to function on their own before their turn comes to run the country.

Or one day, during a live White House press conference, the president will be asked a tough question and his mother will grab the microphone.

“I don’t appreciate the tone of these questions!” his mom might say. “And for the record, it’s not his fault he was late to the NATO summit — the traffic was terrible and his alarm didn’t go off!”

Charlie Kirk’s Bold Mission to Rescue a Lost Generation

 I

’d like to comment on the legacy of the late Charlie Kirk and why he is going to be remembered and what he accomplished.

There’s been a lot of encomia about him, but I think one of the most unusual things that he did was he changed politics, but he didn’t address political issues first. In other words, he saw politics as a reflection of deeper social, economic, and cultural issues.

I talked to him in late August, and what he was intent on was trying to tell a new generation of Americans that they were suffering from prolonged adolescence, and part of that wasn’t their fault.

He was arguing that the Republican Party cannot empower people like [New York City mayoral candidate] Zohran Mamdani and the socialist Left, who have no solutions and will make things worse, but they have to address why they are popular.

Some of it, of course, is ignorance, but what he was trying to say is that people who cannot afford a home, they cannot afford energy, they cannot afford gasoline, they can’t afford to buy a car, they prolong their adolescence. They do not get married, or they’ve been indoctrinated in college that the nuclear family is toxic, or they don’t understand the beauty of child raising or raising children. And in a larger sense, these personal decisions they’re making are not only making them unhappy, but they’re hurting the country.

In other words, we’re suffering from 1.6 fertility, a radical drop in the last quarter century from 2.0 at the turn of the millennium.

And what he was also trying to say is that there were solutions to these problems in sort of the red state paradigm in places like Florida, in places like Texas, in places like Arizona, in places somewhat like Nevada, where people were moving to—4 million, 6 million people a year—and they felt they could afford insurance, they could buy a car, it was safe, homes were affordable, they could get married at an earlier age, they could rediscover traditional norms of their grandparents.

So, he was concentrated, not in those areas, but in the swing states, especially in the 2024 election—Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, not Minnesota so much, but Michigan, somewhat Minnesota—and then blue states because he thought the battle had been won.

We turned to common sense in half the country, but he was going as an emissary into hostile territory and telling people:

There is a reason why you’re leaving in the millions. There is a reason why you’re not buying houses. We have to look at zoning laws. We have to look at energy production. We have to unleash people’s individual talent to produce more goods and services at an affordable price.

We have to champion the idea that a two-parent family is not aberrant. It was the historical norm for 2,500 years. It’s a good thing to have two or three children. It’s a good thing to be a young person and wanna buy a house in your 20s and not in your 40s, or to have a child in your 20s and not in your late 30s.

Nothing wrong with the latter, but he was trying to offer a different paradigm that had proved successful.

The second thing, very quickly, about him is his methodology was as varied as his message. In other words, to get that message across that there were cultural, social, economic factors that reflected one’s political view, and if you’re gonna win people over to the conservative politics, you have to explain socially, culturally, and economically why they’re not receptive at first and what can be done about it. But he also was a good orator.

He spoke extemporaneously. He had one year of college, and he waded into Oxford and Cambridge and took on people at, supposedly, the most prestigious universities in the English-speaking world. He could write. He created this huge organization, $100 million budget, somebody—we don’t do that in America without an MBA or a B.A. So, he was a multitalented figure.

And then, finally, as Aristotle said, courage is the most important of all virtues. And he was not afraid of his person. He was not afraid of getting into arguments with people. He was not intimidated by Ph.D.s, J.D.s, MBAs.

So, he was a rare individual. And I don’t think we’re gonna see anybody like him. I can’t think of anybody on the conservative or the Left that has that many skills and that many talents and that much energy, and more importantly, saw that the problem with America is not whether you’re conservative or liberal per se, not necessarily, but why you are.

And people who have some faith and some vision of being economically viable, and they can marry at an age at which they want to, they can have as many children as they please, they can buy a home, they are happier people. And the Republican Party in the past has not always ensured that they have that opportunity, and he was trying to address it.

The Left Doesn’t Hate Sydney Sweeney’s Jeans. It Hates Beauty.

 

There’s been a recent hysteria over a provocative commercial, a jeans commercial by American Eagle.

It portrays the young blond model Sydney Sweeney—she’s also an actress—putting on or taking off a pair of tight, tight jeans, and the background lettering or messaging is “Sydney Sweeney has great genes,” and the gene “G,” as in chromosomes, is crossed out, replaced by J-E-A-N-S. And the message is that she’s a natural beauty, but that she’s a natural beauty in part because she has on American Eagle jeans. End of story—not quite.

The Left went hysterical. And they said this was objectifying whiteness, that we were privileging white people over people of color, we were talking about eugenics because of the word genes. And they just thought this was intolerable. And they even compared it to Hitler, and they were off to the races, to the Hitler Third Reich comparisons.

But this is what’s odd about it. We have all sorts of models that pose for jean commercials. American Eagle has had black women, people, Hispanics, everybody.

And do you remember the ad by Levi’s for Beyonce? Levi’s has her portrayed with a cowboy hat, a yellow wig, and in a country-western setting with Levi jeans. I thought it was wonderful. She’s beautiful. She has the same type of figure as Sydney Sweeney.

Nobody objected, nobody said, “Beyonce is objectifying whiteness because, as an African American, she’s got a blond wig on. She is emulating the white cowboy, country-western modern culture, and she’s got these tight jeans and it’s then appealing to a particular audience.”

No one said that, of course, because that’s not what Sydney Sweeney was doing. So, what was she doing? No. 1, she was telling people that she’s attractive and that you can be attractive. Maybe not to the same degree as Sydney Sweeney if you put on American Eagle jeans, but it will help you to be more attractive. And indeed, people are going out and buying more American Eagle jeans on the theory of the advertisers that you too can be Sydney Sweeney. And that’s the essence, isn’t it, of all advertising?

The second thing that was going on, she’s also sending a message to the younger generation: We gotta get back to classical beauty. Aristotle said, “Beauty is based on proportion, mathematics, and it’s imprinted on our brains.” He’s talking about architecture, landscape, trees. Why is a tree beautiful?

And in terms of women, it’s imprinted on our brains that women are thinner than heavier, more wash beast figure than not, more buxom than not. And we have tried to say that that’s not fair, that everybody can’t be like that. Therefore, we’re not gonna do that. We’re not gonna portray it. We’re not gonna emphasize that.

She’s saying to the younger generation, “You react to me because it’s imprinted on your brains that I have a thin waist and ample posterior and I’m well endowed. I have a big bosom and that appeals to you and I’m going to show you.”

That’s all it was.

The other ironies about it, when you want to go down the “everything is race” category, you have to be very careful to know your history. They kept saying, “This is eugenics. You mentioned genes.” What was the eugenics movement? It was a late 19th-century, early 20th-century progressive movement. It wasn’t Democrat or Republican, it was progressive, the idea that we’re going to use science to determine gene pools and then breed people accordingly, supposedly.

And who were the great practitioners? Well, they were progressive Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt, but Woodrow Wilson was a stalwart, Helen Keller. But most famously, Margaret Sanger, the creator of Planned Parenthood, even Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the late Supreme Court justice. Remember, she, in a New Yorker interview, remarked that she didn’t understand the objections to abortion because, she said, “Aren’t we aborting, basically, the right people?” “Right” meaning—I don’t know what she quite meant, but selectively.

