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☆ Corporate America is going through a middle-management meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Middle managers are becoming an endangered species in Corporate America, with some companies viewing the role as obsolete , writes Business Insider's Lindsay Dodgson. Remote work, tech efficiencies, and a general push to cut costs have contributed to middle managers' demise. It's a strategy Corporate America, particularly Big Tech, deployed in 2023. The "year of efficiency," as Mark Zuckerberg dubbed it, was all about flattening organizations, and middle managers were the ones getting squished . The death of middle managers could also fuel the current dismantling of another cohort: the middle class .

Persons: —, Brooks Kraft, Insider's Lindsay Dodgson, millennials, Gen Zers haven't, Robyn Phelps, they're, Mark Zuckerberg, Gen, Jeffrey Gundlach, we're, Blackstone, Abanti Chowdhury, Jensen Huang, Hopper, Blackwell, Lilit, Tyler Le, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover Organizations: Service, Business, Brooks Kraft LLC, Getty, America, Big Tech, Citi, Street Journal, KKR, Meta, Google, Nvidia, Paragon Intel, National Association of Realtors, FAA Locations: Corporate America, millennials, New York, London

☆ How to find a hobby
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But if that's not for you — or if you're struggling to find something to do outside of work — experts shared how to find a hobby. The big storyA guide to finding a hobbyRobyn Phelps/InsiderHaving a hobby can help people tackle their work and personal life with more energy. Treat finding a hobby like a projectYou likely won't find the perfect fit immediately, Laura Vanderkam, the author of "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think," told me. Or if they're also trying to find a hobby, ask what the people around them do for fun. Be patient but proactiveAdvertisementVanderkam told me that finding a hobby just takes a bit of time, experimentation, and being open to different things.

Persons: —, that's, Robyn Phelps, I've, Alexis Haselberger, Laura Vanderkam, It'll, Vanderkam, Haselberger, they're, she's, Joey Hadden, andresr, Kornmesser NASA's James Webb, Gen, Patrick Pleul Organizations: Service, Business, Orient, Express, Volkswagen, Ford, Tesla, LinkedIn, ESO, ESA, Hubble, Kornmesser NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, IKEA, Getty, Ikea Locations: Venice, Brandenburg, Schönefeld, Dahme

☆ Healthcare companies are promising to help patients quit Wegovy. There's just one problem with that.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-19 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Inkinen said Virta can help patients quit GLP-1 drugs and keep weight off by adjusting the foods they eat to help them feel full, similar to how the drugs reduce feelings of hunger. About 82% of patients taking Wegovy experience gastrointestinal issues like nausea and diarrhea. WeightWatchers didn't provide Business Insider with published data to support its claims that it can help people keep weight off after quitting weight-loss drugs. AdvertisementHe also advises the weight-loss startup Calibrate, which tapers some patients off GLP-1 drugs after they reach a certain body-mass index. GLP-1 drugs also slash the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiac-related death.

Persons: —, Michael Albert, aren't, Sami Inkinen, Inkinen, Virta, Michael Siluk, Noom's, Linda Anegawa, Carolina Rudah, tirzepatide, Mounjaro, Zepbound —, Eli Lilly, Ozempic, Wegovy, Randy Seeley, Seeley, Robyn Phelps, it's, Robert Kushner, Kushner, Florian Gaertner, It's, Albert, Lisa, she's, I'm Organizations: Service, Business, FDA, Virta, Getty, Nordisk, Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research, University of Michigan, Novo Nordisk, Northwestern University Locations: Denver, Michigan

☆ The dream scenario for the economy is looking more likely by the day
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Matt Turner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The US jobs market is still on 🔥. Still, recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a job market that's running hot. Average hourly earnings increased 0.4% month on month and are up 4.4% on last year. The dream scenario for the economy is to get inflation under control without a sharp spike in unemployment or a recession. So far, the job market has remained robust.

