Media

Updated May 2026

• ABC Radio National (Australia) – Richard Aedy's "The Peter Principle is Real" (6/30/18)

• Baltimore Sun – Dan Rodrick's "Questioning wage law built on kindness of strangers: Wondering how we got a separate base for tipped workers" (4/18/14)

• BBC – David Robson's "The reasons why people become incompetent at work" (6/15/20)

• BBC – Katie Bishop's "Why women have to sprint into leadership positions" (6/1/22)

• BBC – Alex Christian's "'I'm next, I need to save myself': Why layoffs cause other workers to quit" (8/7/23)

• BBC Business Daily – Ed Butler's "Why are so many bosses incompetent?" (6/25/20)

• Bloomberg – "Good employee vs good boss" (2/20/18)

• Boca Raton Tribune – Rick Boxx's "Pitfalls of the Peter Principle" (12/3/18)

• Boston Herald – Jack Encarnaco's "Tuition spikes send higher education enrollment tumbling" (8/31/17)

• Business Insider – Ian Salisbury's "Economists have uncovered a counterintuitive truth about why so many bosses are terrible" (3/1/18)

• Business Radio (Wharton) – Interview with Prof. Peter Cappelli for radio show "In the Workplace" (6/7/18)

• BusinessWorld – Jemy Gatuda's "Why incompetents are elected or promoted" (1/24/19)

• BuzzFeed – Caroline O'Donovan's "American Labor Unions are Falling Down on Digital Workers" (7/24/15)

• CBC News – Jon Azpiri's "Born in Vancouver, the Peter Principle explains why your boss is incompetent. Here's why it still resonates" (1/2/25)

• CBS News Radio San Francisco – Interview with Chris Filippi (11/30/14)

• CBS/WCCO News – "Why has pay for U.S. workers stayed relatively flat?" (7/10/17)

• CBS/WCCO News – "Should you discuss salaries with co-workers?" (11/29/18)

• CBS/WCCO News – Paul and Jordana Show, "Why hasn't pay kept up with productivity?" (9/6/18)

• Centersquare – "Minnesota is the 12th most recovered state beginning of pandemic" (12/9/21)

• CFO – David McCann's "Be wary of promoting top sales reps" (2/26/18)

• Chicago Booth Review – Alex Verkhivker's "The best salespeople don't make the best managers" (7/12/17)

• Chronicle of Higher Education – Scott Carlson's "Is college worth it? Two reports say yes (mostly)" (11/4/13)

• Continental Telegraph – Tim Worstall's "Not that we ever doubted it, but the Peter Principle is correct" (4/23/19)

• Cowboy State Daily – Ellen Fike's "Wyoming Ranks 47th in Employment Recovery: Unemployment Claims Up by 900% in One Year" (8/13/20)

• CTV News (Canada) – Lisa Steacy's "Layoffs, quitting, firing: How workplace departures impact those left behind" (5/1/23)

• CTV News (Canada) – Brieanna Charlebois's "Employee turnover causes ripple effect, leads to more departures, UBC research finds" (5/7/23)

• Deseret News – Eric Schultz's "College is 'Worth It,' but Majors Matter" (3/4/15)

• Die Welt ("German: The World") – Inga Michler's "Warum viele Firmen systematisch die Falschen befördern." ("Why many companies systematically promote the wrong people") (3/28/18)

• Discovery News – Emily Sohn's "Is College 'Worth It'?" (10/16/15)

• Economisch Statistische Berichten (Netherlands) – "Reputatie als tegengas in de sjeeseconomie" (1/30/16)

• El economista (Mexico) – Blanca Juárez's "¿Cómo afecta el sesgo de género al analizar y otorgar un ascenso en las empresas?" (1/26/23)

• EU CEDEFOP – "New forms of work and shady employers: How reputation can discipline the gig economy" (3/2/16)

• Fast Company – "Leaders, your mass layoffs may have an unintended side effect that hurts the company’s bottom line" (4/28/23)

• Fast Company – "Why incompetent workers become incompetent managers" (8/12/24)

• Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis – "In the gig economy, reputation counts" (2019)

• Financial Times – Tim Harford's "We should not let bad managers stick around" (7/19/18)

• Financial Times – Sir Cary Cooper's "Don't Let Ambition Cloud our Talent Judgment" (8/3/18)

• Forbes – Rodd Wagner's "New Evidence the Peter Principle is Real, and What to Do About It" (4/10/18)

• Forbes – Bill Conerly's "Promoting Wrong People Hurts Retention and Productivity" (6/19/18)