So, eugenics is a left-wing historical phenomenon and it’s very ironic for the Left to accuse someone who’s not a eugenicist, the makers of this ad, with eugenics, when they could look to themselves and maybe in the age of erasure, get rid of Margaret Sanger’s association with Planned Parenthood.

And so, finally, a final warning or a piece of advice from Aristotle: We act to beauty by proportion and mathematics. As I said, Beyonce is beautiful, not because she’s black or not because she’s not white, or Sydney Sweeney is beautiful, not because of her skin color, but because she has, as Aristotle would say, perfect symmetry.

And that’s a universal idea that translates into appreciation of young women with figures like that. And it transcends the hysteria and the madness of our contemporary, racially fixed culture.

I am glad I put in the hours.

 I am glad I played 25 of my 50 playstation 5 games. I am glad I wrote 580 internet movie database reviews. I am glad I wrote 290 album reviews at Discogs since 2011. I am glad I was on bluray.com and had 1090 posts since 2011. I am glad I uploaded archive.org memories in 100 videos and 7000 JPEGs. I am glad I wrote 500 game reviews and 300 blog entries on my blog and gamespot blog. I am glad I wrote 100 book reviews at Goodreads and have 4900 friends. Now people can be friends with me or marry me someday.

Employment History part 3

 

In 2020, I joined Fun.com in North Mankato in a chaotic October. I was pushing the cart scooter and passing 1000 people in the warehouse. I picked Halloween costumes in ales for a month. Then I put the Halloween costumes on the conveyor belt to go to the packaging cubical. The packaging cubical had a PC with a touch screen and I would pick boxes from the shelve and pack the Halloween costumes according to box size. Of course the box size was wrong and the computer and Windows XP scanner in the warehouse gave errors. I was going to the shipping lead and of course it was timed. That was under Covid in 2020 when I had Angela Dorling as Deed. I was in returns and they found I had brain damage and let me go under training as packing halloween costumes in little bags. I almost thought I had the halloween costumes in the bag, but they wanted it perfect for $10 hour every time with the security camera on my first day with no job coach or ANYONE going to bat for me. Nobody giving a fuck if I failed!

So in 2022, Rebecca from MRCI helped me find jobs. Taylor Corporation didn’t want me, and I interviewed because I asked what the atmosphere was like. Taylor corp of course had indeed reviews of outdated equipment, managers playing musical chairs, and the CEO would not stay with the times in payment and equipment or labor policies (the employee bill of rights was obsoleted here). So they didn’t like what the atmosphere questions, because even though I have a needs trust and don’t need to work at all, and the manager wanting high IQ geniuses, the insanity of asking “whats the atmosphere like” was frown upon or having quirks for actually being qualified for MRCI. For some reason, Taylor corporation picked someone else (they take grants, but not my grant)

Then I because I had a Deed grant that didn’t expire, we went to the Bolton and Mink in 2022. Even though artificial intelligence was taking over by that point, and I had Flickr of my photos, and MRCI with me, they didn’t want me for their low hit counter youtube channel via being a cameraman. SoMN podcast on youtube. They had a couch, and bachelor degree level employees interviewing Mankato entrepreneurs on stories of their success. The microphone was in a patted room, and they had a PC workstation for Unity game engine for making advertisements or construction presentations. They asked me if I worked in Unity, and I said I created Unreal Tournament 99 and Unreal Tournament 2004 levels in Unreal Engine editor that came with the game or Minecraft levels. And I showed my 2 million hitcounter flickr and my 4 million hitcounter blogspot blog.

In 2023, I started the track program. I went to walgreens in downtown mankato. It was a 1950s Walgreens that was near all the crime between the store and Cub Foods I found expired food. So I had to swap out the expired food, stock toilet paper, stock food, stock toys stock candy like 2003 at holiday gas (circle k) in Roberts, Wisconsin. I replaced the shopping wheel carts.

In 2023, I was MSU when students learn about Marx and Lenin . So I was the cafeteria internship. And the students spoke of Marx and Lenin in the cafeteria saying there is no future for them whispering. Of course the security camera was active so I didn’t say anything. I was in a city with 0 friends with no brothers and sisters so of course snapchat is banned, because the school is a public sphere under Jurgen Habermas. All the instructors use devil horns from Tune Town vinyl, because Tune Town sells death metal. It was bizarre like that and devil horns and pentagrams show up on Instagram, flickr and Sibley Park. Of course there is rumors that 32 degree free masons that had a lounge in mankato were worshiping Satan and witchcraft. Then the Satanic temple wanted to build a temple in Belle Plane, Minnesota. There was a Satanic monument in Belle Plane.

In 2023, I was at Radio Mankato with Jeff Lang for 3 months where I take pictures. I was at LSI stadium for United Way and Leep amateur baseball games. I was also at Music on the Lawn and Alive After 5. Of course they didn’t want to be my employer. My discogs profile that existed since 2011 and I’ve spent several 50 hours on for no pay and they didn’t want it.

Then I worked for free at the museum. Shelly brought up The Way We Were” movie, because MSU is into Satan and Marxism-Leninism. DFL being the Marxist-Leninist party of course using illegal aliens as the new dictatorship of the proletariat in my opinion. Then I get kicked out 9 months later after adding dead people to obituaries and already dead 4H children. 100% dead people entries for free. 3000 Excel 365 lines.

Then in 2025 no jobs. I applied for jobs, but nobody picks me. I was watching Canadian prepper and full spectrum survival and j bravo and speaking of California turning marxism- leninism and World War 3, because our country is fucked all the way pass recognition.

What McConnell Did After the Hegseth Vote Is Infuriating

 

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had good qualities. He pushed through Trump’s judicial nominees during the first presidency, got his tax cuts passed, and is a noted legislative strategist and tactician. It doesn’t mean he always bats a thousand, but McConnell got key portions of the Trump agenda passed after the 2016 election. Now, he’s erased all that goodwill with this dastardly vote against Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense. McConnell’s defection, plus that of Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME), led to Vice President JD Vance performing his constitutional duty to break the tie.  

Mitch McConnell just voted NO on President Trump’s secretary of defense nominee

This led to VP Vance having to rush down to cast a tie-breaking vote, only the 2nd such vote in U.S. history

As Republican Senators gather around to congratulate Vance, notice McConnell walk over… pic.twitter.com/jPGxgJMTRR— Zach Henry (@zhenryaz) January 25, 2025

McConnell explained his decision in a lengthy statement, but after he voted, he was caught frolicking with Senate Democrats: 

anytime I see an elected official release a very long statement about something https://t.co/jPisSm4JmE pic.twitter.com/E1YSxRDFEW— Alex Colorado (@alexcolor) January 25, 2025

“The single most important way for Secretary Hegseth to demonstrate his professed devotion to America’s warfighters will be to equip them – urgently – to deter aggression… and rebuild the defense industrial capacity to restock the depleted arsenal of democracy. In this cause, he…— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) January 25, 2025

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, issued the following statement today on the nomination of Pete Hegseth to serve as Secretary of Defense: 

“The most consequential cabinet official in any Administration is the Secretary of Defense. In the face of the gravest threats to U.S. national security interests since World War II, this position is even more important today. 

“Major adversaries are working closer together to undermine U.S. interests around the world. And America’s military capabilities and defense industrial capacity are increasingly insufficient to deter or prevail in major conflict with China or Russia, especially given the real risk of simultaneous challenges from other adversaries like Iran or North Korea. 

