In March, Jessica, a marketer at a financial-services company, showed up for her annual performance review expecting a promotion and a big raise. Her boss had already told her she deserved it. She'd had a stellar year, receiving great reviews along the way. She was pretty sure she was the top performer on her team.

But when she met with her boss, he gave her the bad news: There just wasn't enough money in the budget this year. All he could give her was a measly 3.5% raise — just barely enough to keep up with inflation. He also loaded her up with extra work and new responsibilities, without giving her a promotion. If she performed her additional duties well, she was told, she might have a shot at a 6% raise next year. Maybe.

Gone are the frenzied days of 2021 and 2022, when employers were handing out bigger titles and pay packages like gold stars at a kindergarten art show. In 2023, according to data compiled by Workday, companies across every industry promoted fewer employees than they did the previous year. The cutbacks were especially stark in tech, where promotion rates plunged by 25%. And corporate America has only gotten stingier since. In a recent survey conducted by Mercer, an HR consulting firm, companies reported that they expect to promote only 8% of employees this year – down from 10.3% last year.

Why have employers suddenly gotten so stingy? The short answer is: Because they can. Yes, high interest rates and slower economic growth means that companies are being forced to tighten their belts. But two years ago, cutting promotions and raises wasn't an option. Back then, in the midst of the Great Resignation, employees denied a title bump or a bigger paycheck could simply look elsewhere. "A lot of companies honestly felt held hostage by folks," says Kelli Dragovich, an HR advisor who has served as chief people officer at several tech companies. "Everyone was afraid of the chaos of the talent war." But these days, as I recently reported, hiring rates for high-salaried employees are down to some of the lowest levels we've seen in a decade. And that's allowing employers to tighten the screws without risking an immediate exodus.

Even when the job market begins to heat up again, we may not see promotion rates recover to 2022 levels for some time — or ever. Tech companies are currently scrambling to flatten their organizations by eliminating roles for middle managers. The aim is not just to cut costs, but to encourage teams to make faster decisions. Meta, for example, is aiming to eliminate around 50 of its 300 vice presidents — a title that apparently includes five different levels. In this new structure, there just aren't as many senior-level positions for employees to get elevated into.

"There's a feeling that we got fat and happy these last eight years or so," says Dragovich. "You look at some of these organizations and the pyramid was almost inverted. You get questions like, who's doing the work if everyone's a director and above?"

For employees, it's a tough new reality to accept — especially for Gen Zers, who have come to expect frequent advances up the corporate ladder. When the employer-review site JobSage surveyed workers at the height of the Great Resignation, 58% of Gen Zers said they expected to be promoted every 18 months. That's compared with only 20% of boomers and 27% of Gen Xers.

To soften the blow, some companies are offering one-time retention bonuses to their highest performers. Even in the worst of job markets, employers realize, star employees can always go elsewhere. "It might not make sense to give them a promotion because the organization has flattened," says Dragovich. "But they're saying, stick with us. We'll get through this, then we'll start growing again. Until then, here's a huge equity grant to get you through." The grants are sometimes as large as what an employee would have received with a promotion.

But what about all the other disgruntled employees, the ones who aren't getting hefty bonuses? How can companies keep them motivated in an era of vanishing promotions? One solution to offer them is something that many younger workers have been demanding: more transparency. Often, employees are left in the dark over how promotions are decided, and what they need to do to get one. That opacity makes it hard for them to trust that they'll get more opportunities down the road. Helping them understand how they can move up will keep them more engaged.

"The experience of employees is going to be different if their company provides some clarity around career mobility, versus if career mobility is just a black box," says Michael Citron, a principal at Mercer who specializes in compensation and rewards. "That transparency provides more confidence and more understanding around what it really takes to move." If you can't give an employee a promotion, you can at least give them a road map of how to get there.

In the meantime, the downturn in promotions is leaving even the best employees, like Jessica, with stalled careers. They can't move up at their own companies. And they can't move elsewhere, because so few employers are hiring right now. In the midst of the Great Stagnation, many employees are stuck in the same, boring roles they've already outgrown, and they have nowhere to go.

