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☆ Uber and Lyft drivers share 3 reasons why the ride-hailing giants, not customers, are partially responsible for the bad tips they get
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Drivers told Insider riders should tip and that Uber was partly to blame for low tips. Insider spoke with several ride-hailing and delivery drivers, each of whom pushed back on many of the arguments made by the commenters on the Times story. Chris, a 28-year-old Uber Eats driver in upstate New York, said: "Uber has successfully convinced customers that drivers get paid way more than we do." In-app tipping wasn't even an option for Uber riders until 2017, roughly five years after Lyft rolled out the feature. He said he always tipped at least 20% whenever he took an Uber, Lyft, or cab.

☆ A Philadelphia food-delivery driver hunting for big tips says he declines 75% of orders and hangs out in wealthy areas: 'I'm not doing this to gamble. I'm doing this to make money'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The 22-year-old said he didn't accept orders with low tips and wealthy neighborhoods tipped better. The majority of orders he sees do include a tip, Jack said. As inflation continues to weigh on Americans' pocketbooks, even more customers may decide to cut back on delivery tips to save a buck or two. Jack DoorDashLooking for big tips is like a 'treasure hunt'Jack doesn't just cross his fingers and hope for orders with big tips. Today, Jack said his DoorDash and Uber Eats tips were roughly at a pre-pandemic level, if not slightly higher.

☆ A 44-year-old mom of 3 made $735,000 in a year from a reselling business she launched using just the clothes in her closet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

She earned $735,000 in 2021 selling on social media livestreams and through brand partnerships. Mona Mejia "Everything was selling really quickly"In 2015, Mejia's family was in need of additional income to supplement her husband's pay. When she began listing more items, she noticed that "everything was selling really quickly" and real money was trickling in. Mona Mejia"The more you list, the more money you're going to make." Despite discounting, she says she's able to maintain high levels of profitability by only selling items she bought at especially cheap rates.

☆ If you hate tipping delivery people, drivers for Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash want you to consider these 4 main arguments why you should anyway
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

They responded to common reasons people don't want to tip their delivery drivers. Eight years later, Avedian said he's completed over 5,000 Uber and Lyft rides and a couple thousand food deliveries. Alix Anfang, an Uber spokesperson, told Insider that tipping has increased since 2020. "Food delivery has always had a high tipping rate, but the average tip on a delivery increased even further by about 20%." "If it wasn't for tips, delivery drivers wouldn't be making any money, period," Avedian said.

☆ How to 'quiet quit,' from a former teacher who did it for 2 years so she could enjoy a better life while still getting a paycheck
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Maggie Perkins, 30, engaged in "quiet quitting" while working as a teacher beginning in 2018. In 2018, she decided she needed a change and began engaging in what's recently become known as "quiet quitting." Perkins prefers the term "quiet working," however, because many teachers genuinely engage in their jobs and don't want to quit. She believes the term "teacher shortage" is a misnomer: It's a "teacher exodus." If you have a story to tell about "quiet quitting" reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@insider.com.

☆ Uber drivers lay out 4 reasons they think tipping has been getting worse — and why events like Taylor Swift concerts seem to make riders more generous
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Ben and other drivers have some theories about why riders aren't as generous as they used to be. Ben, a full-time Uber and Uber Eats driver for five years, said he'd worked as many as 90 hours in one week to make ends meet. Last year, Ben earned roughly $77,000 pretax driving for Uber and Uber Eats. Sergio AvedianUltimately, Avedian said Uber riders' tipping habits today could be traced to the company's decisions several years ago. In-app tipping wasn't even an option for Uber riders until 2017, despite drivers pushing for it for years.

☆ Remote Jobs Going Back to the Office, Outsourcing to Cheaper Workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Finding a remote job is getting more and more difficult. That's because competition for remote work in the US remains fierce, the number of job postings are on the decline, and some of the remote jobs that remain are being outsourced overseas. Companies are moving remote jobs overseasSome companies are embracing remote work, but not in the US. Instead, they're outsourcing jobs overseas and saving on labor costs. For Americans who are eager to snag that remote job, it's not all doom and gloom.

☆ Return to the office or see a pay cut: More and more companies are forcing remote workers to choose
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell might cut employees' bonuses if they don't return to the office. "We're very focused on having our team in at the same time," Neil Barr, chair and managing partner at Davis Polk, told the Wall Street Journal. The era of widespread remote work might be coming to a close economy-wide, as firms tighten their belts and try to get their workers back in. As mass layoffs sweep some sectors that embraced remote work — like tech — companies that are letting workers go are increasingly asking for their remaining workforce to come back in. That's because even companies that have chosen to embrace remote work may be doing so in part because it allows them to pay workers less.

