The Broken Ladder & The Missing Manager 🪜

Rolling Through Work

Imagine you’re mid-presentation, and a co-worker zips past the conference room on an actual roller coaster. For employees at Sweden’s The Great Exhibition, this isn’t a weird dream—it’s just another day at the office.

Dubbed “The Frontal Lobe,” this 200-foot-long, 10-foot-tall roller coaster is built right into their Stockholm workspace. It’s made of four tons of steel, cost around $150k, and took a year to complete. Oh, and it’s not just for show—it works.

So, what’s the deal? It’s a marketing stunt a statement. According to co-founder Petter Kukacka, it’s about embracing unpredictability and fun, much like the studio’s ethos of creating emotionally resonant experiences.

There’s a deeper layer here, too. Kukacka sees the absurdity of the ride as a rebellion against the rise of AI-generated content—a future he fears will lack humanity and creativity. A roller coaster in an office? No algorithm would dream that up.

Sure, it’s ridiculous. But this isn’t the world’s first office absurdity (hello, break room ball pit and multistory slides). Though let’s be real, we’re glad we don’t have to hear the thing clattering by our desks all day. 

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Climbing the corporate ladder got a whole lot trickier in 2024. US public companies have cut middle-manager headcounts by about 6% since late 2021, according to Live Data Technologies’ analysis of over 20 million white-collar workers reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Big names are leading the charge: Google axed 10% of managerial roles in a bid to cut costs, Amazon’s CEO wants fewer bosses per worker, and UPS and Citigroup have slashed thousands of supervisor positions in the past year.

The driving force? Efficiency. But for employees, it’s a double-edged sword. With fewer managerial roles, opportunities for promotion are dwindling, leaving many stuck in their current positions—or worse, facing demotion.

The result? A tougher path to promotions and a higher risk of getting bumped down the ladder. Even senior executives aren’t safe — their ranks have dropped by about 5% since late 2021. 

The corporate ladder isn’t disappearing, but it’s certainly getting fewer rungs. 

They Call It The Information Economy

We're inundated with information that dazzles, entertains, and provokes action, yet many people are left unsatisfied, longing for deeper insights into what they read and hear. In the information economy, substance must trump style.

A Good Market

The stock market’s stellar performance in 2024 certainly helped the ETF markets. The Wall Street Journal reports that investors poured over $1 trillion into US ETFs last year through November, pushing their total assets to a record $10.6 trillion. That’s a 30% increase from last year and a more than fivefold surge over the past decade. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 hit 57 record highs, climbing 25%, while the Nasdaq surged an impressive 30%. 

But the rise of ETFs is about much more than just a booming market—it signals a long-term shift in how people invest.

Gone are the days when most traders paid top dollar to hire active managers to make decisions for them. Instead, more investors are embracing passive strategies, and ETFs fit the bill perfectly. These funds are simple, cost-effective, and often come with tax perks. ETFs typically follow straightforward rules, like tracking an index or buying assets based on specific criteria, making them an attractive option for many.

The takeaways:

• The biggest winners remain the simples: funds that track the S&P.
• ETFs tied to US stocks continue to dominate. According to State Street, 97% of equity ETF inflows in November targeted US equities, reflecting the underperformance of non-US markets.
• Leading the charge are large-cap ETFs linked to the S&P 500, followed by innovative options like a bitcoin-focused fund and Invesco’s QQQ, which mirrors the Nasdaq 100. Clearly, ETFs are more than a trend—they’re reshaping the investing landscape.

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