But that doesn't mean they have no options. Companies need to remember that even though employees can't afford to quit their jobs in the current hiring slump, they can still quiet quit. After all, if they're not going to get rewarded for their hard work, why bother in the first place?

That's what Jessica has been telling herself. Two days after her disappointing review, she started looking for a new job. So far, she's applied to some 200 positions. And while she's preparing to jump ship, she's resorting to something totally out of character: She's refusing to work a minute past 5 o'clock.

"I'm just so checked out at this point," she says. "I've always been a type A kind of person, an overachiever. So it's discouraging when you put in all that work and they're just like: no."

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Aki Ito is a chief correspondent at Business Insider.

• For the last three years, my mom has been our childcare provider.
• She does a great job of looking after my two kids, but we have different rules for them. 
• This creates tension and confusion.

When we moved to my hometown three years ago, my mother became our day care provider. She wanted to do it, but due to a deficit of day care slots, we also needed her to fill this role. And, of course, when choosing someone to be with my kids, I'd rather them be with my mom.

It was a good fit for everyone.

We drew up a scenario where she'd work her day job two days a week — which offered her insurance and a discount on their growing medical bills — and keep the grandchildren, two boys then 4 and 2 years old, the other three days of the week. In this setup, my spouse and I would also pay my mom the going rate.

Everyone agreed.

This has been our setup for the last three years. The boys have alternated between "Mommy days" and "Grammy days," even as my oldest started kindergarten and my youngest finished preschool.

She's great with my kids, but we have different rules

My mom has always taken great care of the boys, but we have very different personalities, which means we parent differently. Our homes also have different rules. At her house, the boys wear shoes outside. If they don't have them on, she reminds them the second they cross the threshold and asks where their shoes are. Meanwhile, I'm constantly barefoot in the yard. If my kids are too, that's great!

Grammy also doesn't allow wrestling — she says she "can't handle it" — while at our house, so long as everyone is in on the fun, it's fair game. It goes on and on like that. I'm more hands-off and OK with letting them experience natural consequences, while she would wrap them in bubble wrap if she could.

I let them be boys, and she wants to reel them in and avoid the wildness of being a young kid.

Treating the kids differently can be confusing for everyone

As you can imagine, this has led to some confusion — for the kids, yes, but for my mom, too. She regularly wants to parent over me or enforce her own rules when visiting my house. However, it's more out of habit than coming from a place of ill intent. But each time she asks them not to yell or keep their hands to themselves, it's like nails on a chalkboard for me. I nicely remind her that's her rule, not mine.

"That's not a rule here," I will tell her. "They are allowed to play in the mud if they want to."

She laughs, but there is underlying tension because she doesn't agree. Ultimately, she said what she did because she believes in a different set of rules. Mud isn't for squishing in, and houses aren't for yelling.

Meanwhile, I'm frustrated with the overbearing nature of it all and exhausted from the mental energy required to have the same conversations over and over again.

There actually are scenarios in which I'm the strict one, like car seat arrangements, for example. I have rules about how they are installed and what kind of seats they can use. Regarding this topic, it's been easier for me to just install them in her car myself. Another major difference is how we think about sugar: how much they can have, and when they can have it. But with these issues, she does follow instructions, all while listing the things that have changed since she raised kids; the classic boomer versus Millenial face-off.

Still, I'm grateful to her for watching them, and she's done a great job

I have loved her being our childcare provider, but as my youngest enters his first year of school, a part of me also feels relief. She can go back to just being Grammy, and I can just go back to being her daughter, not her childcare employer. No doubt the opinions (and the comments) will still be there, but they'll be fewer and further between — and not coming rapid fire after a long day of work.

Ultimately, though, it's been the best decision for our kids and provided them with precious moments that we will all continue to cherish.

• Lauren Boebert was seen sporting a pair of Trump sneakers at her election watch party last week.
• But the Colorado Republican said the flamboyant footwear she wore wasn't the real deal.
• "These are very China, but I'm okay with that," Boebert told Westword.

Rep. Lauren Boebert may be an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump but even she couldn't get her hands on some of Trump's campaign merchandise.

