Job anxiety is gripping the once-cushy Big Tech industry
- This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
Welcome back to our Sunday edition, a roundup of some of our top stories.
On the agenda today:
As it turns out, everyone's kind of fed up with work.
What Ozempic taught one man about shame — and willpower.
Sorry, folks: Sky-high home prices are here to stay.
Onboard a US Navy carrier that's shooting down Houthi missiles.
But first: Job anxiety is gripping the once-cushy Big Tech industry.
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Dispatch
A Big Tech reckoning
Wondering what happened to the free lunches and merch in Big Tech? ZIRP.
Bummed about the moonshot project you were passionate about getting mothballed? ZIRP.
Anxious about layoffs, even when your employer is doing just fine? ZIRP.
The acronym, which stands for Zero Interest Rate Phenomenon, has become Silicon Valley shorthand for a changed workplace.
Whereas before Big Tech companies couldn't hire quick enough, now it's laser focused on reducing layers. Constant job cuts have emerged as a new normal. What was the "year of efficiency" is now a permanent state of being.
This newfound discipline is benefiting the bottom line. Microsoft is worth $3 trillion. Meta is now paying dividends. Salesforce, Alphabet, and Amazon aren't far from hitting record stock price highs. That benefits the many employees who hold stock, too.
But amid increased competition, an end to cushy perks, and the risk that they might wake up one day to find their office badge no longer works, many working in Big Tech feel … well, a little less special.
Boomers and Gen Xers are fed up with work
After publishing a story on Gen Z's frustration with the workplace, correspondent Aki Ito received a wave of emails saying she'd gotten something wrong. Gen Xers and boomers were fed up, too.
Older generations remember a time when their companies treated them better. In many cases, they've experienced workplace betrayal — and they're just as disillusioned as the generations after them.
Why older generations are frustrated.
Also read:
Lessons on Ozempic
After years of trying to lose weight, this author gave Mounjaro, a GLP-1 medication, a chance. What he found was the drug was far more than just an effective weight-loss medication. Instead, it was like injecting willpower.
The drug felt like it could help him win his battle with temptation without even fighting it — and fundamentally changed his understanding of willpower and shame.
Also read:
The housing bubble is a myth
Since home prices began soaring in 2020, doomsayers have warned the housing market is a bubble threatening to pop. But after years of waiting, no bubble has come forth and burst.
And while staggering home prices are concerning, they're simply a product of a severe lack of supply — and prices show no signs of plummeting.
Why there won't be a pop anytime soon.
Also read:
Young homebuyers are about to regain serious leverage over their parents' generation, the 'Oracle of Wall Street' says
Onboard a warship in the Red Sea
The US Navy spent months shooting down Houthi drones and missiles in the air. Last month, however, it changed its tactics.
In January, the Navy began hitting the threats before they could even be launched. Business Insider boarded warships in the Red Sea, and got an inside look at this tactical shift.
How the Navy is changing gears.
This week's quote
"Scott Stapp, man. We're so back."
— A man at the Phoenix Open, the drunkest, most unhinged event in golf
More of this week's top reads
Leaked documents show Google launched an internal AI model to help employees write code faster.
Millennials and Gen Z were the winners of the stock market's pandemic-era boom.
Hundreds of employees protested Adobe moving its MAX conference to Florida.
A man with a $100,000 salary says pay transparency is an ethical duty.
Commercial real estate is in big trouble.
As layoffs mount, working from home is getting riskier than ever.
The Insider Today team: Matt Turner, deputy editor-in-chief, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York.