Your Work Friends

New Week, New Headlines: The Great CEO Exodus: Why Young Workers Feel Unprepared & What's Next for the Job Market

Francesca Ranieri Season 2 Episode 7

Well, daylight savings time isn't the only thing that doesn't have us sleeping. Kidding!

Record-breaking CEO departures are sending shockwaves through the business world. Meanwhile, half of young professionals feel unprepared for their careers. What's really happening in today's workplace?

In this episode, workplace experts (us, Mel & Francesca) l break down:

⏰ 3:12 Why 56% of young workers feel unprepared for their careers 

⏰ 7:35 The skills gap nobody's talking about 

⏰ 12:20 Will the job market get worse? 5 key indicators to watch 

⏰ 18:40 Would you work in VR? Surprising survey results 

⏰ 22:15 Why CEOs are getting fired at record rates (222 in January alone!)

🔥 CAREER ADVICE YOU CAN USE TODAY:

  • Why you should start networking in your sophomore year of college
  • The soft skills employers actually care about more than technical experience
  • How to prepare for economic uncertainty in the job market
  • Why you should NEVER wait until senior year to set up LinkedIn

Subscribe for new workplace insights every Tuesdays! Your Work Friends brings you the latest business news and career strategies with authenticity and expert analysis.

CONNECT WITH US: Website: https://yourworkfriends.com and on the socials. 

#careeradvice #jobmarket #businessnews #CEOturnover #workplacetrends #careercoaching #graduateadvice #networking #economicuncertainty

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. We are not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

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Speaker 1:

We get these experiences early on. We're not waiting until people are like I did like a big dumb and be a senior in college and be like whoops, I got to get an internship. Like that. Don't be like I did the same thing and look at this girl now. Oh yeah, maybe I'm Francesca and I'm Mel. What's going on, mel?

Speaker 2:

Listen, the sun is shining past 7 pm. You can't tell me anything. There's no such thing as bad news anymore. Yeah, super fair, super fair. Until we get through me anything. There's no such thing as bad news anymore. Yeah, super fair, super fair.

Speaker 1:

Until we get through this episode. What's going on with you? I had a friend tell me that more accidents happen this week because of daylight savings than New Year's or July 4th, because people are their circadian rhythms are off, they're not sleeping as well. Oh, I believe it. Yeah yeah, more deers get hit in Wisconsin this week than any other week in the year. Poor deers, I know.

Speaker 2:

I know man deer accidents scare me.

Speaker 2:

For the deer and for the car it's not a good thing yeah, not a good thing For folks in the Northeast. We have a really nice drive. It's called the Merritt Parkway. I run this through Connecticut and it's very woodsy and beautiful and windy and hilly. So there's a lot of deer carcass that are happening. And I remember at one point I was driving home it was like 11 o'clock at night and I saw something on the road in front of me and as I got closer I realized it was a massive deer trying to cross the highway and slammed on my brakes and I think both of us. He was just staring at me and I was just staring at him and then he jumped across the little median and went into the woods. Scariest moment of my life.

Speaker 1:

You see those where the hubs go through the windshield. Yeah, it's not pretty. It's not pretty, I don't know, but spring is here, I'm all for it.

Speaker 2:

I Pretty it's not pretty, I don't know. But spring is here, I'm all for it. I'm ready for the change in season.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm ready for summer. I've been ready for summer since January 2nd. Yeah, holidays are over. I'm done, let's go, let's get into summer.

Speaker 2:

I'm in that mode too. It's like all right December's done. Where's the sunshine?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, I need renewal, new beginnings, yeah yeah, gym tan laundry, all of it, all of it. Yeah, we're back with new week, new headlines. Mella, what are you talking about today?

Speaker 2:

I have two stories Half of young people are concerned that they lack career skills, experiences and qualifications, and I'm also talking about a study that came out and that said two in five American employees are open to virtual reality workspaces.

Speaker 1:

Oh, all right, that's about equal to return to office. What about you? All right, I have two stories as well. Why are so many CEOs getting the boot, and will the job market get worse? I have five key factors that you might want to keep your eye on. That'll let us know. It's getting worse, or maybe it's getting better. All right, let's do it. Let's do it, it's getting better.