“Stewardship of the United States Armed Forces, and of the complex bureaucracy that exists to support them, is a massive and solemn responsibility. At the gravest moments, under the weight of this public trust, even the most capable and well-qualified leaders to set foot in the Pentagon have done so with great humility – from George Marshall harnessing American enterprise and Atlantic allies for the Cold War, to Caspar Weinberger orchestrating the Reagan build-up, to Bob Gates earning the wartime trust of two Commanders-in-Chief, of both parties. 

“Mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ is not enough to fill these shoes. And ‘dust on boots’ fails even to distinguish this nominee from multiple predecessors of the last decade. Nor is it a precondition for success. Secretaries with distinguished combat experience and time in the trenches have failed at the job.

“Effective management of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, and alliances and partnerships around the world is a daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests. 

“Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test. But as he assumes office, the consequences of failure are as high as they have ever been. 

“The United States faces coordinated aggression from adversaries bent on shattering the order underpinning American security and prosperity. In public comments and testimony before the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Hegseth did not reckon with this reality. 

“President Trump has rightly called on NATO allies to spend more on our collective defense. But the nominee who would have been responsible for leading that effort wouldn’t even commit to growing America’s defense investment beyond the low bar set by the Biden Administration’s budget requests. 

“In his testimony before the Committee, Mr. Hegseth provided no substantial observations on how to defend Taiwan or the Philippines against a Chinese attack, or even whether he believes the United States should do so. He failed, for that matter, to articulate in any detail a strategic vision for dealing with the gravest long-term threat emanating from the PRC. 

“Absent, too, was any substantive discussion of countering our adversaries’ alignment with deeper alliance relationships and more extensive defense industrial cooperation of our own. 

“This, of course, is due to change. As the 29th Secretary of Defense, Mr. Hegseth will be immediately tested by ongoing conflicts caused by Russian aggression in Europe and Iranian-backed terror in the Middle East. He will have to grapple with an unfinished FY25 appropriations process that – without his intervention – risks further harming the readiness of our forces. 

“By all accounts, brave young men and women join the military with the understanding that it is a meritocracy. This precious trust endures only as long as lawful civilian leadership upholds what must be a firewall between servicemembers and politics. The Biden Administration failed at this fundamental task. But the restoration of ‘warrior culture’ will not come from trading one set of culture warriors for another.

“The single most important way for Secretary Hegseth to demonstrate his professed devotion to America’s warfighters will be to equip them – urgently – to deter aggression… and rebuild the defense industrial capacity to restock the depleted arsenal of democracy. In this cause, he will find willing partners on the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, which will expect and receive his candid testimony. 

“I wish Secretary Hegseth great success, and I look forward to working closely with him to restore American hard power. Every member of the uniformed services will be looking to him for decisive, principled, and nonpartisan leadership.”

No dates/friends on Bumble

 

I tried the 7 day subscription on bumble. All the people left me after the invalid photo, but it was valid 25 seconds later after i raised my hand by my face. It’s like okcupid. I talked to these women in class in 2023. These women were making music on a digital audio workstation on their phone during lunch. I already knew what LMMS was so i shared LMMS music. One women called Ally liked My neighbor tororo said she was going to be my lifetime Snapchat friend in the two months in class, but that ended up untrue. Never saw Ally again. I liked or disliked about 100 women on dating and 70 men on friends tab. They all left me. It cost me $31. Sometimes I liked liberal women, conservative women, single moms, and nothing. I did this in 2011 with Plenty of Fish, but i was messaging too many women. I’ll probably never have a girlfriend, and women were not interested in me for 40 years.

Bowl's Moment of Silence and National Anthem

 

All that can be said about this move during the Allstate Sugar Bowl is that ESPN got caught doing ESPN things. The college football playoff game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Georgia Bulldogs was held in New Orleans, postponed after 14 people were killed in an ISIS-inspired terror attack committed by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a Texas native, who used a Ford truck to run over pedestrians on a crowded Bourbon Street before opening fire on other bystanders. Police killed him.  

The game was supposed to be held on New Year’s Day but postponed until Thursday afternoon. There was a moment of silence held for the victims of this tragedy, along with the national anthem, but ESPN opted not to broadcast (via NY Post): 

This was a travesty that @espn skipped one of the most moving and nationally significant moments of the @SugarBowlNola. The anthem and moment of silence at the Dome was beautiful. https://t.co/QYxQXjCRym pic.twitter.com/vgoriBxiLW

— Raymond Arroyo (@RaymondArroyo) January 3, 2025

Wow @espn didn’t air the national anthem or the moment of silence for the New Orleans terror attack victims per @burackbobby_ and they continue to label the terror attack a “truck attack” on screen. https://t.co/QWmOGZbKm3

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 3, 2025

It was my distinct honor to have coached in 3 Sugar Bowls during my coaching career. American sports, and especially college football, have always been a patriotic tradition that brings ALL AMERICANS together.

Unfortunately, ESPN (who is owned by Disney) gave in to the woke…

— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) January 3, 2025

All eyes were on ESPN on Thursday as the Sugar Bowl took place a little more than 24 hours after an ISIS-inspired terrorist created mayhem on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that left 14 people dead and injured dozens more.  

But noticeably absent from the pregame broadcast on the main network was the national anthem and the moment of silence held in honor of the tragedy that occurred about 1 mile away from the Caesars Superdome where Notre Dame and Georgia squared off. 

The exclusion of both moments from the ESPN telecast angered some football fans and led to criticism of the network on social media. 

“SportsCenter,” which had served as the pregame show due to the unusual circumstances, had wrapped on an interview with Tim Tebow and went to a commercial break before the moment of silence and returned in the middle of the anthem, “making it awkward to cut it” at that moment, the source explained.  

ESPN did open its broadcast of the Sugar Bowl with a pre-recorded message from President Joe Biden, and play-by-play broadcaster Sean McDonough spoke about the tragedy in his open while a montage of fans, police and the city of New Orleans played on the screen.  

“SEC Nation,” which airs on the ESPN-owned SEC Network, was broadcast live from the Superdome and aired the moment of silence and national anthem in their entirety.  

Still, not airing the tributes on ESPN following the tragedy stirred a lot of emotions for fans online. 

Another unforced error by the network. 

 Here's the SEC Network's broadcast of the moment:

The pregame ceremony at the Sugar Bowl was beautiful.
Roman -- a New Orleans icon -- and I were quite moved. The moment of silence for those lost and hurting. The National Anthem. The cheers for our nation.
You pray for the right words to convey the emotion.
We did our best. pic.twitter.com/PUUaTGmeq8

— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) January 3, 2025

nobody dating on eharmony

 

I was on eharmony for couple of months, and its similar to okcupid where no woman wants to date. Apparently women don't like my G rated introduction. I see women of every education and sexual orientation on here. I was looking at Taylor the fiend and Better Bachelor on youtube where women from the city (liberal Twin Cities and subbergs have high body counts and go to clubs/bars.

My cousin Uli had a black girlfriend for 5 months who he met at a Roberts, Wisconsin bar and they were distancing from one another. He had her over at his house. He was a part of the Lions club and bowled. He lived in an apartment and had a painter job and played Diablo 4 and watched Hulu.

How do you celebrate holidays?

