Shared Office Coffee Machines Are As Gross As You’d Think

If you work in an office and use the communal coffee maker, chances are you’ve had the following thought at some point or other: Who cleans that thing? Maybe you’ve even joked about it with colleagues, each person laughing with varying degrees of intensity that reflect their own personal level of germaphobia. The uncomfortable answer … Read more

Facial Hair Is Back in Style in Business Settings

A century or so after the handlebar mustache made boardrooms look like a convention of Kaiser Wilhelm II impersonators, facial hair has found its way back to the professional setting. As a new generation of men rises into positions of power in the workplace — helping to relax standards for what constitutes executive style — … Read more

Is the Internet Killing Middle Class Jobs?

The robopocalypse for workers may be inevitable. In this vision of the future, super-smart machines will best humans in pretty much every task. A few of us will own the machines, a few will work a bit — perhaps providing “Made by Man” artisanal goods — while the rest will live off a government-provided income. … Read more

Corporations’ Newest Productivity Hack: Meditation

Since I started meditating two years ago, my practice has been shamefully sporadic. When I do manage to stop what I’m doing and sit down, device-free, I find following my breath to be a relief from—and a contrast to—what happens at work. But as David Gelles observes in his new book, that contrast is dissolving, … Read more

Starbucks launching mobile ordering, will add beer, wine and snacks

Starbucks Corp, aiming to give cooling U.S. traffic a jolt, on Thursday announced it will add beer, wine, and evening snacks to thousands of domestic cafes, widen lunch offerings and roll out mobile ordering. Such efforts are part of the world’s biggest coffee chain’s plan to broaden its appeal as a destination with consumers who … Read more