Speaker 2:

All right, let's do it. I'm going to jump into our young folks here, so this article came out earlier this week. Half of young people are concerned that they lack career skills, experience or qualifications. So what's happening? Widespread self-doubt is happening for our younger folks. Over 56% of young people age 16 to 25 feel they lack the necessary skills, experience, qualifications for the desired careers they're going after. There's also a guidance gap happening. Nearly two in five, so 39% of young individuals are uncertain about how to find a job after leaving school. Both you and I have feelings about this one.

Speaker 1:

Very strong. Yes, yes, this all tracks.

Speaker 2:

Mental health is playing a huge role. Approximately 30% have experienced mental health issues due to unemployment. 53% report that prolonged unemployment is worsening their self-esteem, and you and I also talk about this and needing to disconnect your self-worth from a job. Because they're different Misalignment with employers. There's a huge disconnect between employers' emphasis on soft skills and young people's focus on industry experience, so it's leading to missed opportunities here and then. The role of HR has an opportunity here to bridge this gap by adopting more skills-based hiring, focusing on soft skills and engaging with local communities to offer work experiences. What do you think about this news?

Speaker 1:

Listen, these are all things that I think you and I when we were entering the workforce. We entered the workforce around right after 9-11 in 2001, 2002. It wasn't super pretty. I think you can look at other workforces that entered around 2008. Not a pretty job market. This is not a pretty job market and, having said that, I think it's getting worse, per your data. I also think it's probably going to take a village of things to change it. It bums me out when I hear things around confidence or anxiety or mental health, and then to also keep hearing that potentially people don't know how to enter the job market or we have some things in the flywheel we can fix where we've known this for a really long time. Let's get busy fixing it. It's not getting any better.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I know, I think one of the things that irks me most is when you see entry-level jobs that require five years of experience and you're like, okay, let's get real. We can't tell our young people go out and get a four-year degree and then we don't have jobs for them when they graduate.

Speaker 1:

It's just a failing system in general, the biggest tell for me is if you're reaching your senior year of college and you haven't had any internship or any work experience in what you're graduating in, that to me begs the question of the system of college. Right, and at the end of the day, I'll cut to the big chase on this. My belief is that people should be starting internships sophomore year of college so they have quite a bit of work experience and knowledge of what that industry is like before they even graduate. Because it's not only about work experience, it's also about do you even freaking like this? Is this job even your thing?

Speaker 2:

I'm very interested in more of an apprentice model for universities especially. Most college students are expected to pick a major sophomore year and then you've got to commit to that major. Who, at 19, knows what they want to be doing? Nobody. I coach college students. I love that audience. I've worked with hundreds of college students when I worked in campus recruiting. They're doing the best they can to figure out what they even want in life, while trying to tune out the noise of like parents, friends, teachers, professors, everyone who has an opinion about how they should spend the rest of their life. And it's hard. There's almost like a gap that should happen between high school graduation and entering college and then, when you're in college to your good point, getting into those externship or apprenticeship opportunities before you get into a major so you can test and try what fits. It might not be perfect but it will.

Speaker 1:

Better system than what we have, I think going back to the confidence issue, which can cause anxiety. Going back to the root cause of that mental health is unemployment. To me, if you're allowing people to graduate with years of experience, if you're allowing people to graduate with a network of people that they can pull on, it doesn't fully seat those issues, but it sure as hell helps it and I feel like we're doing a disservice to our kids to not let them have that. And, by the way, this is not a knock on your career services groups or departments.

Speaker 1:

I think they're killing it and doing the best they can with what they've got. I think we need to flood more money into that and we need to change the process so we get these experiences early on. We're not waiting until people are like I did, like a big dumb and be a senior in my college and be like, whoops, I got to get an internship. Like that, Don't be like I did the same thing.

Speaker 2:

And look at this Maybe I should do that, but if you didn't have the guidance, not everyone's entering college at the same socioeconomic level, experience level, at the same socioeconomic level, experience level, background level, and not everyone's entering with these existing networks and systems. Not everyone has parents who have friends who will guide you. Not everyone has mentors. So there's a lot of folks who are just trying to figure it all out. I don't know. I think increase the budgets for those career services offices because, as you pointed out and I've worked with so many career services offices they are doing so much with so little. It's amazing what they've already accomplished. But give them money, give them resources so it can make these experiences better and it only boosts the university's effectiveness right when you can show that you've placed people from going to your university. So yeah, you want it.

Speaker 1:

You want to return an investment for all the tuition. That's it.