This is my first writing prompt. In the 1980s and 1990s, holidays were reunions with 4 nuclear families with cousins and aunts / uncles and grandparents. My grandma would invite me to her house or my uncle would invite our family over to their house with 3 or 4 other nuclear families. The men watched national football league(Greenbay Packers with Bret Farve) and drank Coors or Pabet Blue Ribbon beer. They would tell stories about their health. Then I had a birthday party for halloween where mom’s friends were nurses or the Hartmons (David hartmon, age 39, Brian Hartmon age 37) would spend the night and play Nintendo 64, Saturn, Dreamcast, or Gamecube with me. I would watch Halloween (1979), The Horror of Dracula (1958), The Devil’s Bride (1963), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Taste the Blood of Dracula, The thing (1950), Curse of the Demon (1950) or Dracula Prince of Darkness. (1962) We would decorate the house with pumpkins and department 56 halloween houses and german nutcrackers.

At Christmas, I would open presents under a Christmas tree and some years with a Christmas train. In my childhood, I went to a old Redeemer Lutheran church in Burkhardt, Wisconsin to celebrate with mom’s pastor. Later I would open presents under a christmas tree, and watch youtube or movies like Ben Hur, A Christmas Carol (1984), A Christmas carol (1938), A Christmas Carol (1951) . Shop Around the Corner, White Christmas, Holiday Inn. There is also german santa clause nutcrackers and wreaths.

During Easter, I would find the basket with a gift inside and watch Ben Hur (1959) or The Ten Commandments, and always Easter Parade (1944). All these movies were on Turner Classic Movies, but over time I bought DVDs and Blurays. There is also Easter bunny nutcrackers.

Share a lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life.

I went to a trade school earlier in my life in 2004 after high school up until 2007 at WITC New Richmond and Chippewa Valley Technical College I tried Electrician associate degree, but after the Algebra and flunking Electrician in 2nd quarter, I went into Industrial Networking with the multimeters and soldiering motherboards and making Cat 3e RJ-45 cable and typing source code C++ into Visual Basic/Visual Studio. some students were taking mechanics or learning business administration. I knew I would fail, because I was failing at Electrician so I needed a Management information systems Business administration like industrial networking administrations. I couldn’t see myself getting though college. I went to Rasmussen University after i flunked Chippewa Valley Technical college in River Falls Wisconsin and then WITC New Richmond. I wasn’t good socially or with women. Women are just to crazy even then in 2004! I had no girlfriend for 40 years. ,Unless I had a stroke in my mid-20s. so point is I was at two trade schools. Then I got my BS in project management in business administration after 11 years driving to school, getting tutoring from college or spending most of the week on the school’s online message board and typing 10-12 pages a week in Microsoft Word. Its so easy to get Fs in college if you slack just a little. To get that BS i had to be serious for 11 years.

I was on okcupid and eharmory and plentyoffish since 2005 and no woman were interested in me so I dated once in 2005 at a Hudson Wisconsin coffee shop with Nikki. Nikki was in college taking chemistry to become a scientist and didn’t like my jPEG slideshow off my Playstation Portable of my house and hobbies. In 2012, PlentyofFish just banned me for messaging several women. The women wanted rich $100000 salary, tall, intelligent white men, and banned me. In the 2000s, those dating services were free. I have desktop screenshots of those 2000s dating sites logged in, but i have yet to upload them. The good guys were marrying from 2008-2014 my age. Since I’m 40, I know some divorced boy scouts already.

My Retail history

 

When I was 10 years old, I went into Mall of America a lot and that was Barnes and Noble, Funcoland, The Gap, Camp Snoopy mainly as elementary school field trips, and trips with David Hartmon, my cousin. So I found some old Windows 95 and MS-DOS disks at Walmart and Target. I used to buy Kings Quest, Simcity 2000, Secret of Monkey's Island. I rented some VHS from Mr. Movies in Hudson, Wisconsin and the local VHS renter in Roberts, Wisconsin. I had Pizza at Carbones pizza in Hudson. I used to go to the Toys R US in Woodbury. I biked around the block to the Holiday gas station (before Circle K) that was my first job. I always cooked food at home from County Market grocery store.

Then I found some Super Nintendo games at Toys R US. I was into Super Nintendo, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, Sega Genesis, playstation, playstation 2, nintendo entertainment system. I also went to Funcoland and just bought lots of Japanese videogames, because thats what was displayed on the shelves and on posters or advertisements. I bought a lot of used games, because it was cheaper. I remember Nintendo 64 games costing $70 at Walmart. I used to eat at Applebees.

Then Mr. Movies closed in the 2000s. I didn’t go to Blockbuster. Later, it had DVDs, but I used to go there for VHS more. I bought all the DVDs at Best Buy, Walmart and Target. I didn’t ask the customer service. The insane thing is the manager of Best buy wanted to look at my stuff. Marxist-Leninist managers look at our stuff. The managers pick on us people with receipts and bags, not the gangster. Anyhow, Best Buy and Walmart is corrupted as all fuck now. Artificial intelligence scanning faces.

I used to go to the Gamestop and toyriffic and give them JPEG dvds, but nobody gave a damn about me and my hobbies. I had my cousin penny since 2014, but no girlfriends for 30 years. I was going to stores alone for 38 years. No phone numbers.

I used the SEO on websites, because nobody gave a damn about me for 10 years into adult hood, because of course they didn’t. At one time, I had X-Fire messenger before it went bankrupt for online multiplayer and chat. X-Fire messenger went bankrupt, and then there was outrageous fees attached to online multiplayer since 2012. I used it for Diablo 2, Guild Wars, Dungeon Siege, Neverwinter Nights, Unreal Tournament, Return to Castle Wolfenstine, Quake 3 Arena, Far Cry, Unreal Tournament 2004,

So in 2024, there was no girlfriends for 40 years and the stores cameras scan your face and its like communism when you’re trying to meet people (you can’t) This Wisconsin and Minnesota sucks for people disabled. Every store has a security camera with audio. I was at the dork den, and there was no fucking way I could get friends there. No fucking way. The store was a money grab 100% probably for its entire existence. Same with the comic book store, had security camera with audio, money grab, no friends, no snapchat. No instagram. Insane social polices. And the Democratic Party wants to be voted in as a Marxist-Leninist party so I have no fucking life what so ever or what’s left of my life. Motherfucker politicians..

No Dating from okcupid for 19 years+

 

They don’t like back! I’m afraid of using Tinder. I had thoughts of renouncing. Australia has a well regarded heathcare system that has accessible and affordable healthcare, ensuring its citizens receive necessary medial services. America has a complex healthcare system, driven by private insurance. Australia has a strong emphasis on social safety nets, offering programs and support for its citizens such as unemployment benefits, affordable housing schemes and retirement pentions (not 401k). America has social welfare programs that are more limited scale. America has high quality education systems focased on research and innovation. Australia education system is known for its vocational training. Education tutiton is much higher in America then Australia. Australia is known for its natural beauty, outdoor lifestyle, and work-life balance. The country offers a clean and safe environment with recreational activiites and a strong sense of community. Australia is known for its low crime rates, safe living environments and strict gun control laws contributing to a sense of security and its geographically isolutated for limiting threats. America is just generally safe, but does have crime rate and public safety problems.

The United States is bringing its nukes into Germany so World War 3 will happen soon. America has RC135 flying around Russia borders. The nuclear nonproliferation treaty head Anton Missour of Russia saying NATO is preparing a war with Russia that includes increasing numbers of military, more weapons, development of corridors, developing military transport infrastructure, building strategic reserves, and even building POW camps. There is going to be attacks on the Crimean Peninsula with long range ATT haam systems that take out S300.

wanted to renounce American citizenship and move to British commonwealth (Australia).

