I went to Cracker Barrel and Waffle House to see how the chains' breakfasts compared.
Terri Peters
I tried the same meal at Cracker Barrel and Waffle House to see which chain had the best breakfast.
I liked my meal at Cracker Barrel but thought some dishes were overpriced.
I thought Waffle House was the clear winner in taste and value.
Waffle House has been one of my family's favorite breakfast spots for a long time. But after recently trying and falling in love with Cracker Barrel's family meal deals, I've been curious which chain is actually our top pick.
Both popular breakfast chains have been in the news lately — Waffle House (slightly) raised its notoriously low base pay, and Cracker Barrel recently reported a dip in revenue. With Waffle House's new investments and Cracker Barrel's decrease in earnings, I was curious to see how the two stacked up in the long line of breakfast chains.
To find out, I ordered the same meal — biscuits and gravy, hash-brown bowls, and steak and eggs — at each chain and compared them.
Cracker Barrel, which released several new menu items, has recently seen a dip in revenue.
I headed to Cracker Barrel, which recently reported a decrease in total revenue, first.
Terri Peters
The first Cracker Barrel opened in Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1969. The restaurant chain serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and is known for its Southern, country-style menu and gift shop. Today, the chain operates more than 660 locations across 45 states.
Cracker Barrel, which reported a nearly 2% decrease in total revenue from this time last year in its fiscal third quarter, has focused on adding new items to its menu, like cinnamon-bread French toast, green-chile cornbread, and shepherd's pie topped with a hash-brown-casserole crust
On a call with investors in May, Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino said the chain is "not as relevant" as it once was, which could explain the company's efforts to attract new customers with menu additions.
Cracker Barrel's menu was a bit overwhelming.
I ordered several classic breakfast items at Cracker Barrel.
Terri Peters
My husband and I visited Cracker Barrel on a Saturday evening around 6 p.m. to take advantage of its all-day breakfast menu.
Though the restaurant didn't seem too busy, we waited about 20 minutes after being seated for a server to visit our table and take our drink order. This wait gave us lots of time to review the menu, which I appreciated since it was pretty long.
As we looked over breakfast and dinner options, desserts, and side dishes, we agreed that the Cracker Barrel menu was too busy.
We ordered the biscuits n' gravy with sausage, bacon n' egg hash-brown casserole, and New-York strip steak n' eggs, which cost about $41.
The biscuits n' gravy with sausage tasted a bit too smoky for me.
I wasn't completely satisfied with Cracker Barrel's biscuits n' gravy with sausage.
Terri Peters
Cracker Barrel's biscuits n' gravy cost $7.70 as part of the restaurant's discounted sunrise-specials menu.
The simple meal came with three buttermilk biscuits, a bowl of sawmill gravy (a type of sausage gravy), and two sausage patties. When it arrived at our table, I thought it looked like something out of a Southern-style photo shoot.
Though the sausage patties were well-seasoned and had the perfect amount of salt, the gravy had an overpowering smoky flavor that I wasn't a fan of.
That being said, the flaky, buttery biscuits were delicious and the true star of our meal.
The hash-brown casserole in Cracker Barrel's breakfast bowl felt overcomplicated.
I thought the bacon n' egg hash-brown casserole at Cracker Barrel was a little heavy.
Terri Peters
The bacon n' egg hash-brown casserole, served in a blue bowl and topped with crispy onions, looked visually appealing.
The meal contained a piece of Cracker Barrel's famous hash-brown casserole, made with shredded potatoes, cheese, and chopped onions.However, I thought the creamy, cheesy potatoes slightly overpowered the $12.50 breakfast bowl.
The cheese-topped scrambled eggs and crispy, salty bacon on top were really good, but the dense hash-brown casserole felt too heavy to me — especially since this is a breakfast food meant to be consumed before starting your day.
The New-York strip steak n' eggs dish was pretty flavorful.
I thought the elements in the New-York strip steak n' eggs at Cracker Barrel were on point.
Terri Peters
The New-York strip and eggs at Cracker Barrel came with a piece of hash-brown casserole and scrambled eggs. I added colby-jack cheese to my eggs, which brought the dish (normally $19.50) to about $21. When I ordered, I requested a steak cooked to a medium temperature.
Cracker Barrel's steak was crispy and caramelized. It was perfectly seasoned with salt and very good, though I thought it was cooked to a well-done temperature instead of my requested medium.
The other elements of this dish were very tasty. The eggs were light and fluffy, and the hash-brown casserole was cheesy and dense, pairing well with the entrée.
Still, for $21, the meal didn't feel like a great value, especially since it didn't come with any extras like toast.
Next, I headed to Waffle House, which recently raised its base pay for servers.
Waffle House has gained attention for its low wages in the past few months.
Terri Peters
Waffle House opened its first diner-style restaurant in 1955 in Avondale Estates, Georgia. Today, all Waffle House locations are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and there are over 1,900 locations in 25 states.
Waffle House recently raised its server wages to $3 an hour, a change CEO Joe Rodgers III called the chain's "single largest additional investment in our workforce" in its 68-year history. Several Waffle House workers went on strike earlier this year to protest the low wages and the company's meal-credit policy.
Waffle House kept things simple with its menu items.
I figured I'd enjoy most of the food at Waffle House.