• Forbes – Kathy Caprino's "Six Behaviors that will Block Your Leadership Success" (2/2/19)

• Forbes – Paige Francis's "How to stop today's higher education exodus of women in tech" (10/17/21)

• Forbes – Michelle A Travis's "Women Who Use AI At Work Face A Predictable ‘Competence Penalty’" (8/26/25)

• Forbes (Mexico) – Diego Vallarino's "El Principio de Peter: promover a los incapaces" (3/6/19)

• Forbes – Michelle Travis's "Meta’s Plan To Evaluate Employees’ AI Use May Negatively Impact Women" (11/20/25)

• Fortune – Amber Burton and Paolo Confino's "The departure of high performers could leave other top talent looking for the door" (2/22/23)

• Fox9 News – "Target Expands Paid Family Leave, Backup Care Benefits for Store Workers" (6/10/19)

• Freakonomics Radio (podcast) – Stephen J Dubner's "Episode 495, Why are there so many bad bosses?" (3/2/22)

• Grand Forks Herald – Ethan Nelson's "In ND, New Overtime Rule Will Have Bigger Effect Than in Minnesota" (6/11/16)

• Granted – Adam Grant's "Wondering" (5/18)

• Harvard Business Review – Alan Benson, Kelly Shue, and Danielle Li's "Do people really get promoted to their level of incompetence?" (3/8/18)

• Harvard Business Review – Andris Zoltners, Probhakant Sinha, and Sally Lorimer's "Why New Sales Managers Need More Training" (3/14/19)

• Harvard Business Review – Josh Bersin and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic's "Hire Leaders for What They Can Do, Not What They Have Done" (8/28/19)

• Harvard Business Review – "The Departure of High Performers Has Harmful Ripple Effects" (11/1/23)

• Harvard Business Review – Peter Cappelli and Ranya Nehmeh's "Hybrid still isn't working" (July/August 2025)

• Harvard Business Review – Rebecca Knight's "Don't lose your star new hire" (10/14/25)

• Het Financieele Dagblad (Netherlands) – Jasper Lukkezen's "Zeemeeuwmanagement" (6/1/19)

• Here We Are – Podcast interview with Shane Moss, "Episode 180: Robots and Employment" (8/24/18)

• HR Executive – Mark McGraw's "Gender and the Global Mobility Gap" (4/20/15)

• HR Executive – Peter Cappelli's "Promoting the Wrong Talent" (6/11/18)

• HRzone – Jan Hill's "Why HR needs to stop promoting based on the Peter Principle" (12/17/18)

• Inc – Nick Hobson's "Newsletters Subscribe Lead With 3 Words, Economists Explain the Real Reason There Are So Many Bad Bosses" (7/24/24)

• Inside Sources – Michael Graham's "In Wake of 'Side Door' College Admissions Scandal, Americans Ask: Is College Worth It?" (3/14/19)

• Inside Higher Ed – Stefan Niewiesk "How to avoid the Peter Principle in academic leadership" (2/14/23)

• IZA Newsroom – "New forms of work and shady employers: How reputation can discipline the gig economy" (2/18/16)

• KARE 11 News – Kent Erdahl's "Retailers Announce trips, bonuses to find holiday workers" (10/8/18)

• KARE 11 News – Gordon Severson's "Portugal makes it illegal for bosses to contact employees after hours" (11/11/21)

• KARE 11 News – "Minnesota nurses hold Monday strike vote" (8/16/22)

• KARE 11 News – Kent Erdahl's "Historic nursing strike could have impact far beyond Minnesota" (9/12/22)

• KARE 11 News – Josh Boak's "Biden says tentative railway labor agreement reached, averting strike" (9/26/22)

• KELO News Radio – "Minnesota Joins States Bolstering Wage Theft Enforcement" (12/24/19)

• Knowledge@Wharton – "Are Good Managers Born or Made?" (3/15/16)

• Knowledge@Wharton – "Holiday Hiring: Can Retailers Attract Talent in a Tight Labor Market?" (11/15/18)

• KNSI Radio – Jennifer Lewerenz's, "Minnesota's Wage Theft Law See's Challenges in Understanding" (2/2/20)

• KSTP TV News – TV and video interview for "MNA files intent to strike; 15,000 nurses could walk off job" (9/1/22)

• LA Times – Op Ed, "How to manage the financial risks of investing in college" (12/25/13)

• Le Nouvele Economiste (France) – Tim Hartford's, "Principe de Peter : nous ne devrions pas laisser les mauvais managers s’éterniser dans leur poste" (10/8/18)

• Les Affaires (Quebec) – "Votre boss est un incompétent? Voici pourquoi!" (5/6/19)