 

Before, I said I wanted to move to a British commonwealth country like New Zealand or Australia or Canada. I am closer to pick Australia, because of Canadian weather. I watched Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne nightclubs and night life videos on youtube. Then I started watching the Australian Broadcast Channel news on youtube back in Wisconsin and continued in Minnesota. Australian cities don’t look like the public domain disasters like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Vancouver ( British Columbia), New York City, Chicago, with the druggies and fentanyl, garbage, poop in the streets. Druggies half dressed and bent over walking.

These thoughts started when I played Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction on battlenet in 2001. I noticed my cousin David Hartmon would come over less often. Then in 2004, I was playing Neverwinter Nights and Guild Wars online multiplayer. Those are massive multiplayer role playing games. I had it right in 2001-2004 over 56k. David Hartmon joined the US navy in 2003 and never left. He fixes helicopter engines. I had nobody for pillow forts, no Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network partner. He was also a NES, Genesis, SNES, Nintendo 64, Saturn, Dreamcast, PS2, and Gamecube multiplayer partner. In 2010, I had like Uli Winzer, but he only came over 10 times and we eventually went to Como zoo and Mall of America in the 2010s. In the 2020s neither family members visit. In 2024, I met Mason, but he never visits. Mason is 23. I met Mason at Walgreens. He likes Switch and Xbox One. He played all the first person shooters and horror games. I played Goldeneye and Perfect Dark on N64 and Unreal Tournament, Unreal, Quake 2, Duke Nukem 3D, Doom and Quake 3 on pc with David Hartmon. Latter, it was Unreal Tournament 2004 and Unreal Tournament 3, and Diablo 2 with David Hartmon. Yes, even the Pierce county fair visits with David Hartmon and Uli Winzer.

I would always want a girlfriend in Australia. The women in the current soft guy era in Minnesota and Wisconsin never paid attention to me. In the previous era, I was in the River Falls, Wisconsin bars from the the 2000s and 2010s and nobody invited me to tables or was a true partner. I was in bars with Randy Peterson (boy scout troop 161) in the 2000s and 2010s. Minnesotans are really mean. Minnesota nice doesn’t exist. I bet Australians or Canadian are really nice group to know for relationships. Those countries don’t have American public debt. ~ 40 trillion and the social chaos on the brink of American Civil War 2. It’s gross!

I went to Rasmussen University for a 4 year college degree over 8 years, but no student became my friend. This tutor called Brian Sager at the learning center who also was school staff who sometimes talked to me, but was my closest college friend. I thought I had friends in college, but they all disappeared and apparently not good honest people except Brian Sager is still my facebook friend . Brian likes horror movies and wrestling. Brian Sager said he’d meet me if I trade him Earthbound for super nintendo for money. I brought a generic copy of Earthbound to his meeting place/swap meet, but never could find him there. That’s bad and made me mad!

Where will all the laid-off tech workers go?

 

Tech layoffs have become a fact of life over the last year and especially so in the last few months, as tech firms big and small exact layoffs to reckon with their slowing growth after seeing record profits during the pandemic. What’s less certain is just where these tens of thousands of tech workers will go next.

The good news is that there are still many open jobs for these workers, not only within the tech industry but also, increasingly, outside of it. There’s also increased interest in starting new businesses. And while the layoffs will certainly contribute to some people’s decisions to leave the tech industry or go out on their own, it’s worth looking at the problems with the industry itself, from burnout to bad layoff practices, that are making it a little easier for people to choose a life after tech.

“What drew everybody to Big Tech is because they got crazy with the perks, and it was so sexy — and everybody got so intrigued by that,” said Kate Duchene, CEO of professional staffing firm RGP. “The downside is you’re laid off with an email at 3 am. Or the reason you found out you’re laid off is because your badge doesn’t work anymore.”

Vox is covering the vibe shift happening in Silicon Valley right now. Do you work at a big tech company? Send tips to rani.molla@voxmedia.com or shirin.ghaffary@voxmedia.com.

This is all part of a cultural about-face happening at big tech companies, which for years gobbled up high-skilled workers by wooing them with big paychecks and lavish perks. Now these companies are preaching austerity and asking their giant workforces to act like startups again. At the same time, tech giants have gone from being exciting places to work to not much different from the rest of corporate America, leading some to question just what they saw in the industry in the first place.

Though they’ve made a lot of headlines, the recent layoffs seem more like a course correction than a bubble bursting. That doesn’t mean it’s not painful. Already this year, 78,000 tech industry workers have lost their jobs, following 160,000 last year, according to Layoffs.fyi. But while the layoffs are hugely destructive to those involved, their numbers aren’t yet enough to put a real dent in the massive tech job market.

As a whole, the US tech industry, which includes companies like Google and Apple, added employees for the 25th consecutive month in December, according to data from industry association CompTIA. The number of people working in tech occupations — the association defines these as computer-related technical roles, like software developer, network engineer, data analyst — was at a record high of about 6.5 million that month, and their unemployment rate was near a record low of 1.8 percent, compared to 3.5 percent for all jobs. It’s certainly possible those numbers shifted in January, but tens of thousands of layoffs won’t move the needle much in an industry of millions.

Most people with tech occupations — 59 percent — don’t actually work in the tech industry, according to CompTIA. That figure has remained remarkably stable for the last decade. That’s because even as finance, health care, and retail companies started requiring more tech talent to help them digitize and automate their businesses, the tech industry — especially software development — grew, too. But the balance could tilt even further to non-tech industry companies in the months and years to come.

“Heading into 2023, if we see some of these shifts that are occurring right now, it would not surprise me to see that we do see a larger representation [of tech workers] outside of tech,” Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA, told Recode. He added that he doesn’t expect some huge exodus of workers from the tech industry, but given the size of tech employment, even a 1 percentage point change would be notable.

It’s important to remember that the tech industry employs all kinds of workers. While we don’t have a breakdown of what types of jobs tech companies have been getting rid of, it’s safe to say many of them are in jobs that don’t require a computer science degree, like human resources or sales. For example, while Google’s layoffs in California certainly hit people in engineering roles, it also included nearly 30 in-house massage therapists. For the employees who were laid off in recent weeks, their decision to find a new tech job, leave the tech industry, or start their own business might depend on what exactly they did in tech.

Workers with in-demand tech skill sets, namely engineers, will likely have the easiest time finding more work, wherever they decide to go. There were about 300,000 job postings for tech professionals in December, lower than its peak but roughly consistent with the past four years, according to a December 2022 report from tech hiring platform Dice. The biggest and fastest-growing industries for tech professionals are finance, manufacturing, and health care. Meanwhile, the list of biggest employers of tech talent includes big tech companies like Google and Amazon alongside corporate giants like Wells Fargo, General Motors, and Anthem Blue Cross.

“Given the scope of the downsizing in tech and the well-publicized reasons those decisions were made, we are likely to see many tech professionals think twice about taking their next role at either a tech giant or startup,” Nick Kolakowski, senior editor at Dice, told Recode.

Michael Skaff made the decision to leave the tech industry well before the current layoffs. He spent the first half of his 30-year career in a variety of IT jobs within the tech sector and the second half outside of it. He’s currently in the top tech role, CIO, at Jewish Senior Living Group, a health care management company. While he admits that the rate of technological change is much slower outside tech, he doesn’t think tech’s ethos of “move fast and break things” would be suitable in industries like health care, despite its need for technological change.

