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☆ The internet is losing its shit over Apple's $3,500 mixed-reality 'uncool' headset
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Reena Koh | Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Apple's new mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, was unveiled on Monday. The internet has been having a field day dunking on Apple's new $3,499 mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro. Vision Pro has been years in the making, reportedly with some setbacks and product design compromises along the way. Yet, it may have one fatal flaw — the Vision Pro is just another pair of nerd goggles that will make most people look decidedly uncool, Insider's Alistair Barr wrote on Tuesday. And ever since the announcement, people have been relentlessly mocking Apple's first major product launch in over eight years.

Persons: Insider's Nicholas Carlson, Insider's Alistair Barr, Apple's, AppleVisionPro, barreling, gwyneth paltrow, that's, Anne Hathaway, It's, Steve Jobs, — Robert Evans, Robert Evans Organizations: Vision, Morning, Worldwide, Twitter, Wii, VR, Apple Locations: Redfin, Cupertino

☆ Media mogul Martha Stewart isn't a fan of remote work: 'You can't possibly get everything done working three days a week in the office and two days remotely'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

'You can't possibly get everything done working three days a week in the office and two days remotely,' she told Footwear News in a recent interview. A remote work vs return-to-office war has been brewing for years between employees and employers. "You can't possibly get everything done working three days a week in the office and two days remotely," she told the publication. "I continued to work five days a week" during the COVID-19 pandemic, she told the media outlet. Getting employees back to the office wasn't the only business advice Stewart shared with Footwear News.

Persons: Martha Stewart, —, Stewart, That's, Stewart —, Abbie Shipp, Insider's Rebecca Knight, Goldman Sachs, decaf Organizations: Service, Footwear, Wall Street, Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University, Apple, Disney, JPMorgan Locations: France, Bedford , New York

☆ For Gen Z in Japan, a smile is worth $55. Hour-long classes aim to teach students how to smile again without a mask.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Amanda Goh | Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

After getting used to wearing masks, Gen Z Japanese students are taking classes to learn how to smile. A private, hour-long smiling lesson with Kawano costs 7,700 Japanese yen, or $55. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon"People have not been raising their cheeks under a mask or trying to smile much," Kawano told the New York Times in early May. "People train their body muscles, but not their faces," Kawano told the Times. A private, hour-long lesson with her costs 7,700 Japanese yen, or $55, per Reuters.

Persons: Gen, Keiko Kawano, —, Himawari Yoshida, Kim Kyung, Kawano, Yoshida, Yamaguchi Organizations: Service, Reuters, Sokei Art School, REUTERS, New York Times, Kawano, Smile, IBM Japan, Times, NHK, Chuo University Department of Psychology Locations: Japan, Tokyo

☆ An 'unliveable shack that must be demolished' just sold for $1.1 million in Sydney after a bidding war. It shows how messed up Australia's housing market has become.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An "unliveable shack that must be demolished" in a Sydney suburb just sold for $1.1 million. The Australian property market has been on a red-hot streak — home prices rose for a second straight month in April. The pricing guide was AU$1.2 million, and bidding started at AU$1.25 million, according to a video of the bidding posted on YouTube. On May 18, a "dilapidated" home in Paddington, an upscale suburb in eastern Sydney, sold for AU$1.53 million, according to a news.com.au report. There were ten bidders for the "unliveable" three-bedroom house, which had been deemed too dangerous for inspections, per the report.

☆ Kayak launched a new 'holiday calculator.' As a millennial, it's depressing.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Travel search engine Kayak launched a new budgeting tool called "Vacay Valuator" on May 19. The calculator presented me with 15 options of comforts I was willing to give up in exchange for my next holiday. As a millennial, I found the tool was playing on tropes like "stop getting takeaway coffees to become financially stable." But I was looking forward to some good news when I read that on May 19, travel search engine Kayak launched a new budgeting tool — "Vacay Valuator" — that helps people book their next vacation. A screenshot of Kayak's budgeting tool Vacay Valuator KayakNotably, the tool didn't ask for my income or any other parameters for budgeting, but I went along with it anyway.

