Your team needs a supportive manager, not yoga and meditation

Useful takeaways from this story.

According to Gallup, employee engagement dropped to 20% in 2025—the lowest it's been since the COVID-19 lockdowns.

You might remember ZenBooths —Amazon's contribution to corporate well-being.

These were booths installed in the middle of warehouses, equipped with a fan, a potted plant, and a monitor playing meditation videos.

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The useful part

You might remember ZenBooths —Amazon's contribution to corporate well-being. These were booths installed in the middle of warehouses, equipped with a fan, a potted plant, and a monitor playing meditation videos. The internet called them coffins for workers—workers who, incidentally, didn't even have time to use the bathroom because of crushing productivity demands.

How it works

Companies are pouring money into all kinds of initiatives, convinced they're building attractive workplaces, while their employees quietly disengage.
Those conditions—surprise—tend to be unrealistic workloads, micromanagement, a...
According to Gallup, employee engagement dropped to 20% in 2025—the lowest it's been since the COVID-19 lockdowns.
None of the practices produced any meaningful improvement in employee well-being.
Wellness programs rest on a simple assumption: if someone is stressed, give them a tool to relax.

What to take from it

The problem is that this approach treats symptoms while ignoring the conditions that cause the stress in the first place.

Example or evidence

Details worth keeping

ZenBooths are, I think, a fitting metaphor for modern corporate wellness. Why is this happening, and what can we do about it?

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