Workplace

Employees shouldn’t work harder just because they might get laid off otherwise, said Ellen Wulfhorst in Reuters. That, at least, is the contention of business satirist Stanley Bing’s new? “tongue-in-cheek” book How to Relax Without Getting the Axe: A? Survival Guide to the New Workplace. Bing—whose real name is Gil ?Schwartz and whose real job is executive vice president of corporate communications for CBS Corp.—is more comedian than career guru, but his book is “loaded with strategic tips” that combine humor with a grain of truth.

Chief among Bing’s strategies is to remove yourself from small projects by asking, or “even tricking,” others to do the work for you, said Erin Conroy in the Associated Press. “There’s a polite word for this: delegation.” Ideally, you’ll strike a balance between looking like a “busy beaver” and appearing idle. You can achieve this, Bing says, by finding excuses to get out of the office—and then call in for conference calls—or sending e-mails at all hours to “give the impression you work around the clock.”

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up