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Many companies are acutely aware that a notable portion of their workers are struggling with burnout. The data makes that much clear: A Mercer report from last year found that 82% of workers said they were at risk of burnout. In another study conducted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Ipsos, over half of the workers surveyed said they had experienced burnout because of their job in 2023. Even so, it seems that employers may be underestimating just how widespread burnout really is among the workforce. A new report by the online marketplace Care.com indicates that while the vast majority of companies surveyed84%know that burnout can noticeably impact retention, they dont fully understand the scope of the issue. While employers believed only about 45% of their workers were at risk of burnout, 69% of employees said they were at moderate to high risk of burnout. The Care.com report, which polled 600 human resources executives and 1,000 rank-and-file employees, points to caregiving responsibilities as a driving factor behind burnout. Of the respondents who pay for family care, most of them say caregiving puts them at higher risk of burnout, and that their stress in the workplace is amplified by the burden of managing work expectations alongside caregiving. For many working parents, particularly those in their forties, caregiving responsibilities can take the form of both eldercare and childcare. What helps with burnout What does seem to help, at least according to Care.coms findings, are workplace benefits that help support caregiversan offering that has become increasingly common at companies that have invested in more niche employee benefits. Mental health resources have become some of the most popular benefits, along with fertility and family-building support. A number of companies also provide caregiver support in the form of subsidies or backup care coverage, which can help families manage gaps in childcare and offset the exorbitant cost of care. Despite the popularity of these employee benefit, companies don’t always see high rates of utilization across the board. But according to the Care.com report, when employers provide benefits tailored to caregivers, there can be a clear correlation with retention and stronger performance. The benefits that employees want About one in five employees said that they have quit jobs over a lack of caregiver benefitsor that they would leave for a role that offers those benefits. Among employees who have access to those benefits, 45% say that their productivity increased while 40% report lower rates of absenteeism. The emotional impact, too, can be significant: Over half of employees said caregiver benefits boosted their quality of life, improved their work-life balance, and reduced stress levels. According to the report, it seems that employees and employers alike are largely aligned on the expectation that companies can and should help families manage the cost of caregiving. What’s not always clear is the form that assistance should take. Narrow benefits like on-site childcare may not be the right solution for all parents, or companies may find that many of their employees are actually looking for help with eldercarewhich is why it’s important that employers actually take the time to understand what their workforce really needs.
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E-Commerce
Jared Isaacman, billionaire, CEO and nominee to become the next NASA administrator, faced questions on April 9, 2025, from members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation during his confirmation hearing for the position. Should the Senate confirm him, Isaacman will be the first billionairebut not the first astronautto head NASA. Perhaps even more significant, he will be the first NASA administrator with significant ties to the commercial space industry. As a space policy expert, I know that NASA leadership matters. The head of the agency can significantly shape the missions it pursues, the science it undertakes and, ultimately, the outcome of Americas space exploration. An unconventional background At 16 years old, Isaacman dropped out of high school to start a payment processing company in his basement. The endeavor succeeded and eventually became known as Shift4. Though he found early success in business, Isaacman also had a love for aviation. In 2009, he set a record for flying around the Earth in a light jet, beating the previous record by more than 20 hours. While remaining CEO of Shift4, Isaacman founded another company, Draken International. The company eventually assembled the worlds largest fleet of privately owned fighter jets. It now helps to train U.S. Air Force pilots. In 2019, Isaacman sold his stake in Draken International. In 2020, he took Shift4 public, making him a billionaire. Isaacman continued to branch out into aerospace, working with SpaceX beginning in 2021. He purchased a crewed flight on the Falcon 9 rocket, a mission that eventually was called Inspiration4. The mission, which he led, represented the first private astronaut flight for SpaceX. It sent four civilians with no previous formal space experience into orbit. Following the success of Inspiration4, Isaacman worked with SpaceX to develop the Polaris Program, a series of three missions to help build SpaceXs human spaceflight capabilities. In fall 2024, the first of these missions, Polaris Dawn, launched. Polaris Dawn added more accomplishments to Isaacmans resume. Isaacman, along with his crewmate Sarah Gillis, completed the first private spacewalk. Polaris Dawns SpaceX Dragon capsule traveled more than 850 miles (1,367 kilometers) from Earth, the farthest distance humans had been since the Apollo missions. The next adventure: NASA In December 2024, the incoming Trump administration announced its intention to nominate Isaacman for the post of NASA administrator. As NASA administrator, Isaacman would oversee all NASA activities at a critical moment in its history. The Artemis program, which has been in progress since 2017, has several missions planned for the next few years. This includes 2026s Artemis II mission, which will send four astronauts to orbit the Moon. Then, in 2027, Artemis III will aim to land on it. But, if Isaacman is confirmed, his tenure would come at a time when there are significant questions about the Artemis program, as well as the extent to which NASA should use commercial space companies like SpaceX. The agency is also potentially facing funding cuts. Some in the space industry have proposed scrapping the Artemis program altogether in favor of preparing to go to Mars. Among this group is the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk. Others have suggested canceling NASAs Space Launch System, the massive rocket that is being used for Artemis. Instead, they argue that NASA could use commercial systems, like SpaceXs Starship or Blue Origins New Glenn. Isaacman has also dealt with accusations that he is too close to the commercial space industry, and SpaceX in particular, to lead NASA. This has become a larger