Often our workplaces are a microcosm of the countrys, even the worlds, anxieties and hopes. Its no surprise then that in this tumultuous year weve seen a lot of worry (over automation, layoffs, RTO mandates, and bad leadership), but also a lot of hope (for building more inclusive teams, better managing our time and energy, and improving our memories and happiness).As we get ready to wrap up 2024 and look forward to 2025, heres a look at the most-read Work Life stories for each month of the year:January 2024: Advice for leaders on building more diverse teamsHow building teams with diverse work experiences can drive success by Jenny Fernandez and Luis VelasquezThe first month of the year is typically dominated by goal-setting and self-improvement content, but this article broke though. In it, executive coaches advise leaders to build teams with people who have complementary skills rather than promoting and hiring based on expertise. Fernandez and Velasquez offer three mental shifts you need to make to design your team for future success.February 2024: Generational divides in workplace communicationThe Slack generation cant communicate with the email generation. Why more platforms are dividing the workplace by Jared LindzonWhats the best form of communication for important information: Phone call? Email? Slack? Text? Zoom? In person? Is it OK to send message after hours? Does the answer need to change based on your industry, age, seniority, workplace culture, or personal preference? This deep dive into workplace communication explored the generational divide over workplace communication and how the lack of widely accepted norms creates new workplace challenges.March 2024: Advice for getting your rsum past the dreaded botsMany job applications are never read by a human. Heres how to make sure your rsum gets seen by Andrew FennellA 2023 survey found that 98.8% of major companies use some form of applicant tracking system (ATS) to screen rsums for open positions. However, the majority of employers believe ATS systems can screen out qualified candidates because their rsums arent optimized for the bots.This article breaks down practical advice for making changes to your rsum, which will ATS-proof your application and increase your chances of getting an interview.April 2024: How to improve your memoryForgot where you put your keys? A neuroscience professor offers 5 tips to improve your memory by Next Big Idea ClubAs aprofessor of neuroscience, Charan Ranganath has been studying the science of memory for more than 25 years. In this excerpt from his new book, Why We Remember: Unlocking Memorys Power to Hold on to What Matters, he shares five key ways everyone can make mindful choices to curate a richer set of memories.May 2024: A new approach to time managementDont focus on time management, try energy management instead by Kristin BrownstoneWhen youre feeling overwhelmed, you might look for advice on time management in an attempt to get more done in your limited hours. But Kristin Browstone argues that this sort of advice is an enabler of surviving in hustle culture and instead we should be paying more attention to the energy we use.June 2024: How leaders can change company culture4 leadership principles that drive company cultureby Ameesh DivatiaAmeesh Divatia is a tech cofounder and CEO, and in this article he offers his perspective on how the C-suite can cultivate the values they stand for and impact their company culture with an approach he calls the Four Isinstinct, integrity, intensity, and inclusion.July 2024: Workplace DEI issues made their way into the presidential campaignWhat people mean when they call Kamala Harris a DEI candidate by Mita MallickMallick is a DEI expert who has experienced some of the same bias Vice President Kamala Harris faced on the campaign trail. In this personal and thoughtful article, she explains how terms like DEI hire, DEI candidate, and DEI president are used to demean and devalue leaders of color.August 2024: Well-paid jobs that let employees work from homeThese are the top 10 fully remote jobs that make $100,000-plus per year by FlexJobsThe RTO battle still raged this year , soits no surprise that this article detailing 10 jobs that both pay well and let employees work remotely was widely read.September 2024: An exploration of the ways managers can fail10 signs youre not fit to lead people by FeaturedThe topic of bosses being bad at their jobs is alway popular. This article can serve as a checklist for leaders who want to improve or for those who want to know if someone is ready to take on a leadership role.October 2024: Defining a new phenomenon: Silent FiringSilent firing is the new quiet quitting by George KailasThese two phrases capture the changing tides in the workplace. Employees felt more empowered in 2022 and opted to quiet quit by doing the bare minimum. In 2024, a new trend emerged: silent firing where companies and bosses make jobs more difficult in the hopes that employees quit, so they can either automate their jobs or simply save the cost of paying severance in a layoff.November 2024: The RTO battle took the national stage Elon Musk said what a lot of CEOs think: RTO mandates are meant to make you quit by Pavithra MohanAfter Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were tapped to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, they hinted at their plans to trim headcount across the civil servicein part by mandating that federal workers return to the office full-time. The pair suggested that requiring federal workers to return to the office would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome, saying out loud the very thing employees locked in a four-year RTO battle with their bosses have suspected all along.December 2024: How to be happierA simple exercise from Yales Happiness Lab will help you make decisions that lead to long-term happiness by Jenna AbdouThe month isnt over yet, but in an antidote to a rough year, the most popular story of December so far is from the creator of Yales popular class on how to transform your self-talk, change how you experience stress, and create space for serendipity. Sounds like the perfect reset before 2025.