Speaker 2:

A hundred percent. Here's what I'll leave you with Young folks. Just put it on my little coochette, I'm just going to share with you. Nobody ever feels ready. It's not just you. If you think everyone else has it all figured out, we don't. Let me introduce you to myself, francesca. And then everyone feels imposter syndrome. I am 45 and I still have peers. I have people that I've worked with in the C-suite who have shared their imposter syndrome. It never goes away. Not to scare anybody, it doesn't go away. It's internal and something that you just have to like take a breather, take a beat and work through.

Speaker 2:

Employers know you're still learning, so there's no expectation you come in and know it all. Focus on those soft skills. Make sure you're really leaning into that. What you know. You bring curiosity. You bring problem solving. You bring the ability to Google things quickly. Bring curiosity. You bring problem solving. You bring the ability to Google things quickly and you know how to convert WordDocs into a PDF. So lean into that.

Speaker 2:

Soft skills are your secret weapon. So if there are any young folks listening to this, you don't need 10 years of experience. But guess what? Are you good at communicating? Are you good at working in a team. Are you good at taking initiative? Those are gold. So make sure that you're tapping into that and that you're highlighting that Employers actually care more about these things than the Excel formula that you don't totally understand. You can Google that and figure it out right.

Speaker 2:

And then experience comes in a million different forms internships, volunteering, side projects all of it counts. You don't need a fancy title to prove you have skills. Did you organize a fundraiser? Then you have skills. Did you start a side hustle with your friends? Did you run a club? That's leadership. So lean into that. I guess from the employer side, please look at your job postings. If you have anything that's entry level and needs five years of experience, cut that shit out. That's arbitrary and doesn't make sense. Mentorship if you can offer more mentorship opportunities and then talk with your young employees about growth opportunities it doesn't have to be their career path, but just tell them your story. Get to know some young people and really have some hard to hurt conversations so that they can lean into you and you can lean into them and understand them better. Sage advice, that's that.

Speaker 1:

What would you add? Don't wait until your senior year to start your Handshake account or your LinkedIn account. Somewhere around junior year, right, somewhere in junior year. Just get your ass on Handshake, get your ass on LinkedIn, start connecting with every single person you know neighbors, mom and dad's friends, cousins, every kid that's in your frat sorority, I don't care whatever the rando kid that's in your ceramics class. Connect with as many people as you can. Your network has a bit of a compound interest. Start your network now. Just connect in, call me in 10 years and thank me. Yeah, your network is your net worth.

Speaker 2:

Baby, Get that tattooed on your forehead Pretty much. Oh, what's going on with?

Speaker 1:

the job market. Listen. Will the job market get worse? There are five key factors that I'm looking at that are going to tell you yay or nay, and I really think most people need to look at this, because we had the jobs report come out last week the jolt report as well. There are some interesting things happening in the job market and it's really at a crossroad. We have steady job growth, but then we have challenges like underemployment and a lot of economic uncertainties. Do you feel this in the news, Mel?

Speaker 2:

Yes, the Atlantic came out with that frozen job market article, right, yes, and talked about the trifecta that's happening where less job openings, people aren't leaving and organizations are terrified of overhiring right now, that's right.

Speaker 1:

There are a few others I need people to look at, because here's the deal Staying informed, staying adaptable, is gonna be crucial for employees navigating this really evolving landscape, sometimes evolving within the day, and so keeping your eye on these five things is really going to give you a sense of how stable is this or not. Number one is looking at things like what is going on with the federal workforce reductions. Okay, we've heard DOGE go in and get rid of 50% of the Department of Education, usaid, et cetera. Right, that'll continue. By the way, the federal government is the largest employer in the United States. Yeah, the unemployment rate in March is going to go through the roof because of this. So this is going to be a really big thing because the Trump administration has implemented significant layoffs across various federal agencies Department of Health and Human Services, education, usaid.

Speaker 1:

These cuts have raised a lot of concerns about the impact on public services and the economy. They are the largest because we don't know what's going to happen to some of these services. That is one thing I would watch in terms of what happens because of that impact. That's number one. Number two is trade policy. We've seen tariffs get put on and, in the same day, get taken off. We've seen the tariffs get put on and in the same day. The definition of uncertainty what do corporations hate more than anything? It is uncertainty, because when corporations are uncertain, just like you might be, if you're uncertain if you're going to lose your job, if you're uncertain if you're going to have to take a pay cut, what are you going to do?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you're looking at your budget and where you're going to cut.

Speaker 1:

You're not going to hire.

Speaker 2:

They're not hiring, it's going to be a hiring freeze.