The Colorado Republican was seen sporting a pair of golden Trump sneakers at an election watch party on Tuesday. Boebert, who switched from Colorado's 3rd congressional District to the 4th congressional District, won the GOP primary for the constituency.

But the flamboyant footwear she was wearing wasn't even the real deal, Boebert said.

"These are very China, but I'm okay with that. If I could've bought the OGs, I would have," Boebert told the Denver-based media outlet Westword on Tuesday.

Boebert said she spoke to Trump after clinching her win.

"He congratulated me, he loves me and thanks me for a good win," Boebert told Westword.

Trump launched the high-top sneakers in February at this year's "Sneaker Con" in Philadelphia and was met with both boos and cheers from the audience. The shoes, which were launched with a limited run of 1000 pairs, are indeed sold out, per the product listing.

BI identified an online seller in southern China that was hawking "Never Surrender Trump male sneakers" on Taobao, a Chinese online shopping platform.

The knockoffs retail for $24.50 and are far cheaper than the originals, which sell for $399. It is unclear if Boebert had bought her pair from this seller.

The GOP congresswoman has been a staunch supporter of Trump. In fact, Boebert even skipped a day in Congress to support Trump at his hush-money trial in May but was reportedly absent at her own son's court appearances.

Boebert's 18-year-old son, Tyler, was arrested by the Rifle Police Department in February after a "string of vehicle trespass and property thefts" in Rifle, Colorado.

To be sure, Boebert probably isn't the only Trump supporter who had trouble snagging some of his merchandise.

The former president has endorsed a wide range of products — like bibles and fragrances like "Victory Cologne" and "Victory Perfume."

Trump also has a hefty war chest. In May, the Trump campaign raised $141 million in donations alongside the Republican National Committee.

Representatives for Boebert and Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

• Emily Reagan is a military spouse who became a freelance marketing assistant due to frequent moves.
• She hadn't been able to progress her media career so she started working remotely for business owners.
• Offering specialized marketing services led to both higher income and work-life balance.

I became a freelance marketing assistant without planning to in 2010 when my husband's military career forced me to quit yet another dream job.

We had just gotten orders to move back to Washington, DC from Oklahoma City. I worked in media and public relations, but I had a new baby and didn't have the energy or the connections to start over in a top media market while being the default parent to our son.

As we moved frequently over the previous seven years, I always landed new jobs, but starting over in every town didn't help my career progression. My salary was capped everywhere we went, and I'd never made more than $39,000 a year.

I watched my non-military spouse friends with traditional jobs progress in their careers, earn fancy job titles, and buy houses with pools. And then there was me — stuck starting over every 18 months and having to prove myself in each new job.

I knew I had to try something new

Before we left for DC, a business owner in Oklahoma City asked me to help him promote his digital printing and photo shop even though I was moving 1,300 miles away. A remote job sounded great, so I said yes.

When I took the position, I had no idea what I was doing, so I focused on getting the business results. I handled social media marketing, podcast pitching, and press release writing.

My first client gave me the confidence to pick up more freelance work I saw on Facebook

I came to the table with some email marketing and PR experience but learned a lot just by doing it. I also started listening to podcasts to learn things like marketing strategy and took a few online courses.

I took on more clients — everyone from furniture painters to designers — who were swamped with the day-to-day tasks of running their businesses and were eager to offload the marketing tactics that would help them make money.

I carved out a niche in the creative space, helping them grow their online presence through content marketing, blogging, SEO strategy, social media, weekly emails, community management, and marketing funnel building.

It was life-giving work for me. I loved being part of a team again and working toward a common goal. Truthfully, tidying up the toy room or cleaning the bathrooms never left me that fulfilled.

I gave myself the title of marketing assistant to differentiate myself from the thousands of virtual assistants providing admin services. One client led to another through referral after referral.

Eventually, I got smarter with my packaging and prices

At one point, I had 15 clients at once. I whittled them down to just two a month at $2,500 and a Pinterest client at $600 and boosted my income with VIP days, one-off projects, and strategy sessions. I worked 15-25 hours a week.

