It’s impossible to overstate the importance of communication within the business world. If you needed to boil down the secret to success into a single concept, it would be communication: The ability to explain your perspective and accept someone else’s. As a result, anyone hoping to interview for a job should know how to communicate their skill at the concept of communication itself – whether that’s with coworkers, bosses, or those working under them.

This guide is aimed at people looking for tips on how to come across well in an interview. However, it should be helpful for those who are on the other side of the negotiation table as well, since it digs into the logic that both the employer and the would-be employee should be keeping in mind.

Here’s what job interviewers will ask you about communication, and how best to answer them.

Communication Interview Questions: Overview

Communication is a broad concept. So, we’ll have to start by breaking it down into a few categories that will make it easier to handle.

• Coworkers: Interacting with your peers is likely the most common form of workplace communication.
• Your boss: Weekly 1-to-1 meetings with your manager are practically a guarantee, and they’ll be interviewing you for the position as well.
• Your direct reports: Not every employee will have reports, but if you do, knowing how to properly communicate is incredibly important.
• Software skills: CRM software, Slack, and Google Meet are among the stables of white-collar work these days, and effective communicators must know how to navigate them.

More widely, good communication stems from a strong understanding of the workplace environment and your place within it. Having a plan, managing your time, and being able to look ahead: These skills will all bolster your ability to communicate well, even though they aren’t communication skills themselves.

How You Talk to Coworkers

Navigating workplace communication is all about balance. For example, you’ll need compassion, but can’t be a doormat. And that balancing act will be even tougher if you’re a woman, with workplace misogyny on the rise this year. Here are the common questions you’ll need to field.

“How would you define your type of communication style?”

You’ll have to figure out an answer that’s authentic to you – just make sure you focus on your most positive traits. For some, that’s an emphasis on clarity and straightforwardness, while others are best at empathy and catching non-verbal cues.

“How do you go about building rapport with co-workers?”

Think about any anecdotes about fun coworker interactions that you can have in the back of your mind. Perhaps you came up with a great idea for a new marketing tactic while hanging out at the water cooler, or maybe you picked up an idea for a Secret Santa gift because you knew a coworker’s favorite hobby.

These sorts of anecdotes are easy to forget because they’re so low-stakes, but that’s just what makes them such good examples of how you can serve as the glue that keeps your team acting like a team.

“Describe a situation where you dealt with a conflict at work.”

It can’t all be sharing fun weekend plans: Sometimes you’ll clash with your coworkers over the proper course of action. Comb your brain for any anecdotes you might have of a genuine disagreement that you were able to resolve by taking a moment to see it from your coworkers’ perspective.

Perhaps they came around to your view, but you’ll actually come across as more thoughtful in the interview if you can cite a time when you changed your own mind. Whichever path you choose, ensure that your answer ends with a positive resolution or impact. “After that, we never spoke again” won’t endear you to your prospective employer!

“Can you give me an example of when you persuaded others?”

This answer can be just like your response to the “dealt with a conflict” question, but with a focus on how you were able to win over your teammates. Don’t forget to explain why your argument won the day, though. Maybe you justified a policy change with fresh data, or perhaps you polled the team to find out which date would work for the holiday party.

How You Talk to Your Boss

You’ll talk to coworkers more often, but your weekly conversations with your direct manager are even more relevant to your job interview, which will almost certainly include at least a round or two with your manager.

“What’s the biggest conflict you had with your manager, and how did you resolve it?”

Keep your answer to this question positive while you think of how you were able to get past a real problem at work. Perhaps you missed too many deadlines in a row and needed to manage your time better, or maybe you misinterpreted the role of your job in some way.

You’ll likely want to pick a problem that you faced with your favorite manager, not your least favorite one. Everyone has a different managerial approach, and it takes a little time for even the best manager to figure out what clicks.

“Tell me about a time when you had to explain complicated material. How did you clarify if the other person understood your explanation?”

Breaking down a complicated process or explanation always involves some core functions: Keep your language simple, provide the context surrounding the process, and include real-world applications (and sometimes analogies). To answer this question, try to think of an example of a lengthy process that you were able to break down into a simple, replicable system – and maybe dig into how tools like spreadsheets helped to streamline communication.

Consider combing through your LinkedIn page or your CV for examples of these processes.

“What do you do to ensure that you communicate effectively at work?”

Sometimes the simplest questions are best. This is just about the most straightforward way that an interviewer will ask you about your communication approach. It’s a great jumping-off point for any anecdote or explanation that you have prepared and need to roll out.

How You Talk to Your Direct Reports

Managers are the final boss of communication: They need to figure out all the key stakeholders within a situation and know how to address conflicting interests or priorities. If you’re applying to a management position, you’ll need to emphasize your ability to do just that.

“Can you describe a time when you led a team through a difficult situation?”

This question aims to assess a job candidate’s leadership and problem-solving abilities in challenging situations. To answer it, focus on a specific problem and walk through the steps you took to keep you on track. Explain how you ensured clear and consistent communication, and how you figured out what motivators worked best.

“Give me an example of how you have used active listening to help a situation.”

Proactively paying attention becomes even more important when you’re in a management position over others at your job, given your higher level of responsibility. Explain how you follow up on a problem without needing to be asked about it.

One example of how you identified a blocker and removed it in order to help an employee get back on track should do the trick.

“Tell me about the most challenging person you have ever interacted with.”

Much like the common “What’s your biggest flaw?” question, this one can easily feel like a catch-22: You don’t want to dodge the question, but you also don’t want to actually complain about how annoying your old coworkers were – this always comes across as an immature, sour-grapes reaction, even if your dislike may have been justified.

Instead, respond by starting with your coworker’s perspective. Perhaps they took an analytical approach, when you would have preferred more empathy. Explain how you were able to navigate your differences to remain productive.

How You Handle Communication Software

Communication includes more than just interpersonal water cooler discussions. You’ll also need to know how to communicate through writing, through video call meetings, and – depending on the demands of your position – with email blasts to clients or customers.

“What business software do you have experience with?”

You’ll likely get a version of this question that’s tailored to the tools and software that your potential role will require. If so, you should get a heads-up from the job application, which will list the platforms and tools that they expect you to use.

Prepare ahead of time, so you’ll have a response: Hopefully, you have a little or a lot of experience with all the tools, but at the very least, try to come up with something to say about your knowledge with the general type of tool. If you haven’t used Hubspot, perhaps you have experience with another popular CRM, such as Salesforce or Zoho.

“Can you work in the office? Can you work remotely?”

Return-to-office mandates are popular right now, but your potential next workplace might operate on anything from hybrid to fully remote. Whatever the case, they’ll need to know you’re on board with it.

You’ll want to come across as the team player you are in your response: Let them know that you can mute yourself on Zoom like the best of them, or explain how you thrive in a frenetic office environment.

“Tell me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get across an important point.”

Some people write paragraphs on Slack, while others stick with single-word responses. What’s your approach? Have you ever needed to write an email to diffuse a situation, or to tactfully press a point? Any skills that you can show off are great for your answer, as long as they’re professional and put you in a good light.

Final Job Interviewing Tips

Communication might be key, but it won’t be the only focus of your interview – check out our full guide to the top 39 most common interview questions to prepare for anything that you’re likely to be hit with.

Finally, don’t forget to roll your shoulders and take five deep, slow breaths once in a while. You can memorize all the anecdotes you want, but during the actual interview, you’ll want to let your brain go a little blank and project some confidence. If you’ve done the prep work beforehand, the answers should come to you.

After years of uncertainty, more than one thousand Google workers have directly petitioned their bosses to offer some promises of job security.

Google is not alone in cutting swathes of jobs in what has been years of turbulence and anxiety for those working in the tech sector.

There are predictions that more bad news will come, as AI could potentially replace thousands of jobs in the next year alone.

What Are Googlers Asking For?

The petition was published by the Alphabet Workers Union and directly addresses Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, by his first name.

Speaking for workers across the US and Canada, its states that the signees are “concerned about instability at Google that impacts our ability to do high quality, impactful work.” It adds: “The company is clearly in a strong financial position, making the loss of so many valuable colleagues without explanation hurt even more.”

The petition asks specifically that Google guarantees severance to every laid off worker. These packages should be “equal to the packages offered in January 2023” at a minimum, say the petitioners.

They also ask that there be “buyouts before layoffs” and voluntary layoffs before forced job cuts.

Timing Is Key

The petition has been published just as the company launches into its annual performance reviews. The petitioners have explicitly asked that the company drops its GRAD quotas. They write that the system “encourages a particular distribution of ratings over employees rather than considering our individual merit,” adding that it “erodes our confidence that we will be recognized for high quality and impactful work.” Google has responded to CNBC stating that it does not force ratings.

The timing also nods to the fact that some of the company’s biggest culls have kicked off at the start of the year. This time last year, the Augmented Reality team was hit with cuts as well as the company’s advertising team. The year before that, Google cut around 12,000 jobs.

Will the Petition Have an Impact?

The petition currently has 1,343 signatures, which is a small percentage of the company’s 2023 headcount of 182,000. The petitioners say that they are hopeful that they are actually being listened to.