☆ Companies like Uber and Amazon use AI to pay people different wages for the same work, a new study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some companies use AI to pay workers "different amount for the same amount of work," per new research. As companies adopt AI, she's concerned these practices could become prevalent in other industries. According to Dubal, companies like Amazon and Uber have "massive data sets" on the contract workers using their delivery or rideshare platforms, including when they work, for how long, and what kind of pay they've taken for past jobs. One Uber driver Dubal interviewed, Domingo, recalled being one ride of short of unlocking a $100 bonus one evening, but then said he experienced 45 minutes of "dead time" in a popular area before he was able to get another ride. Dubal described the alleged variable pay system as the "gamblification of work," a sentiment other gig workers shared.

☆ Cash stuffing budgets are all the rage right now. 2 women explain their polar-opposite experiences.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But then she decided to try "cash stuffing," a budgeting trend she'd heard about on YouTube two months earlier. Cash stuffing involves using envelopes to divide up cash for rent, groceries, gas, and other things. Vera KentCash stuffing isn't a good fit for everyoneNot everyone is a huge fan of cash stuffing, however. The video took off, racking up over 166,000 views, but Kent said she didn't take to cash stuffing and quit only three weeks after she started. Have you tried cash stuffing and are willing to share your story?

☆ ChatGPT is better at predicting how stocks will react to news headlines than traditional models, new study shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Florida researchers asked ChatGPT to analyze the sentiment of news headlines to forecast resulting stock moves. They said their study "demonstrates the value of ChatGPT in predicting stock market returns." They used this sentiment analysis to compute a numerical "ChatGPT score" and analyzed whether these scores were predictive of the company's stock market performance the next day. The researchers found a statistically significant positive correlation between these scores and the next-day stock performance for the companies they analyzed. "In short, our study demonstrates the value of ChatGPT in predicting stock market returns," the researchers wrote.

☆ A millennial tried out the TikTok-famous cash stuffing budget method — and said it helped her pay off a $19,000 car loan ahead of schedule
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Cash stuffing involves putting cash in labeled envelopes to help people track their spending. Berenice Rodriguez, 29, said cash stuffing helped her pay off debt while saving for a house. She said she does this to hold herself accountable and motivate others to give cash stuffing a try. Berenice RodriguezHow cash stuffing worksWhile Rodriguez attributed much of her financial improvement to cash stuffing, she said the journey hadn't been easy. "At the end of the day, cash stuffing is a tool to get you to your goals," she said.

☆ An employee reportedly asked to go remote. Her CEO says he outsourced her job to India instead and saved 40% on labor costs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CEO Johnny Taylor Jr. told WSJ he outsourced an employee's job after she requested it be remote. Hiring someone in India saved the company around 40% in labor costs, he told the Journal. Since the pandemic, some tech companies have hired remote workers overseas, sometimes amid layoffs. Some tech companies have already turned to overseas labor, including in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, Insider's Aki Ito reported. The year before, 17% of job postings offered remote work.

☆ People are ticked that delivery drivers complained about stingy tips in a viral New York Times article. Here are the 5 main reasons people don't think they should tip more.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Food delivery drivers are struggling to make ends meet, according to a recent New York Times article. While many delivery drivers said they benefited from larger tips during the beginning of the pandemic, some said this generosity has since faded. Why should sushi delivery drivers earn 10 times as much as pizza delivery?" (3) Drivers should be tipped based on how difficult their delivery wasSome commenters argued that food delivery drivers' tips should be based on how far — and what weather they had to endure — to make the delivery. "Someday, all of these gig workers will be too old to keep this kind of hustle up.

☆ A millennial who grew his net worth to $600,000 explains what it took to dig his way out of debt after overcoming a gambling addiction
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ambus Hunter, 36, said he almost went broke when he became addicted to gambling over a decade ago. His net worth is now about $600,000, and he works part time as a financial coach. Over the course of just four weeks, he said he lost roughly $10,000 — almost all his savings — playing roulette. Hunter said he'd had one major hiccup since he committed to quitting gambling but that he was able to get back on track. He said he set out to quickly replace the roughly $10,000 he'd lost.

☆ A remote worker loves the lifestyle so much she's locking it in by starting her own business so she can work from home forever
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Dawn-Michelle Lewis loves remote work, but not her remote job. Many researchers have found a correlation between remote work and happier employees. The share of remote postings could fall to 10% by the end of 2023, Nick Bloom, a leading work-from-home researcher and Stanford economist, previously told Insider. Remote work also saves them money on transportation — they sold one of their two vehicles — and allows them to live almost wherever they want. I want to give people the same opportunity of remote work I have been fortunate enough to have."

☆ The rise of remote work helped a former teacher with $80,000 in student debt switch to her dream job and get a $20,000 pay raise without moving
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Jackie Carbo thought her dream job in tech wasn't reachable, and she had more than $80,000 in student debt. But the rise of remote work made it possible for her to make a higher-paying career shift. The geographic flexibility is among the reasons researchers cite when explaining a correlation they have found between remote work and happier employees. She even decided to start a blog to document her travels and share tips about how to balance working remotely with traveling. Has remote work helped change your life?

