Grace Dobush

Based in Berlin, Grace Dobush is the editor of the ReThink Quarterly. She has written for publications including Fortune, Wired, the Economist and Quartz and worked as an editor in the English-language newsroom of Handelsblatt, Germany’s business daily. She has also worked on the staffs of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Family Tree Magazine, The Artist’s Magazine and the design magazines HOW and Print. Inspired from her years as a part-time crafter, she wrote the Crafty Superstar business guides.

Her first paycheck: “It was in 1999 and probably well under $200 after taxes. I was making $5.15 an hour, minimum wage at the time, working as a cashier after school at the Sparkle Market in Wellington, Ohio. I’m pretty sure I spent most of it on records.”

Latest articles

Building teams across borders

Location is less important than ever in this age of globalization, so why are we still beholden to abstract limits?

Issue 11: Borders
What we can learn from the world’s most trusted professions

When competence is fueled by good motives, it creates something everyone can believe in.

Issue 10: Trust
Never stop learning

Being curious about the world around you is the first step towards a lifetime of learning.

Issue 9: Back to School
Why payroll should always be prepared 

Payroll needs to be at the core of all business continuity plans. The mantra is: hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

Issue 8: Risk
How to use payroll data for good

Data gathered through voluntary self-identification is the key to identifying and fixing discrimination-based pay gaps within an organization.

Issue 7: Equality
We need to talk about pay more

Talking about pay is taboo in many places, but it’s also one of the best tools to combat pay inequality. Now, some places are requiring even more pay transparency.

Issue 7: Equality
The crisis of care

Shortages, overtime, burnout: In the third year of the pandemic, health care workers are not OK.

Issue 6: Care
Out of office: The need for time off

Workloads are surging, and remote workers are especially burdened. Disconnecting from work is essential for employee wellbeing.

Issue 5: Out of Office
Seeking security in the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has tested our systems of social security, bringing increased attention to how governments care for people.

Issue 4: Security
How the pandemic is moving the war for talent

After two years of pandemic life, workers are reconsidering what they want and how they want to live. What’s a would-be employer to do?

Issue 3: Place
How a German city and its football fans weathered the pandemic

Gelsenkirchen is best known for FC Schalke 04 and for having the highest unemployment rate in Germany. Its strong sense of community has gotten residents and businesses through the pandemic.

Issue 3: Place
The power of the paycheck

Exploring stories of remittances led to some surprising discoveries about my own family history.

Issue 1: Lifelines
Igniting a better payroll process at Signify

In its spinoff from Royal Philips, this ‘130-year-old startup’ had a chance to reinvent how it does payroll.

Issue 1: Lifelines
How to fix 7 payroll problems exacerbated by the pandemic

No organization was completely prepared for a global pandemic, but companies with digitized, unified payroll departments were able to adjust more rapidly.

Issue 1: Lifelines
The story of global remittances in 6 charts

The money that people working far from home send back to their families — remittances — makes a big difference, especially in times of crisis. 

Issue 1: Lifelines