“We understand that difficult decisions are sometimes necessary for the good of the business, but we believe that they can be made in a way that is more equitable for workers.” – Google employee petition

However, in October, the company’s CFO said on an earnings call that she intends to “always push a little further” when it comes to cost cutting. Anat Ashkenazi said that the company had “an aggressive roadmap ahead for 2025.” She added that the leadership team will need to continue to cut costs to “try and offset some of these” investments. It seems that Googlers might be right to be concerned.

DeepSeek has taken the AI world by storm over the last few days, much to the chagrin of Silicon Valley, with Microsoft accusing the Chinese AI outfit of “improperly” obtaining OpenAI data to train its model.

The DeepSeek v3launch was so successful, in fact, that it led to tech shares across the US to tank in a major way, causing panic across the industry about what to do in regard to this new and open source competitor.

Microsoft has decided to go with the accusatory route, insisting that the only way the company could produce such impressive results at such a low cost is by stealing data from other established AI models like ChatGPT.

Suspicious Activity

The story was broken by Bloomberg News, which says that Microsoft and OpenAI are teaming up to launch the probe into whether DeepSeek improperly obtained data to train its AI model.

While an OpenAI spokesperson didn’t point the finger directly at DeepSeek, they did tell Reuters that US AI companies were constantly under siege from “adversaries and competitors” looking to take their IP. They also said that it is “critically important that we are working closely with the US government to best protect the most capable models.”

The US government has also waded in. In an interview with Fox News,  the White House’s AI and crypto lead, David Sacks, actually named DeepSeek. He stated: “There’s substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAI’s models.”

Gloves Are Coming Off

This probe marks how competitive the AI arms race is becoming. The US government is actively pushing AI innovation with Trump’s new Stargate AI program, with some biggest players in AI, including OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, involved.

The program will see 20 data centers constructed across the US with the hope that it will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

While AI innovation is being touted as a bid to drive economic growth, Trump’s frosty relationship with the Chinese government is also playing a part, creating a race to the top that his administration wants to win.

Not Exactly Angels

Before indignation takes hold, it’s worth pointing out that OpenAI itself has been the subject of accusations of improprieties including mining copyrighted materials.

Among the lawsuits was one in which both OpenAI and Meta were accused by comedian and author, Sarah Silverman, of summarizing her works without attribution. OpenAI argues that it needs copyrighted materials to train its LLMs and can’t afford to pay for them – an argument that does not go down well with content creators.

LLMs are voracious and need data. OpenAI — and possibly all of the AI innovators — have likely crossed lines in obtaining this data. But when it comes to a Chinese company potentially doing something improper, they are proving very quick to shout about it.

Just as US AI innovators scramble hastily to counter the impact of Chinese AI wunderkind, DeepSeek, another Chinese company has issued a challenge.

Tech giant Alibaba has launched a new version of its Qwen2.5 AI LLM and is making the claim that it is faster and more efficient than DeepSeek-V3.

The Chinese company though also took aim at OpenAI and Meta in a move that will rile President Trump, stating that its new launch also “outperforms … almost across the board GPT-4o… and Llama-3.1-405B.”

What Is Qwen 2.5-Max?

This is the latest model to join the Qwen 2.5 family, which are built using both proprietary and open-source technology, in contrast to rivals who have opted for one or the other option. OpenAI and Baidu – another Chinese AI contender – have both largely used closed source approaches while DeepSeek’s agile and relatively small team uses an open source approach.

The Qwen 2.5 family was originally launched in May but now has more than 100 models, which range in size from 0.5 to 72 billion parameters. “Our base models have demonstrated significant advantages across most benchmarks,” Alibaba stated, “and we are optimistic that advancements in post-training techniques will elevate the next version of Qwen 2.5-Max to new heights.” It adds that it delivers pretraining on over 20 trillion tokens.

Race to the Top

This latest launch arrived on the first day of the Lunar New Year, when much of China is on holiday, which has prompted speculation that its announcement was brought forward because of the hype surrounding DeepSeek since its launch on January 10.

Its arrival caused tech shares to plummet – notably in Nvidia and Microsoft – though BBC News is reporting that they have now stabilized.

But the launch also, says Reuters, resulted in barbed questions about why AI development is coming at such a huge cost for companies outside of China. DeepSeek’s team is reportedly small and their costs are minimal compared to companies like OpenAI and Meta, but their product is outperforming rivals.

Panic in China and Beyond

DeepSeek’s arrival has caused ripples in its domestic market – where it is competing with Baidu and Alibaba. Tellingly, TikTok owner, ByteDance, released an update to its own flagship AI model just days after DeepSeek V.3’s arrival. It came with claims that it could outperform OpenAI’s o1 model in a benchmark test that specifically measures how AI models understand and then respond to complex instructions.

Meanwhile, in the US, President Trump is pushing a fast and furious AI agenda with his $500Bn AI Infrastructure Project, Stargate. It has kicked off with the launch of the Super Agent ChatGPT Gov from OpenAI.

But this launch was peppered with language squarely aimed at the Chinese. OpenAI CPO Kevin Weil said all of OpenAI’s innovation – is underscored by “how important it is that the US wins this race.”

But the DeepSeek team is simply shrugging this off. The company’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, told Chinese media outlet Waves in July that the startup “did not care” about price wars and that its goal was simply achieving AGI (artificial general intelligence). He added: “Large foundational models require continued innovation, tech giants’ capabilities have their limits.”

The implication is that tech giants, wherever they are based, can’t compete with this agile and fast innovating company, however much Government backing and money they throw at development.

President Trump has offered federal employees a lucrative buyout if they agree to leave their jobs by 6 February. Equating to more than eight months’ worth of salary, the package forms part of the new administration’s attempt to slash federal spend.

On Tuesday evening, the office of personnel management circulated a memo in which it was made clear to federal employees that if they didn’t accept the buyout, they would face the threat of dismissal in future. The memo also outlined four upcoming mandates, including a full-time return-to-office (RTO) mandate.

During the campaign trail, Trump made no secret of his desire to revolutionize the way the federal government was run. Along with DOGE chair Elon Musk, he has wasted no time in putting those plans into action since taking office. On Friday, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) senior official Gwynne Wilcox was fired in “unprecedented and illegal” fashion, alongside a series of government watchdogs.

Trump Offers To Buy Out Federal Workers

President Trump has issued government workers with an ultimatum – accept a substantial buyout package or face the threat of dismissal down the line, in a move set to cut huge swathes through the federal workforce.

On Tuesday evening, civil servants were sent a memo from the Trump Administration. In it, they were offered “deferred resignation,” meaning they agree to resign immediately but are paid until September. If they do not accept, their jobs will be at risk and they will face four new directives, including a full-time return to the office.

All federal employees are eligible, apart from members of the military, Postal Service employees, and immigration enforcement and national security roles. The deadline for the offer is 6 February.

Government Hopes to Save $100 Billion

On the deferred resignation offer, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: “American taxpayers pay for the salaries of the federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers.”

The email that employees received on Tuesday contains a draft resignation letter. To signal their acceptance, workers are required to reply with the word “resign.” This will automatically trigger the process. In a move that mirrors the email Musk sent to X employees in 2022, workers who decline the offer are thanked for their “renewed focus on serving the American people” but offered no assurances about their job security.

The Trump Administration expects 5-10% of employees to accept the terms, which could save as much as $100 billion, a senior official relayed to NBC News.

Trump Hell-Bent on Remodeling Government

Since returning to the White House, Trump has begun to bring his long-gestating government remodel to fruition. The new administration hopes to create a leaner, more efficient decision-making body and save billions in the process – but his actions have already drawn criticism.

President of the civil servants’ labor union, Everett Kelley, said: “Purging the federal government of dedicated career civil servants will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government.”

On Friday, Trump laid off dozens of independent government watchdogs, as well as a senior official at NLRB, Gwynne Wilcox, who attacked the dismissal as “unprecedented and illegal.” With so much activity in such a short space of time, it is scarcely imaginable what the next few weeks and months will bring. But don’t expect the President’s plans to slow down anytime soon.

OpenAI is indeed creating a super agent for government uses, and the details have been released after a closed-door meeting.

The rumor mill went into overdrive ahead of the meeting a week ago with speculation that OpenAI was showing something special to the US government officials invited to come along.

Now, OpenAI has unveiled ChatGPT Gov and claims that it will allow Government workers to feed “non-public, sensitive information” into OpenAI’s models, but with the AI operating within secure government hosting environments.

What Is ChatGPT Gov?

This AI agent was built specifically for government use, according to CNBC, and the emphasis, unsurprisingly, is on security.

OpenAI CPO Kevin Weil briefed reporters on the new platform explaining that it looks like ChatGPT Enterprise, but government workers will use it in their own Microsoft Azure commercial cloud or Azure government community cloud. This means that they can “manage their own security, privacy and compliance requirements,” added OpenAI’s Felipe Millon.

The briefing also included a demo of how a government employee will use the AI tool on a day to day basis. Tasks included creating a five-week plan of their tasks and then analyzing an uploaded photo of this plan but with notes and annotations all over it.

From this, it created a memo summarizing the tasks listed, which was to be sent to the legal and compliance department. And, as a final flourish, the memo was translated into different languages.