Terri Peters
My two teenagers and I visited Waffle House for a late-morning meal on a Monday around 11 a.m. We immediately grabbed a booth, and a server came to our table once we were seated.
The menu felt simple, with the straightforward breakfast options on one side and the lunch and dinner choices on the other. Getting seated and ordering felt cheerful and efficient, and I was more at ease at Waffle House. However, I might have caught Cracker Barrel on an off day.
I got similar items to what I ordered at Cracker Barrel: the biscuit and gravy with a side of sausage, a bacon-egg-and-cheese hash-brown bowl, and the sirloin and eggs breakfast, which cost about $33.
The biscuit and gravy at Waffle House was very tasty.
I was a big fan of the biscuit and gravy at Waffle House.
Terri Peters
For comparison's sake, I ordered two separate dishes to taste test against Cracker Barrel's biscuits and gravy, which came with sausage. I got Waffle House's biscuit and gravy ($4), which included one grilled biscuit split in half and a side of two sausage patties ($4.50).
The sausage gravy had a savory, peppery flavor — with no smokiness and the perfect smooth texture. Though there was only one biscuit, it was flaky and buttery and complemented the sausage gravy perfectly.
The sausage patties were flavorful, with a nice amount of seasoning and salt. My perfect dish would combine Cracker Barrel's biscuits, which were a bit lighter, with Waffle House's gravy.
The sausage patties at both restaurants felt interchangeable — they were delicious but just standard-fare breakfast sausages.
I loved the delicious simplicity of Waffle House's bacon-egg-and-cheese hash-brown bowl.
The bacon-egg-and-cheese hash-brown bowl at Waffle House was delicious.
Terri Peters
The Waffle House hash-brown bowls are among my favorite breakfast foods — I especially enjoy the cheesesteak-melt version. I'd never tried the bacon-egg-and-cheese hash-brown bowl, but I enjoyed it as much as the other varieties I've had at the chain.
The $11.30 bowl felt much lighter than the Cracker Barrel version, as the hash browns were primarily made of just shredded potatoes.
The bowl also featured cheese melted between the hot scrambled eggs and the layer of hash browns. The protein-packed bacon and eggs on top were the most filling parts of the dish.
The meat seemed overcooked, but I liked the sirloin-and-eggs breakfast at Waffle House.
The sirloin-and-eggs breakfast at Waffle House had flavorful meat, eggs, and hash browns.
Terri Peters
The sirloin-and-eggs meal wasn't on Waffle House's physical menu, but I saw it on the chain's website. When I asked about it, our server knew exactly what I meant.
I ordered the sirloin cooked to a medium temperature but found the finished steak to be overcooked.
Cracker Barrel's steak contained more fat than Waffle House's sirloin, which was salty and crisp on the outside and tender when cut. The $13.10 entrée, which came with hash browns, two pieces of toast, and scrambled eggs, felt like a great value for a steak breakfast.
The scrambled eggs were well-cooked, and the hash browns were just salty enough. This is a Waffle House dish I'd order again.
I'd return for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, but Waffle House would be my first choice.
Waffle House was the winner of this taste test.
Terri Peters
Of the two restaurants, Waffle House was the clear winner for me. Though the meal at Cracker Barrel was much more visually appetizing, I preferred the flavor of the food at Waffle House.
If I return to Cracker Barrel in the future, I'd order different breakfast items. The steak was a bright point in the meal, but I don't think I'd spend $21 on an entrée again. I couldn't help feeling like our $41 breakfast entrées were slightly overpriced.
Waffle House's meal cost about $8 less than the same entrées at Cracker Barrel and tasted much better overall. It hit all the right spots for a satisfying breakfast — heavy on protein with perfectly cooked and salted hash browns.
At just $33 for the same three items, it felt like a no-brainer to deem Waffle House the winner of my breakfast battle. I can't wait to return for another round of steak and eggs.
Shannen Doherty has died of cancer at the age of 53.
Lisa O'Connor/AFP/Getty Images
"Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Heathers" star Shannen Doherty died on Saturday at age 53.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
Doherty's mother and former costars have paid tribute her.
Shannen Doherty's mother and her "Beverly Hills, 90210" costars are among those to pay tribute to the actor who died from cancer on Saturday, at age 53.
Doherty played Heather Duke in 1989's "Heathers," but was best known as Brenda Walsh in the beloved 1990s Fox teen drama series, "Beverly Hills, 90210." Doherty reprised the role in 2008's "90210," and the 2019 revival, "BH90210."
The series turned Doherty and co-stars including Jason Priestly, Luke Perry, and Jennie Garth into household names.
Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and said on Instagram in 2017 that she was in remission.
The actor's publicist, Leslie Sloane, confirmed Doherty's death in a statement to Business Insider.
"The devoted daughter, sister, aunt, and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace," she said.
Social media was flooded with tributes to Doherty from her family, fans, and former costars.
Her mother, Rosa Doherty, told People: "She is my beautiful girl and my heart. Our family wants to thank everyone who has shown love and support for our Shannen throughout her life. We are truly appreciative."
Priestly, who played Brenda Walsh's twin brother on "90210," shared photos of the pair on Instagram from the 1990s series.
"Shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of my friend Shannen. She was a force of nature and I will miss her. Sending love and light to her family in this dark time," he wrote.