☆ ChatGPT is strengthening the case for a 4-day workweek
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Such a productivity boost could make a four-day workweek more possible. Calls for implementing a four-day workweek have picked up steam over the past year as pilot programs have described promising results. "Any technology that increases productivity, ChatGPT included, makes a shorter workweek more feasible," Carl Benedikt Frey, an Oxford economist, told Insider. 'The workweek length is up for grabs'Rep. Mark Takano, a Democrat from California, is among those advocating a four-day workweek. "Yes, ChatGPT might make a four-day workweek more feasible in principle," Frey said.

☆ Remote workers are clinging to work-from-home jobs, even if they aren't that happy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Joe, 37, is torn between leaving his job and clinging to the flexibility of remote work. Many remote workers like him have gotten used to the WFH lifestyle, and built lives around it. With remote job openings tapering off, more remote workers may be inclined to stay put. Even before the pandemic, remote workers tended to be happier and stay at their jobs longer than on-site workers. The share of remote postings could fall to 10% by the end of 2023, Stanford economist and leading work-from-home researcher Nick Bloom told Insider.

☆ A millennial business owner who credits TikTok with $700,000 in sales in 2022 is afraid he'll lose it all if the US bans the app: 'Our representatives have no problem throwing all of our lives away'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Joshua Lucas, 29, credits TikTok for his online gem business' over $700,000 in sales in 2022. "I'm serious you guys, I'm kind of scared to lose y'all, to lose the community," he said. The Oregon native estimates that over 90% of his customers find the business on TikTok because he hasn't spent a "single cent" on marketing elsewhere. Before going forward with a ban, Lucas say he hopes members of Congress realize how important TikTok is to so many people. Are you a business owner worried about a TikTok ban and willing to share your story?

☆ Some of Florida's cities don't want spring breakers. With the state's economy booming, many don't need them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Miami Beach's mayor recently said officials "don't want spring break in our city." Spring break is among the reasons the state generates billions of dollars in tax revenue per year from tourism. But there are signs that booming population growth, which Florida's Office of Economic and Demographic Research has described as the state's "primary engine of economic growth," could help diversify the state's economy. The number of arrests in the city during spring break more than doubled in 1986 from the same period in 1985. While thousands of college students still frequent Fort Lauderdale during spring break, the city's current mayor, Dean Trantalis, described them as "very well behaved."

☆ A millennial who quit her 6-figure job says the temporary financial strain was worth it after she was able to start her dream business
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

She now works part-time as a marketing professor at two colleges and is launching her "dream" social media business. Llewellyn is based in Canada, but her story is reflective of a broader desire for part-time work. While a part-time job might not be easy to find, many workers who have landed one have found themselves better off. Advice for people considering part-time workDespite her burnout, Llewellyn says that her goal was never to work part-time forever. For others considering making the shift from full-time to part-time, Llewellyn has a few pieces of advice.

☆ Home prices are plummeting everywhere but the US. Blame America's favorite mortgage.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The US' reliance on the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is among the biggest reasons why. Per the report, Sweden and New Zealand housing prices both fell roughly 14% from their peaks, while Germany, South Korea, Canada, and Australia saw declines between 5 and 10%. But rising mortgage rates don't impact every country's housing market the same way. For fixed-rate borrowers, many of whom locked in their mortgages when interest rates were low, rising interest rates have no impact on their monthly mortgage payments. And if plummeting housing prices are a signal a country's economy is on the brink, then perhaps it isn't such great news for aspiring homebuyers after all.

☆ A guy is using ChatGPT to turn $100 into a business making as much money as possible. Here are the first 4 steps the AI chatbot gave him.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Jackson Greathouse Fall asked ChatGPT to turn $100 into "as much money as possible." Jackson Greathouse Fall, a brand designer and writer, took to Twitter last week to share a prompt that he gave the chatbot. The company is now valued at $25,000, according to a tweet by Greathouse Fall. But when Greathouse Fall learned the domain name cost $848 to acquire, it suggested one that was more affordable: GreenGadgetsGuru.com. Are you using ChatGPT to save time or make money?

☆ A millennial who became a millionaire after the 2008 crash says building wealth is about more than opportunistic investing. You also have to make lifestyle changes and load up on side hustles.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sabatier says that economic uncertainty has created an "incredible opportunity to invest," but that there's more to building wealth than timing the market. While the economy and the stock market don't always rise and fall in tandem, historically, a struggling economy has provided investors with opportunities to buy stocks on the cheap. When Sabatier began investing in 2010, the US economy had already emerged from the Great Recession, and the stock market had recovered some of its losses. From March 2009 to March 2020, the S&P 500 gained over 400% — the longest bull market run in US history. "You'll come out ahead over the next 10, 20, and 30-plus years," he said, adding that, "the best time to start investing was yesterday.

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