Due Diligence

The briefing also included an update on how ChatGPT Enterprise is going through the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program and it can’t be used for sensitive data until it has got this accreditation.

OpenAI CPO Kevin Weil said that this could be a “long process” but added: “I know President Trump is also looking at how we can potentially streamline that, because it’s one way of getting more modern software tooling into the government and helping the government run more efficiently.”

Because of this, though, there is no timeline for the rollout of ChatGPT Gov, with Weil just saying it would arrive in the “near future.” He added that testing and live use could happen “within a month.”

Safety Concerns

Weil stated that the new agent will have the biggest impact in defense, law enforcement and health care, but these are also the areas where the data is potentially the most sensitive. However, there are concerns about AI safety and the increasing cozy relationship between OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, and Donald Trump is doing nothing to allay fears.

Ahead of Trump’s inauguration, two senators – Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Michael Bennet of Colorado – even published an open letter accusing the bosses of the big tech companies of trying to court favor.

The senators suggested they had made “million-dollar gifts to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund in what appears to be an effort to influence and sway the actions and policies of the incoming administration.” Altman was among those who donated and attended the ceremony.

Directly addressing the fact that all of those who donated are “currently under scrutiny from federal regulators,” the senators said: “You have a clear and direct interest in obtaining favors from the incoming administration: your company and many other Big Tech donors are already the subject of ongoing federal investigations and regulatory actions.”

Altman retorted in response on X: “Funny, they never sent me one of these for contributing to democrats.”

The AI Arms Race Heats Up

Weil absolutely set the tone when he said that ChatGPT Gov – and indeed all of OpenAI’s innovation – is underscored by “how important it is that the US wins this race.” With the unveiling of Trump’s Project Stargate, lauded as the “largest AI infrastructure project in history,” AI is an absolute priority for this administration.

One of Biden’s last acts was a bid to secure energy sources for new AI infrastructure. His approach has been slow and steady, pushing for investigation into the potential issues that AI could bring.

In contrast, on Day One, Trump overturned a previous executive order designed to mitigate the risks of AI and is taking a build-first, think-later approach to AI.

China is firmly in his crosshairs and he is determined to win this race – the Space Race of our age – but will there be any consideration of potential dangers as innovation is pursued at a breakneck speed?

Another big name has been added to the list of possible buyers for TikTok’s US operations.

This latest news of a fresh contender — this time Microsoft — comes from none other than the new President of the US, but the details are scant.

Millionaire influencer MrBeast has already confirmed he and his team are in the running with a cash bid; and they are going up against Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary. There are also rumors swirling that Elon Musk might be interested, but this is unconfirmed.

What Has Trump Said?

It was a Bloomberg reporter who broke the story, writing that Donald Trump had told reporters on Air Force One that Microsoft is in discussions to purchase the app. When asked directly, Trump said: “I would say yes,” adding there is “…a lot of interest in TikTok. There’s great interest in TikTok.”

Trump wouldn’t be pushed on details and Microsoft is not commenting. However, the President is taking a strong interest in the fate of the Chinese-owned social media platform. He even negotiated on live TV with Oracle co-founder, Larry Ellison, over a potential sale, saying that TikTok’s US operations are worthless but “…with a permit, it’s worth like a trillion dollars.”

At a gathering of Republican lawmakers in Florida, Trump added: “We’ll see what happens. We’re going to have a lot of people bidding on it, and if we can save all that voice and all the jobs, and China won’t be involved, we don’t want China involved, but we’ll see what happens.”

Who Is in the Running?

It is the team put together by Frank McCourt that was first to throw its hat into the ring. McCourt is founder of Project Liberty – an organization fighting to democratize the web. He is also the former owner and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In December, McCourt published a statement saying that Project Liberty doesn’t want to see TikTok shut down but said that it can’t carry on operating as it has been. He explained: “The People’s Bid for TikTok aims to purchase the platform and migrate users to a new internet architecture that gives users control over their digital lives and more access to the economic value they generate.” O’Leary later announced he was joining this bid.

Their confirmed rivals are a group of “institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals,” led by tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley and Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast.

Until confirmed, both Microsoft and Musk’s involvement remain speculation.

History Repeating

This isn’t the first time that Microsoft has shown interest in TikTok. Way back in 2020, the Chinese social media platform was firmly in the sights of Donald Trump, who declared his plan to ban it.

The computing giant released a statement in August of that year, saying it was interested in buying it. Satya Nadella, the Microsoft CEO, stated: “Microsoft will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, 2020. During this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States government, including with the president.”

The statement also added that it would make sure that “all private data of TikTok’s American users is transferred to and remains in the United States” if the deal went through.

The acquisition didn’t happen, largely because of national security concerns. The ban, though, pushed ahead under President Biden.

ByteDance now has a 75-day reprieve granted by President Trump, who has now decided he doesn’t hate the platform quite so much anymore, and new deals are being tabled. In fact, Trump is actively trying to encourage a bidding war.

The national security concerns haven’t gone away and these will have to be addressed; however, much money is on the table.

They say “time is money,” which is why getting set up with a top-tier time management app could be a huge difference maker for you.

The new year is here, and with it comes a bevy of resolutions aimed at turning your life around. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it alone, with a wide range of helpful time management apps available online that can help you turn this year into your most productive yet.

In this guide, we’ll showcase some of the best time management apps available on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, highlighting some of their features, breaking down their pricing options, and providing unique screenshots from both the mobile app and browser interface.

Toggl Track

Toggl Track is one of the better-known, most commonly-used time management apps on both iOS and Android. It offers a lot of handy apps for keeping track of your time, including a list view for all your tasks and events and in-depth reporting tools to see how you’re doing.

A standout feature for Toggl Track is the Pomodoro timer feature, which helps you employ the popular time management strategy defined by stretches of working followed by brief breaks.

Even better, Toggl Track can integrate with Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook, so that your events will pop up right in the app. However, it’s worth noting that the calendar isn’t directly editable, only allowing you to add events via the integration.

The downside? The interface is definitely a bit busy, making it a bit difficult to navigate for newbies. The list view, for example, features goals, suggestions, and activity all in one place, with little differentiation. There is a desktop interface, though, which spreads things out a bit more, and pairing it with the app does admittedly make for an excellent experience.

Toggl Track is free for up to five users, but it also offers some paid options. The Starter plan is $9 per user, per month, adding features like billable rates and project templates, and the Premium plan is $18 per user, per month, adding features like timesheet approvals and team labor costs.

Toggl Track offers both mobile and browser interfaces for users. Source: Tech.co testing

Clockify

Clockify is a bit more business-focused, with a few questions when you get started about what kind of business you run and how many people will be using the app. Still, it offers all the same functionality as an individual-focused option, including a basic time tracker, project organization, and calendar integration functionality with Google and Microsoft.

Most notably, the Clockify app is a lot cleaner than other options like Toggl Tracker, with a simple, basic interface to view and edit your time management needs. Plus, the calendar actually shows your tasks directly alongside your integrated events, so it’s a bit easier to manage everything.

Clockify is free for an unlimited number of users. There are also quite a few pricing plans from Clockify to choose from, including Basic ($3.99 per user, per month), Standard ($5.49 per user, per month), Pro ($7.99 per user, per month), and Enterprise ($11.99 per user, per month.

Clockify is available on iOS and Android, and there’s a desktop interface in browsers. Source: Tech.co testing

TickTick

Not to be confused with the popular social media app that is currently under scrutiny in the US, TickTick is a checklist-based time management app that can help you get your to-dos in order. It’s a bit rudimentary compared to others on the list, as it’s really just an advanced checklist app, but it still includes some features that will help improve your productivity.

The standout feature is the Eisenhower Matrix feature, which can help you better organize your upcoming tasks into categories that will help you understand what needs to get done, based on urgency and importance.

TickTick is free to use for as many users as you want. There is also the TickTick Premium plan that costs $35.99 per year, which comes out to a little less than $3 per month. This plan unlocks a lot of features, including full calendar access, customized filters, and more advanced reporting. There’s a 14-day free trial for TickTick Premium, too, if you want to try before you buy.

Forest

There’s no way around it; gamification works when it comes to improving productivity. In fact, one study found that 90% of employees say that gamification absolutely improves their productivity, which is why Forest is such an excellent tool when it comes to time management.

Admittedly, it’s very basic. With a simple timer/stopwatch tool on the home page, you’ll “plant a tree” when you start work, with the animation growing leaves and branches the longer you work. If you don’t come back to the app regularly, the tree will slowly die, leaving you with a sad forest of withered greenery. You can even unlock different species of trees and build out a diverse forest.

There is no desktop interface for Forest, largely because it very much operates as a mobile game more than a full-on time management solution. Still, these kinds of gamification features have been proven to contribute to productivity in a real way, so if you need a push, it could seriously help.

Forest is free to use, but there is a Pro version that costs $3.49 per month, adding more detailed reporting, data export capabilities, and the ability to create an allow list for certain apps. Even better, you can contribute to planting real trees when you work with this plan. Going green while being productive, you’re living the dream!