Garth also posted old photos of herself with Doherty on Instagram and called her "one of the strongest people I have ever known."
She wrote: "She was courageous, passionate, determined and very loving and generous. I will miss her and will always honor her deeply in my heart and in my memories. My heart breaks for her family and Bowie."
Doherty's ex-husband, Ashley Hamilton, told TMZ that his heart "aches" over her passing. The couple were together from 1993 to 1994.
"Shannen was not only my wife, she was my guardian angel. Even though things don't always work out the way we hope they will, she stood by my side during some of my darkest times," he said. "My love and admiration for her lasted far longer than our short-lived marriage."
Hamilton added: "The world lost a free-spirited soul and my heart aches for her and for all those who loved her. May she rest in peace."
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Sarah Michelle Gellar also paid tribute to her friend of 30 years.
They became friends in the 1990s when they both starred on TV shows airing on The WB network — Gellar on "Buffy," while Doherty played young witch Prue Halliwell on "Charmed."
"How do you possibly find the right words to sum up 30 years of friendship? I keep reminding myself it only hurts this much because, there was so much love," she wrote. "Thank you, for all your kind words and support. I love all the messages about how @theshando was important to you. So let's honor her."
Fan favorite director Kevin Smith remembered working with Doherty on his 1995 comedy, "Mallrats," which gained a cult following.
He pointed out that the film would not have been made without the "90210" star.
"Shannen was a true talent and she became a good friend, but lest anyone forget, she was the only reason Mallrats got green-lit in 1995. That's because Shannen was one of the most famous people on the planet – and the fact that she picked Mallrats as her first follow-up to 90210 made that movie happen," Smith explained.
"We laughed at dark forces who wanted us to hate each other, instead we chose love and respect. A soft-hearted badass as there ever was. A force of energy that will live forever in hearts. May angels and God carry her to the holy kingdom where she is healthy, young and wild forever," she said.
Speaking to Fox News's Sean Hannity in an interview at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Vance said that he was told by the former president: "We've gotta go save this country."
Vance went on to describe the conversation, calling Trump "the president" in the process.
"I hope I'm not betraying too many confidences here, but when the president called me today to actually formally offer me to become the vice presidential nominee — which just sounds crazy — my son, my seven-year-old son, was sort of making noise in the background. I was getting so embarrassed," he said.
But, he said, Trump "actually has me put my seven-year-old son on the phone."
He marveled at Trump taking the time to do this after "everything that's happened," and said: "It's a moment I'll never forget."
At the RNC, he wore a bandage on his right ear, the result of a bullet clipping his ear.
Vance paraphrased his conversation with Trump further, telling Hannity that Trump had said Vance would be helpful in Midwestern states like Pennsylvania and Michigan.
The message also entertained the possibility that Trump was "a cynical asshole like Nixon."
Since then, Vance has becomea staunch Trump ally, backing some of the most extreme consequences of the Trump presidency — such as curtailing abortion rights, and casting unevidenced doubts on the outcome of the 2020 election.
Speaking to Hannity, Vance said that he doesn't hide from his past comments.
"I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind," Vance said, adding that he had "bought into the media's lies and distortions."
Donald Trump picked former tech investor JD Vance as his running mate, and not every CEO is happy.
Mark Peterson-Pool/Getty Images
Trump's new pick for VP is former venture capitalist JD Vance.
Some Silicon Valley leaders and other VCs are excited at Trump's decision.
But not all GOP donors were pleased with the running mate.
Some of tech's biggest names, like Elon Musk, are crowing about Donald Trump's pick for vice president — but not all of big business immediately lined up with congratulations.
Trump chose freshman Sen. JD Vance as his running mate on Monday. Vance, who spent short stints as a venture capital investor at three firms in Silicon Valley and the Midwest, has close ties to tech and politics kingmaker Peter Thiel. Much of the initial wave of public congratulations came from men in tech with ties to Thiel, like Musk, who has known Thiel for decades.
The Trump-Vance ticket "resounds with victory," Musk posted on X on Monday.
Some venture capitalists are similarly thrilled about Vance.
He's "an American patriot, with the courage to fight America's wars but the wisdom to know when to avoid them," wrote Craft Ventures' David Sacks on X.
Sacks, along with Thiel and Musk, is part of the "PayPal Mafia," a group of early PayPal founders and employees who have gone on to invest and found tech companies and VC firms. Delian Asparouhov, a partner at Thiel-backed VC firm Founders Fund, posted about the news with three American flag emojis of approval.
Support for Vance also came from those who said they don't know him personally.
"We actually have a young candidate who seems to be tech savvy. I think it's good for the party," Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures, told Bloomberg.
The former US Marine broke with the traditional mainstream Republican platform by taking less orthodox stances on economic issues, such as supporting raising minimum wages and taxes on corporations.
Most notably, Vance was a vocal proponent of the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust enforcement of big tech companies. Startup investors like Vance and Thiel view breaking up Big Tech as a way to level the playing field for small tech companies edged out by their deep-pocketed, entrenched competitors.
But some business leaders opposed Trump's decision, like billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, a top Republican donor, the Washington Post reported. Griffin told the Post in a statement that Trump had "many good choices for Vice President, and I appreciate the thoughtful deliberation of the President and his team."
