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Welcome to the 5th edition of That Works! This is a weekly digest of the most captivating articles, podcasts, and tweets (X's!) on the current and future state of work that we have come across this week. Additionally, we will share some Townish news!

Hope you enjoy and forward to a friend who may want to subscribe!

Why you should build a “Career Portfolio”

The world has changed, and we no longer see it as abnormal to broaden our career focus and professional identity. Enter Career Portfolio - a new vocabulary which is emerging to help us rethink what a successful career path looks like.

People often think of a portfolio in terms of finance, business, or art. They may build investment portfolios to diversify their holdings and mitigate risk, or have a portfolio of writings or paintings. But a career portfolio is a new way to think about, talk about, and craft your professional future, which can include traditional jobs, self-employment, pro bono work, sweat equity investments, and even hobbies.

How do I build a career portfolio?

The first thing to remember is that you already have a portfolio, even if you don't realize it. Think bigger and include your unique combination of skills, experiences, and talents. If you've helped care for your siblings, led a team of online gamers, or done community outreach, include these in your portfolio.

A career portfolio is yours forever, can't be taken away, and evolves alongside you. It helps you expand your professional community and access to leadership opportunities, and is naturally aligned with lifelong learning. Talent that can expand their thinking beyond boxes, silos, or sectors will be in demand, so build your career portfolio now.

How do I use my portfolio to land the roles I want?

Employers are hungry to hire talent with non-traditional backgrounds, but often need help making connections between the skills they are hiring for and the skills you have developed through your experience. A good portfolio narrative shows how the different things in your portfolio enhance one another, and how your combination of skills gives you an edge.

Jamie Dimon predicts 3.5 days workweeks

Jamie Dimon, the legendary CEO of JP Morgan, predicts 3.5 days workweeks resulted by the AI revolution:

We would take this prediction with a grain of salt, as the economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that his grandkids would work just 15 hours a week almost a century ago. Are we working 40 hours a week because there is some level of goods we need to produce, or because we (human beings) just want more?

Does working from home damage productivity?

That depends on how you measure, and if you care more about Microeconomics or Macroeconomics. According to the economist Prof. Nick Bloom, working from home has a positive impact on productivity, but the impact of fully remote working is typically mildly negative. This is because fully remote workers can struggle with mentoring, innovation and culture building, but this can be reversed with good management.

In the Stanford study, 250 employees who worked from home had a 13% increase in productivity compared to those who reported to the office. The productivity boost came from two sources: 9% thanks to more minutes worked per day and 4% thanks to more output per minute.

Several studies have found large and negative impacts on productivity from firms moving to fully remote during the pandemic. These studies also highlight the importance of good management, and the need for different software and hardware that can support remote work.

On the macro level, In the five years before the pandemic, U.S. labor productivity growth was 1.2 percent; since 2020, this picked up to 1.5 percent. What could have caused this increase in productivity? Perhaps rising government expenditure, easy monetary policy, technology, computerization, the five-fold surge in working from home, or the reduction of commuting hours and office space. It’s really hard to tell, but…

The data and research show that well-managed work from home can raise and maintain productivity, while cutting costs and raising profits. It keeps employees happy, reduces pollution by cutting billions of commuting miles, and supports millions of employees with care and disability challenges in work.

Wages are finally rising faster than inflation. Will Americans ever feel like it?

Glenn Stellwag is making more money that ever, but barely manage to survive the rising prices. After a back injury cost him his job at a sawmill six years ago, Stellwag, 41, works at a local hardware store near his Michigan home, and also repairs lawn mowers and small engines. His total monthly income rounds out to anywhere between $2,500 and $3,000 a month, and with mortgage, groceries and car costs, he barely gets by.

Workers all across America are feeling the same double-edged sword as Stellwag, as the job market roared back after the pandemic, but inflation also burst, eating away at many workers' gains. Pay is beginning to catch up to inflation, and since May has been rising faster than prices. Nevertheless, a gap between household buying power and inflation remains, and workers won't recover their loss of total purchasing power until (at least…) 2024.

What else we’re reading about

• Why Silicon Valley’s biggest AI developers are hiring poets - Training data companies are grabbing writers experts to improve AI creative writing

• Distributed workforce is the Future of Work - and the future is now

• A silver lining from the pandemic - A surge in start-ups

Townish exists to bring teams together and help them plan intentional gatherings where they can spend time together, work together, collaborate, and have fun. Have you seen cool ideas for team events, or have any questions about your own?