• LinkedIn Pulse – Sue Barrett's "The alarming findings of the Peter Principle and Sales Managers" (5/28/18)

• LinkedIn Pulse – Lora Korpar's "What is the average salary in the US?" (9/21/22)

• Malcolm Gladwell's podcast Revisionist History – Interview with Malcolm Gladwell, "Hamlet was Wrong" (8/6/20)

• Marginal Revolution – Alex Tabarrok's "The Peter Principle Tested" (5/1/19)

• Marketplace (American Public Media/ NPR) – Interview on overstaffing at retailers for "A Tale of Two Central Banks" (5/20/22)

• Marketplace (American Public Media/ NPR) – Interview on retail holiday season staffing (4:10) for "A Cautious Approach to Holiday Hiring" (9/22/22)

• Marketplace (American Public Media/ NPR) – Interview on retail holiday season staffing for "Why retailers like Target are holding back on seasonal hiring" (11/19/25)

• Marketplace (American Public Media/ NPR) – Interview on seasonal work for "It's going to be a tough holiday season for many who are seeking temp jobs" (11/27/25)

• MarketWatch – Andrew Keshner's "Noncompete clauses could violate federal labor law, NLRB’s top lawyer says" (5/31/23)

• Masterclass – "Peter Principle Explained - How to Overcome the Peter Principle" (9/4/21)

• Minneapolis-St Paul Business Journal – Patrick Rehkamp's "Minneapolis Park Board's Ill-Timed Goodbye Gifts" (1/15/16)

• Minnesota Public Radio News (radio interview) – Michelle Wiley "Nurses in Twin Cities, Duluth vote to authorize strike" (8/16/22)

• Minnesota Public Radio – Morning Show with Angela Davis (1 hr call-in radio program with Chris Farrell guest hosting) - "Job hopping vs. job hugging: Why workers are rethinking career moves" (12/9/25)

• MIT Sloan Ideas Made to Matter – Meredith Somers' "Women are less likely than men to be promoted. Here’s one reason why" (4/12/22)

• MIT Sloan Management Review – Marc Zao-Sanders's "The Downstream Damage of the Leadership Skill Gap" (8/28/19)

• MSNBC – Selena Rezvani's "Are women bosses getting equal career opportunities? This new study says no" (2/24/22)

• MSNBC (segment on Morning Joe) – "On LinkedIn, men more likely than women to emphasize leadership traits." (12/17/24)

• Naked Capitalism – Yves Smith's "Promotions and the Peter Principle" (4/25/19)

• National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) – Jay Fitzgerald's "The Peter Principle Isn't Just Real, It's Costly" (5/18)

• NBC News – "College Costs Soar, but Can You Afford Not to Go?" (4/15/15)

• NPR Morning Edition/ The Hidden Brain – Shankur Vindantam's "Why Is Your Boss Bad At His Job? It May Be The Peter Principle At Work" (4/3/18)

• NY Times – Sendhil Mullainathan's "You've become rich. That doesn't mean you're great at everything." (10/26/18)

• PBS Newshour – Article and TV mention, "6 Rules to Help You Make the Best College Decision" (1/14/15)

• Phys.org – "When employees leave their jobs, coworkers call it quits" (4/28/23)

• Public News Service – "Minnesota Joins States Bolstering Wage-Theft Enforcement" (2/2/20)

• Quartz – Corinne Purtill's "Your hotshot coworker would be a terrible boss, and research proves it" (2/26/18)

• Quartz – Quartz Obsession "The Peter Principle" (3/2/18)

• Quartz – Gabriela Riccardi's "A new study of 1 million employees shows what happens when colleagues leave" (5/23/23)

• Quotable (Salesforce.com article) – Kevin Micalizzi's "Why you might not want to promote your top sales rep" (8/14/18)

• Quotable (Salesforce.com podcast) – Kevin Micalizzi's "The best sellers do not make the best managers" (11/1/18)

• Smart Company – Sue Barrett's "The alarming findings of the Peter Principle and sales managers" (5/28/18)

• Star Tribune – Jeremy Olson's "Public opinion battle waged ahead of possible September nurse strike in Minnesota" (8/27/22)

• Star Tribune – Kavita Kumar's "Minnesota has the nation's second-lowest jobless rate. Is that good?" (6/27/22)

• Star Tribune – Jeremy Olson's "Minnesota nursing union flexed muscle to get contract, but what's next?" (12/19/22)

• Star Tribune – Nicole Norfleet's "Twin Cities delivery workers dash around this holiday as their jobs continue to evolve" (12/21/22)