One of Vance's most outspoken critics was former chairman of News Corp, Rupert Murdoch. The media titan sent executives to meet with Trump to lobby against Vance and push for North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, according to a report by NOTUS.
Vance's competition for Trump's running mate included Florida Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Burgum. After the VP pick went public, both men expressed their support for Vance.
HR boss Carly Holm said she loves seeing new job updates, but there are a few mistakes that should be avoided.
Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Getting a new job is personally and professionally exciting, and many share their news on social media.
HR expert Carly Holm shared her top tips for posting about your new job on LinkedIn with Business Insider.
Holm advised against oversharing and recommended keeping posts concise, professional, and positive.
A LinkedIn job announcement post is often where your professional network first learns of your new position. It could be seen by past, present, and future employers — so it's definitely something worth putting some time into.
Carly Holm, founder of Nashville-based Humani HR, has 16 years of experience in human resources and previously held roles at Bank of America and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. She told Business Insider she loves it when people announce their new jobs on LinkedIn.
Holm said it's a positive thing as an employer to see a new hire's network commenting and engaging with these updates, especially when it's from previous employers and colleagues.
Like all online posting, however, there can be pitfalls to sharing your new role online, and Holm offered five potential mishaps to avoid when announcing your latest job.
1) Oversharing
Where these posts can go wrong is where there is any oversharing, Holm said.
"You never want to talk about your previous employer," she said, advising against ever stating why you left your last role and why you wanted to join this new company.
Holm said job announcements should be "concise," "professional," "to the point," and "positive."
She held that although LinkedIn is a social media platform, it's not like Facebook or Instagram, which are better suited for sharing your more intimate or private experiences.
"I really don't think LinkedIn is the place for personal oversharing," she said.
"If people are job-hopping a lot, that doesn't look good in the eyes of any employer," Holm said.
"If I have someone in my network and every six months they're announcing that they have a new job, that's gonna raise an eyebrow a little bit," she added.
While there are different situations and sometimes things just don't work out, a recruiter might wonder why this person hasn't kept a job, Holm said.
4) Timing
She recommended waiting to announce a new position until you actually start with that company. Anything can happen between getting a job offer and beginning work, so you shouldn't announce your news too early.
You don't want your current colleagues or employer to discover you're leaving your current workplace via LinkedIn, Holm said.
5) Company policy
You should check if your company has a social media policy. Holm told BI that there are some scenarios where it's inappropriate to make a job announcement, especially if it's a more confidential role — but this is rare.
Another example Holm shared for avoiding drawing attention to a job update was for startups in stealth mode.
If in doubt, she advised talking to your manager first just to double-check.
Evan Porter makes a conscious effort to find time for himself and connect with his identity outside being a dad.
Photo credit: Kenzie Morgan Photography
I don't want to forget who I was before my wife and I had kids.
But to stay connected to my pre-kid identity, I have to make a conscious effort.
I do things like exercise, pursue hobbies, and spend time with friends.
As a dad of two young girls, I do so much parenting that sometimes it feels like that's all I ever do.
It starts first thing in the morning. During the school year, we're up at the unreasonable hour of 6 a.m. so my oldest can catch the school bus before the little one heads off to pre-K. In the summers, we get a tad more sleep, but the mornings are still a frantic race to get everyone off to their various activities, sports, and camps.
As the kids have gotten older, our bedtime routine swallows up more of the evening. My 9-year-old often stays up late, which can be really fun when we play games and hang out, but it has started to carve into a time that used to be reserved for my wife and me to relax, spend time together, or catch up on chores — and yes, doing chores sadly sometimes passes for me-time these days.
Then come the weekends — finally, a "break!" A break from work, but also a break from structured childcare. We feed and entertain the kids from dawn 'til dusk and often re-enter the grind on Monday more exhausted than ever.
I love every chaotic moment of being a dad, and I wouldn't trade it. But in all the madness, it's easy to lose sight of who I am on my own.
Simply put, there's just not much time for my own hobbies, time with friends, or many of the things that used to make me me. But that doesn't mean I don't try! There are a few key areas where I've really dug in my heels and refused to let that part of me slip away.
Spending time with my pre-kid and non-parent friends is crucial
One thing that never fails to invigorate me is time spent with my friends who either don't have kids, or who knew me before I did.
Don't get me wrong; as parents, our little village of other parents who are struggling with the same things we are is critical to our survival and our mental health. But there's something so refreshing about being around people who remind you there's more to life than bowel movements and cartoons, more to talk about than drama at day care and how hard it is to feed picky eaters.
I feel like a different part of me comes alive when I'm around old friends, and I let myself get swept up in nostalgia or fall back into the rhythm of familiar inside jokes. In short, it's pure, easy joy.
It's not always easy to carve out adults-only time with friends, but it's always worth it.
I always make time for exercise
I'm 37 and have no delusions about chasing the elusive six-pack, but exercise still has an important place in my life. It's one of the very few times during the week that's just for me, and while I'm probably more likely to hurt myself than set a new personal record at this stage, the mental benefits are massive.
Of course, there's some vanity to wanting to look my best, but I think it's also about wanting to stay attached to my former self — who would probably be appalled if he knew when the last time was that I bought myself clothes or had a long, relaxing shower.
