9 great reads from CNET this week: Great resignation, music AI, gaming culture and more

Workplace culture has changed immensely since the start of the pandemic, in large part because that “place” is no longer the office; it’s our homes. Meetings are mostly virtual. Business travel dried up. Instead of rubbing elbows with co-workers and clients, we’re hanging with the kids, spouses, roommates, pets. It’s been a huge adjustment.

And it’s still shaking out. Staffing shortages continue to undermine economic recovery. People are jumping ship to jobs that offer something more, or they’re opting out of the workforce completely, whether for an extended hiatus or for outright retirement. CNET’s Ian Sherr takes a look at what’s widely known as the “great resignation,” while he and Erin Carson also zoom in on millennials and their workplace state of mind.

Those stories are among the many in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss.

The work world is changing rapidly, thanks to historically low unemployment claims mixed with unprecedented quit rates and millions of baby boomers suddenly retiring. 

Producers, musicians and software engineers discuss the making of the next pop artist: a robot.

While the gaming industry faces a reckoning decades in the making, the community is fighting for a better 2022.   

Millennials are wondering whether finding meaning in their job is a fruitless pursuit.

The pandemic won’t last forever, even if it sometimes feels like it. But the virus itself is likely here to stay. Here’s what the new ‘normal’ may look like.

It may seem like electric and electrified cars are everywhere, but in the grand scheme of things we’re only just getting started.   

Meta, Sony and Apple could reshape the way we think about the metaverse, but they won’t be the only companies working on it. 

Steady progress and a burst of new quantum computer types bring these revolutionary systems closer to reality. 

The pandemic laid the digital divide bare, but federal funding for new solutions could help us start to bridge the gap in 2022.