“There are ways to change within the existing flows of operations that allow for progress without disrupting or breaking something,” Skaff said. “You don’t want to break health care.”

To companies outside tech who couldn’t offer such high salaries or didn’t have the cultural draw of the Googles of the world, the present moment is a chance for them to hire the tech workers they’ve long wanted, if they can make themselves attractive enough. Those new hires still won’t come cheap, though. While compensation is still the most important thing driving tech workers to a job — it has been this way forever — the No. 2 item on that list is a newer addition, according to a recent Gartner survey shared with Recode: work-life harmonization.

“It certainly presents an opportunity for traditional employers — banks, retailers, health care companies — to tap into and maybe win back some of the employees that left them,” said Graham Waller, a VP analyst at Gartner Research.

These layoffs also present an opportunity for workers to strike out on their own. Applications to form startups last year were the second highest they’ve ever been, and tech workers are adding to that trend.

To Joe Cardillo, starting their own business was a way to make work better for themself and others. Cardillo, who had been managing marketing teams at tech startups and was over the “grind culture,” started their own management coaching firm, The Early Manager, after going through a series of “very stressful” layoffs since the start of the pandemic. So Cardillo took what they felt they did well at their former jobs; managing and teaching others to do so, and combined it with their ideas about how to build a good workplace, like giving employees more say in the conditions of their labor.

“I’m very interested in the idea of democracy at work,” Cardillo said.

That certainly feels like a far cry from the seeming brutality of recent tech layoffs, which have left many with hard feelings. Whether people will actually get better conditions or kinder treatment elsewhere remains to be seen.

We won’t know for years exactly where the workers affected by recent tech layoffs will end up. It’s possible that this is only a brief aberration in what’s otherwise a growing tech sector, or that people will eschew Big Tech to found startups that prove to be the next big thing — what many say happens during financial downturns but what might be more myth than truth. Or perhaps, every company truly is a tech company, and these layoffs put the rest of corporate America on more equal footing with tech.

David Jacobowitz had been working for tech companies pretty much his entire career, most recently in sales and marketing at TikTok, when he decided to voluntarily leave to pursue his passion: his own sugar-free chocolate business called Nebula Snacks. He’d been through his share of layoffs and knew that “loyalty is not necessarily rewarded.”

Beyond that, though, he realized that perhaps the tech industry just wasn’t for him.

“I looked at the trajectory and the lifestyle that I would have to live for the next 10 to 15 years if I wanted to climb the corporate ladder within tech and, when I really got down to it, I kind of answered the question: I don’t want to do that.”

videogames were supposed to enhance my social circles

 

I bought 3000 Modern Magic the Gathering cards in 2020, but the game stores play standard decks and not modern decks or legacy decks. Then in October, I bought a Dungeon and Dragons Essential pack and D&D Players Guide and map for a total of $45. The Dork Den told me to buy the D&D Essentials pack worth $16. They use Dungeons and Dragons Beyond app for a Dungeon Master, spell cards, dice/

I thought for the longest time, since Pokemon on Gameboys in elementary that videogames were going to give me girlfriends, wifes, friends, huge social circles (google+ with youtube videos). Then when I brought Mario Kart Super Circuit on a purple GBA in my pocket in 12^th grade meant I was going to have friends. There were communists at Renaissance academy, because the Democratic Party was in power and they called me racist when the pledge of allegiance wasn’t sung often or started to disappear. I grew up with Sega Genesis, NES, N64, Sega Saturn and Dreamcast as a kid. Then PS2 and Xbox as high schooler. I had David Hartmon coming over a lot.

Now-a-days I thought I have a huge social circle on instagram. A lot of Facebook friends, old instagram followers were married or had a few girlfriends. I was on okcupid for 15 years looking for women with low amount of luck. I had this date in 2005 with a woman from high school and showed her pictures off playstation portable on a coffee shop. Then Amanda superliked me off okcupid and I found out with Premium.

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okcupid never worked for 18 years.

 

My last actual date was in 2005 with Nikki at a Caribu Coffee. When I was a member on okcupid since 2005, I attracted some women, but they never called me. Some women responded to me, but we never met. I say on my profile I was into anime like cowboy bebop, one piece, into JRPGs, first person shooters, racing games, Greenbay packers and I went to college. I said I liked camping and hiking. I don’t get text messages of women and I never get visitors. st. croix county women were into country music,  conservative, but seemed they wanted rich 25 year old men for boyfriends. I never meet them when I was 23 when everybody  had girlfriends like on myspace. Then I’m 37 now.

When I went premium this year, I met Amanda on okcupid. Amanda was 33 and divorced for only 2 weeks on snapchat before she blocked me. I only took a photo of her profile image for my phone. She talked about she was involved in family, and a crew of friends, played dungeons and dragons. She never met me at the Wow zone or restaurant. My cousin David Hartmon joined the Navy in 2003 and he married Patty in 2013 and had two daughters. He never talks to me on facebook. anymore. he used to like my minnesota state fair pictures 8 years ago, Then I have generation X cousins married for 24 years. One cousin Penny was married to a husband who died in 1999 and now lives with her boy friend for 15 years. I was home alone for 23 years working at 13 jobs that closed or went bankrupt and also went to Rasmussen University for a bachelor degree. I had two boy scout friends that I met in the 2010s who married in 2008. One boy scout i was friends since 1993 was divorced since 2018, because his ex wife became bipolar. Now this boy scout friend  has heart issues.

72% of Tech Workers May Quit Their Jobs. Fixing Organizational Cultures Can Help Them Stay Put.

 We’ve known for a while now that there’s a tech talent shortage. Over a decade ago, more than half of CEOs expressed concern over the dearth of talent for digital roles. By 2019, 79% had concerns. The pandemic has severely exacerbated the issue and, to make matters worse, current tech workers are unhappy and fleeing their jobs. Seven in 10 tech workers say they’re considering quitting their jobs within the next year.

Employee expectations are high, and the performance gap is significant –just 1 in 4 knowledge workers strongly agree that their company exemplifies the factors they have identified as being important, such as well-being, employee experience, and values. The pandemic and the rise of remote work have changed the way we view our lives and the world. This has led to what organizational psychologist Anthony Klotz coined “The Great Resignation.”
The Great Resignation

In the U.S., the Labor Department revealed that 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September 2021 – the highest number on record. The phenomenon is often associated with the United States; however, rates of resignation are high globally. In the U.K., the number of open jobs surpassed 1 million for the first time ever in August.

