Is ‘996’ the new normal? The CXOs in reskilling mode, and more tops news

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More than one in three working professionals aren't spending quality time with family due to work pressure, a Godrej Interio survey of 1,300 people across 13 cities shows. That’s because China's '996' work system — where people are logged in from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week — is slowly catching up in India, especially among high-growth companies. More than half of the respondents struggled with work-life balance and a similar percentage felt they were unable to pursue their hobbies due to the 'always on' work culture. Join the conversation.

CXOs seem to be outpacing their younger peers in learning AI, machine learning, blockchain, and data analytics. For edtech platform Great Learning, 30% of students in emerging technologies are people with more than 12 years of experience, Economic Times reports. At Genpact, company leaders show “double the uptake rate as the rest of the population” for learning digital skills, said Gianni Giacomelli, its chief innovation leader. That’s because CXOs have a greater understanding of AI’s role in their company’s long-term business strategy and are keen to prepare their workforce for the future. Join the conversation.

Reliance Industries is restructuring its telecom-centric businesses to make Jio debt-free and attractive to potential investors. A new digital services unit will house Reliance Jio Infocomm and the various news, movie and music apps. It will also receive ?1.08 trillion of investments from RIL to create a digital connectivity ecosystem, modeled on the likes of Alphabet and Tencent. RJIL will transfer liabilities of a corresponding amount to RIL, paving the way for the telecom business to be virtually debt-free and ready for public listing. Join the conversation.

More than three in five desi businesses fear that employee errors may expose them to cyberthreats, a report by British security firm Sophos shows. The central issue is lack of awareness: Untrained staffers use weak passwords and are more likely to click on suspicious links. Also, workers often use personal and work devices interchangeably, allowing cybercriminals a gateway to break in. The absence of a well-thought out risk management strategy can compound matters — just 19% of desi organisations regularly make significant changes to their cyber security approach, the Sophos study shows. Join the conversation.

Looking to turn a new leaf? Skip the resolutions or anything that relies on willpower, writes The New Yorker’s Jerome Groopman. Change your environment instead, according to research from social psychologist Wendy Wood. Even for those of us who have impressive self-control, the best way to avoid unwanted habits is to simply make it really annoying to fulfill them. Introducing such friction can help us form new, more desirable habits. Join the conversation.

Idea of the day: As we make our way through our professional lives, errors are inevitable. But Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Ed Stack reminds us that missteps can ultimately serve as powerful gifts.

“A regret is something that you wish you could take back. A mistake is something that you did that you learned from, that at the end of the day it helped make you who you are today. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I don’t have a lot of regrets.”

What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.

— Adith Charlie, Dipti Jain, Nirajita Banerjee and Shajil Kumar