• Star Tribune – Briana Bierschbach's "Minnesota needs to hire thousands of new employees. Can the state find them?" (6/10/23)

• Star Tribune – Brooks Johnson's "This Minnesota food company is part of rising profit-sharing trend with $27M payout over past five years" (2/21/25)

• Star Tribune – Emma Nelson's "The pandemic gave Minnesota workers power. Employers are taking it back" (7/16/25)

• Stylist – Vicky Chandler's "Why are women afraid to say they’re leaders? Study finds women less likely to include leadership skills on their CV" (12/12/24)

• Sydney Morning Herald – Sendhil Mullainathan's "You've become rich. That doesn't mean you're great at everything." (11/1/18)

• Technology Policy Institute – "Research Roundup Strikes Back" (1/12/16)

• The Atlantic – Ed Zitron's "Say Goodbye to Your Manager." (9/17/21)

• The Economist – "The Promotion Curse" (6/16/19)

• The Economist – "What makes a good manager?" (10/3/24)

• The Economist – "The problem with promotions" (1/8/26)

• The Globe and Mail (Canada) – Harvey Schachter's "Why promotions go awry" (4/14/18)

• The Globe and Mail (Canada) – Jared Lindzon's "We play to people’s strengths: Why the dual-track promotion may be gaining traction" (4/22/24)

• The Globe and Mail (Canada) – Brieanna Charlebois's "UBC research finds employee turnover causes ripple effect" (5/7/23)

• The Globe and Mail (Canada) – Jared Lindzon's "Company-wide layoffs lead to many more workers quitting, study finds" (6/16/23)

• The Times (of London/ the Sunday Times) – Grainne Rothery's "Why top dogs might baulk at the lead" (3/11/18)

• Thrive Global – Nora Battelle's "How to handle the stress of a bad boss" (10/17/18)

• Thrive Global – Mallory Straton's "5 ways to support a colleague through a health scare" (3/8/19)

• Thrive Global – Ian Burke's "How to overcome deadline dread" (4/17/19)

• Time – Ian Salisbury's "Why Bosses Are Bad, According to Management Experts" (2/22/18)

• Twin Cities Business Journal – Kate Lerette's, "Degree Inflation" (9/1/17)

• Twin Cities Business Journal – Amanda Ostuni's "Targeting Employee Benefits" (10/7/19)

• Twin Cities Business Magazine – Gene Rebeck's "The IT Workforce Quandry" (5/7/19)

• Vancouver Sun – Brieanna Charlebois's "Employee turnover causes ripple effect, leads to more departures: UBC research" (5/7/23)

• Visible Hand (podcast) – Jordan Blanes i Vidal's "Episode 53: Virginia Minni on the Effects of Managers on their Workers" (11/29/22)

• Wall Street Journal – David Wessel's "How college has become a risky investment" (1/28/15)

• Wall Street Journal – Lauren Weber's "Why it's so hard to fill sales jobs: 'Salesman' baggage means well-paying tech industry positions go begging" (2/3/15)

• Wall Street Journal – Sam Walker's "Why Superstars Make Lousy Bosses" (11/6/18)

• Wall Street Journal – Austen Hufford's "US Jobless Claims Rise Slightly to New 2022 High" (8/11/22)

• Wall Street Journal – Lisa Ward's "When Employees Leave a Company, Others Often Follow" (6/10/23)

• WalletHub – Adam McCann's "States Hit Most by Unemployment Insurance Claims" (6/4/20)

• WalletHub – Jacob Sanders "States where employers are struggling the most in hiring" (10/19/22)

• WalletHub – Jacob Sanders "Changes in unemployment by state" (1/24/23)

• Washington Post – Dina ElBoghdady's "Why couples move for a man's job, but not a woman's" (11/28/14)

• Washington Post – Danielle Paquette's "Why college isn't always worth it: A new study suggests the economic return on a college degree may be a lot more modest than you might think" (1/30/15)

• Washington Post – Jeff Stein's "Their podcast is in trouble. A Biden-led crackdown may save them" (9/25/23)

• World Economic Forum – Gabriela Ricardi's "A study of 1 million employees shows what happens when colleagues leave" (5/16/23)

• Yahoo!News – Greg McKenna's "This study shows why companies should not always promote high achievers into management roles" (10/10/19)

• Yale Insights – Ben Mattison's "Women Aren’t Promoted Because Managers Underestimate Their Potential" (9/17/21)

• Zenefits – Lynne Marioka's "What the ABC Test Means for the Gig Economy: An Interview with Alan Benson" (6/19/18)