Generally speaking, it’s not uncommon for employees to leave their jobs in search of new opportunities. However, the technology industry is currently experiencing an acute form of disengagement. Staff turnover among U.S. tech companies ranks at 13.2%, which is the highest attrition index among all industries, with resignation rates increasing 4.5% over the previous year.
Poor Culture Leads to Unhappy Employees

For some workers, the pandemic has triggered a monumental shift in priorities. Many are now seeing the shift as encouragement to pursue a dream job or career or transition to a different style of work. However, for many workers who were already teetering on the edge pre-pandemic, poor cultures, work overload, lack of work-life balance, burnout, and lack of opportunity have pushed them to their breaking point.
Feeling undervalued

According to TalentLMS and Workable, a large number of tech employees say they feel undervalued and unappreciated when they’re at work and are looking for opportunities where they feel their work and input is respected. This issue is particularly evident in larger businesses, where there is a greater risk that employees could feel like small fish in a big pond, and where their individual efforts and achievements are more likely to go unnoticed.
Lack of career progression

About four in 10 IT, software, and tech workers have stated that limited career progression made them consider leaving their jobs. It’s easy to feel frustrated in a job if there’s little opportunity for promotion and career advancement. In order to develop and progress within their career, employees may seek out a different, more senior position at another company.
Rigid work structure

Flex-time and remote working are becoming increasingly popular ways to work. According to Gallup, 91% of workers in the U.S. working at least some of their hours remotely are hoping their ability to work at home persists after the pandemic; 54% of employees who work remotely at least some of the time say they would ideally like to split their time between working at home and in the office. People may look elsewhere for employment if their current job is not willing to be at least a little flexible on working arrangements.
Poor collaboration

Collaboration is at the heart of many critical business processes, especially as organizations grow more virtual and geographically spread out. If the experience of collaboration is challenging or counter-productive, this can affect morale and team cohesion. People often get stressed out when their tools or lack of teamwork can’t help them get their jobs done or meet their personal career goals.
Burnout

According to SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), 48% of U.S. workers feel mentally and physically exhausted at the end of the workday, while another 41% report feeling burned out from their work. Overall mental health continues to get worse, with rates of anxiety, depression, stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increasing dramatically. Citing heavier workloads, isolation, lack of work/life integration, longer working hours, and limited to no time off, tech employees are looking for new jobs and resigning from current ones in droves.
Toxic work environment

According to one study, working for a company that doesn’t value psychological well-being increases the risk of depression by 300%. Lack of recognition, favoritism, unhealthy communication, gossiping, and high turnover are a few issues that cause a toxic work culture. This can create conflict, low morale, excessive tension, negative results, illness, high turnover, and even abusive behavior amidst employees – contributing to employees quitting their jobs in search of a more positive environment.
Become a Culture of Choice

To attract and retain top tech talent in the era of the Great Resignation organizations will need to get creative – fast. What can you do to create a company culture that’s appealing to applicants but also keeps existing employees happy and engaged?

Here are a few key steps:
Be generous, and public, with your praise.

Oftentimes, employees only hear from leaders when something is wrong. This creates a distorted and negative perception of the value of their work and your leadership. Constructive criticism is important, but acknowledging a job well done is even more so as feeling undervalued is one of the top reasons for tech employees to quit, as noted above.

By publicly praising your teams, you’re creating a positive perception of their value to the organization and it establishes you as an empathetic and thoughtful leader. It will also encourage others to share praise rather than withhold it, creating a positive and collaborative work environment.
Become an ally and advocate for your team’s growth.

In a study by the University of Southern California, “Attracting and Retaining Talent: Improving the Impact of Workplace Mentorship” they identified several solutions to employee turnover, including career and professional development. With attrition rates above 13% in the tech sector, as a leader, it’s critical to develop a “mentorship” mentality, whether the objective is to develop emerging leaders, improve culture, or assist employees in meeting their career goals.

Be the person who collaborates with your team to eliminate obstacles and open doors. When they see you care about their continued growth and opportunity—even if that means they transition to a new department or assignment—they will feel valued and more likely to stay.
Be flexible.

1 in 3 tech workers say a lack of remote work options is a reason that would make them want to quit their job. Flexible leaders are able to change their plans to match the reality of the situation. As a result, they maintain productivity during transitions or periods of chaos. Being a flexible leader means recognizing that how and when your employees work best will vary depending on their individual circumstances. The important thing is that work gets done well – not that it gets done in a prescribed timeframe or environment.

In addition, being a flexible leader means surrounding yourself with a diversity of thought and people, as well as being open to embracing change and new ideas or concepts. Be flexible in your own leadership style to make everyone feel comfortable and able to contribute their best to the conversation or interaction. Have an open mind and focus on your core values. This will allow you to better understand the challenges of your teams, and propose solutions to meet changing needs.   
Create space for teamwork and collaboration.

One of the biggest challenges facing the tech industry is cultivating a collaborative culture. A collaborative culture is based on openness, complete transparency, and building trust. As a leader, you must communicate your vision clearly and consistently while also making sure that your team is onboard. Share information openly, whether it’s positive or negative, and set realistic expectations so that your team members are aware of their roles in the bigger picture. Establish norms around communication, interaction, equality, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and decision making.

Teams also need to have the right technology and tools. Without that, collaborating with colleagues on the other side of the planet would be next to impossible. The right tools enable your teams to be more effective in their daily tasks while setting up a more transparent communication channel. It also gives everyone more visibility into projects and creates opportunities for people to work on the same task. Collaboration tools can help teams manage change, communicate, and save time while remaining productive.     
Focus on employee well-being.

58% of tech workers have indicated that they’re suffering from burnout and those who suffer from burnout are twice as likely to quit their jobs than those who don’t. To help your team genuinely flourish, create conditions where two-way communication is frequent and candid. This means checking in with your team members early and often about their personal well-being, asking how they’re feeling about work and really listening to what they say.

It’s important to not just “talk the talk.” Actively model good behavior such as taking breaks, setting guardrails around emailing after working hours, and leaving the office or being offline. Remember to think, and talk, about well-being holistically, including financial security, career satisfaction, emotional health, and workplace relationships.
Eliminate toxicity.

39% of tech employees have cited toxic work environments as a reason for wanting to quit their jobs. Consistent bad behavior in a workplace isn’t just the result of a few “bad apples.” A toxic culture is inherently a management problem because it cannot co-exist in the presence of sound leadership. Failing to notice and act upon warning signs that something is wrong, or not fully appreciating how serious an offense may be leads to a harmful environment and high rates of attrition.

A people manager’s job is to lead a team in a way that creates sustainable business results. Creating or allowing a toxic workplace to form will do the opposite. As a leader, it’s important to become familiar with causes of tension or dysfunction in the workplace, take employees’ concerns seriously, and understand your role in helping to mitigate toxicity when it occurs and re-establish a sense of safety.
Leading with Empathy

The pandemic transformed the way we work and employees have more choices than ever before. Pay and benefits are no longer enough. 52% of workers say they would quit their job –and only 1 in 4 workers would accept one –if company values do not align with personal values, and that begins with culture. Although the competition is fierce for qualified tech talent, organizations must start laying the groundwork now to keep their candidate pipeline full. Leading with empathy means understanding your employees’ feelings, thoughts, and emotions.  

Being an empathetic leader allows you to connect with your team through vulnerability while assuring them that you are on top of the situation and capable of making good decisions that will benefit them and the business. Conveying a “we’re in this together” attitude, while being empathetic and vulnerable, allows your teams to model your behavior, helping to create a positive, open, and honest culture where teams feel engaged and valued.   

By building a culture built on empathy and compassion, you’re signaling that your organization understands the factors and motivations that drive an employee’s choice to stay or go.

Big problem – why half of tech workers are planning to quit their job due to toxic workplace culture

 

Since the start of 2022, more than 1,700 tech companies have laid off staff, leading to over 350,000 people losing their jobs. As well as the impact on the individuals being let go, this current trend is intensifying a climate of toxicity in technology companies.

That’s according to research from TalentLMS and Culture Amp, which found that 45% of employees working in tech firms with a toxic culture said the layoffs have resulted in a worse atmosphere at work. Of the 1,000 tech workers surveyed, 45% are planning to quit their job because of this toxicity.

According to Christina Gialleli, Director of People Operations at TalentLMS parent company Epignosis, as tech job losses increase, so does the pressure:

We’re going through difficult times here. I don’t think most companies have completed their layoffs. We’re still in turmoil, and we get to see the outcome of this in this pressure.

