Virtually exhausted
A recent study published in the Harvard Business Review looked at the increasing Zoom fatigue among America’s workforce, finding a strong correlation between virtual meeting engagement and quiet quitting. That includes “cameras off.” Among the most interesting survey statistics:
- The average worker attended 10.1 virtual meetings per week in 2023
- Workers who wound up quitting within a year had their cameras on just 18.4% of the time in small group meetings, while those who remained at the company longer were on camera 32.5% of the time
- 7.2% of workers stayed muted through entire meetings in 2023, up from 4.8% in 2022
Source: Vyopta/Harvard Business Review
Wisconsin employers voice economic worries
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce’s July 2024 Wisconsin Employer Survey uncovered economic pessimism, spurred largely by soaring prices. Some key takeaways from the latest iteration of WMC’s biannual study, which included 182 responses from across all industries, include:
- 23% rank the Wisconsin economy as strong, down from 39% in 2023
- 1 in 5 employers reports costs have gone up more than 30% since 2021
- 44% say they have delayed or reduced the size of a project due to high interest rates
- 68% say they are having trouble hiring
“There is no question that the mix of higher costs and higher interest rates are making employers rethink investment and hiring plans,” said WMC President and CEO Kurt Bauer. “While we may not enter into a typically defined recession, this data shows that the economy may stagnate at least through the end of the year.”
Source: Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce
71%
Proportion of surveyed full‑time workers who say they are burned out in the face of higher demands
Source: Upwork
85%
The increase in median value for homes in Wisconsin over the past eight years
Source: Zillow Home Value Index
48%
Percentage of the U.S. manufacturing workforce that are millennials, making that generation the most represented in the industry
Source: WorkForce Software
5 million
Number of miles driven without a preventable accident by longtime Schneider National trucker Greg Swift, making him only the third driver to reach that milestone in Schneider’s 89-year history