☆ Elon Musk's productivity hack is taking 2 or 3 days off a year, working 7 days a week, and getting 6 hours of sleep a night
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

He told CNBC's David Faber he works throughout the year except for "two or three" days. Musk's obsession with long working hours has been extensively covered by the media. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX told CNBC's David Faber on Tuesday that he pretty much works throughout the year. It's probably about two or three," he told Faber. After acquiring Twitter in October, Musk told the BBC he sleeps on a couch in the library at the company's San Francisco headquarters.

☆ People are loving BuzzFeed's AI-generated quizzes more than their human-generated ones: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

People spent 40% more time with BuzzFeed's AI quizzes than human-generated ones, per Bloomberg. AI is the new Golden Child, and BuzzFeed's quizzes help prove the point. People spent 40% more time with BuzzFeed's AI quizzes than its traditional, human-generated ones, the company said in an online investor forum, per a May 12 Bloomberg report. Under the "quizzes" tab of its homepage, BuzzFeed now has entire section devoted to AI quizzes. As Futurism reported, BuzzFeed has not made a detailed breakdown of engagement numbers on its quizzes available.

☆ Elizabeth Holmes is going to prison, but the fate of her favorite accessory — the iconic black turtleneck — still hangs in the balance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

There's a "new" Elizabeth Holmes in town, at least according to The New York Times. But did her teardown kill the black turtleneck? In March 2015, Glamour magazine asked Elizabeth Holmes about her style and ran a story about her called "Meet the $9 Billion Woman: Career Advice From Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes." Posters of Hulu's "The Dropout" feature Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes, clad, of course, in the signature turtleneck look. Deep down, I don't think Homes killed the black turtleneck — not really.

☆ People are nervous AI will take their job. But they're fine with AI taking part of their job.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

While 49% of respondents are worried AI will replace jobs, more would delegate work to AI to lessen their workloads. 80% of respondents even said they are looking for AI tools to help them summarize meetings. Amid concerns about AI replacing jobs, the data revealed an unexpected insight: Employees are afraid of losing their jobs to AI, yes. More interesting findings from the report: Not only did three in four people surveyed say they're ok with using AI for administrative tasks, 73% even said they would be comfortable using an AI tool for creative jobs. And 80% of the respondents said they are looking for AI tools to help them summarize their meetings and action items.

☆ Corporate defaults are at their highest level in years, and it's poised to get even worse. Here are the 5 biggest players who went broke in March.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Corporate default rates are at the highest level in years, according to a bankruptcy report released on April 14 by ratings agency Moody's. In the first quarter of the year, 33 companies rated by Moody's were unable to pay their debts. That's the highest number since the last quarter of 2020, when 47 companies defaulted on their debt, the agency said in the report. The ratings giant expects junk bond defaults could rise to 4.9% by March 2024, thanks to higher interest rates and slower economic growth. This list has been curated to highlight the biggest companies — by impact — that went broke and were unable to honor their debt obligations.

☆ Meet the 'new' Elizabeth Holmes: She's ditched the turtlenecks, abandoned the weird voice, and wants you to call her Liz
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elizabeth Holmes gave a series of pre-prison interviews to the New York Times. There's a new Elizabeth Holmes in town, at least according to The New York Times — but no one's really falling for it. New York Times Helps Elizabeth Holmes Launder Her Reputation Before Prison" to people putting the story on blast on Twitter. "God forbid I get in any more back and forth on here today but I…..didn't hate the Elizabeth Holmes profile? Elizabeth Holmes did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent via her legal representative Lance Wade after regular business hours.

☆ It will be 'really tough' for trucking companies to stay in business if things don't pick up by Memorial Day, says an American trucking association
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Executives at trucking giant JB Hunt recently sounded the alarm about a freight recession. OOIDA, an American trucking association, is echoing the sentiment. Even industry gauges are signaling a slowdown: The American Trucking Association's for-hire contract truck tonnage index dropped by about 6% month-on-month to 95.8 in March, hitting the lowest level since August 2021. Higher inventory levels and overstocked warehouses are one of the key reasons truckers are facing a freight recession. Chappell, however, has a pragmatic outlook on the lingering effects of a freight recession on trucking companies: "Capacity will certainly leave the market, but trucking is cyclical."