Todoist

Todoist is very similar to TickTick, in that the platform is primarily focused on providing a checklist-style interface for to-do lists. You’ll find helpful filters and labels to organize your time more efficiently and create projects to lump specific tasks together.

Todoist is extra helpful for some, as it offers templates for specific time management strategies. Just scroll to the templates section and you can pick from project tracker, meal planning, deep work, goal tracking, student planning, grocery list, or weekly review.

Like all the options on this list, Todoist is available for free for an unlimited number of users, but there is a premium version called Pro that costs only $4 per month for an annual subscription and $5 per month if you want to just go the monthly route. This premium plan adds unlimited activity history, custom reminders, auto backups, and other advanced features to improve your time management.

Project Management Tools for Businesses

If you’re looking for a tool that’s a bit more robust than these simple time management apps, you might want to look into the best project management platforms. These services are a bit more business-focused, providing far more features and functionalities to track your entire team, check in on task progress on tasks, and generally manage your team to be a bit more producitive.

Luckily, we’ve done a lot of research on project management tools, so you can be sure that our guides have the insights you need to find the right one for your business to thrive.

Project management tools like monday.com are more robust than time tracking apps, offering options like subtasks and color coordination. Source: Tech.co testing

More and more employers are instituting a four-day workweek, after a new study found it helped businesses reduce staff turnover, improve recruitment, and increase productivity.

However, the benefits of new working models continue to fall on deaf ears. Companies across the board have been pushing for a five-day return-to-office policies, with the tech giants – notably Amazon and Dell — leading the pack.

Now the Trump administration has also issued its own RTO mandate for government executives, even in the face of the ever-growing body of statistics that suggest otherwise.

Proven Benefits of the 4-Day Workweek

The study — which was tracked by academics at the University of Cambridge, Boston College and the Autonomy Institute — saw a four-day week or nine-day fortnight trialed by 17 employers. It found categorically that productivity went up and staff turnover went down in this time; but also that the companies involved became a more attractive proposition for new recruits.

This November trial was the second run by a campaign group called the 4 Day Week Foundation. The first was carried out in in 2022 and 18 months after its completion, more than half of those involved were still working a four-day week.

The sectors most represented among the 200 companies were marketing, advertising and PR, but the charity, NGO and social care sectors came a close second. Of the total, twenty-four companies were in technology, IT and software.

The majority of the companies who have now committed to a shorter working week were based in London.

Time for a Change

Joe Ryle, the foundation’s campaign director, said that these latest results are evidence that a change is needed.

“The 9-5, five-day working week was invented 100 years ago and is no longer fit for purpose. We are long overdue an update.” – Joe Ryle, 4 Day Week Foundation campaign chair

Key to the trial has been that employees’ pay was not changed at all despite the shorter working week. However, there is rising evidence that flexibility and a better work-life balance are now among the top wants that employees have for their career. This is perhaps even over financial considerations with a survey 18 months ago revealing that 76% of employees would actively seek a new job if their current employer got rid of flexible work options.

Does the Evidence Matter?

However positive this news from the study, the RTO mandates keep coming. CEOs are pushing the line that it is important for company culture and sticking to it.

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, told employees in a memo that the incoming five-day a week RTO would mean that employees were “better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other and our culture to deliver the absolute best for customers and the business.” The company has already faced walkouts over the hybrid working roll-backs; but pushed ahead nevertheless.

Jassy fervently denied accusations that the RTO mandate was a way of slimming down the workforce by pushing staff towards voluntary redundancies. But a survey in June revealed a quarter of CEOs were hoping for just this.

Some have been openly vocal in saying that if employees don’t want to come in five days a week, they can look elsewhere for a job. In a recent news conference, President Trump stated bluntly: “If people don’t come back to work… they’re going to be dismissed.”

With the President taking such a hard line on hybrid working, those companies who are honoring flexible practices are becoming the minority despite evidence of the benefits.

Cheap and efficient are two pretty compelling attributes and are drawing intrigued AI enthusiasts from around the world to try out open source generative AI model DeepSeek.

The Chinese-owned venture is enjoying a massive boom in customers, even, ironically, as the US Government warns about potential national security issues that could come with using a Chinese digital service.

But, AI LLMs need data to train on, so what customer data is DeepSeek collecting and sending to China? And what shouldn’t you share with the AI platform?

What Data Is DeepSeek Collecting?

DeepSeek does have an English guide online as to what data it collects. It’s quite a list. It includes your date of birth; email address, telephone number and the password you set up. This is pretty standard. Also, this is a great opportunity to remind you that your password should be different across every platform you use!

However, as it’s an AI model, you will also be handing over your “text or audio input, prompt, uploaded files, feedback, chat history, or other content that you provide to our model and Services”.

The terms also add that if you, as a customer, contact the Chinese-venture, they will ask for “proof of identity or age”, and this data they will keep.

More Data that DeepSeek Collects

Your IP address, unique device identifiers, and cookies will also automatically be shared when you use DeepSeek. The identifiers include “your device model, operating system, keystroke patterns or rhythms, IP address, and system language”. Crash reports and performance logs are also collected.

If you pay for any services from DeepSeek, your payment details will also be saved and this is for “customer services” and “after-sales support”. So far, again, pretty standard.

The last category is “information from other sources”. For example, if you log onto DeepSeek using an Apple or Google sign-in, the company will receive some information from them. And there is also a note about advertisers who share information with DeepSeek, including “the products or services you purchased, online or in person” outside of the service.

Wired has looked into this “underlying activity” and says that DeepSeek is sharing data with the “Chinese tech giant Baidu, potentially for web analytics purposes, as well as Volces, a Chinese internet infrastructure firm”.

Should You Be Concerned About DeepSeek?

The big difference between OpenAI and DeepSeek is not the data that the companies are collecting – in fact they are doing similar things – but where this data ends up. DeepSeek is sending the data it collects to China and is completely open about this. It states: “We store the information we collect in secure servers located in the People’s Republic of China.”

It adds the pretty standard legalize terminology that it will share data to “comply with [its] legal obligations” but in this case, it means that data can be shared at any time with Chinese government officials. This means DeepSeek’s data can be used in accordance with a 2017 law, stating that organizations must “cooperate with national intelligence efforts.”

The Chinese government has the right to access data collected from US DeepSeek users and can use it for allegedly nefarious purposes. These could include pushing Chinese propaganda, which is an accusation that has been levelled at TikTok. In fact, some DeepSeek users are already reporting that some answers the AI returns sound like propaganda and some questions relating to topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese government – for example the Tiananmen Square massacre – are returning blanks.

What Not to Share on DeepSeek

The big question is whether you think the fact that all of this data going to China is a problem for you. You have probably heard it all before, but there are already some concerning warnings about how this date may be manipulated for the benefit of the Chinese regime. These include some dire predictions about cyber threats that directly target the West, utilize social engineering, and exploit vast quantities of sensitive data.

The fact that TikTok had around 170 million active monthly US users suggests that many people are not too concerned about these threats, despite repeated warnings from the government. This has absolutely been borne up by the explosion in use of another Chinese social media platform, RedNote, as the TikTok ban loomed.

If this isn’t a concern for you – and you are also aware of the data that AI models will be capturing as standard – then just take some sensible precautions.

• If you are a creator, as we warned with ChatGPT, if you share your original works, be prepared for them to be shared with another user
• Don’t input any sensitive or personal information into the AI assistant, such health or personal data
• Don’t use it to store your usernames/passwords
• Be aware that you can also delete your chat history in DeepSeek through the Settings option
• Don’t use the AI models if you are using a work network
• Don’t upload company sensitive documents or client information

It’s also worth noting that installing the app on your computer allows a greater level of privacy control, but if you’re unsure about it in the first place, having the app sit on your PC is unlikely to appeal.

Ultimately, if TikTok’s fate is anything to go by, the US government is quite likely to take action against US data flowing freely to China. TikTok’s data servers for US customers were not, after all, in China but it was still deemed enough of a threat to be banned.

While new AI offerings are fun – especially at low cost and with impressive capabilities – US users might soon be forced to return to “safer” options – even with their data grabbing tendencies. And this is not least because OpenAI and Anthropic have serious US money behind them and DeepSeek does not.

DeepSeek is the latest multimodal AI.

Technically, DeepSeek is the name of the Chinese company releasing the models. The current models themselves are called “R1” and “V1.” Both are massively shaking up the entire AI industry following R1’s January 20 release in the US.

Why? It comes with very low development costs, it’s open-source for commercial use, and it undercuts rivals like OpenAI — right at a time when the US government has bet more heavily than ever on its own home-grown AI advancements.

What Do I Need to Know About DeepSeek?

Deepseek offers a couple different models — R1 and V3 — in addition to an image generator. The key thing to know is that they’re cheaper, more efficient, and more freely available than the top competitors, which means that OpenAI’s ChatGPT may have lost its crown as the queen bee of AI models.

Here’s what to know about all of them.

DeepSeek R1

The DeepSeek model that everyone is using right now is R1.

It’s at the top of the App Store — beating out ChatGPT — and it’s the version that is currently available on the web and open-source, with a freely available API. Unlike some other China-based models aiming to compete with ChatGPT, AI experts are impressed with the capability that R1 offers.