Speaker 1:

It's going to be a hiring freeze, it's going to be an efficiency freeze, it's going to be a lack of investment, and so that has a big deal with the job market. Once we have some stability with what's happening with tariffs, even if they stay put, that's good for the job market. If it keeps being all over the fucking place, that's bad for the job market because of the uncertainty.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, this is going to be a roller coaster for a while, and even all of the federal government's being sued and having to reinstate those jobs too. So there's it's going to feel like what am I on for quite a while.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's so clumsy, but it's a ride. It's a ride. The other thing because of that economic uncertainty, you have layoffs in major corporations. Sometimes this is for just block and tackle efficiency that they were going to do anyway. I'm looking at you Meta, I'm looking at you Starbucks, I'm looking at you Microsoft. That's continued to happen in 2025.

Speaker 1:

If you start to see more and more layoffs because of the economic uncertainty, that's going to tell you the job market obviously is going to get worse. But again, if we see it ticking up, no bueno. By the way, when Trump was first announced, most forecasters were thinking that the job market was going to pick up very steadily around this time. It should have been way stronger than it is, because we thought it would be more certain, because we thought the Trump administration would be very business friendly. But because of all this uncertainty, if you continue to see massive layoffs happening, again, no bueno. The other thing to look at this came out in the JOLTS report the increase in part-time workers seeking full-time positions. So there's a growing trend of part-time workers seeking full-time employment. Recent reports indicate that more part-time workers are expressing a desire for full-time, but they can't find it. That increased by 10% over the last year.

Speaker 2:

My hypothesis there is there are a lot of people who were already laid off, who took part-time positions because they already couldn't find full-time positions, and now we're seeing an increase in those same people who were formerly full-time, then took part-time and now they want to go back to full-time. So that number is going to keep increasing because so many people have no choice but to take multiple part-time jobs just to get some semblance of financial wholeness, and they're likely not getting that. They don't get the benefits, so they likely lost benefits and now they're trying to claw it back to it, yeah, and if they cut Medicaid, this is going to be fascinating.

Speaker 1:

Here's my last one. Again, we talked about job openings slowing down. We talked about the tariff policy. We talked about workforce reductions, part-time workers. The last one that's interesting and a little bit of a nuance point, but I think it's something I'm always really curious about, is the rise in credit card defaults. Financial stress among consumers is evident and it's increasing. In the number of Americans defaulting on credit card debt, it actually just rose again. They've found a rise in defaults reflecting broader economic challenges and potential implications for consumer spending. You're starting to also see things like Walmart not reporting as good of earnings as they thought. Obviously, target not reporting as good of earnings as they thought. Some of that might be because of the boycotts. They're saying it's because people are spending less on discretionary items. But when Walmart, which is the low-cost provider, is saying, hey, we're not going to meet what we thought we were going to meet because people aren't spending as much, when the rise in credit card defaults is happening as well, that means people are holding onto their cash.

Speaker 2:

They're holding onto their cash and they're likely having to use credit cards just to pay for essentials.

Speaker 1:

So these are the things that I'm looking at. If these get better, great, I have a prediction on what's going to happen with the job market. What's yours?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I think it's going to work way worse before it gets better. I don't. I think it'll be maybe around June before we start to see maybe some positivity coming out of the job market. But what just occurred in the last three months is going to take three months to correct or level out. I don't think we'll start to see anything until summer. What about you?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm absolutely in the same place. I think it's going to be September if we're doing prices, right pricing, okay, miss.

Speaker 2:

Dollar. Okay, miss Dollar, that's a 501.

Speaker 1:

You want a car. All of this takes way longer to correct. It typically takes way longer to correct than it is to get.

Speaker 2:

I'm trying to be optimistic. It's going to be a minute.

Speaker 1:

I it's going to be a minute. It's going to be a minute.

Speaker 2:

I think it's going to be a minute. I think it's going to be tough, but I think this is where everyone keeps talking about the importance of community and finding community and people that you can lean on, and it absolutely is not a reflection of people's value in the marketplace. I think that's the most if you're someone who's been impacted. This is not a reflection of your value, your skills, your capabilities, your self-worth. You're worthy just because you exist as a human being. Right and work is just something that helps pay the bills and hopefully you get good things out of it too, Like you get to grow and learn and build relationships. But outside of that, if this is something that you've been impacted by, it's now time to lean into communities, for support is something that you've been impacted by. It's now time to lean into communities for support. This was just a little surprising to me. It was a fun little article talking about two and five American employees are open to virtual reality workspaces.