☆ Mark Zuckerberg, whose Meta laid off thousands of people, is now the 12th richest person on the planet after his wealth surged to $87 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Zuckerberg's wealth shot up by $10 billion to top $87 billion on Thursday. Meta has laid off thousands of staffers, which likely impacted the company's productivity and dented employee morale. Because of that, Zuckerberg's wealth shot up by $10 billion to top $87 billion, the highest it's been in over a year. He is now the 12th richest person on the planet, per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. These cuts are on top of the 11,000 jobs Meta already axed in November, part of the company's broader play to make 2023 its "year of efficiency."

☆ Jamie Dimon's 'tone deaf' return to office mandate is getting pushback from JPMorgan staffers, who are complaining about being stuck on Zoom calls even while in the office: Reuters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

JPMorgan is now mandating all managing directors work from the office five days a week. But that rubbed some workers the wrong way, who vented on an internal messaging system, per Reuters. They griped about being stuck in virtual meetings despite being in the office, long commutes, and family responsibilities. In the same video, Clarke even lauded one employee's work ethic who he said "sold their family dog" to improve work performance. Read the JPMorgan return to office memo in full here.

☆ Business travel spending in the US and Europe could bounce back to pre-pandemic levels by 2024, but inflation may shrink the spending pie: Deloitte
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Business travel could recover to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, per a Deloitte survey. But travel spending might be 10% to 20% lower than pre-pandemic levels due to inflation, per Deloitte. There's good and bad news for those hoping for a full recovery in business travel to pre-pandemic levels. Of the 106 US-based respondents, 71% told Deloitte they expected companies to revert to 2019 travel spending levels by the end of 2024. In comparison, 68% of the 228 European respondents said business travel could recover to pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg says people spent 24% more time on Instagram after Meta launched AI-powered Reels
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta reported revenue growth in the first quarter, reversing three consecutive quarters of decline. Mark Zuckerberg is crediting higher engagement in Instagram Reels for part of this growth. Zuckerberg said time spent on Instagram has risen by 24% since the company launched the product. On an earnings call on Wednesday, Zuckerberg said that time spent on Instagram had risen by 24% since the company launched its short-form video product Reels — a TikTok challenger. Meta also reported a net profit of $5.7 billion during the quarter, a 24% drop year-over-year — partly due to the company's restructuring.

☆ Retailers bought so much stuff during the pandemic that it's overburdening warehouses — and it may be causing a 'freight recession,' analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Executives at trucking giant JB Hunt recently sounded the alarm about a freight recession. Over-buying during the pandemic is depressing the demand for goods, which is impacting freight and transport. Executives at trucking giant JB Hunt sounded the alarm over a "freight recession" at a first-quarter conference call last week. A freight recession basically means there are fewer trucks delivering goods across America. Notably, the freight recession is not a US-only problem.

☆ He bought a budget airline for 30 cents in 2001 and turned it into one of Asia's top budget airlines. Now, he's ready to walk away.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In September 2001, Fernandes bought the AirAsia brand from a Malaysian government-owned conglomerate for the equivalent of 30 cents at the time. And he's ready to walk away: "Good leadership is to know when to go," he told Bloomberg in an interview published Tuesday. And though he's already talking about plans to replace him, Fernandes doesn't know "exactly when I press the button." Newly privatized carrier Air India appointed an executive of Scoot, the low-cost arm of Singapore Airlines, as CEO in June. There were also airline executive reshuffling at American Airlines and Southwest Airlines in December.