As influential tech investor Marc Andreessen put it a few days back: “DeepSeek R1 is one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs I’ve ever seen — and as open source, a profound gift to the world.”

It’s way cheaper to operate than ChatGPT, too: Possibly 20 to 50 times cheaper.

There’s some murkiness surrounding the type of chip used to train DeepSeek’s models, with some unsubstantiated claims stating that the company used A100 chips, which are currently banned from US export to China.

DeepSeek V3

However, the company’s other big model is what’s scaring Silicon Valley: DeepSeek V3.

The V3 model was cheap to train, way cheaper than many AI experts had thought possible: According to DeepSeek, training took just 2,788 thousand H800 GPU hours, which adds up to just $5.576 million, assuming a $2 per GPU per hour cost.

V3 is a more efficient model, since it operates on a 671B-parameter MoE architecture with 37B activated parameters per token — cutting down on the computational overhead required by ChatGPT and its 1.8T-parameter design.

Text-to-image generation: Janus Pro

Plus, there’s Janus Pro, the company’s text-to-image generator.

DeepSeek has reported that its Janus-Pro-7B AI model has outperformed OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 and Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion, according to a leaderboard ranking for image generation using text prompts.

According to the company, this model was trained on “72 million high-quality synthetic images.”

DeepSeek can run locally

One last thing to know: DeepSeek can be run locally, with no need for an internet connection. This is part and parcel with the model’s open-source release: Since the code is available on GitHub, it can be downloaded.

That marks another improvement over popular AI models like OpenAI, and — at least for those who chose to run the AI locally — it means that there’s no possibility of the China-based company accessing user data.

In Response, NVIDIA’s Stock Is Way, Way Down

Deepseek marks a big shakeup to the popular approach to AI tech in the US: The Chinese company’s AI models were built with a fraction of the resources, but delivered the goods and are open-source, to boot. The initial response was a big drop in stock prices for the biggest US-based AI companies.

AI chip company NVIDIA saw the biggest stock drop in its history, losing nearly $600 billion in stock-market value when stocks dropped 16.86% in response to the DeepSeek news.

How bad is that? Well, it’s more than twice as much as any other single US company has ever dropped in just one day. In other words, it’s not great.

The company’s response so far: It’s admitted that DeepSeek’s R1 model is “an excellent AI advancement.”

Other US shares are down, too

Shares dropped at other chipmakers as well, such as the Dutch company ASML, while the S&P 500 dropped more than 2% and Nasdaq fell 3.5%.

Plenty of experts are predicting that the stock market volatility will settle down soon. However, it might mark the end of an era for the constant steep upward trend for companies like NVIDIA, which had seen incredibly high growth since early 2023.

But this is good news for some tech giants

So, how does the AI landscape change if DeepSeek is America’s next top model?

Meta is likely a big winner here: The company needs cheap AI models in order to succeed, and now the next money-saving advancement is here.

Microsoft will also be saving money on data centers, while Amazon can take advantage of the newly available open source models.

Google, on the other hand, would have stood to make the most money from all those data centers. Something tells us that the massive tech giant will stay afloat, however. In the long run, cheap open-source AI is still good for tech companies in general, even if it might not be great for the US overall.

How Does the US’s $500-Billion Stargate Program Factor in?

The DeepSeek disruption comes just a few days after a big announcement from President Trump: The US government will be sinking $500 billion into “Stargate,” a joint AI venture with OpenAI, Softbank, and Oracle that aims to solidify the US as the world leader in AI.

Among the initiative’s plans are the construction of 20 data centers across the US, as well as the creation of “hundreds of thousands” of jobs, although the latter claim seems dubious, based on the outcome of similar previous claims.

With that eye-watering investment, the US government certainly seems to be throwing its weight behind a strategy of excess: Pouring billions into solving its AI problems, under the assumption that paying more than any other country will deliver better AI than any other country.

Now, DeepSeek has emerged to poke a hole in that thesis. If DeepSeek can get the same results on less than a tenth of the development budget, all those billions don’t look like such a sure bet.

The stock market — for now, at least — seems to agree.

With 2025 building up a head of steam, there’s never been a better time to look around and take stock. You might be thinking it’s high-time for a career change – and you’ve got your sights set on a role that offers flexibility and freedom in equal measure.

Don’t let the headlines deter you – while companies are planning to crack down on remote work this year, rumors of its demise are greatly exaggerated, with several big players still committed to remote work as January draws to a close.

One of them is Apple. For wantaway individuals seeking a fresh start, it’s one of the hottest tickets in town – and with good reason. Employees are well-compensated, can access flexible medical care, and get their hands on the latest tech at a fraction of the price.

There are dozens of remote-friendly roles listed on the Apple careers page – we’ve highlighted some of our favorites below.

Remote Jobs at Apple for January 2025

With Trump back in the White House for a second term, the tech sector looks poised for a dramatic and exciting year. Keen to ingratiate himself with the returning President, Apple boss Tim Cook donated $1 million to his inauguration earlier this month. In return, he will hope for a favorable regulatory environment and a reprieve from the antitrust investigations that plagued big tech players during the Biden Administration.

At the time of writing, Apple has 94 “Home Office” positions advertised on its careers page. You’ll find a list of our top picks below, as well as links to the job ads in question. Please note – I’ve also included the location of where these roles are based, some of which may require a degree of time spent in the office. For that reason, the below roles are based exclusively in the US, but Apple also has remote roles based around the world listed on its website.

• PC Board Designer (Austin, TX, remote)
• Enterprise Systems Engineer (New York City, NY, remote)
• ISE, System Experience – Software Engineer, macOS System Experience (Cupertino, CA, remote)
• People Business Partner Leader (Boston, MA, remote)
• US Channel Sales Manager (Chicago, IL, remote)
• Swift Standard Library Engineer (Boulder, CO, remote)
• AIML – Research Scientist/Engineer (Santa Clara, CA, remote)
• Industry Development Executive, Retail (San Francisco, CA, remote)
• Enterprise US Field Engineering Direct Leader – United States (Manor, TX, remote)

And that’s barely scratching the surface. Take a look at the Apple careers hub for a full list of remote roles.

What Is Working at Apple Like?

Some brands need no introduction and Apple is firmly in that category. Since the Apple I hit the market back in 1976, the company has been right at the cutting-edge of tech. 49 years and over 2 billion iPhones later, and it’s still one of the most sought-after destinations for prospective employees going.

This is borne out by the numbers. Right now, Apple has a very good 4.1/5 on Glassdoor based on more than 40,000 reviews. 80% of employees  would recommend the company to a friend, and a further 88% approve of CEO Tim Cook. The tech giant has featured in every Glassdoor “Best Places to Work” list since 2009 (apart from 2023). But why exactly is Apple so popular with its employees?

For a start, it offers great benefits. Workers get access to flexible medical plans that cover both and mental wellbeing, including access to medical professionals and free counselling at any time, from any place. If you do go into the office, you can make use of on-site well ness and fitness centers, with access to doctors, nurses, dieticians, acupuncturists, and more.

What’s more, your professional and personal development is high on the agenda. You’ll have the option to undertake Apple University classes and seminars, as well as get tools to upskill yourself at home, completely free. If you’re keen to pursue something a bit more formal, Apple offers course reimbursements of up to $5,250 per employee.

As mentioned, you’ll be handsomely rewarded for your troubles. Apple is a market leader when it comes to renumeration, with the average salary ranging from $44,000 for a Department Supervisor to $225,919 for a Director, as per figures available on Indeed. Honestly: it’s no surprise that Apple made our list of the best tech companies to work for in 2025.

Which Other Top Companies Are Hiring For Fully Remote Roles?

Not convinced? Luckily for you, some other big players are currently advertising remote roles on their websites. Among them, Microsoft, which has long been a champion of remote work and, as of January 2025, the company has a jaw-dropping 473 remote-eligible roles on its careers page. With plenty to recommend it, you could do a lot worse than applying for a job at Microsoft.

If your interests lie elsewhere, you might be tempted by the 56 remote roles that Google currently lists on its website. Another of the biggest players in the tech space, Google has a raft of excellent benefits, including free gym memberships, a generous vacation package, and great compensation.

The truth is that there are a lot of options out there. So if you’re looking for a way to combat the January blues, why not pour yourself a strong cup of coffee, put the heating on, and check out our guide to fully-remote jobs you can apply for this January.

Just days in, one of the first edicts from Donald Trump’s second term as US president is already out: Federal employees will be required to report to the office in person, and not remotely.

Specifically, a memo was sent out on Wednesday from the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), urging federal agencies to establish protocols requiring a return to the office. The actual process is still being worked out, and so there’s no timeline for enforcement just yet.

Here’s why cutting back on all remote work for federal employees doesn’t make sense on multiple levels.

What’s the Reasoning Behind the Decision?

According to the new memo, agencies must “…take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis.”

There is one clause, however, as “the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary.”

The memo doesn’t explain the reasoning behind this decision. You might be forgiven for thinking that the Trump administration doesn’t believe remote workers are as effective as in-office workers. This seems to be the case.