Music and hobbies remind me I have my own interests
I spend so much time listening to music with my kids that my own tastes can get swallowed up. There's the obvious stuff that I can't wait to turn off once they're out of the car, like Doc McStuffins jingles (though, I admit, they're catchy).
But then there's Taylor Swift, who we all love. But that's not really my music, it's a shared interest with my girls. I have to proactively remember to put on stuff that's only for me (2000s pop-punk, for the record) with no hope that anyone else in the family will like it (they won't), because it's purely for my own enjoyment.
Hobbies? Most parents I know have forgotten what a hobby is. But I pick them up frequently, even if they usually fall by the wayside quickly. What's important to me is that I keep trying, whether re-downloading that Chess app or dusting off my acoustic guitar.
I usually don't stay interested in the same hobby for long, but I like to give myself permission to pursue one when the itch strikes and the schedule loosens up. I don't feel guilty for wasting time on it or abandoning it once again, either.
Knowing how to be your own person doesn't make it easy
I rarely seem to have enough time or mental energy for these things, even though I know they're worthwhile.
And then, of course, most of the solo time I do get often comes at the expense of my wife, who has to work double-time in my absence. I do the same for her so she can go to yoga on the weekends or catch up with friends. These quid pro quos work great, but they make it almost impossible for us to get quality time together. And, crucially, that's probably the most important area of our pre-kid life we want to cling to.
It's so important to both of us that we see each other as more than just "mom" or "dad." That's a battle we're always fighting, but at least we're fighting it together.
I think it's essential to feel like I'm my own person and not just an automaton whose sole mission is to provide meals and entertainment to my children. Doing things just for me makes me a happier human, and being a happier human will — hopefully — make me a better parent in the long run.
Who would you like to work for when you grow up? That's a question the National Society of High School Scholars, an honor society for high-achieving students, asks its members in a survey every two years or so. The rankings, unsurprisingly, tend to skew to the kinds of companies most familiar to kids (top-100 staples over the years have included Disney and Build-A-Bear). But beyond the big-name brands, the survey offers a snapshot of the aspirations of America's most ambitious teens — students who will soon become the next generation of elite professionals.
For years, the top spots in the survey have been dominated by tech giants. In 2017, for example, the most aspired-to employer was Google. But this year's rankings, based on responses from more than 10,000 Gen Zers, reflect a changing world order. Google fell to No. 7 on the list; Amazon to No. 8; and Tesla to No. 33. Instagram came in at No. 48, and Facebook just barely made the cut at all, tumbling all the way down past Dow Chemical and 3M to No. 94. Tech's allure, it appears, is plummeting among the best and brightest high schoolers.
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Why has tech suddenly fallen out of favor among students? Part of it, I'm guessing, is a simple calculation of who's hiring right now. Silicon Valley has been laying off workers by the tens of thousands, making tech work almost impossible to come by. In a survey conducted by Handshake, a job site for college students, the class of 2024 listed job stability as their top priority in deciding where to apply. And in the search for steady employment, the share of applications they submitted to tech companies dropped by 19% compared with the class of 2022.
Students also said a major consideration in where to apply was the reputation of a company as a good place to work. "They're looking for an employer that's going to take care of them and be nice to their workforce," says Christine Cruzvergara, the chief education strategy officer at Handshake. And the tech industry did itself no favors in the harsh way it conducted its recent wave of layoffs. "You've seen people go on social media and talk about what their layoff experience was like and how the company treated them," Cruzvergara says.
But the numbers suggest that tech's disfavor among Gen Z is more than self-interested calculus. For over a decade, tech has enjoyed a near-total monopoly on the country's smartest young workers. Millennials believed they were heading to Silicon Valley in service of a lofty mission. Tech, they were told, was going to democratize data, creating a digital bridge to a better and more equitable world. Instead, tech companies have been responsible for spreading misinformation, fueling hate speech, sowing digital addiction, and exacerbating an epidemic of mental illness among teens. To Gen Z, tech no longer looks like a force for good. On the high-school survey this year, more students said they believe artificial intelligence will have a negative effect on society than those who say it will have a positive one.
We've seen this happen before. Two decades ago, when I was in college, the smartest students in my class wanted to go into finance. Then, in the fall semester of our senior year, Lehman Brothers collapsed and took the rest of the economy with it. The sharp contraction in banking — combined with Wall Street's new image as evil personified — spurred students to begin looking elsewhere for employment. That's when the Googles and Facebooks swooped in, offering wildly generous stock options, free meals, offices with ping-pong tables, and a chance to build world-changing products. It didn't take long for tech to supplant finance as the ultimate dream job.
Now, the waning interest in Big Tech could pose a long-term threat to its future. After all, the industry's ascent was fueled by more than its algorithms. Part of what made Silicon Valley so dominant was the endless pipeline of brilliant college graduates who supplied young companies with the fresh ideas and mountains of code they needed to become the behemoths they are today. If Big Tech has lost the hearts and minds of today's students, it has lost its ultimate edge.
If Silicon Valley is going out of vogue, what will take its place as the next hot destination? One contender, according to the latest high-school survey, appears to be healthcare. In this year's rankings, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was No. 1. The Mayo Clinic was No. 2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which wasn't even in the top 100 in 2018, was No. 14. If the pandemic taught Gen Z anything, it's that no jobs are more important than those of the front-line workers who put their own lives on the line to save the lives of others. (Students ranked their local hospital at No. 4.) And with the healthcare industry facing severe staffing shortages, we need young people to pursue careers as doctors and nurses far more than we need them to optimize ads on the internet.
