The Lonely Office
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If you’ve ever wondered “What should I do if I get laid off?” or “Is it still taboo to talk about politics at work?”—this is a show for you.
Welcome to The Lonely Office: a podcast about the increasingly blurry line between work and life, brought to you by Glassdoor. The stories that inspire our discussions are sourced firsthand from the anonymous conversations happening on the Glassdoor app.
It’s hosted by Matt Sunbulli (serial tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Fishbowl), Aaron Calafato (podcaster, 7 Minute Stories), and Leah Ova (content creator and advertising executive), with special appearances from industry thought leaders and experts.
39 Episodes
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“Harold” is a disillusioned quiet quitter who finds himself impassioned to act after the House passed a bipartisan bill to ban TikTok. Harold represents some of the younger 175 million Americans fighting to keep the app around, whether as a source of information, entertainment or livelihood. On the other side of the generational divide, there are those who perceive TikTok to be, at best, an app drugging America's youth, and at worst, a means of surveillance for foreign adversaries. Why can't we agree on this ban, what might it mean for our freedom of speech, and what regulatory measures can we put in place to avoid it? That’s our conversation this week.
Film, with all of its cinematic magic, was supposed to be creativity’s last line of defense against artificial intelligence. But when OpenAI’s impressive text-to-video generator Sora is taking meetings with Hollywood’s heads of production, what hope does that leave the rest of us? This week, inspired by the real story of “Lee,” a young film editor who sees his future thwarted by Sora, we discuss the impacts of AGI on creativity. Is it killing creatives’ livelihoods, or democratizing access? And will our sense of passion or purpose survive the AI takeover?
Picture this. You’re the fly on the wall in a layoff call. The employee isn’t getting any of the answers they want. The HR representative isn’t allowed to deviate from their rote, clinical script. It’s all very, very awkward. That’s this week’s topic, inspired by the mortifying tale of “Jenna” the HR newbie, and the viral video from TikToker Brittany Pietsch. In this episode, we chat about what employees deserve in this scenario, how employers can do better, and how this process is fundamentally broken.
Here’s a staggering stat: through 2045, the wealth to be inherited by Generations X-Z is estimated to be 53 trillion dollars, an unprecedented sum in modern times. In this episode we cover the story of “Rich,” a 30 year-old screenwriter who, after receiving a financial windfall left by an uncle, finds himself losing his sense of purpose and creative motivation. Rich’s example and others' have us thinking about this Great Wealth Transfer: Can you inherit financial freedom and still retain your will to work? What happens to passion, persistence, and grit when labor becomes optional?
Unlimited vacation is often lauded as a workplace perk, but who does it actually benefit? On this episode, we reflect on our previous experiences with this “generous” perk, and whether it served us. We also discuss why employers might be incentivized to adopt unlimited PTO policies—and why employees might be getting the short end of the stick.
You just found out that the new, fresh-out-of-college hire at work… makes the same salary you do. What would you do next? That’s the true story from “Lorrie” that inspired this conversation around salary transparency and fair pay. This week, we share some of our own experiences with speaking up (or not) for ourselves, ideas on what companies could do to promote salary transparency, and some tactical recommendations for next steps, if you find yourself in a similar position as Lorrie.
This week, truth is stranger than fiction. We’re discussing real anonymous stories from professional double-timers: two jobs, two time zones, and even two identities. It has us wondering: Socially, how did we get here? And legally, what are some complexities one should watch out for, if inspired to do the same?
This week, we’re inspired by the real revenge story of an electrician named Jerry. With massive government funding of new industries in clean energy and semiconductors, Jerry represents a new cohort of trade workers finding success in today’s job market, despite the social stigma surrounding blue-collar jobs. From the astronomical costs of higher education today to economic factors that create demand for skilled trades, we chat about the conditions that make this redemption arc possible—and what’s on the horizon.
So you messed up at work. How do you move forward? This week, we’re inspired by a real workplace snafu, shared with us by “Zach.” From accidental all-staffs to awkward client commentary, we share some of our own professional mistakes on this episode—and our seasoned tactics on how to move past them.
If you’ve ever wondered “What should I do if I get laid off?” or “Is it still taboo to talk about politics at work?”—this is a show for you.