Persons: ake, anker, rina, ord, T witter Organizations: Service, uts Locations: Wall, Silicon, usk

☆ A $7 billion startup wanted to build patient-friendly healthcare. Its bet on buzzy weight-loss drugs is testing that vision.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Blake Dodge | Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Patient complaints go beyond the Wegovy shortageKaitlyn's complaints echo an array of issues faced by other Ro patients seeking weight-loss drugs. The patients Insider interviewed asked to be identified by their first names to protect their privacy. In this chat log, a Ro weight-loss patient sends messages to the startup asking to cancel the program. Reitano told Insider that around 90% of Ro patients got a response within 24 hours. "Until these DTC companies generally start getting into the muck of healthcare, they're not going to have a material impact," Parker told Insider.

Persons: Ro, Zachariah Reitano, Reitano, Li Ran, Robyn Phelps, Kaitlyn, She'd, didn't, she's, couldn't, Max Kerwick, drugstores, Max, Ro's, aren't, hasn't, Florian Gaertner, it's, TJ Parker, they're, Parker Organizations: New York, Getty, Better Business Bureau, Nordisk, Better Business, CareMetx, Ro, TechCrunch Locations: Xinhua, New York, New York City

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos are ripped, tech workers work less than 4 hours per day, and tech's Texas real-estate invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

OpenAI, the company that created the chatbot, won't share the books it used to train ChatGPT. But a group of researchers discovered a method of quizzing the chatbot to figure out which books it has read. Many tech workers are only productive for four hours per day. In an anonymous poll, nearly 45% of tech workers said they spent four hours (or less) on "focused work." Only around 25% said they worked eight or more hours per day.

Persons: I'm, Siu, Hannah Towey, Robyn Phelps, Moby Dick, Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Adam, Matthew Busch, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Zuck, Bezos, Peek, Austin Evans, Evans, Mercedes, Diamond Naga Siu, Alistair Barr, Nathan Rennolds Organizations: American, Pacific Islander Heritage, Ikea, The Washington, Getty, NASA, US Air Force, Pacific Command, Pentagon Locations: Sweden, California, Swedish, EVs, . Texas, scrawny, San Diego, San Francisco, London

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Amazon Web Services salaries, Elon Musk returns to Tesla, and a ‘secret’ ChatGPT prompt library
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and I don't dream of labor (I do occasionally have dreams about writing the newsletter). And hiring managers told my colleague Aki Ito that it's currently incredibly difficult to find and hire enough qualified people. The country that wins the competition over the batteries of the future will not only control the electric vehicle market. Lopez gives us a front-seat look at the landscape of the critical EV battery market. A leaked email revealed that Musk now wants to approve all new hires — including contractors — at Tesla.

☆ Women in Climate Leadership: Meet 10 leaders who refuse to let the climate crisis go unchecked
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"It's like a comedy-drama satire," Margolin, a junior at New York University, told Insider of the film, called "Doomers." It's about a former youth climate activist and a former NASA climate scientist who go out for a night of hedonistic destruction to celebrate giving up on fighting the climate crisis. Margolin started to worry that the youth climate movement had inadvertently created a capitalistic monster. So many companies, even big polluters or those with sweatshops in their supply chains, talk about sustainability and climate justice. "Corporations and politicians have exploited the youth climate movement," Margolin said.

☆ How big companies are contending with a frenzy of demand for Ozempic from their workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Demand for expensive weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy is soaring. Companies that foot the bill for their workers' health coverage are mulling whether to pay for them. Across the US, companies are facing a critical decision: whether to foot the bill for the expensive weight-loss drugs that have exploded in popularity in recent months. Andrews estimated that more than half the companies in the alliance covered weight-loss drugs. Andrews' comments offer a window into how big US companies are grappling with the rising demand for and high costs of weight-loss treatment.

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Best side hustles, Tesla Roadsters, and ChatGPT stylist
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

After just a few short years of hype, the metaverse is already headed for the graveyard of failed tech ideas. The metaverse, according to Zuckerberg, was supposed to be the next evolution of the internet and our tech lives. But the rise and fall of the metaverse can teach us some important lessons about the tech industry as a whole. All the tech companies citing AI in their layoff announcements. Many major tech companies like Google and IBM even mentioned AI in their layoff announcements.