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Another contender to take tech's place may be — irony of ironies — the federal government. Civil service doesn't come with the pay or the glamour of tech jobs, but it offers the stability that college students say they want. Perhaps that's why the share of applications to government jobs on Handshake this year nearly doubled from 2022. And in the survey of high schoolers, the FBI, NASA, the CIA, and the CDC all ranked in the top 20. Big Tech's biggest titans may loathe Washington, but today's smartest teenagers see it as a source of meaningful work and steady employment.
But as I've chewed this question over, I wonder if the new dream job for young people isn't a job at all — at least not the kind where they work for someone else. On the Handshake survey, three-quarters of respondents said they would be interested in pursuing entrepreneurship at some point in their career. Many, in fact, have already dabbled in a variety of side hustles, acquiring a taste for working for themselves. When I speak to college students these days, I'm struck by how they lack the naivete I suffered from when I was their age. They already know that the only company you can't get fired from is the one where you're the owner.
That doesn't mean they plan on striking out on their own right away. That would be the opposite of the stability they want, and this is a practical bunch. Instead, they're still applying for normal, entry-level jobs to support themselves while they spin up their own thing. "They're using their full-time job as a safety net to make sure that they have steady income, that they're able to pay their bills, that they're able to save," says Cruzvergara. "Then, if things are going well, they can make that transition and it doesn't feel as idealistic and scary." Today's students may not look all that different from the careerists of previous generations. But their North Star is no longer to become a senior vice president of someone else's company.
Whatever ends up becoming the next hot career — healthcare, government, entrepreneurship, or something else — the waning dominance of Big Tech is likely to be a good thing for the rest of the economy. So many sectors have languished for years, unable to compete for the bright young minds that Silicon Valley hoarded for so long. Now, like tech and finance before them, they'll finally have a shot at hiring the generation that will drive the innovation of the future.
Aki Ito is a chief correspondent at Business Insider.
Sylvia, 71, is building an accessory dwelling unit in her son and daughter-in-law's backyard in Missoula, Montana.
Courtesy of Sylvia
Many older Americans with fixed incomes are struggling with rising housing costs.
A retiree in Missoula, Montana, has found a way to downsize by building an ADU in her son's backyard.
Missoula's reformed zoning laws and state-level housing reforms support more ADU construction.
When Sylvia and her husband found out they were welcoming their first grandchild in 2018, the retired couple decided they would move from Arizona to live near their son and daughter-in-law in Missoula, Montana.
In early 2019, they relocated to a four-bedroom house around the corner from their then-one-year-old grandson.
But over the last couple of years, Sylvia, who was a city government administrative assistant in California before she retired, has felt financially stressed. Her husband got sick a couple of years after the couple moved to Montana, and he died in 2022.
While her house is paid off, her home-related costs, including insurance, property taxes, and maintenance, have risen. In 2019, her home insurance cost about $890, but last year, according to her record-keeping, she paid almost $1,500. She's also felt squeezed by general inflation, including rising grocery costs. Plus, the 3,000-square-foot house is just too big for her.
"Owning my home is going to drive me to the poor house," said Sylvia, who's 71 and requested her last name be omitted to protect her privacy.
But last year, her son and daughter-in-law came to her with an idea: she could build and relocate to an accessory dwelling unit — a small detached home — in their backyard. The ADU would likely cost less to build than it would to buy another home in the neighborhood, they reasoned. And it would allow Sylvia to live in a smaller, accessible home very close to family as she grows older.
Sylvia talked with her other two kids, and they all agreed it was a good idea. So they found an architect and a contractor, and Sylvia signed a contract to pay $274,000 for the construction, according to documents viewed by BI. The 600-square-foot one-bedroom home will have a vaulted ceiling, a big front porch, and a back deck. It'll be painted to match her son's house.
"It's going to be real pretty," Sylvia said. "I'm hoping it's the last place I live."
She's planning to pay for the ADU in cash, and the contractors are on track to complete it by December.
Sylvia plans to sell her current house, which she and her husband bought for $315,000 in 2019. According to documents viewed by BI, since home prices have soared across Montana, the home is now valued at $718,000.
ADUs — often called "granny flats" or "casitas" — are a particularly useful form of housing for older people who want to downsize into a smaller, more accessible home and also want to be close to family. Increasingly, cities and states across the country are legalizing and even incentivizing ADU construction as a way to boost the supply of smaller, more affordable homes.
"This was the most viable option for me," Sylvia said. "I don't think I would be able to buy a home for $274,000."
A rendering of Sylvia's single-story, 600-square-foot ADU under construction in Missoula, Montana.
Courtesy of Sylvia
ADUs as a solution for cash-strapped older people
Sylvia's ADU might not have been legal in Missoula until about a decade ago — and it still isn't legal in many American residential neighborhoods. Even in states that encourage tiny home construction, local anti-development groups and policymakers often make it all but impossible to build a backyard ADU.
The western Montana city first took action to encourage the construction of ADUs in 2013 and further loosened restrictions in 2020 after just 30 ADUs had reportedly been built in the city. As part of broader zoning code reforms, the city council this year agreed to increase the allowable size of ADUs and liberalize a few other rules.