However, an op-ed published in November by the Wall Street Journal offers an additional explanation. It’s written by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, two people who (at the time) had been tapped to lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, and they argued that “requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.”

The same op-ed also states that “if federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home,” which appears to indicate a belief that working remotely is less favorable to the government than working in an office. But do the facts back up these views?

An RTO Mandate This Big Will Cost a Lot

One mark against saving money by getting people back into the office? It’ll cost a lot.

Right now, remote federal workers are located all across the country, and every one of them will soon need to report to an office, meaning they’ll have to move close to one, potentially incurring federal costs. The ROT mandate will impact nearly 3 million federal workers — that’s a lot of people to pay for.

Current federal guidelines also suggest that the government should be on the hook for temporary duty pay towards paying workers’ transportation, lodging and per diem expenses.

Plus, if workers are moving to be near an office that’s in a higher cost of living area, locality pay would need to be adjusted upwards. Real estate costs for the required office space is another expense.

Finally, there’s the potential for hiring costs, should any of the highly skilled and experienced workers who chose to quit need to be replaced. It all adds up to a big price tag, which is the exact reverse of what Trump’s administration is claiming to be attempting to accomplish here.

Remote Workers Are More Productive

One of the biggest reasons not to usher in sweeping RTO mandates, however, is that remote and hybrid positions are already very effective at getting the job done.

Studies going back as far as 2015 have found that 77% of remote employees increased productivity when compared to non-remote workers. Of those studied, 30% completed more work in less time, while 24% finished more work within the same period of time.

On the other hand, one 2024 study found that forcing employees back into the office does not boost productivity. Here are the specific findings:

“Researchers at the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh combed through public RTO data from 137 S&P 500 firms and ultimately found that RTO mandates had no significant impact on either stock returns or profitability. The researchers instead theorized that managers can use RTO mandates (and those who don’t follow them) as narratives to justify poor stock performances.” –Tech.co coverage

If all that wasn’t enough, yet another study backs up these findings.

The Boston Consulting Group combing through the revenue growth of 554 public companies to find that the fully flexible ones grew revenue 16% higher than their fully in-office counterparts, while hybrid companies grew their revenues 13% more.

Remote Workers Are Happier

It’s no surprise that offering workplace flexibility makes employees happier on average. Any of them might have loved ones to care for that require them to work odd hours or take a longer lunch break. Whether you have a small child or an elderly parent, being able to fully skip the commute frees your time up to care for them properly.

Plus, any employees may have disabilities that would stop them from working a job that requires a constant in-office presence, but who can do the job perfectly when working from home.

Keeping employees happy helps the organization itself: Studies show happier employees will work harder.

As we’ve covered in the past, one 2022 study found employees who work from home are more optimistic (89%) than their on-premises coworkers (77%) and have more job satisfaction (90%) compared to those that commute to the office (82%).

Remote Workers Face a Tough Future

The federal government’s turn-around on remote work follows a trend set by big business in recent years.

Social platform X first broke the dam back when it was called Twitter when it rolled back remote work in late 2023 along with other perks like parental leave. Since then, plenty of other companies have rolled out a tougher stance against workplace flexibility, from Dell to Amazon, which won’t even allow hybrid workers in most cases.

Granted, some tech giants are taking the opportunity to position themselves as a refuge for remote workers, Microsoft and Spotify among them. In addition, small startups everywhere may be more likely to offer remote work, given that it gives them an edge over larger companies like Amazon.

However, it seems the genuine value of remote work is being increasingly overlooked by those who are more invested in offering employees a stick rather than a carrot. The world will be worse as a result.

OpenAI has announced a new feature to automate complex tasks, such as planning vacations, filling out forms, and making restaurant reservations. Known as “Operator,” the new feature was described as “an agent that can go to the web to perform tasks for you,” in an OpenAI blog post published on Thursday.

So-called “agents” are capable of independently carrying out tasks for human users. Right now, Operator is only available to ChatGPT Pro users in the US, but the company plans a wider rollout in the coming months. The news follows an announcement from Anthropic in October 2024, which introduced “Computer Use” to perform similarly complex tasks.

With Trump back in the White House, the AI race is reaching fever pitch. On Tuesday, the President overturned a Biden-issued executive order designed to mitigate the potential risks of AI. A day later, he unveiled “Project Stargate,” a new company comprised of OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle members that aims to “power the next generation of AI.”

OpenAI Launches Advanced “Operator” Feature

OpenAI has introduced a new feature, known as “Operator,” which can independently perform complex processes, including filling out forms, booking vacations, and making dinner reservations. It is currently only available to ChatGPT Pro users, but a wider release is expected in the near-future.

Operator is trained to interact with “the buttons, menus, and text fields that people use daily,” meaning that it can “go to the web to perform tasks for you,” says the company. Alongside this, it can ask follow-up questions to gain deeper insight into tasks, such as requesting login information. Users can take control of the screen at any time, to mitigate potential privacy concerns.

According to OpenAI, Operator uses a “Computer-Using Agent” model, which combines “ChatGPT-4o’s vision capabilities with advanced reasoning through reinforcement learning.” Presently, it struggles with some tasks, including managing calendars and creating presentations.

OpenAI Rises to Anthropic Challenge

In October 2024, Anthropic rolled out “Computer Use,” its own iteration of a complex task-solving agent. At the time, Jared Kaplan, chief science officer at Anthropic, told CNBC: “[It can] use computers in basically the same way that we do.” He added that it can complete tasks with “tens or even hundreds of steps.”

Computer Use, which is still in beta, can interpret the content of a webpage, select buttons, enter text, navigate websites, and ultimately complete tasks that traditionally require significant input from humans. Anthropic hopes that it will soon be used to automate lengthy processes for millions of users.

But with Operator, OpenAI is going head-to-head with the Amazon-backed AI startup, as competition in the burgeoning AI space intensifies.

Trump Return Heralds AI Frenzy

With his second term in the Oval Office beginning this week, President Trump has wasted no time in making his authority felt. He acted quickly to repeal a 2023 executive order signed by Joe Biden that introduced some guardrails to reduce the potential risks of AI. A day later, he announced federal funding to the tune of $500 billion for the newly-formed “Project Stargate” – with OpenAI among the companies spearheading the project.

The stage is set for a new epoch in the AI battle. As a matter of fact, shots have already been fired, with X CEO and DOGE chair Elon Musk clashing with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. In response to the Stargate announcement, Musk took to X, formerly Twitter, to claim: “They don’t actually have the money. SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.” Altman clapped back: “Wrong, as you surely know…I realize what is great for the country isn’t always what’s optimal for your companies.”

In a White House press briefing this week, President Donald Trump says he is aiming to levy a 10% tariff on China imports to the US by February 1st. It’s another confirmation that Trump plans to double down on his long-term interest in tariffs.

These plans are an addition to the 25% tariffs for imports from Canada and Mexico, which Trump has already said he plans to implement within the same time frame.

Trump also promised to include tariffs for goods from the European Union as well.

China Tariffs Coming Within Weeks

According to Trump’s claims during the Tuesday press briefing, the reasoning for the 10% tariffs is due to the importation of fentanyl into Mexico and Canada, from China.

“Probably Feb. 1 is the date we’re looking at,” Trump said.

It’s not quite the day-one change Trump had initially promised during his campaign for the presidency, but it’s a clear signal that Trump’s plans to radically change North American trade policy are still moving forward in the near future.

The changes will likely raise prices from American consumers to a significant extent.

American Consumers Will Shoulder the Burden, Economists Say

Economists aren’t convinced that Trump’s stated actions are in the best interests of the nation. The Economist, writing in an op-ed titled “Tariffs will harm America, not induce a manufacturing rebirth,” noted a few days ago that “the real cost of tariffs is borne, to a large extent, by American consumers through higher import prices.”

According to this analysis, the impact of tariffs during Trump’s first term resulted in both fewer exports bought by Americans and fewer American exports sold to the rest of the world.

“Even if import levels were to remain constant, a 10% universal tariff would fund little more than a twentieth of the federal budget. In reality, imports would not in fact remain constant but rather would decline as higher tariffs raised the price of imports. Even by Mr Trump’s flawed logic, tariffs cannot both create lots of jobs and also raise large amounts of income for the government. That is to count their effects twice over.” -The Economist

More Tariff News Is Set to Come

One thing’s for sure: We’ll be hearing much more about tariffs in the months and years to come.

Trump’s approach towards the conversation surrounding tariffs has been to focus on what other countries are paying, with discussions of creating an “External Revenue Service,” despite general consensus from economists that these costs will be passed largely to US consumers.

Speaking on Monday, Trump has already addressed the potential for universal tariffs, saying “We may, but we’re not ready for that just yet,” according to a CNN report.

He did mention his interest in additional taxes on the EU, later telling Reuters that “The European Union is very, very bad to us. So they’re going to be in for tariffs. It’s the only way … you’re going to get fairness.”

If you’re one of the estimated 22.5 million US workers currently working from home, you’re probably feeling pretty smug about saving money on office commutes, and city lunches.

However, from investing in ergonomic office chairs to covering the costs of business travel, working from home isn’t a free ride. Fortunately, certain workers can ease this financial load by claiming tax deductions on WFH-related expenses – from home office costs to software license fees.