☆ The Warren Buffett of China, whose company just posted a 95% dip in annual profits, is selling billions of dollars of assets — but he says it's 'only pathetic if no one wants what we offer'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The company posted a 95% year-on-year dip in annual 2022 profits. "It's not pathetic that we are selling assets," he said at an entrepreneur forum in March, per Bloomberg. Hong Kong stock exchange-listed Fosun International's shares have rebounded to 5.4 Hong Kong dollars, or $0.7, apiece on Tuesday, from a low of 4.6 Hong Kong dollars in September. They're still down from about 7.8 Hong Kong dollars in late January. Fosun International's market capitalization is around 44 billion Hong Kong dollars now.

☆ Analysts are torn on how Fox News' ratings will be affected after Tucker Carlson's ousting craters the company's stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tucker Carlson's exit from Fox News wiped $962 million from the network's market value on Monday. But analysts are torn about the long-term impact of the host's ouster on Fox Corp stock. But financial analysts are torn about the impact Carlson's departure will have on Fox Corporation's stock — which lost about $962 million in market value on Monday after news broke of the departure. Matthew Tuttle, the CEO and CIO of Tuttle Capital Management, told Bloomberg that Carlson's exit is "definitely going to leave a mark on Fox." But not all analysts shared the gloomy projection for Fox Corp stock in the long term.

☆ Workers in the US now want at least $76,000 to start a new job as minimum wage expectations continue to rise in a red-hot job market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Employees' wage expectations have risen to $76,000 a year, according to a New York Fed survey. The rise in expected salary levels comes at a time of historically low unemployment rates in America. Those with a college degree raised their reservation wage expectations by about $5,000 to over $97,000. The rise in expected salary levels makes sense, as it comes at a time of historically low unemployment rates in America. This, in turn, leads to employees upping their salary expectations to combat inflation's erosive effects.

☆ Stop worrying about the perfect interview answer and don't send in a ChatGPT cover letter: How to get your next job, according to 3 tech recruiters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

About 333,000 tech workers were laid off in 2022 and 2023, according to data compiled by layoffs.fyi. We asked three tech recruiters to share their best tips for finding a job. About 333,000 tech workers got laid off in 2022 and 2023, according to data compiled by layoffs.fyi. Things started unraveling in late 2022 when tech company after tech company started announcing broad layoffs. Julia Pollock, the chief economist at American hiring platform ZipRecruiter, told the Wall Street Journal that in April 2022, there were over 10,000 job openings for tech recruiters.

☆ China is home to one of the world's biggest luxury markets, and it's starting to make a comeback after the country's 3-year COVID lockdowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China is an important luxury market. Bain expects these consumers will account for 46% of the global luxury market by 2025. However, Wu's comments echoed Bain's positive outlook for China's luxury market. China's consumer price index, or CPI — the monthly change in prices paid by consumers — showed bleak data for March. It could be the reason Bank of America's Wu told CNBC that strong recovery across China's consumer sector has not yet been seen.

☆ Gen Z isn't letting the economy keep them from living their most luxurious lives. They're just buying stuff secondhand instead.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

About a third of Gen Z choose secondhand to afford higher-end brands, according to a ThredUp report. And even increasing economic uncertainty is not deterring their pursuit of the good life — they're just buying secondhand instead. About 30% of Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 — are buying secondhand items to afford higher-end brands, according to an April 5 resale report by ThredUp, an online thrift store and resale platform. Moreover, 64% of the surveyed members of Gen Z look for an item secondhand before buying it new, up four percentage points from 2021, per ThredUp's report. And while Ricci wasn't specifically referencing her habits in relation to buying secondhand items, ThredUp's report states that more than 80% of Gen Z considered the resale value of apparel before making a purchase.

☆ South Korean millennials and Gen Z are raging against the idea of a 69-hour workweek. They are tired, having fewer babies, and are even working themselves to death.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | Reena Koh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The South Korean government wants to increase the workweek to 69 hours. The 69-hour limit relates to a six-day workweek, while the 80.5-hour limit is applicable for a seven-day workweek, according to South Korean outlet Han Kyeo Re. In 2020, 14 delivery couriers in South Korea died of overwork stemming from increased deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported, citing a union representative. Notably, the culture of long working hours and death linked to overworking is not specific to South Korea. However, the government is trying to disconnect longer working hours from low birth rates.

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