The state government has also pushed for more of these homes as part of its broader housing reform effort aimed at boosting supply. Last year, the Montana state legislature passed a bipartisan law requiring all cities and towns to allow the construction of ADUs on single-family lots. But before the law went into effect in January, a judge temporarily blocked the measure, along with several other pro-housing laws. The court sided with an organization of Montana homeowners who argued denser housing would alter the character of their neighborhoods. The state appealed the decision to the state supreme court earlier this year.
The foundation for Sylvia's ADU is under construction in her son's backyard.
Courtesy of Sylvia
This comes as older people, including homeowners, are struggling with rising housing costs in communities across the country. Insurance costs have risen dramatically all over — a result of both increasingly severe climate issues, including flooding and fires, and the elevated cost of home construction and repairs. Nationally, home insurance premiums rose by an average of 21% between May 2022 and May 2023, Policygenius found. Home repairs are also more costly these days, with a shortage of construction workers and the elevated cost of materials.
The portion of homeowners 55 and older who are cost-burdened — or spend more than 30% of their income on housing and utilities — rose from 30% in 2001 to 45% in 2022, a new report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies on the state of US housing found.
In Montana, a severe housing shortage has caused home prices to soar. But property taxes and insurance costs are also way up, making it hard for many homeowners to afford their payments.
"Elderly and disabled people are struggling really, really hard," Beverly Dashnaw, a HUD-certified housing counselor in Helena, recently told BI. "The cost of living, inflation is going up for everything, and their income doesn't go up."
Sylvia is lucky she can cash in on the rise in her home's market value without having to buy another home in an impossible market with high interest rates. And Missoula has proven to be a good place to age, she says. If she can't drive, she can take the city's free buses to the library, where she volunteers each week, and to the pickleball courts, where she plays regularly.
"This is a small town, I love it," she said. "It's easy to get around, and I know my way around."
Are you a homeowner struggling with rising insurance premiums or other costs? Reach out to this reporter at erelman@businessinsider.com.
One double dipper strategically steered clear of jobs with mandatory hours, in-person meetings, and micromanagement.
demaerre/Getty Images
Overemployment is growing as workers seek financial independence and early retirement.
Three double-dippers are sacrificing their social lives, health, and sleep to work long hours.
Strategies include job juggling and secrecy, but risks like burnout and job loss persist.
The pay and benefits of a full-time job aren't always enough to sustain an employee's lifestyle and monetary goals. As a result, some people are choosing overemployment as an avenue for maximizing profit.
Business Insider spoke with three people who worked up to a total of 80 hours a week at multiple jobs to achieve their goals — including financial independence, early retirement, and property ownership. But, their social lives, sleep, and hobbies took a hit in the process.
Here's everything they sacrificed to secure their futures.
A Canadian woman sacrificed friends, hobbies, and sleep to retire early
In June, 25-year-old Jane, who withheld her last name for privacy reasons, told BI that she started working two full-time jobs during her last year of college, hoping to retire in her 30s. From 9-to-5, she worked a remote marketing job, and from 5 to 10, she worked a low-lift customer service job.
The flexibility of her remote role allowed her to squeeze in time for homework, while the passivity of her service job gave her a respite from the mental demands of her 9-to-5.
After graduating, keeping two jobs was a no-brainer. She landed a 9-to-5 as a marketing specialist and kept her service job. In the first half of 2024, she earned $43,000 in Canadian dollars and saved up 70% of her salary. All the while, she was living at home and renting out her college property.
Though she was getting closer to her goal of early retirement, she struggled to find the time or energy to maintain her hobbies, social life, or sleep schedule.
"When the sun goes down at 6 p.m. in winter, I've had days where I look out of the window and realize I've had no sun or exercise all day," Jane told BI.
She reduced her customer service job by 10 hours a week to alleviate exhaustion but still felt burned out.
"I know it's not good for my physical and mental health or my sleep, but I'm so focused on my goal that I'm willing to sacrifice that for a few more years."
This project manager took jobs on each coast to work 12-hour days
After her project management job went remote during the pandemic, 30-year-old Kendall McGill told BI she used the time at home to start a contract job with Apple.
But, when her manager found out about the job and confronted her with concerns, McGill said she knew she had to be more secretive if she wanted to keep double-dipping.
In September 2022, she left her full-time job and created a job-juggling system to avoid legal and professional consequences. However, it required major upkeep.
McGill told BI that she steered clear of jobs with mandatory hours, in-person meetings, and micromanagement. She even took jobs on opposite coasts to work 12-hour days without crossover. The most extreme tactic was her interview technique.
"I have multiple résumés highlighting different skills and jobs rather than listing all my jobs simultaneously. If it ever does come up, I make it seem like the dates overlap less than they did," McGill told BI.
The one time that an interviewer asked about overlap, she didn't get the job.
Despite the risky overlaps and long hours, McGill said she was happy with her choice. She was able to buy a house using four months of savings and felt motivated to keep working multiple jobs.
"We've been sold this American dream, but how can you achieve it with inflation, a pandemic, layoffs, and all these other things? The only way is to beat the system, find a loophole, and get around it."
