When was the last time your company announced a new wellness initiative? Maybe it was a meditation app subscription, or a fitness challenge, or another program promising to optimize your performance. Now ask yourself: When was the last time someone at work just asked how you were feeling?

Ashwin Rodrigues, a freelance writer whose work has been featured in Defector, GQ, The New York Times, Vice, and Wired, shares his journey from burned-out tech worker to wellness culture critic, exploring how corporate wellness programs focus on perks over genuine human connection.

(00:00) The Egg Problem
(03:07) Young and Insecure in Big Tech
(10:59) An Unhealthy Sense of Urgency
(14:29) Finding an Escape Route
(24:12) Tech's Obsession with Optimization
(28:02) When Wellness Programs Miss the Point
(35:15) Building Care Into Company DNA
(40:18) Protecting Your Own Mental Health

Ashwin Rodrigues is a freelance journalist whose work explores the intersections of technology, wellness, and culture. His recent piece in The New York Times, “I Refuse to Cede My Love of Fitness to the Far Right,” examines how wellness culture has become both a coping mechanism and a source of anxiety for tech workers.

Follow him at ashwinrodrigues.com or on Bluesky.

Further reading:

I Refuse to Cede My Love of Fitness to the Far Right by Ashwin Rodrigues

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Work Face is produced by Hear Me Out, a culture strategy firm for leaders with the courage to listen. We help them cultivate trust by having real conversations with employees at all levels about what’s working and what’s not.

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