International Women's Day, Dirty Drinking Water, and Viral Quitting

As we launch ourselves into Women’s History Month, it becomes even more important to stay up to date on the latest news, events, and trends in the customer engagement industry. Not to worry, CEI has all you need to know about this week in one place.

1. The Female Quotient

International Woman’s Day has become a big event in the CX space. Companies like the Female Quotient (the “FQ”) are embracing the movement. As a woman-owned business “working with companies and conscious leaders to curate experiences, thought leadership, and solutions designed to achieve gender equality in the workplace and beyond,” the company felt a responsibility to celebrate the day in a special way.

Their “In Celebration of International Women’s Day” online event did not disappoint. With a range of panel discussions from “Challenging Stereotypes: We Need More AAPI Women in Leadership Roles” to “Moving Beyond the “One Size Fits All” Mentality for Working Parents,” the company highlighted voices of women and allies across the globe.

To hear more about what executives from Glamour Magazine, NBCUniversal, Getty Images, Deloitte, LinkedIn and more have to say about International Women’s Day, look through an overview of the event and other projects the FQ is working on via their website.

2. Hoboken’s Water Crisis

Last Monday, Hoboken, New Jersey, was celebrating the anniversary of the first purchase of an Oreo cookie—something that occurred within their very borders. Then, they were excitedly putting together last minute decorations for Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, the first of many Irish festivities the town had planned for the month of March.

Unfortunately, the cookie dream and parade floats drowned in a water main explosion that took place later that morning.

CMP Digital Content Analyst Christine Ducey reports: “The catalyst of the somewhat catastrophic event seems to be routine work scheduled to put gas lines underground. PSE&G, New Jersey’s power, electricity, and gas service, hired private contractors to carry out the labor and was in the beginning of many installments of the project. At around 11am on Monday morning, at the corner of Observer Highway and Madison Street, a crew member hit a water main, resulting in an explosion that not only caused major flooding and street closures, but a loss of water for 60,000 people.”

For more on Hoboken’s weekdays without water, click the article on Customer Engagement Insider.

3. Scrap Quiet Quitting and Try Viral Quitting

Back in September 2022, CEI discussed the trendy “Quiet Quitting,” a phrase that encouraged employees to stop going above and beyond for their jobs while promoting the ever-elusive healthy work-life balance.

While the public is still divided on whether or not they support the movement, a much more vocal one has emerged: Viral Quitting.

New York Times writer Carol Pogash defines the trend:

“Quitting videos, or QuitToks, as they are sometimes called, reflect ‘a breakdown of the social contract that if you work hard and play by the rules, the American dream is still there for you,’ [states] Ann Swidler, a sociology professor at the University of California at Berkeley ... Company loyalty isn’t what it once was, Dr. Swidler [says]. There is “a cultural disillusionment with the promises that ride behind the world of work.’’

While the job market is competitive, the number of jobs available to each job-seeker recently rose to 1.9. With those odds, employees feel more comfortable than ever burning the bridge with their last employer.

For more on Viral Quitting and videos of some of the most famous QuitToks, check out the New York Times.

Header Photo by Josh Rose on Unsplash  

In Text 1 Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash  

In Text 2 Photo by Harry Grout on Unsplash  

In Text 3 Photo by Josh Rose on Unsplash