I advise new digital service providers to skip admin services and offer marketing services immediately. Marketing brings in leads and sales, and clients pay more based on perceived value and the results you can get for their business.

Marketing services are also the most flexible. Unless a client is in a promotional period, most of the work can be done on your time. Unlike an administrative assistant, you're not tied to regular 9-5 office hours.

I wanted a work-life balance that allowed me to have my cake and eat it, too

The military spouse unemployment rate is around 21%, but many of us are qualified and have college degrees. Employers don't want to risk hiring us when they know we'll just move again, so we tend to settle for low pay, time off, and job satisfaction.

Finding meaningful, well-paid work as a military spouse was a game changer for my professional identity, happiness, and finances. Over the past decade, I went on to have three more babies and move six more times while working as a freelance marketing assistant.

I wanted to be a working, stay-at-home mom who could be present for her children and hold down the fort when my husband was deployed. It also allowed me to contribute to the family's budget.

Within a few years, I had almost doubled my former stagnant salary of $39,000

I took control of my career and grew my income beyond what it had ever been. I progressed from $20/hour to $100/hr rates and beyond.

Now, I do less client work and most of my income comes from my course and membership, where I teach other stay-at-home moms to build a career around their lifestyle. I earn six figures.

Cracking six figures is difficult for a general virtual assistant. Very successful general VAs also typically supplement their income with digital information products or subcontractors doing agency work. I found that freelancers can hit the upper five figures and into the $100+/hour range by niching into specialized marketing services.

If you're looking for freedom and flexibility in your career, here's my advice

I suggest starting with a digital service you already know how to do, like something you've done in a previous job or volunteer role. Your confidence in your service will help you sell it.

Say yes to tasks you've never done before. Clients value your ability to figure things out. They love to keep work in-house and will call on you first. You can gain experience on their dime and grow your confidence even more.

Treat your client's business as your own. When you provide exceptional service, they'll refer you to more clients. It only takes one happy client to explode your business.

Claim a specific job title other than virtual assistant as soon as you have clarity and experience in your top three services. A specific job title will help you command higher project rates and position you as an expert.

Finally, gather client testimonials and results and share them. Social proof is your golden ticket to the next client finding you, trusting you, and never questioning your higher-end rates.

Emily Reagan is a mom of four, Air Force spouse, freelance digital marketer, and mentor who helps women learn marketing skills and find flexible remote work.

• Biden's campaign manager had a call with around 40 of his top financial backers on Sunday, NBC reports.
• Julie Chavez Rodriguez said Biden stepping aside would mean the war chest would get redistributed, per NBC.
• And the lion's share would go to Kamala Harris, she said, with a smaller amount going to the DNC.

President Joe Biden's campaign has been pulling out the stops to shore up support for him after his disastrous debate performance on Thursday. But the president's top donors have been briefed on what might happen and the messy financial situation that might ensue if he were to end his presidential run, NBC reported.

According to NBC's Mike Memoli and Monica Alba, Biden's campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, had a call with around 40 of Biden's top financial backers on Sunday.

During the call, Chavez Rodriguez told the donors — while emphasizing that Biden had no intention to give up on his 2024 run — that the lion's share of the campaign money would go to Vice President Kamala Harris.

A smaller amount would go to the Democratic National Committee, NBC reported.

NBC further reported that the Biden camp has held similar conversations, with more to come in the weak ahead. Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon, per two NBC sources, will also talk to donors on Monday night.

For his part, Biden has given little indication that he plans to step aside. In a speech to some 2,000 supporters in North Carolina, Biden acknowledged his poor showing at the debate while attempting to rally support.

"Folks, I might not walk as easily or talk as smoothly as I used to. I might not debate as well as I used to. But what I do know is how to tell the truth," Biden said.

Biden added that he would not be running for office again if he did not believe with all his "heart and soul" that he could still do the job.

In the meantime, multiple reports have emerged of infighting within the Democratic Party's ranks. Biden's family members have urged him to stay in the race while blaming his top aides for his lackluster debate performance.

