Work Wit   Boss of your boss…American business folks believe that if you invent more, network more, and labor longer hours, you may someday be supervising your boss.  Is that the lure of hope – or revenge?

Biz Quiz.  How long do we work?  The U.S. Department of Labor states that the average American worker (all levels) labors 2,200 hours a year.  This compares favorably with the 16,000 – 18,000 hours throughout Europe and the 2,000 in Japan.  The dish of mobility, whether served hot or cold, is apparently a very tasty and desired delicacy.

WORK WIT: To the Right of Truth…In the Boomer’s generation, folks got fired.  More recently, folks got laid off.  Now companies are “rightsizing” their employees.  But no matter how softly you spin it, it still adds up to “Clean out your desk, son. No more salary, and don’t steal any pencils on the way out.”

Biz Quiz:  To obtain the “right size” number of employees, how many U.S. tech workers were fired in the first half of 2023?  Best estimates say that 200,000 of America’s 5.2 million tech workers told to hit the bricks in the first two quarters of 2023.

WORK WIT: Golden Silence…If you have nothing to say, either say nothing or hire yourself out as a keynote speaker.

Biz Quiz: What are top Keynote Speakers charging currently?  Actress/comedian Retta charges $200,000 for live appearances, Shark Tank’s Daymond John will grace your podium for $100,000, and Pursuit of Happyness author will bring you joyful news for slightly less.

WORK WIT: America The Beautiful…An entrepreneur knows he’s landed in the right country when he spends more time & money giving rebates to loyal clients than to dubious government officials.

Biz Quiz.  Within the last decade, what percent of new enterprises in the United States are launched by first generation immigrants?  48.7 percent.

WORK WIT:  Why Didn’t We Think of That?…Retail giants are trending a sharp business move: they’re opening apartments in malls and closing CEO offices. Thus the new profit-making maxim:  Keep your customers closer and your executives further away.

Afterthought.  Last year, 11 of the 91 retail firms in the Fortune 1000 had CEOs exit, with no definite plans for replacement. Meanwhile the new in-mall and mall-adjacent apartment units are selling like hotcakes.

WORK WIT:  Polishing Your Brilliance…I think the reason so many people keep asking me to write my ideas down is so that they won’t have to listen to them.

Biz Quiz:  If you are given one minute to relate your idea, how many words should you use?  120 – 160 is considered an understandable rate of speech.

Work Wit:  Corona Wonders…What do you call a nation where people sit down and chat face-to-face to share a glass of wine, but stand on a moving treadmill and squint into a screen to share employment in the same company? America the Beautiful.

Biz Quiz: What is the best estimate of treadmill desks purchased in the last decade?  Somewhere between 400,000 and 600,000. https://www.bartsbooks.com

WORK WIT: Sign of Our Times…She wouldn’t be caught dead venturing into marriage with an off-the-rack wedding gown, but she thinks nothing of venturing into a new enterprise an AI generated business plan.

Biz Quiz: What is the price of the average wedding gown in the U.S.? America’s 2.5 million brides this past year paid an average of $2,000 – $4,000 for their wedding gowns.