Welcome to The Lonely Office: a podcast about the increasingly blurry line between work and life, brought to you by Glassdoor. The stories that inspire our discussions are sourced firsthand from the anonymous conversations happening on the Glassdoor app.
It’s hosted by Matt Sunbulli (serial tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Fishbowl), Aaron Calafato (podcaster, 7 Minute Stories), and Leah Ova (content creator and advertising executive), with special appearances from industry thought leaders and experts.
From baseball player Shohei Ohtani’s highly unusual (and highly lucrative) contract to Michael Jordan’s “Love of the game” clause, uncommon terms of agreement might be more common than you think. On this episode, we discuss the creativity of contract negotiations—and our tips for getting more out of your next professional engagement.
In this episode we follow the real-life anonymous work story of "Dylan". What do you do when your Boss is impeding your advancement at work? How do you get ahead if you’re constantly told to stay in your lane—and to only do what is asked of you? Do you fold, or do you adopt the age-old wisdom: “Don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness later”? We discussing Dylan's story this week, as we share ideas on how to approach similar workplace conundrums.
“Emma’s” IRL identity crisis brings up a couple of important questions: what does it take to quit the corporate slog and start a new business of your own? Is there a certain philosophy that successful entrepreneurs adopt? What are the relationship and financial ramifications of launching your own startup? Is your idea better suited for bootstrapping or fundraising? Listen in to this end of the year episode of The Lonely Office to draw some inspiration towards quitting your job and tracking out your true, original course.
Why are professionals getting fired for what they post on their own social media? Some of us have had to learn it the hard way: Your rights as a citizen ≠ your rights as an employee—especially when comes to freedom of speech. It has us asking, “What does at-will employment mean, exactly?” Inspired by the true tale of “Brandon’s” termination over a controversial Linkedin post, we’re joined by Chris Collins (Partner, Labor and Employment Law at Sheppard Mullin) to discuss just that, and what employees can do to protect themselves.
The painfully real tale of “David’s” social oversharing brings up a great point: how did we get so ‘cringe’? Whether it be sharing personal divorces on professional platforms like LinkedIn, or wrapping everyday moments into a vessel for social media edification, has our push for recognition or sharing vulnerability gone too far? How does technology play a role in enabling this? Does the convergence of our social and professional lives have something to do with it?
1The anonymously shared story of “John’s” salary analysis brings up an excellent question: are there downsides to comparing our career path to others? Kayak, Zillow, Glassdoor - whether we’re looking at prices or salaries, the rise of transparency platforms that shed light on previously undisclosed financial information has given us new ways to compare ourselves to those around us. But are these tools improving our lives, or are they just impeding our mental health? On this episode, we’re talking about financial transparency—and the anxiety that comes with the territory.
So you messed up at work. How do you move forward? From accidental all-staffs to awkward client commentary, we share the unfortunately true story of “Zach”, a marketing professional who makes one big boo-boo. Additionally, we discuss some of our own professional mistakes on this episode—and our seasoned tactics on how to move past them.
“Ellie” did what many would deem the unthinkable: refused a promotion. Whether it’s a lack of confidence, a lack of support, or a lack of trust in their employer, a sizeable portion of professionals today are turning down their promotions. What might be impacting their decisions, and how can employers ensure that fewer of their people walk away at this juncture? Ellie’s anonymous story inspired us to talk about the process of moving on up—or moving on out in this episode.
The true story of “Tabitha” and “Brandon’s” work marriage brings up today’s topic: is talking about politics at work as taboo as it used to be? The age-old debate of whether we should engage in political discussions at work gains a new dimension as workers go to social media to voice their own political opinions. What do we expect from our company leaders and each other? And how does being online—whether on Slack or social media—enable AND hinder our ability to engage in political discussions with our coworkers?
HR is not your friend, they say. They’re a necessary evil, they say. When did the human resources department acquire this reputation? Should we consider them employee welfare workers, or are they only in service of corporate interests? On this episode, we’re joined by HR expert and startup advisor Rusty Rueff to talk about the real and totally relatable story of “Darren” and a weekend-ruining email, the origins of human resources, and how it’s come to represent the broken social contract between employee and employer.
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