CNBC Make It

In recent months, staffers across corporate America, from Amazon to Dell to Walmart, as well as federal government workers, have been told that their days of working remotely are over — at least, with that employer. Instead, select employees have been called back into offices five days a week, a reversal of conversations in 2020 that touted remote and hybrid options as the future of work. Here's why you’re seeing more RTO announcements: cnb.cx/4jlOw6c

You have to know when to trust your gut if you want to be successful, according to billionaire investor Mark Cuban. The lesson is especially important for anyone launching a small business: To succeed, entrepreneurs need the conviction to focus on their own goals while filtering out bad or irrelevant advice, Cuban told CNBC Make It earlier this week before a SXSW panel announcing ABC’s “Shark Tank’s” partnership with payment processing platform Clover. “When you’re just getting started in a small business, it’s easy to drown an opportunity if you let yourself get pulled by different ideas,” Cuban, 66, said. “People tell you, ‘Oh I love your product, but I would buy more if you only did this [or] if you change just one little thing.’ You have to sell to them versus them selling to you.” It doesn’t mean ignoring all feedback, Cuban added. If customers are telling you the product or service is falling short of expectations, you’ll have to readjust to survive. But more often than not, your sales will reflect whether you’re on the right track, he said. Here's how experts say you can strengthen your conviction: ⬇️

The technology, banking and consulting industries dominated LinkedIn’s 2025 Top Companies in Singapore list published this month, which ranks the best workplaces for career growth in the city-state. The networking giant tracked and assessed companies based on eight key pillars: ability to advance, skills growth, company stability, external opportunity, company affinity, gender diversity, educational background and employee presence in the country, according to the report. Here are the companies that made the list.

My college decision came down to two very similar small liberal arts schools. Both were excellent academic opportunities and offered me incredible financial aid packages. But one school was nearly 3,000 miles away from my home while the other — and where I wound up — was about 85 miles away...and had a softball team that would become my family for four years. So many factors go into the college decision, and while it's daunting for 17 and 18-year-olds to make one of the biggest choices of their lives, I'm glad to see they're doing so carefully and prioritizing their own unique interests. Check out how this teen turned down what was once her "dream school." https://lnkd.in/ekdCKS7S

Remote work continues to be popular among jobseekers. Though just 9% of U.S. jobs on LinkedIn are for fully remote roles, they still receive almost 40% of applications, according to a spokesperson for the site. And 1 out of 10 Americans says they want to switch jobs this year because their company doesn’t allow for partial or full-time remote options. For those interested in this type of work arrangement, 22% of opportunities in the tech, info and media industry are remote, according to LinkedIn, 17% of administrative and support services roles are remote and 14% of financial services roles are remote. Regardless of industry, there are companies offering numerous flexible opportunities. Here are 10 companies that have offered hundreds of remote jobs this year altogether and are hiring now, according to FlexJobs. ⬇️

Penny Bowers-Schebal opened her wedding gown shop Formality Bridal with a simple mission: to sell gowns for $999 or less to brides on a budget. To keep prices low, Formality Bridal buys last-season gowns from U.S. retailers and Chinese private labels, and sells them at a fraction of their in-season cost. Bowers-Schebal’s two shops brought in over $500,000 in net sales combined, and she paid herself roughly $71,700 last year, she says. The recent increase in tariffs on imports from China will increase the cost of gowns, threatening her business model and the wedding industry at large, she says. About 90% of Formality Bridal’s gowns are made in China, and U.S. retailers will resell them to Bowers-Schebal at higher rates to account for their own import payments, she says. “I want to remain optimistic, but I see a retail meteor heading towards this country, and what I’m hearing from the U.S. government is akin to, ‘Well, just don’t look up and you won’t see it,’” says Bowers-Schebal, 57. In anticipation, she cut her personal salary by 10% in March, she says. She’s advertising tariff-free dresses for as long as her current inventory lasts. If the tariffs remain in place through early May, she’ll add the upcharges as a line item on newer gowns, raising prices for brides-to-be, she says. Read more on what Bowers-Schebal is planning to do in response to tariffs: cnb.cx/4lrvAod

If there’s one thing Bernadette Joy learned on her journey from being $300,000 in debt to becoming a self-made millionaire, it’s this: she wasn’t broke because she didn’t make enough money at the time — she just felt broke because she overspent on things that weren’t aligned with her health and wealth goals. Joy does spend money on things she likes. She loves a good K-pop concert and a well-deserved vacation. But she also knows that swapping unnecessary spending in some areas frees up money for things that truly matter. Here are six things Joy thinks Americans waste too much money on — that she used to overspend on, too — and what she does now instead.

Chris Guillebeau has spent his entire career, as both an author and entrepreneur, studying how successful people work. Many of us are taught to believe that we should always put 100% effort into everything we do. But while researching for his ninth book, “Time Anxiety,” Guillebeau learned how damaging this mentality can be. Doing less than your best may sound counterintuitive, especially if you grew up feeling pressured to get good grades and finish in first place in competitive activities. But the most successful people know that it can actually be better for them in the long run to do significantly less, or just good enough, says Guillebeau. Here’s why.

To connect with others, we can’t hide large parts of ourselves. We have to be willing to reveal, to some extent, what we think, do, feel and relate to in order to give our conversation partner something to work with. While this can be hard for those of us who are introverted, socially anxious or are perfectionists, research has found that sharing of our lives in a gradual and reciprocal manner is the very foundation of a strong friendship. Luckily, there’s one easy trick that the most trustworthy, relatable and likable people use. It involves tapping into conversational “doorknobs.” ⬇️

Forget crowded airports and hours-long flights. If traveling the world is on your bucket list, Adventures By Train is set to offer a new and unique experience to do just that — all in 100 days. The tour operator recently announced its round-the-world trip by train and the first departure is scheduled for March 17, 2026. Only 12 people will be able to join the trip. Interested in this “intimate experience?” See how much it will cost per person, and get more details on what the trip includes: 👇 https://cnb.cx/4jkHoHG