Do you really need to know how to code?

A weekly roundup of news and views on office culture, workplace trends, the daily grind and more

The B.C. Liberal government has garnered much attention for its announcement that all public school students will be taught how to code. But is coding an essential skill on par with reading and writing? Business writer Cale Guthrie Weissman says no. Even tech workers don’t need to know how to code, he says, and neither do you. (Fast Company)

Take all the holidays you want! It’s the new policy of hip companies, including Vancouver-based Build Direct. Unlimited vacation sounds like the ultimate benefit, but tech writer J Nightingale thinks it relies on guilt. Here, he takes on the DIY policy. (The Co-pour)

You spill your coffee running for the bus because you think you’re late for work, and then you get to the office and your boss isn’t there yet. That’s one really annoying thing that good employees hate at work. Here are 38 more. (Inc.)

Expecting your employees to do drinks after work is unfair to working mothers, says British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. He made the statement at an evening event to launch his policy on equal rights for women, which included his support for all-women shortlists in order to boost the number of women in senior public sector roles. But come on, Mr. Corbyn! Don’t working fathers also want to spend more time with their kids? (The Telegraph)

Yes to Syrian refugees, No to Temporary Foreign Workers. Those are the general attitudes expressed in a new Globe and Mail/Nanos survey. While most Canadians back the federal government’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis, there is less appetite for allowing temporary foreign workers to take jobs for which Canadians are eligible. Almost three in four Canadians oppose or somewhat oppose allowing allowing TFWs into the country while Canadians qualified for those same jobs are looking for work. (Globe and Mail)