Down a quarter 🙌

Let's just all take a breath amongst the chaos: everything is fine. How crazy to think that a quarter of the year is just about up though?

It's been manic at TAC HQ as well - we recently re-launched a new and improved Grad Hub (for uni students) and welcomed Letter of Intent into the Aussie Corporate family. Make sure you sign up for "your daily read to get ahead" to join its 10,000+ readership!

Keep reading for a bumper edition of Flat White, including WFH policies, what to do if you've been PIPped and some great recs in The Nook.

If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up to Flat White here:

We are currently looking for long-term partners at The Aussie Corporate. If you are interested in our journey, then hit us up at [email protected]

💡 Brain’s Trust - conversations in Auscorp

1. WFH policies

As an exclusive to Flat White readers, you get a first look at our published results (link below). This year, we received over 2,400 submissions, translating to the WFH policies of a whopping 735 workplaces across corporate Australia!

Why is this interesting?

There is now more pressure than ever to return to work, with many places (38%) asking for staff to be in the office 3 days a week. A sizeable portion of firms (18%) though basically leave it up to individual teams to sort this out amongst themselves.

Despite all the hoo-ha in the press about RTO (Return to Office), nearly 40% of workplaces do not strictly enforce their WFH policies.

From our view, what is clear is that we won't give up WFH without a fight. Nearly half of you (44%) would rather quit than be forced back into the office 4-5 days a week. Company execs beware.

2. Have I been pwned?

Optus, Medibank, Procter & Gamble, Good Guys - what do these companies have in common? They're all massive companies that have been subject to recent high-profile data breaches. Well, the government has now said that enough is enough and is working on a whole new regime to strengthen the protection of personal information.

Why is this interesting?  

These days, companies hold a tonne of personal data and simply are not prepared enough to deal with these kinds of cyber attacks. One Aussie Corporate follower even went so far as saying that "if people knew how compromised these websites and databases were, they’d buy nothing online!".

If you have been affected by a data breach, make sure you protect yourself and:

• secure your data (change passwords, log out of all devices);

• secure your identity; and

• secure your finances (call your bank and freeze your accounts/cards).

Want more?

Not sure whether you're a victim? Check out Have I Been Pwned, a website that lets you check whether your email address or phone has been involved in a publicly-known data breach. If you get some positive results back, then it's probably time to change some of your passwords!

📮 Postbox - our best post

PIPped to the post

If you've been put on a PIP, or performance improvement plan, don't beat yourself over it. It's a well-known tactic that instead of paying redundancy, firms use PIPs to manage staff out during a downturn.

So what do you do if this happens to you?

The way we see it, you have two options:

Option 1: Accept your fate, start looking for new jobs and transition out. This is the less stressful option.

Option 2: Fight for your right to stay, do the PIP and try to prove your case. If you succeed, then great! However, you're fighting an uphill battle which will inevitably cause a lot of stress and anxiety, and potentially end in your exit from the company anyway.

In the event that you have left the company and thought the whole process was total bollocks, you COULD lodge a claim against your employer. However, most anecdotal evidence suggests that the stress this causes simply ain't worth it.

If you are deadset on going down this litigious path, there are other meaningful (non-monetary) things you could request from your ex-employer during negotiations which should be easy for them to give up. These include:

• a positive reference for your new job;

• access to firm training; and

• continued access to the company's EAP.

Together with espresso Displays

Following on from the "Work from Anywhere" Survey + Giveaway, espresso Displays is continuing to deliver! You can take an EXTRA $120 off the espressoPremium's 15" bundle if you just use the discount code "AUSCORP120" at checkout.

🙊 Community Bantz - DM highlight

Some home loan perks for certain Aussie professionals - worth an ask if you're brave/capable enough to be looking for a mortgage this year!

🩺 Health Check - monthly health tip/reminder

AusCorp not drinking anymore?

It probably comes as no shock to you that alcohol is 📉. In fact, 44% of polled followers last month said that they either don't drink or drink zero-alcohol alternatives.

The most common reasons cited were health and wealth. And let's face it, there are times where it just feels weird to get tipsy at 5pm on a Tuesday.

So what popular non-alcoholic brands are out there when you still want that sweet sweet taste? We asked you the question earlier this month and here were the results:

Beer

• Heaps Normal (top pick!)

• Athletic Brewing Co.