An over-employed man sacrificed his social life, but lost both jobs in one month
Davrick Hayes got his first quality assurance job in 2014 after he stumbled across an ad that said, "Get paid to play video games." He knew he found a hidden gem because the relatively easy job required no previous experience and had room for growth.
When he moved from LA to North Dakota during the height of the pandemic and found himself with more time than ever, he decided to get another full-time QA job.
He said that he managed both jobs by multi-tasking. He kept a watchful eye on automated tests for one company while running manual tests for the other. During five months of double-dipping, he made $110 per hour.
The only downside was that he had to sacrifice his social life, which he said was manageable until the pandemic lockdowns ended. Though it was tough, Hayes planned to continue both jobs until he lost them both within one month in early 2023.
"I was super stressed about my finances because I had just closed on a house and didn't expect to lose both jobs within a month," Hayes told BI.
Luckily, the money he made from double-dipping gave him the financial security to take on just one job and enjoy more work-life balance.
Hera Wentong Li left a lucrative tech career to start Curio, a book subscription for bilingual kids.
After stints at Morgan Stanley, Amazon, and Slack, she realized her career was unfulfilling.
She has no regrets but says she does miss solving abstract and challenging tech problems.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Hera Wentong Li, the 36-year-old founder of Curio in New York City. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I was born in Singapore and raised in a bilingual environment speaking both English and Mandarin. I moved to the US in 2006 to study computer engineering at Cornell.
After a 13-year tech career, I founded Curio, a subscription book club that fosters bilingual learning in children.
Early in my career, I held positions as a software engineer at Morgan Stanley, Redi Technologies, and Amazon. I then worked at a startup and AppNexus before becoming the senior engineering manager and head of search engineering at Slack.
My salary at Slack was $230,000, but I had over $500,000 in equity annually (depending on the stock price and my bonus) — and some years, I took home seven figures.
I led the search engineering team, overseeing more than 20 engineers
I wore many hats at Slack, managing projects across different tech stacks, hiring and onboarding engineers, and planning for future quarters.
I prioritized the impact of my work and the people I worked with. In my early years, we grew rapidly, I loved my job, and the high salary was a nice bonus.
However, as the growth plateaued, my role became less impactful and focused more on organizational management than creation. Over time, I realized that building an app or trading platform no longer fulfilled me.
Becoming a mother brought new challenges
The pandemic hit when I was a new mom. As the world grappled with conflicts, racial divisions, and hate, I found myself wrestling with a sense of guilt — what had I brought my daughter into?
I started thinking often about how best to prepare the next generation. How can we steer them away from endless scrolling and instead cultivate empathy, resilience, and determination in them? I also started thinking about instilling my unique cultural heritage into my children and raising them to be true to themselves.
Reading is a cherished pastime for my family, but I struggled to find quality children's books in Chinese. Reflecting on my upbringing in Singapore, where books were a cornerstone of my childhood, I realized their immense impact on shaping my imagination and broadening my horizons.
I couldn't ignore the lack of resources for bilingual education in New York City, which seemed absurd in this era of limitless internet accessibility. A spark ignited within me, and this realization birthed the idea of Curio.
I had some anxiety about leaving a successful 13-year career
I was nervous but felt I was in the right place to take on the challenge of starting a business. I waited until I had enough savings and enough vested equity to quit. My main concern stemmed from leaving a tech career with lots of potential and growth and the uncertainty of whether it would be easy to return.
Before I quit, I spent six months doing market research, competitive analysis, and talking to various founders and publishers, which helped to minimize my uncertainty. I scheduled a few meetings each week and attended networking events after work.
I found immense joy in connecting with educators and moms from diverse backgrounds nationwide.
Curio was bootstrapped with my own funds
I invested around $200,000 in the first year to get Curio off the ground. We officially launched in April 2023. A friend of mine, Kimberly Atiyeh, who has a background in linguistics and marketing, came on as head of growth in February 2023, helping launch our French subscription.
At first, we did everything ourselves, including packing orders and handling customer service. This gave us a deep understanding of every aspect of the business, which has helped us streamline and scale.
While running the business, we're also always working on the next product in all four languages (currently, we offer Spanish, French, traditional Chinese, and simplified Chinese).
Kimberly and I now have two toddlers each with full social and sickness calendars. Balancing all of this has been our biggest challenge.
I work more hours than I did at Slack
I have more flexibility than at Slack, but my working hours are longer. Most weeks, I wake up early at 5 a.m. to finish some work.
After breakfast and school drop-off, I get back to work. Some days, I spend hours refining the website to improve conversions or develop new features. Other parts of the day are dedicated to collaborating with Kimberly to strategize for upcoming book selections.
I also manage the operational and logistical aspects of the business. The diverse facets of my role keep me engaged and invested in every aspect of Curio.
My biggest tip for fellow startup entrepreneurs is to talk to as many people as possible
Talk to fellow founders and investors during the initial stages of exploration. It's crucial to approach these conversations discerningly, recognizing that not everyone knows your product or market well.
Additionally, try to sell something early. While surveys and market research are valuable, they can be limited by confirmation biases. The most effective way to validate your ideas is by taking the leap and actually selling something.
I don't regret my journey, but I miss solving abstract and challenging problems in tech. I'm not receiving any salary right now and don't expect to for the next few years. My focus is on continuing to grow the company.