When Sponsored Content Masquerades as News
Why are readers paying for corporate lead-generation dressed up as journalism?
A headline recently caught my eye — “Over 80% of workers are more likely to consider leaving the U.S., survey suggests”. Considering more than half the country has never even owned a passport, this claim immediately raises questions.
In his Fast Company article, Dan Schawbel argues the trend is a “reflection of mounting dissatisfaction with economic conditions at home and a growing belief that better opportunities may exist elsewhere”, citing research from Preply’s Language and Global Career Mobility Report.
Let’s start with the findings of that report. The research was conducted in “partnership” with Workplace Intelligence (we’ll come back to them), using a sample of 1,800 adults in the U.S, U.K, and Canada who “had studied a language or were interested in learning one.” People already inclined toward language learning are, almost by definition, more open to international mobility; this is not a representative slice of the workforce. That alone undermines the headline and narrative of the piece.
While Schawbel frames the results as evidence of uniquely American economic dissatisfaction, the report shows even higher interest in relocating among U.K. respondents (87% versus 84%), with Canada not far behind at 67%. Whatever this survey is capturing, it isn’t a U.S.-specific phenomenon.
He then pivots to proposing remedies for employers fearful of losing their workers: “investing in language learning and cross-cultural skills is becoming a strategic advantage. The Preply data shows overwhelming demand for these benefits. Language skills don’t just enable relocation, they enhance communication, leadership, and adaptability. Providing access to language training signals that a company is invested in long-term growth.”
Schawbel cites Preply’s proprietary survey to suggest an employment crisis … and then promotes their language training product as the solution.
It gets worse. Remember Workplace Intelligence, Preply’s partner in the survey? The “Founder and Managing Partner” is none other than … Dan Schawbel. According to their website, he’s the only employee. The Google listing for the business shows a carport in Massachusetts.
So Preply hires Schawbel to produce favorable data. Schawbel further “interprets” that data to write click-friendly articles for outlets like Fast Company and to sell Preply’s product, without clearly disclosing his role in the process. That content is further monetized and amplified by aggregators like Apple News.
Unfortunately, this is not a one-off occurrence. Schawbel partnered with Amazon on “Study finds that 74% of Millennial and Gen Z employees are likely to quit within the next year due to a lack of skills development opportunities”. He wrote this piece in support of AI agent platform WRITER: “Failing to Use AI at Work Could Cost You Your Job”. Workplace Intelligence is also frequently cited in similar articles by other writers.
According to Schawbel, he has also worked with Oracle, American Express, Logitech, Mercer, Indeed, Upwork, and more; and been published in Forbes, Fortune, TIME, The Economist, Quartz, The World Economic Forum, The Harvard Business Review and The Guardian. In 2018, Schwabel literally wrote the book on resisting technology in the workforce; now he writes doomy headlines cajoling workers to adopt AI tools from the companies who hire him.
Institutional Trust
The use of surveys in marketing is nothing new; companies have been engineering campaigns built around these claims since before Edward Bernays rebranded bacon. These findings are typically issued as a press release to the media, with independent journalists evaluating the claims and making the decision to write a piece — or not. The Workplace Intelligence model skips over that editorial step, with credulous outlets like Fast Company happy to publish easy content. It’s an ideal setup for the advertiser — why let a pesky journalist get between the campaign and the reader?
The closest thing we get to disclosure in the Preply article is in the “about the author” section at the bottom: “Dan Schawbel is a New York Times bestselling author, future of work expert, keynote speaker, and the Managing Partner of Workplace Intelligence, an award-winning thought leadership and research agency focused on the world of work.” This description of Workplace Intelligence is quite different from the one on their website: “We work with our clients to develop, publish, and promote content that generates publicity and marketing leads, and positions them as industry leaders.” Is Workplace Intelligence a “research agency”, or a “publicity and marketing” outfit?
Trust in the media is at rock-bottom, and tactics like Schawbel’s and Preply’s aren’t helping the matter. The transition to a paid news model makes their methods even more galling. Fast Company charges for their articles. Similarly, the Apple News subscription pays for these “news” stories. Imagine purchasing a novel, and then finding it’s full of subliminal advertising. You’d probably feel deceived, and want your money back. You (rightly) wouldn’t trust that publisher or author moving forward.
Readers are paying subscription fees for what is effectively sponsored lead-generation content presented as journalism. Schawbel may be a talented marketer, but he’s not acting as a data scientist or journalist, and it’s deceptive to suggest otherwise.
I reached out to Fast Company, Preply, and Schawbel for comment, and received no response as of publication.