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Amazon Slack, industry extinction, and top EVs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Community: Inside Amazon's little-known Slack channel. And that's playing out inside an internal slack channel called #focus-and-pivot-info for employees put on performance improvement plans — also known as PIPs. Go behind-the-scenes of Amazon's little-known Slack channel here. Right as tech companies shrink their headcounts, AI is gaining popularity in the workplace, writes Insider's editor in chief for business, Matt Turner. Thousands of anonymous tech employees fretted over the future of tech compensation.

☆ TikTok is looking more and more like a record label. It’s annoyed many in the music industry.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Allbirds is one of the brands I'm looking at. TikTok is looking more and more like a record label. When TikTok launched SoundOn, a song-distribution and artist-services platform, some in the industry wondered whether it was trying to muscle its way into record labels' territory. TikTok is now looking to hire people who will "identify, sign, and develop new artists" as well as "design live show and merchandise strategies for artists globally." Get a front-row seat to TikTok's transformation into a record label here.

☆ JPMorgan is asking senior managers to be in the office five days a week. Here's the latest on return-to-office mandates.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Matt Turner | Dave Smith | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

On the agenda today:But first: JPMorgan is asking senior managers to be in the office five days a week. The company told senior managers this week that they "have to be visible on the floor" in a memo asking managing directors to be in the office five days a week. Last month, Disney told employees they were expected to be back to the office four days a week. And Amazon said it wants all employees back in the office at least three days a week by next month, setting off both internal opposition and support, and a scramble to get office space ready. A dozen former Kittyhawk employees told Insider that Kittyhawk found itself torn between the conflicting visions and shifting priorities of its billionaire founder and his handpicked CEO.

☆ As Gen Z flounders at work and millennials struggle to buy a house, boomers are enjoying a golden moment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Matt Turner | Dave Smith | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

This week's dispatchThe Metals Company; Greenpeace; Luis Alvarez/Getty Images; Karl Hendon/Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/InsiderOptimists don't just dream — they do. Gen Zers and young millennials have soured on work just as much as everyone else — and that's bad news for companies everywhere. Also read:Tyler Le/InsiderOver the past few years, Lex Fridman has gone from an unknown academic researcher to a social-media celebrity and member of Elon Musk's inner circle. But recently, "The Lex Fridman Podcast" has become a haven for a growing and powerful sector looking to dismantle years of "wokeness." More on the rise of Lex Fridman.

☆ After gaining control of our reporter's phone, a hacker ripped her off for $10,000. She set out to find them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

You can see pictures of the massive meatball here — but I warn you, it looks exactly how you would expect. Now, before the scientists start serving up Dinosaur DNA, let's take a look at the top tech stories this week. Once the hacker had control of Hartmans' phone, they didn't waste any time. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk plans to build a town named "Snailbrook" — but he isn't the only billionaire creating their own utopia. Some of Lee's friends and colleagues, including Elon Musk, have lambasted the "violent crime in SF."

☆ Humanity has decided it can say 'no' to AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The latest development in AI: humanity has decided it can say "no." Elon Musk was one of more than 1,000 people to sign an open letter calling for a six-month pause on advanced AI development. The letter cited several potential risks to humanity and society, including the spread of misinformation and automation of jobs. Bosses have forgotten how to say "good job" — and it's driving employees to quit. Big Tech's big downgrade.

☆ Red alert recession signals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Matt Turner | Dave Smith | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

On the agenda today:But first: Everyone is back to talking about a recession. This week's dispatchFed Chair Jerome Powell Joshua Roberts/Reuters2023 started with fresh hope that the US could avoid a recession. That has big name investors and market signals predicting a recession, and soon. "Red alert recession signals," Gundlach said. Even Powell's preferred bond-market indicator says a recession is on the way this year.