And as speculation about whether the president plans to stay the course persists, dissatisfaction is growing in Harris' camp, Politico reported. Harris allies are complaining that other influential Democrats — like Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan — are being prioritized over the VP as potential Biden replacements, per Politico.

Representatives for Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

• Russia's former President Dmitry Medvedev said that the US erroneously believes it won the Cold War.
• "What's more, it is now just one step away from losing it completely," Medvedev added.
• The Putin loyalist has routinely threatened nuclear attacks on the West. 

Russia's former President Dmitry Medvedev said the US had erroneously "decided that it had won the Cold War."

At the 12th International Legal Forum in St Petersburg on June 27, Medvedev, now the deputy chair of Russia's Security Council, said: "It was a very serious misconception. The US did not win it."

He added: "What's more, it is now just one step away from losing it completely."

Medvedev's comments during the forum are in line with his anti-West stance.

When the former president was elected in 2008, he was seen as more liberal and pro-West than his predecessor, Vladimir Putin.

However, since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he has stood against the West in what many consider to be efforts to win Putin's favor. He's now known for routinely making bombastic threats against Western countries.

For one, Medvedev threatened nuclear war in an X post on May 6, when he said that Russia would launch nuke attacks on Western capitals if NATO were to send troops to support Ukraine.

"In that case, none of them will be able to hide either on Capitol Hill, or in the Elysee Palace, or in Downing Street, 10. It will be a global catastrophe," he wrote.

Medvedev also suggested that Russia fire a hypersonic missile at The Hague after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin.

Medvedev has also repeatedly made wild predictions of wars in the West and the collapse of Western countries. He said a war would one day erupt between France and Germany. He also predicted in December 2022 that Elon Musk might one day be elected US president — a suggestion that even Musk said he thought was "absurd."

Medvedev's representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

• Elon Musk is a fan of Jensen Huang's work ethic.
• Huang said he once worked for the breakfast chain Denny's, where he washed dishes and cleaned toilets.
• The Nvidia CEO said the experience shaped his hands-on working style.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's indefatigable work ethic has helped turn the chip giant into one of the most valuable companies in the world.

So it's perhaps no surprise that Huang's client and fellow billionaire, Elon Musk, is a fan of his management style.

"Absolutely the right attitude," Musk said in an X post on Sunday. "During the toilet paper shortages of Covid, I was making sure that our factories and offices had toilet paper."

Musk was responding to a clip of an interview Huang gave in March to Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where he talked about his experience working at the breakfast chain Denny's.

"To me, no task is beneath me because, remember, I used to be a dishwasher," Huang said. "I used to clean toilets. I cleaned a lot of toilets. I've cleaned more toilets than all of you combined."

The experience, Huang said, proved formative in shaping his working style — taking on a hands-on approach toward solving problems with his staff.

"You can't show me a task that's beneath me," Huang said. "If you send me something, and you want me to help review it, I'll do my best. And I'll show you how I would do it."

Musk, for his part, hasn't been afraid to be hands-on either.

The Tesla CEO said he once spent a spell sleeping in the EV giant's factories to personally inspect the vehicles coming off the production line.

"The reason I slept on the floor was not because I couldn't go across the road and be at a hotel. It was because I wanted my circumstances to be worse than anyone else at the company," Musk told Bloomberg in 2018. "Whenever they felt pain, I wanted mine to be worse."

To be sure, Musk's praise for Huang probably isn't just because they are kindred spirits when it comes to the hustle. He hasn't hesitated to pick fights with other billionaires known for their hardcore work ethic, like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban.

Musk's friendly overtures may instead have more to do with how intertwined their fortunes are. After all, Musk's ambitions with AI — including Tesla's goal of making self-driving cars and his desire to turn xAI into the world's leading AI company — mean acquiring Nvidia's chips has become a matter of survival.

And for what it's worth, the admiration between Musk and Huang appears to be mutual.

"Tesla is far ahead in self-driving cars, but every single car, someday, will have to have autonomous capability," Huang said in an interview with Yahoo Finance in May.

"Thanks Jensen," Musk wrote in an X post in response.

Representatives for Musk and Huang did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.