If you’re interested in claiming back cash in this tax season, we’ve outlined some key remote working tax deductions that you should be aware of, before offering some practical advice to help you file your claim.

Which Remote Workers Can Apply For Tax Deductions?

In 2025, most self-employed workers, including freelancers, small business owners, and independent contractors will be able to claim tax deductions for work-related expenses.

However, most formally employed W-2 employees are not eligible for federal tax deductions, unless they are employed in the following states or cities: California, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, The District of Columbia, and Seattle.

There are some exceptions, however. Military reservists are able to claim tax back on travel expenses if they travel over 100 miles from home for service activities, even if they’re W-2 employees. The Fair Labor Standard Act also declares that all US employees are entitled to tax write-offs if costs associated with working from home cause their earnings to drop below the federal minimum wage.

Which Tax Deductions Are Remote Workers Entitled to?

If you’re planning to claim for tax deductions, you need to be aware of the stipulations first. Here are some common tax write-offs remote employees are eligible for:

1. Home office costs
2. Business equipment
3. Travel expenses
4. Vehicle mileage
5. Business meals
6. License fees
7. Health insurance premiums
8. Retirement contributions

1. Home office deductions

Do you work from a home office? If so, you may be able to deduct a portion of your home expenses on your tax return. This tax break is offered by the government to help remote workers offset the expenses of maintaining their home office.

The tax break is eligible for homeowners and renters (provided they meet the IRS’s requirements) and could help ease the costs of mortgage interests, homeowners insurance, rent, utilities, property taxes, and more.

To be entitled to the home office tax deduction, workers need to use their home office space exclusively and regularly for business purposes. This means that if you work in a room with multiple purposes – like a bedroom, dining room, or living room – you probably won’t be eligible.

Your home office will also need to be your primary working location. So, if you only work from home occasionally, you may not qualify.

2. Business equipment

Self-employed and eligible W-2 employees can also claim tax deductions for up to $1,050,000 for qualified business equipment.

Eligible items include hardware like computers, monitors, and prints, office furniture like desks, chairs, and laptop stands, and stationery products like paper, desk organizers, and printer ink.

However, according to the IRS, to be entitled to the tax break you must own all the property and be able to use it for over a year. The property must also be used to make money or contribute to your role, and you’ll need to explain how this is done as part of your application.

3. Travel expenses

If your remote job requires you to travel to different locations, and you don’t own a vehicle, you may also be able to claim tax deductions on travel expenses. Depending on your method of travel, deductible travel expenses could include transportation fees such as train, bus, or airplane tickets.

However, as with all tax deductions, certain stipulations apply. The travel you claim for must be “away from your tax home”, AKA where you carry out business affairs, and require an overnight stay. You’ll also need to keep detailed records of your travels, including information about your trip’s purpose, and the receipts from your travel tickets.

4. Vehicle mileage

If you travel using your own vehicle for business-related travel, you also may be able to claim back tax on your vehicle’s mileage. This perk applies whether you’re making a long trip across states, or covering short distances within your own city.

You’re able to claim by using the actual expense that occurred, or by using the IRS standard mileage rate. To claim during the latter, you’ll need to keep a log of miles driven and separate personal and business distances. As of 2025, the IRS’s standard rate is 70 cents per mile for eligible workers.

However, in addition to milage rates, you’ll also be able to claim tax back on other vehicle-related costs including insurance, vehicle registration, maintenance, parking costs, and toll fees.

5. Business meals

Does your job regularly require you to eat away from home? If so, remote workers are also entitled to claim tax deductions on business meals, under specific circumstances.

According to current IRS guidelines, 50% of the cost of the meal is deductible. But to qualify, the meal will have to either take place with customers, clients, or other business associates, be consumed during an overnight stay for business purposes, or be provided during business meetings or events that are directly related to work.

Meals for personal consumption or convenience aren’t covered with this tax deduction, however. This means that if you DoorDash a meal to your house during company time, you’ll, unfortunately, have to cover the full cost of this yourself.

6. License fees

If you’re paying for licenses that are directly related to your remote work, you may be able to claim tax deductions on these fees.

Deductible licenses include professional licenses required to work in professions like medicine, law, or accountancy, licenses businesses need in order to operate, and software subscriptions needed for daily work activities, like Microsoft Office 365 or Adobe Creative Cloud, for example.

In short, in order for the license to be tax deductible, it will need to be directly related to your remote work. This means that licenses and subscriptions for personal use, like lifestyle magazine subscriptions or social and recreational activities, will not be covered.

7. Health insurance premiums

Health insurance can be a huge expense for self-employed workers. So, you’ll probably be relieved to hear that you also may be able to claim tax discounts on health insurance premiums.

If you’re a self-employed worker and use health insurance that was purchased under you or your business name, you’ll be able to deduct the cost of health insurance premiums for yourself, your spouse, and your children aged under 27. However, you won’t be able to claim this deduction if you or your spouse is eligible for employer-subsidized health insurance, even if you choose not to enroll in your company’s plan.

In 2025, qualifying health insurance includes medical insurance, certain qualifying long-term care coverage, and all Medicare premiums (parts A, B, C, and D).

8. Retirement contributions

Planning for the future is necessary, but can be costly. Fortunately, certain workers can claim tax cuts on retirement contributions, to help ease the financial burden of filling the pension pot.

Several retirement plans are covered under these deductions, including the Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA plan, the Solo 401(k) plan, and the SIMPLE IRA plan. The first two plans have contribution limits of up to $66,000, while SIMPLE IRA is substantially lower at $15,000, or $19,000 if you’re over 50 years old.

If you’re an employee who contributes to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, money put into these accounts is typically pre-taxed, which means they reduce taxable income automatically.

How Should Remote Workers Claim Tax Deductions?

If you think you’re eligible for some of these tax exemptions, but haven’t filed one before – rest assured. The process is relatively straightforward, and shouldn’t take too long provided you’ve kept detailed records of your expenses.

First, we recommend using dedicated tax software to help you keep track of important data and to ensure you claim all of your deductions. You can also hire an accountant to manage the process if you want to ensure all bases are covered.

Then, if you’re a self-employed worker, you’ll have to claim tax deductions on most business expenses with Schedule C tax forms (Profit or Loss from Business) and include self-employment taxes on the Schedule SE form.

The process will be slightly different for traditional W-2 employees. If you fall into this category, you’ll have to use a Schedule A (Itemized Deductions) form for any eligible deductions, in addition to filing state tax returns if your state permits additional deductions.

When Should Remote Workers Claim Tax Deductions?

You should aim to claim these tax deductions as you file your taxes. In the US, the tax season falls from January 1 to April 15. If you aren’t able to meet this April deadline, you can also request a filing extension using Form 4868. If your request is approved you will have until October 15 to file your tax deductions.

However, self-employed workers are required to pay taxes quarterly, with deadlines landing on April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, so it’s important to be aware of dates before you begin preparing your claim.

If you run your own business, don’t forget to check out our guide to grants for small businesses available this month.

Payments software company, Stripe, has made 300 people redundant but their emails came accompanied with a picture of a cartoon duck.

As the tech job lay-offs look set to continue into this year, this has got to be one of the strangest stories to date.

While staff at Intel had their coffee removed before the notice of redundancies hit desks, no other employees as far as we know have reported cartoons in their lay-off process.

Accidental Email from Stripe

Employees reported receiving the image of the duck alongside emails announcing that their jobs were being cut. The image was in an attached PDF and accompanies with the caption: “US-Non-California Duck.”

The impacted staff were also sent the wrong date of termination in this massive HR fail.

Business Insider broke the story having seen the leaked internal memo that addressed the mess-up.  In it, Stripe’s chief people officer, Rob McIntosh wrote, “I also want to note that some impacted Stripes received a notification error to their personal email accounts Monday evening PT I apologize for the error and any confusion it caused. Corrected and full notifications have since been sent to all impacted Stripes.”

No Reprieve on Jobs

However, the apology didn’t come, unsurprisingly, with a note saying that in light of the mess-up, people will keep their jobs. Instead, the Irish-American financial services company has confirmed that it is pushing ahead with the jobs cull. The cuts are mainly from the product, engineering, and operations teams.

McIntosh did add, though, that the company is planning on recruiting later in the year to boost its employees up to 10,000.

Job Losses Continue in 2025

While 2023 was horrific for job cuts, especially in the tech sector, they continued into 2024 and already Mark Zuckerberg is warning Meta’s employees that this year will also be “intense” and some jobs will go.

There is also rising concern that AI could see some job roles replaced. The World Economic Forum gave the dire prediction that 41% of companies will cut jobs due to AI in the next five years.

Duck or no duck, the signs are there that we might be in for another year of job cuts, whether straight redundancies or people feeling forced from their roles by strict RTO policies. However, Stripe has just given HR teams everywhere a lesson in how not to handle it.

Microsoft is changing how you sign into a Microsoft account. Starting next month, you will remain signed it automatically, so make sure to log out if you’re using a public computer.

At the moment, when you sign into a Microsoft account, a message pops up asking if you want to stay signed in. However, in February, this will be automatic.