When it comes to who is responsible for creating a toxic culture at their workplace, 55% said leadership and managers, while 31% said colleagues. The top three contributing factors are expecting employees to work longer hours or weekends without additional pay; a lack of transparency and communication from management and leadership; and a lack of consideration and courtesy.

The combination of pressure from leadership and senior management, companies not wanting to hinder productivity, and people not speaking up because they’re afraid of the consequences are all leading to this worsening atmosphere at tech companies. Gialleli says:

If the employees are being pitted against each other, if the companies are promoting unhealthy competition, if toxicity is tolerated rather than sacrificing the high performer who’s toxic, that’s going to spread to the team. And a toxic team is going to be toxic to other teams and it will cascade down and escalate, and then your people end up leaving.

This latter point is borne out by the almost half of staff planning to quit their current job, a situation that could cause difficulties among tech companies being complacent about employee retention during a period of industry job losses.

Attitude problem

There’s a danger companies are taking the view that with so many tech workers available, it doesn’t matter how they treat staff because they can just be replaced if they leave. However, the tech sector is still in the midst of talent shortages, meaning companies need to take measures now to address the toxicity and retain their best people. Gialleli says:

The tech sector was struggling [with skills shortages] for so many years and now it’s seeing talent becoming available again, but this is going to be short term. You have to have a zero tolerance policy. You need to make your leadership team accountable for addressing it.

Workplace training in areas like DEI, empathy and discrimination can help in fostering a positive and healthy work environment. Firms need to ensure employees understand how to behave and work within their teams, and how to address issues when they arise, whether it’s regarding a colleague, their manager or manager’s manager. Gialleli adds:

You need to create a transparent environment where people are not afraid to speak up, know what to expect, how to behave, how to address situations, and know that the company is going to do something about it.

This isn’t the case presently. Half of employees don’t do or say anything when they experience toxic behaviours at work – 29% because they don’t believe it will make a difference and 20% because they’re too nervous about the consequences. Meanwhile, 45% of employees say that leadership at their organization lives in a bubble that company culture is healthy. 

According to Gialleli, buy-in from the CEO is vital to deal with these issues, although HR has a role to play too:

The HR teams are facilitators, they can roll out surveys to figure out and pinpoint the issues, and then they can address and create in collaboration with managers and the leadership team the appropriate training that will help rectify the problems. But this is all top down.

Almost half of workers currently believe their companies will remain toxic in the future, which brings risks for their employers:

People are affected by working at a toxic environment. It affects their productivity, it affects their mental health, and ultimately people that are unhappy are going to leave. The bottom line is retention and productivity and being able to have performing teams. That’s what you’re going to have if you address it and you have everything to lose if you don’t.

Good people are not going to stay in a toxic environment. Companies may be able to fill their hiring quota, but it costs to replace people, it costs to train them and to find good people. Maybe it’s easier than it was a year ago, but you still need to lay the foundations and make sure your people are happy and productive.”

My take
The findings of TalentLMS’ research seem at odds with the increasing focus on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) at so many tech companies. According to the 2022 KPMG DEI Progress Survey, 71% of firms reported having taken many DEI-related actions since 2020. Surely a core element of any DEI efforts would be creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all – the opposite of a toxic culture.

While the tech sector is clearly focused on surviving the current hard times – hence the huge raft of job losses and more pressured environment for staff – this short-termism will backfire when the economy picks up again. Those 55% of tech staff working in a toxic culture but not planning to quit their job are much less likely to hang around once stability returns and vacancies rise. 

Land of the ‘Free’ and Home of the Victims

 

While in England in 1766, Franklin wrote an editorial on this attempt of the government to “help” the poor, entitled On the Price of Corn, and Management of the Poor. In it, Franklin articulated a principle he held throughout his life with respect to poverty and work: “I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”

As a result of Great Britain’s welfare programs of the time, Franklin made clear the result in the people they tried to help: “Under all these obligations, are our poor modest, humble, and thankful; and do they use their best endeavors to maintain themselves, and lighten our shoulders of this burden? On the contrary, I affirm that there is no country in the world in which the poor are more idle, dissolute, drunken, and insolent. The day you passed that act, you took away from before their eyes the greatest of all inducements to industry, frugality, and sobriety, by giving them a dependence on somewhat else than a careful accumulation during youth and health, for support in age or sickness. In short, you offered a premium for the encouragement of idleness, and you should not now wonder that it has had its effect in the increase of poverty.”

Franklin and our founding fathers wanted nothing of England’s welfare state and high taxes. They wanted people free to earn their own way and capitalize on their God given skills and drive to pursue and earn their own happiness and success.

It’s clear that America under Democratic leadership is intent on redefining what “free” means. To a Democrat, giving “free” benefits is what true “caring” is all about. Let the suckers earn a living so we can tax them and give their hard-earned money to every freeloader we can subsidize. Want proof?

Even though rejected by the Supreme Court, Biden has promised that college students, who willing took on contractual loans to attend college, are owed $468 billion in college debt relief to be funded by the American taxpayer. He’s working already to cancel student debt for some.

The Keep LA Housed Coalition wants Democratic Mayor Karen Bass to cancel rent debts or extend protections for tenants who cannot meet the city’s Aug. 1 deadline. It’s time for them to pay the rent they owe. Landlords who were “left powerless” against nonpaying tenants who took advantage of a free ride during the pandemic now want the rent these tenants owe.

New York City, once proud to be called a “sanctuary city,” has given out flyers communicating “There is no guarantee we will be able to provide shelter and services to new arrivals.” Mayor Adams has finally admitted, “There is no room in New York. New York cannot take more. We can’t.” No more “free” sanctuary!

Many cities and states are considering or already giving “free” reparations to blacks at a local level. On a federal level, some measures have been proposed including one by Rep. Cori Bush’s, D-MO, that would provide $14 trillion in compensation for government policies that she has deemed as racist and contributed to the wealth gap between Black and White Americans.

Illegal immigrants, staging a protest in Chicago, demanded free housing, paid job training and easy access to amenities like food, water, and “safe” neighborhoods. One sign at the demonstration explained it well, “You Promised Us Safe Living Conditions, But Our Rights Have Been Violated.”

Liberals in Illinois passed a law ending the requirement that those charged with a crime must post bail in order to be released from jail while they await trial. Unless a judge intervenes to hold them, even a violent perp could be assigned a court date and then be released without payment! When New York eliminated cash bail, crime skyrocketed.

Instead of calling for protesters who threw rocks, assaulted police officers, burned down buildings, and burned up cars to be incarcerated and forced to pay for damages, the National Lawyers Group has issued a class action suit demanding that the George Floyd protestors in New York be compensated up to $10K per protestor because of police abuse. Only in America can rioters expect to be paid instead of incarcerated.

Democrat Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has asked for residents to volunteer their homes for “free” to host illegal immigrants “for a few days, until longer-term accommodations can be arranged.” Why is this necessary? The nearly 40 hotels and motels Healey has rented out across the state, all funded by tax-payers, are completely full and even overflowing with illegals.

Get the picture: Free rent, free food, free student loans, free job training, free rooms, and freedom from accountability. Why work? Why save? Just elect Democrats willing to pay for your vote. The homeless scenes in urban America sound very much like what Franklin saw in England. When you reward irresponsible behavior, you get more who are willing to be dependent on government’s “free” benefits.