Speaker 1:

What do you think about this? Not for you, you know. Listen, with the headsets. Here's the thing. I get it. I get it. First of all, I get really sweaty in those headsets. I don't. I don't like the schmutz with any kind of ar vr. Here's my deal. To me, it's a hardware game until these things become light and easy on your face. Ie like even lighter and easier than the meta ray-ban glasses.

Speaker 1:

it's literally like a lighter and easier than the meta Ray-Ban glasses. It's literally like a lens and it feels like a heads up display minority report kind of style. I'll believe it when I see it. Hardware is way too clunky for me, but I get it and I get why people would say it. What do you think?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm with you a few years. I went to South by Southwest a few years ago and they had an amazing like tech showcase, as of course they did. I did a demonstration of how you can attend a global meeting in the room and it was VR and you sat in the space and it felt like you were physically at a table with your colleagues in the room because you could see them and see their face and interact. I thought that was really interesting, but the headset itself, like I, was so distracted by the weight of that on my face and you know what my fear is having to wear that for eight hours a day that was the requirement.

Speaker 2:

Yes, act. The ring around your eyes yeah, just a rash. No, you know how everyone talks about that dent that they have on their pinky finger from holding their phone the wrong way. Imagine you just start getting a dent on your face. We're really going to look strange in a couple hundred years. Yeah, I'm with you on this.

Speaker 2:

I love tech, but I'm very much. What do people need to do and what's the best experience to support them? And tech should be the last thing. It's not the solution to everything, but just figuring out is this the right solution? I think that's it. It's fun to play with.

Speaker 2:

So a recent YouGov survey revealed 40% of American office workers are open to working from home using a VR headset, while 37% still prefer traditional in-person office interactions. Makes sense. Among professionals age 18 to 29, 57% prefer working from home using a VR headset. Look, that group in particular was impacted by COVID in a very different way. They're growing up in a very different environment, so I get it. I can see it. Compared to 35% of folks who favor traditional office settings, only 31% of those age 45 to 64 support virtual workspaces and nearly half 48% preferring in-person interactions. For workers age 65 and older, only 18% favor a VR office and 64% the traditional environment. So the data is indicating there is significant openness to this among younger professionals, suggesting that it's something workplaces should explore, but I think we're still early days, I don't know. I'm curious to hear from listeners and see what they think about this.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, me too, me too, yeah, I'm for it. I'm for it if it can be immersive and if it's solving the problem we really need to be solving.

Speaker 2:

Correct. We talked with Twenna Blondstrom about tech debt, human debt in the workplace. These are the techno stress. We talked about that topic. I can't imagine the change management for something like this right now, when everyone's complaining just about tech overload with things like Zoom and how that's draining their soul. We'll see. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens, gotta buy that real estate and metaverse.

Speaker 1:

Is that even for sale anymore? Did we just?

Speaker 2:

is that for sale anymore? Whatever?

Speaker 1:

happened to that whatever?

Speaker 2:

happened metaverse. Meanwhile, they're like we're still thriving. Where are you?

Speaker 1:

all right. Last one, last one. Okay, why are so many ceos getting the boot? Last week, a report out from Challenger Gray and Christmas let us know that 2024 wasn't just a rough year for CEOs. It was actually the roughest Nearly 2000 corner offices emptied out, and 2025 is already breaking records because we have the January report in. Here's the deal the job of a CEO is becoming way less stable and high pressure Boards are acting faster to replace leaders, particularly in consumer-facing industries. Okay, just like the job market. Factors like increased investor scrutiny, rapid market shifts, higher performance expectations or shortening CEO lifespans and the idea of this long-term, visionary CEO is honestly just becoming super rare and being replaced by shorter, higher impact life cycles. It's fascinating. Some stats for you coming out of. It's a combination of blanket stats and a challenger grand Christmas report.

Speaker 1:

In 2024, we saw a ton of CEO departures Nike's John Donahoe, the Starbucks CEO. In 2025, we're seeing it. Nissan you texted me last week, right? Yeah, no slowdown. January saw a record 222 CEOs out. That's up 73% from just last year. Wow, which is significant. And the hardest hit industries retail, tech, finance. What's the trend here? So CEO tenure has declined over the past decade. The median tenure among S&P 500, ceos dropped 20% from six years to 4.8 years. Oh, wow, yes, and CEO turnover is happening faster than before again, with leaders staying 34% less time since the peak in 2017. So it's shifting. Now I will say 2017, for some rando reason, ceos just stayed put. But that trend ever since then is bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye.

