Starting a newsletter is a great idea, change our minds

Hi to y'all that signed up from ages ago to just now. This is the inaugural edition of our monthly Flat White newsletter, capturing a "digest" of what's been on our collective minds' recently.

This newsletter is very much still a work in progress so if you have any feedback, scroll to the bottom and let us know.

Before we begin, we've opened up our 2022 Salary Survey and have already hit 2000+ submissions. If you haven't already, please take just 10 seconds to help us help you achieve salary transparency in AusCorp: submit here. [UPDATE: NOW CLOSED] 

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

Brain's Trust - conversations in AusCorp

Our DMs were hit one day by someone livid that PwC had asked them to take 10 days forced leave over the Christmas shutdown period. Cue a flurry of discussions, with most people siding with OP (we ran an IG poll and received 5000+ responses - see results below).

Annoyingly though, whilst most people thought 10 days was too much, the Fair Work Ombudsman takes a different view.

Nevertheless, this issue posed a whole slew of other questions:

• What are the economics for the company if people choose to work during Xmas when it is traditionally quiet?

• Why are we being forced to use leave at the most expensive and busy time to travel

• Why must forced leave be over the Xmas period when certain people don't even celebrate it?

We don't really have the solution at our fingertips but if someone figures it out, do let us know. What we do know though is that firms hate having this kinda stuff on their books and will say just about anything to make you take it:

Until some MD pulls some strings, we're stuck with either over-inflated expensive Christmas holidays or having only a spattering of days to enjoy a European summer.

Postbox - our best posts

The ringtone we didn't ask for but deserved

Whilst most of us didn't ask for it, Microsoft released a new ringtone for its Teams app. Half of you loved it and the rest of you didn't so we're curious to see what the adoption rate for the remix will really be.

If you're looking to get into teleconference ringtone remixes, we highly recommend this absolute banger of a Skype ringtone.

If you missed out on the Teams one though, check it out at this link.

Poll Results

MAN FALLS THROUGH ROOF AFTER BEING ASKED TO PLSFIX

It's not everyday that a double plsfix hits that hard.

Is it just us or are his talents being wasted as a desk jockey? 

Community Bantz - best comment from Auscorp 

As a country obsessed with outdoor a la work gear (think RMs, Patagucci, North Face etc), we wanted to embrace and promote some solid Antipodean goods.

Honorable mentions also include Anaconda Saint Laurent and MacPrada.

Health Check - monthly health tip/reminder

R U OK?

Mental health affects everyone at some stage or later so we cant give this enough exposure. We were surprised by the amount of people that didn't actually know their firm offered a free EAP but equally pleased to see that quite a few people have sought help before for their mental health issues (see below).

Something useful we heard from you was likening mental health to physical health. You go to the gym to stay fit, so why not invest some time to also keep your mind healthy?

Here's a useful Reddit thread that offers some invaluable advice in bite-sized pieces.

There is also a tonne of professional external support out there too such as Beyond Blue and Lifeline if you need someone to talk to.

Old is Cool - meme throwback  

Gladys making a comeback after the Optus data breach debacle?

The Nook - what AusCorp recommends

House of the Dragon (TV show) - sh*t's gettin' steamy

Rings of Power (TV show) - Galadriel is a badass - do we need say more?

Ride of a Lifetime (book) - book about ex-Disney CEO, Bob Iger and how he turned Disney around to what it is today

Magic coffee at Normcore (cafe in Sydney) - aka a double ristretto topped with flat white styled milk, a recently discovered secret from Melb

Send through anything else interesting you're consuming (whether it be cool products, food, wine, cafe, restaurants, bars, videos, podcasts, tv shows, movies, books, newsletters, blogs) and we'll feature it in next edition's Flat White!

Under the Hood - what we're working on

Grad Hub - If you've been living under a rock, we have been shamelessly plugging our new Grad Hub. It's our platform to help uni students land a grad job in AusCorp, with both premium and free services and resources. Please spread the word if you have a chance!

Social media - follow our Linkedin page which we are trying to grow. It probably won't have the usual juicy stuff but it will still have great content and it is much easier to browse at work.

Feedback Loop - share your thoughts

We are always open to feedback - I mean, hell, this is our first ever newsletter!

Let us know if there's anything you would like to see (or don't want to see). We are also very open to any cool, funny or interesting segments that you want to see permanently in Flat White - help us build this thang!

Share the Love

We're a community at heart so would love for your (actual and work) family and friends to join. If you found any of this remotely interesting and think someone you know would want to sign-up, we'd love for you to pass this on.