☆ TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has the internet eating out of his hand
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Well, court filings have laid bare the company's excessive spending habits on luxury estate, hotels and, of course, a yacht. Shou Zi Chew said the average TikTok user was "an adult well past college age." Wall Street says TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew had a "disaster" day in Congress. Wall Street may have dubbed Chew's testimony a "disaster," but by the end of it, Chew had the internet eating out of his hand. Google Bard is already behind in the AI wars.

☆ The US is bleeding tech workers to other countries — it needs to move fast or risk falling behind.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The US is losing tech workers to other countries. And so, many tech workers are opting to move and work there instead of the US. Plus, many of these countries are making their immigration systems easier for tech workers. My teammates Emilia David and Paayal Zaveri break down how the US is on the brink of losing an entire generation of tech workers. And it showed that Boomers and Gen Z both love many of the same cars, including the Toyota RAV4.

☆ Google workers tell Sundar Pichai “don’t be evil” while conducting layoffs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

While I daydream about getting my culinary education partially comped too, let's dive into today's tech. Googlers tell CEO Sundar Pichai: "Don't be evil." But more than 1,400 Googlers asked their CEO to continue the spirit of the adage by handling layoffs better. They cited Ukraine as an example and urged Pichai to offer extra support for workers who hold work visas. Today, Vice Media is scrambling for a buyer, and its future will likely be determined in the coming months.

☆ The inside story of hot startup Deel's grow-at-all-costs culture
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Deel employees told Insider how the startup exploded. In just three years, the HR services startup grew from under 30 employees to over 2,000. My colleague Rob Price talked with more than 30 current/former Deel employees about its astronomical rise. Get a front row seat to Deel's grow-at-all-costs approach — intense, even for Silicon Valley. Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty: Why people are sticking with Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ Tech leaders remain oblivious to the true lessons of Silicon Valley Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Matt Turner | Dave Smith | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

On the agenda today:But first: Insider's Madeline Renbarger shares what happened at the SXSW Festival in Texas as tech founders and entrepreneurs learned about the implosion of Silicon Valley Bank. The festival began just as the FDIC announced it was taking control of Silicon Valley Bank to stop the catastrophic, social media-instigated bank run that was in full swing. Silicon Valley's blame gameiStock; Rebecca Zisser/InsiderIn the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, there's been plenty of finger-pointing but little self-reflection on the part of Silicon Valley, writes Insider's Linette Lopez. But in recent weeks, as companies like Meta and Twitter braced for tougher times ahead, the assault on middle managers has picked up new steam. But middle managers move the needle on a company's overall performance far more than senior executives do — and make a bigger difference to the bottom line.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank depositors are saved at the last minute
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

By now, you've probably heard a lot about the sudden, bank run-driven collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, one of the tech industry's most stalwart and trusted institutions. Tech startups say they can't access their cash deposited in Silicon Valley Bank. Before the FDIC stepped in to save the day (for depositors, anyway), the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sparked fear, uncertainty, and panic as startups suddenly lost access to whatever cash they had stashed there. Here's the latest from Insider on the Silicon Valley Bank meltdown:Read more about the financial panic that swept Silicon Valley over the weekend here. Can Silicon Valley succeed where the CDC failed?

☆ Ditching autism care for software
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He raised $200 million to transform autism care. Now, he's ditching patients to sell healthcare software. Yury Yakubchyk, the cofounder and CEO of Elemy, raised more than $200 million to provide better autism therapy for kids. Instead of delivering care itself, instead of delivering care itself, the company wants to sell software to clinicians running their own businesses. It's all fake work," Rabois said.

☆ Matthew McConaughey's Salesforce gig
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Hallam Bullock here, reporting from London — and yes, Matthew McConaughey is on my mind. Salesforce has reportedly been paying McConaughey $10 million a year to act as a "creative adviser." Robyn Phelps/InsiderProgrammers are thrilled about AI tools like ChatGPT. Read why programmers are pumped about the rise of AI tools. Larry Lundstrom spends about 40 to 60 hours a week as a pastor, but on the side, he uses AI tools like ChatGPT to make pitch decks for businesses.

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