Speaker 2:

Our CEOs just give me the golden parachute, I'm out.

Speaker 1:

There's a couple of things happening here Per the report. What's driving the exodus is boards just have a shorter fuse. They're expecting way higher performance for what they're getting, and when they're not getting it, they're making that action to get rid of the CEO much more quickly than they used to.

Speaker 2:

You and I've talked about this. You and I've talked about shareholder power here. Right, and how shareholders, like any stakeholders, need expectations managed and is that really happening? And how much of shareholder pressure and we've seen it recently with some of the DEI decisions right, but when is shareholder pressure really good and when is it actually more disruptive and harmful to a business? So where I'm going with this, we interviewed Ashley Goodall about the problem with change and when you have these CEO cycles shift so frequently and so fast, all that does is create more of that what Ashley calls the life in the blender for your organization, which stifles innovation, it stifles business, it stifles growth. So it's just constant churn and I don't know. I'm curious about shareholder power here, and when do you say no to shareholders as a board to have more stability as a business?

Speaker 1:

I think that's going to be a very important question to ask, especially now. Think about all the economic uncertainty that was happening in 2024. And think about all the economic uncertainty that was happening in 2024. Right, and think about all the economic uncertainty that's just happened in the last few months. Okay, it is exponentially more in 2025 than it was in 2024. And, to your very point, the expectation of shareholder return, quarter after quarter, remains, and so I think this situation is going to get quite a bit worse, because boards still are acting like there's some sort of unicorn in every CEO and that somebody is going to be able to come in and turn this shit around on a dime and to your very good point. It just doesn't work that way.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, change takes time. It takes a year, maybe more, just to understand the inside and out of an organization.

Speaker 1:

So a new CEO coming in trying to understand the lay of the land even if they're someone that's been there for a long time, I don't know just to understand takes a year what you're going to see and you're already starting to see it when you look at what's happening at Starbucks, right, with the CEO coming in and saying we're laying folks off, we need to do one, two and three right away. He has not been in tenure for more than six months. He's making big moves right away. You're seeing it at Gap, too, with the idea of bringing back the 90s brand and a lot of repositioning the brand as a place to be in the cultural conversation. Right, they're making big moves very quickly. What that does sometimes to the employee experience in terms of being in the blender is it goes. So if this is a Vitamix in 2024, if we were on five, now we're on eight, because the market loves the big moves, because in the big moves is the hope of change and is the hope of returns until it's not there.

Speaker 1:

But if you're looking at things quarter by quarter, you're like, yeah, this is going to be great, so I think we're in for a continued blender. It's interesting to look at, though, and I think there is a positive here, right, okay, one of the things that I thought was really interesting is when you're looking at who these CEOs are getting replaced by. On one hand, it's not great because men are more and more taking over the CEO roles. The CEO gender gap isn't closing, it's widening. When women CEOs leave, 55 are replaced by men. When men leave, only 18% are replaced by women. So, again, the small representation of women is dwindling. There's that On the positive, though.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot of internal succession happening. 77% of the time, these appointments are by someone internally, and I think that's oh, that's great. Yeah, I agree. Internal succession they know the culture. They're probably working on an agenda that's been in place. Again, for employees, sometimes it is much less of a blender, and it also shows that there's growth and development and your talent management team and those companies is working because you are ready to go successor. So kudos to those folks. Yes, for employees, you might be a little bit in the blender. Yes, you might have some instability, but the other thing I will let you know is that there are always opportunities. Never let a crisis go to waste. There are opportunities for movers and shakers. With change comes opportunities, and the employee that can adapt quickly and find themselves in position of influence are the ones that are going to win. So look for those opportunities. They will be there.

Speaker 2:

This episode was produced, edited and all things by us myself, mel Plett and Francesca Rineri. Our music is by Pink Zebra and if you loved this conversation and you want to contribute your thoughts with us, please do. You can visit us at yourworkfriendscom, but you can also join us over on LinkedIn. We have a LinkedIn community page and we have the TikToks and Instagram. So please join us in the socials and if you like this and you've benefited from this episode and you think someone else can benefit from this episode, please rate and subscribe. We'd really appreciate it. That helps keep us going. Take care, friends. Bye friends.