concern given Musks involvement in the Trump administration and its cost-cutting efforts. Some critics are worried that Musk would have an even greater say in NASA if Isaacman is confirmed. Since his nomination, Isaacman has stopped working with SpaceX on the Polaris Program. He has also made several supportive comments toward other commercial companies. But the success of any of NASAs plans depends on having the money and resources necessary to carry them out. While NASA has been spared major cuts u to this point, it, like many other government agencies, is planning for budget cuts and mass firings. These potential cuts are similar to what other agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services have recently made. During his confirmation hearing, Isaacman committed to keeping the Artemis program, as well as the Space Launch System, in the short term. He also insisted that NASA could both return to the Moon and prepare for Mars at the same time. Although Isaacman stated that he believed NASA had the resources to do both at the same time, the agency is still in a time of budget uncertainty, so that may not be possible. About his relationship with Musk, Isaacman stated that he had not talked to Musk since his nomination in November, and his relationship with SpaceX would not influence his decisions. Additionally, he committed to carrying out space science missions, specifically to launch more telescopes, more probes, more rovers. But since NASA is preparing for significant cuts to its science budget, there is some speculation that the agency may need to end some science programs, like the Hubble space telescope, altogether. Isaacmans future Isaacman has received support from the larger space community. Nearly 30 astronauts signed a letter in support of his nomination. Former NASA administrators, as well as major industry groups, have signaled their desire for Isaacmans confirmation. He also received the support of Senator Ted Cruz, the committee chair. Barring any major development, Isaacman will likely be confirmed as NASA administrator by the Senate in the coming weeks. The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation could approve his nomination once it returns from a two-week break at the end of April. A full vote from the Senate would follow. If the Senate does confirm him, Isaacman will have several major issues to confront at NASA, all in a very uncertain political environment. Wendy Whitman Cobb is a professor of strategy and security studies at Air University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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E-Commerce
Fast Company is the official media partner of Summit Detroit.From the mouths of most companies, the word community amounts to nothing more than another cliched buzzword drained of any substance. But in some instances, the idea of community is so intrinsic to what the company is and stands for that the meaning behind the word evolves into something more. Its why Jody Levy, CEO of Summit, had a hard time defining the word as it applies to her organization that hosts conferences and immersive experiences around the world. Community is not the right word. Network is not the right word. Tribe is not the right word. None of these words actually describe what being part of Summit feels like and delivers for the people that choose to show up and participate in the ecosystem, Levy says. It’s like choosing to be a node in an interconnected latticework of people across the planet that have certain things in common. Or as Summit cofounder Brett Leve describes it: a mutual aid society for entrepreneurs. If you ask anyone who started a company, on Tuesday it’s a hiring problem. On Friday, it’s a finance problem. The next week it’s a supplier issue, Leve says. There’s all of these things that come up, and there just aren’t a lot of go-to resources or places that train people to address those challenges. That’s where we landed on the concept of community being this panacea. Brett Leve, cofounder of Summit [Photo: Summit] Summit was founded in 2008 by a group of entrepreneurs looking to pool their resources and knowledge with other like minded individuals. Leve, who, at the time, was two years out of college with a business degree, understood he was still limited in what he learned on paper. I don’t think any of that education gave me the tools that I needed to be an entrepreneur, he says. The entrepreneurial journey is so challenging. You need a very broad toolkit in order to address all of those challenges you bump up against. And so Summit was born as an invite-only organization using events as a way to bring members together to both educate them through curated programming touching on wellness, creativity, and beyondbut also to provide a unique atmosphere made to forge new relationships. Summits flagship event heads to Detroit this June 5-8 and promises to create the kind of connections it’s become known for. Take for example Christina Sass who, in 2012 at a Summit event, met someone who would change the course of my life, as she puts it. A fellow Summit member introduced Sass to Jeremy Johnson simply because they both seem interested in the same thing. You two wont stop talking about access to education, Sass recalls the Summit member telling her. You should talk to each other about it. She was absolutely right. [Photo: Summit] Fast forward two years and Sass and Johnson cofounded Andela, a marketplace for software engineers and other technical talent in emerging economies. The company grew to more than 2,000 employees and hit an annual revenue run rate of $50 million within five years of launching. Arturo Nunez, entrepreneur and board member of Estée Lauder and Abercrombie & Fitch, joined Summit in 2012 and says it reinforced his belief that being in the right rooms can change everything. Its not just about who you meet, but the energy, the exchange of ideas, and the way this community encourages you to think bigger, move with intention, and build with purpose, Nunez says. Its a space where people dont just dreamthey execute. [Photo: Summit] And sometimes the connections at Summit are less about front facing networking and more of an internal, personal journey.[Being part of Summit has] simultaneously helped me get over imposter syndrome while giving me a healthy dose of it, says Phillip Cooley, former co-owner of Slows Bar BQ in Detroit. It’s important to remain humble throughout life, but being in spaces with such wonderful people has also fortified my confidence and helped me trust my voice. Its those stories that speak exactly to why Leve and his cofounders created Summit. I’m still as inspired by the concept of it 17 years in as I was when we started, Leve says. Its like a collaborative art project that changes over time. That’s the exciting part about itevery time you add someone into the mix, the whole network becomes stronger.Click here to learn more about Summit and apply to attend Summit Detroit this June 5-8, 2025.
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E-Commerce
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