• Free Time Pale Ale

• Heineken Zero

• Guinness 0.0

• Peroni Zero

• Great Northern Zero

Wine/Spirits

• Lyres (gin, wines, spritz + more)

• Seedlip Non-Alcoholic Spirits (gin and Nogroni + more)

• Four Pillars (Bandwagon Shiraz Gin)

• Brunswick Aces (gin + more)

• Naked Life (rum, mocktails + more)

• Sans Drinks (Noughty Non-Alcoholic Sparking Rose + more)

• Yes You Can (mocktails)

🔥 Hot tip: If all you want to do is to LOOK like you're drinking, grab a Soda Lime or Lemon Lime Bitters, and no one will be any wiser.

👴🏻 Old is Cool - meme throwback (23 March 2022)

Oh how times change... the first step is now literally illegal!

👍 The Nook - what AusCorp recommends this month

☘️ St Patrick's Day (event) - Whether you're Irish or not, find an excuse to get out to the pub today and this weekend to take a break from it all. Timeout has some good suggestions for venues.

🏉 NRL / AFL 2023 (sports) - NRL and AFL seasons kick off in March so get behind your teams. At this early stage, the Penrith Panthers (NRL) enter as favourites after taking home the trophy in 2022 and similarly Geelong (AFL) are favourites for the same reason.

🏎 F1 season 2023 (sports) - "2023 F1 season has kicked off in Bahrain, and picked up directly from where it left off (Max Verstappen driving off on his own, only to be seen at the end to win the race)."

📺 The Last of Us (TV show - Binge) | IMDb 9.1 | Rotten Tomatoes 96% | - "So good. Video game remake with Stranger Things quality. Clearly a passion project for the producers and perfectly balanced horror, action, drama and feels."

📕 Millionaire's Factory (book) - Not widely reviewed, but received plenty of PR over the past month. For those interested in the rise of our very own Macquarie Bank.

📕 Trick Mirror (book) | Goodreads 4.1/5 | - "Book of short essays about various things that are very top of mind for our generation - social media and distortion of self-p0erception, sexual harassment on campus, "optimisation culture" - this one legit talks to the heart of what it's like to exist in the corporate world. Cannot recommend more highly."

🗣 How Other Dads Dad (podcast) - "Great podcast by Hamish Blake. Highly recommend for new dads or any dads to be honest."

🍽 Ezra Restaurant (Potts Point, Sydney) - "It’s the most laid back fabulous restaurant that sets a vibe that even if you do have to do plsfix, you can do it in style with their cocktails!"

☕️ Two conversations (cafe, Melbourne) - A tiny cafe in a quintessentially gritty Melbourne laneway. Great coffee and pastries and people. Short walk from the CBA and Optus buildings.

💻 Made in Australia - showcasing Aussie tech

We think Aussie tech is hella underrepresented / underrated, so we've decided to dig deeper. Every month, we will be dedicating this section to cover an Aussie start-up that we think is cool / useful / has potential to impact our lives!

This month, we're looking at Open, an insurtech start-up from Sydney, which has since expanded to London, Auckland, Queenstown, Melbourne and the Sunshine Coast. Open's last raise was $31m (Series B), with backing from AirTree Ventures.

What is it?

Open is best known for its Huddle insurance brand, which focuses on providing simple and cost-effective car and home insurance. Huddle embeds AI into its functions, including guiding you through building your policy and processing any claims (instead of having to speak to a human). This makes insurance a breeze, instead of a pain, like it typically can be.

Open also has a white-label insurance product which can easily be embedded into any app or website (offering home, car, travel and landlord insurance). This has been adopted by many fintechs, car and home lenders, telcos, utilities and insurers given the ease of integration and/or ability to open up new revenue streams.

Open is growing hella fast, having expanded into a global brand since 2021. Insurance is one of those "boring" industries which seems ripe for disruption, so it's genuinely awesome seeing an Aussie company having a good crack at it!

🚗 Under the Hood - what we're working on

Grad Salary Survey

We are preparing to launch our Grad Salary Survey for 2023 in March/early April so keep your eyes peeled! The fierce fight for graduate talent is still very much real...

On the lookout

We are scoping the market to partner up with top-tier brands / firms long-term as things get busier around here. So hit us up if you're interested!

✍️ Feedback Loop - share your thoughts

If you have want to provide more detailed feedback or have any topics that you want to hear more about, you can let us know HERE.