The Crazy Ways Employees Push It With Company Cards

Welcome back. Today we're exploring all the outlandish ways employees get creative with expenses, the threat of a five-day office mandate for federal workers and why so many of your co-workers are sober-ish now.

This is a condensed version of WSJ’s Careers & Leadership newsletter. Sign up here to get the WSJ’s comprehensive work coverage in your inbox each week.

Expense Account Shenanigans Hall of Fame

These 'expenses' take the prize: Did you hear the one about the employee who booked a cruise on the company credit card? Or the guy who tried to expense a couple of Jet Skis? We’ve all heard about people who fudge their expenses, but some of them belong in an Expense Account Shenanigans Hall of Fame, writes On the Clock columnist Callum Borchers.

Musk, Ramaswamy Wants Federal Workers in Offices Full Time

Tasked by President-elect Trump to slash government bureaucracy, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy say that ordering federal employees back to the office five days a week would result in a welcome wave of voluntary terminations. The move is being considered as a potential early action item for the incoming administration, said a person working closely with the effort.

Why Is Everyone Sober-ish Suddenly?

Are Happy Hours not quite so 'happy' anymore? Is company holiday party expected to be more subdued? This may be because so many people have decided to cut down on their drinking after a spate of ominous articles on how alcohol, even in moderate amounts, increases your risk for serious health problems, writes Katie Roiphe.

Best of the Rest

Check out some of the Journal's best-read stories on work life over the past week:

Five Ways Students Can AI-Proof Their Careers (Read)

Musk Unleashes Online Army on Federal Workers (Read)

China’s Plan B to Save the Economy: A Crusade Against Busywork (Read)

This is a condensed version of WSJ’s Careers & Leadership newsletter. Sign up here to get the WSJ’s comprehensive work coverage in your inbox each week.

This newsletter was curated by Vanessa Fuhrmans, deputy chief of the WSJ's Careers and Workplace bureau. Reach her on LinkedIn.