There are enough scammers trying to access your personal information, and leaving your account open on a public machine would be easy pickings, which is why understanding this change could make a big difference for your online security.

What Do You Need To Do?

If you are using a public computer, the best option is to use private browsing and scribble yourself a reminder to sign out until it becomes your standard practice. This is something that Gmail users have gotten used to doing.

However, there is also a backstop. If you leave where you have been working but have forgotten to sign out, Microsoft and Outlook users have the option of forcing sign out everywhere from their accounts. Following the instructions on this link to do this.

Passkey Support

Microsoft has slowly added passkey support to its systems, in a bid to get customers to move away from passwords. It kicked off last May, when Microsoft announced passkey support for Xbox, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Copilot users.

In a blog post in December, the company said that the “password era is ending.” It added that “bad actors know it” and this has seen a spike in password-related attacks.

“At Microsoft, we block 7,000 attacks on passwords per second—almost double from a year ago. At the same time, we’ve seen adversary-in-the-middle phishing attacks increase by 146% year over year,” it writes.

The Advantages of Passkeys

Passkeys can be a fingerprint, face scan, or a PIN, and Microsoft argues that they are far more effective against hacking than passwords. Here is where you can create your passkeys.

There are notable advantages for passkeys, not least for those of us who regularly forget our passwords. Passkeys like fingerprints or faces can’t be lost, after all. They are also a better defense against phishing attacks.

However, there can be issues with passkeys because of cross platform compatibility, functionality with older devices, and their need for certain hardware security modules.

For the moment though, Microsoft users working on public machines just need to remind themselves to log out and perhaps think about setting up their passkeys once they have this figured out.

Instagram users searching for the terms “Democrat” or “Democrats” have been getting an error message.

In a story that has raised eyebrows in light of the newly sparked bromance between Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump, Meta is claiming that the “results hidden” message popping up is a technical problem.

Instagram, which will soon see sweeping changes to its moderation, claims that the problem is also affecting some Republican hashtags and promises there is no political maneuvering at play.

What Are Users Seeing?

BBC News reports that the error comes up when users directly search for “Democrats” or “Democrat.” These searches result in an error screen that says: “We’ve hidden these results. Results for the term you searched for may contain sensitive content.”

However, there are also limited results being reported when users search for “Republicans” but not “Republican.” But a search using the hashtag “Republican” returns 3.3 million posts while, at one point, users were reporting that the hashtags “#Democrat” or “#Democrats” returned no results at all.

Issued Resolved but Questions Remain

Meta was quick to bat away accusations of partisanship and told the BBC in a statement:

“We’re aware of an error affecting hashtags across the political spectrum and we are working quickly to resolve it.” – Meta spokesperson

It could be an innocent technical error but comes at a time when Meta is fundamentally changing its approach to politicized speech across all of its platforms. This also includes changing its Community Guidelines, and the flagging of certain search terms.

Entrepreneurs and Government

This technical issue also comes at a time when Mark Zuckerberg has gone from banning Donald Trump from his platforms to visiting him at Mar-O-Lago, donating $1 million to his inauguration fund and being at the president’s inauguration ceremony.

He was there alongside Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Google boss Sundar Pichai.

There has been a fundamental shift in Zuckerberg’s attitude to the now president and this technical glitch has hit the headlines because of this.

The controversy around Elon Musk’s “salute” on Donald Trump’s inauguration day is reaching fever-pitch in the news and social media, but on Reddit, it has resulted in calls for the platform to cut ties with X.

Redditors are reportedly advocating a ban on X links appearing in Reddit posts after two arm gestures that Musk made at one of the inauguration events have been compared to a Nazi salute.

The spotlight is now very much on Musk (isn’t it always), who is a staunch and very vocal advocate of Donald Trump’s but has also been given a role in Government heading up a government efficiency commission, nicknamed DOGE.

Clashing Views

As reported by Newsweek, the movement to ban X links on Reddit is gathering pace and it’s pretty heated. Groups are even arguing that the collective stance on this issue reflects their wider views of far right politics.

In one group, for the Valorant eSports community, a Redditor commented: “Throwing a n*zi salute is NOT a valid expression of a political opinion. NO ONE should condone the fascist nzi ideology, regardless of their political affiliation. This is NOT just “politics“, we as a sports/e-sports community have to take our stance against fascism.”

The moderator in this group is suggesting screenshots instead of links for X content. But in other groups, this suggestion has been met with accusations of censorship and undermining free speech. In one group called “Change my view”, the discussion has got pretty heated.

A Redditor called Marco Tropoja wrote: “This is absolutely censorship, no matter how it’s framed. Reddit is supposed to be about discussions—whether you agree with the content or not. Banning links from x.com just because you don’t like Elon Musk or his politics undermines the platform’s purpose as a space for open dialogue.”

Musk Quick To Dismiss Claims

Musk himself has been quick to take to X to dismiss the allegations, writing: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”

But detractors and supporters have been quick to get involved. Rome-based Andrea Stroppa, who is one of Musk’s fervent supporters and advisors, posted the clip of Musk gesturing on X with the caption: “Roman Empire is back starting from Roman salute.” The Roman salute was widely used by Benito Mussolini and his fascist party in Italy during the Second World War. She has since deleted it.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor at New York University, wrote on X: “”Historian of fascism here. It was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too.” Others have said it was just Musk being excited; and hundreds of images of leaders from both parties holding similar arm positions have been published.

Others have been more circumspect. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said on X: “This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety. It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”

However, Musk’s support of the German AfD party and the anti-immigration Reform party in the UK are undeniable and definitely giving credence to the view that this was a political statement; not the wild arm gestures of an excited man.

Wider Questions Over Social Media Moderation

However, whatever you feel about Musk, the debate feeds into a wider question on what moderation should look like; and whether there is a place for it at all. Like so many politicized issues, it is highly divisive.

Meta has caused consternation in some camps with its decision to get rid of third-party moderation in the US across its platforms. The move is already turning into a war of words with EU authorities; and Mark Zuckerberg has pre-emptively appealed to Donald Trump to protect his company from potential EU fines that could result from the moderation shake-up.

Musk was brutal in slicing all of his moderation staff right in the earliest days after his takeover of X. And Donald Trump is someone who has actually been banned (ironically by Zuckerberg and Musk’s predecessor) on several social media platforms.

The debate continues on Reddit and we can be sure that this isn’t the last time that Musk will do something controversial (this week perhaps?) but the question over how it should be handled is going to be debated for a long time.

President Donald Trump has announced private-sector investments of up to $500 billion into ‘Project Stargate’ – a new company that aims to be the “largest AI infrastructure project in history.”

The new company is being spearheaded by some biggest players in AI, including OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, and aims to construct 20 data centers across the US and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. As the AI race intensifies, the historical initiative will also see the US compete with global powers like China.

However, just a day before Stargate was unveiled, the President overturned a previous executive order designed to mitigate the risks of AI, leading some experts to question the ethical implications of Trump’s build-first, think-later approach to AI.

What Is Stargate? Trump’s New AI Infrastructure Project

Just a day into his administration, President Donald Trump has announced a new artificial intelligence project that aims to set the standard for AI infrastructure and see the US compete with global powers like China.

Project Stargate was unveiled by Trump at a White House event on Tuesday, alongside joint collaborators OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, and SoftBank SEO Masayoshi Son. Alongside other equity backers, these companies have committed to investing $100 billion into kick-starting the project, with plans to funnel a further $500 billion into Stargate in years to come.

As part of Stargate’s mission to build the “physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of AI”, Trump revealed that 20 data centers would be constructed across the country, with each measuring at least half a million square feet. According to Ellison, a one-million-square-foot data center is already under construction in Texas.

Talking about the initiative, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman explained Stargate aims to create “hundreds of thousands of jobs”, while also having the potential to “redefine healthcare” and offer unprecedented advancements in disease diagnosis and treatment. Oracle’s Ellison echoed this sentiment, adding that the project could make it easier to treat diseases like cancer with mRNA vaccines.

Stargate Aims to Position US at the Front of the Global AI Race

Stargate’s announcement comes a week after AI trailblazer OpenAI published a policy white paper calling the US government to invest more in the technology to continue the country’s global leadership in innovation while protecting national security.

The paper estimates that there’s $175 billion sitting in global funds awaiting to be invested in AI projects, and claims if the US doesn’t attract those funds, they could flow into the pockets of our biggest global competitor, China, “strengthening the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence” as a result.

“This project ensures that the United States will remain the global leader in AI and technology, rather than letting competitors like China gain the edge,” – President Donald Trump at the White House event

China has outpaced the US in machine learning patents every year since 2021, and the nation’s rapidly developing AI sector is intensifying concerns around surveillance and trading dominance. With Stargate aiming to set the global standard in AI, it appears OpenAI’s prayers have been answered.

Yet, as the US prioritizes unchecked innovation, it’s likely that Stargate could raise the stakes of the AI race and exacerbate global trading disputes even further. What’s more, with Trump reversing an executive order from former President Joe Biden which aimed to regulate AI risks on the first day of his administration, it’s unclear how the President’s hands-off AI strategy will play out in the long term.

Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0