• The US economy added 228,000 jobs in March, exceeding the forecast.
• The unemployment rate surprisingly increased to 4.2%.
• Confidence in the job market and the economy has fallen.

The US economy added 228,000 jobs in March, far surpassing the forecast, and unemployment unexpectedly jumped.

Job growth was expected to be 137,000, and the unemployment rate was expected to hold steady at 4.1%. Unemployment instead rose to 4.2%, and has consistently been at least 4% for almost a year.

Federal government employment fell by 4,000 in March. DOGE and its unofficial leader Elon Musk have pushed for large-scale federal employment cuts, with a wave of terminations for probationary workers, who were in their roles for only a short period of time, coming in February and early March.

However, a court ruling put a hold on many of those cuts, and the bulk of those workers remain in legal limbo.

Agencies have begun developing more extensive plans to reduce the size of their workforces. Thousands of workers at agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services are expected to see their jobs cut; terminations started Tuesday.

Workers at other agencies are bracing for what's next. Federal government cuts will likely affect the overall job counts in future releases.

Americans have been losing confidence in the US economy, adding to an emerging vibecession amid a cooling but still fairly strong labor market.

University of Michigan data shows consumer sentiment has declined for the year's first three months. The Conference Board's Present Situation Index, which is based on what people think about business and job market conditions, took a hit, data up to March shows. Consumers aren't feeling great about what's to come, either.

"Consumers' expectations were especially gloomy, with pessimism about future business conditions deepening and confidence about future employment prospects falling to a 12-year low," Stephanie Guichard, senior economist for global indicators at The Conference Board, said.

The Federal Reserve uses labor market data as a key input for its interest rate decisions. Fed chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference on March 19 after the Federal Open Market Committee decided to hold interest rates steady that unemployment "remains low and has held in a narrow range for the past year," and wage growth is surpassing inflation.

The next scheduled interest rate decision is in May, meaning plenty more data about economic activity will be available before the Committee makes its next call. CME FedWatch, which estimates the likelihood of future Fed moves based on market trades, shows the chance of rates holding steady or being cut in May is roughly a coin toss.

Powell said in the March press conference after the interest rate decision that the administration is making big changes to trade, immigration, fiscal policy, and regulation and is uncertain about what this will mean for the economy. Trump announced on April 2 his latest tariff plans, which could mean consumers could soon face higher prices.

"We do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance, and we are well-positioned to wait for greater clarity," Powell said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

• At the end of 2023, I decided to travel around Europe to find a new place to call home.
• I visited cities in Spain, Greece, and the UK before settling in the perfect spot.
• I've now been living in London for a few months, and couldn't be happier with my move.

By the time I turned 18, I'd lived in four different countries — England, Kuwait, China, and the United Arab Emirates.

Sparked by my desire to live in one place — and the draw of reasonable university fees — I moved to my "home country" of the Netherlands, where my parents were from but I'd never lived before.

For almost 10 years, I lived there and ignored the growing sense of restlessness within me. However, I couldn't say I was truly happy.

Knowing it was time for a change, I decided to start thinking about moving somewhere else.

So, at the end of 2023, I gave up my apartment, stored my belongings in my mom's basement, and decided to travel the world to find my new home.

I started my journey in Spain

My first stop was Xàbia, Spain, a coastal town where I spent five weeks petsitting a red lab in a stunning house overlooking the ocean.

Here, I saw what it would be like to live somewhere I could spend my weekends at the beach or hiking.

I loved being in a place with an abundance of sunshine, but ultimately, it didn't feel like home. So, I decided to move on to my next destination.

Next, I spent two weeks in Belfast

I had never visited Northern Ireland before, and I immediately fell in love with the country's dynamic energy. I loved the comedy clubs, cozy pubs, and history lining the streets.

However, I felt like something was missing, and didn't find enough variety in the restaurant scene to satisfy my cravings. So, I continued my search.

I headed to Kythira, an island in Greece

Every year, my friends and I take a two-week vacation to a different Greek island.

So, when we traveled to Kythira, I was curious to see if it was a place I'd want to call home.

I pictured spending a year on the sandy beaches with the sun shining down on me. After a long day of work, I could even take a dip in the ocean.

However, after talking to locals, I learned the island was pretty empty outside the summer season. So, I realized I'd always be chasing that summer holiday feeling.

After struggling to find a place that felt like home, I decided to return to the country I was born in

After several misses, I decided to try England, the place where I was born and lived until I was three. However, I'd only visited a few times in the years since.

I spent three weeks dogsitting in a small village in Bedfordshire, which is north of London. The idyllic countryside beckoned me, with long walks in the forest, Sunday roasts in the same pub, and evenings spent reading in the garden.

I yearned for this tranquil existence, but recognized it wasn't time for me to live this type of lifestyle yet. With my isolating work and single status, finding my people in such a small village would be hard.

So, I decided to try two weeks in Cambridge, a city I'd heard so much about. I loved working in various cafes, visiting museums on weekends, and meeting people my age.

However, Cambridge is a student city at its core, which didn't feel right for where I was at during this part of my life.

I finally ended up settling in the perfect city

Finally, I spent a month in London when my sister asked me to watch her pomsky.

I assumed the expensive, busy, and overwhelmingly gray city wasn't for me based on previous short visits. However, during this trip I got to see another side of London.

I loved the large parks that made me forget I was in a city, the dazzling theater scene, and the cozy cafés where I could type away without feeling lonely.

I grabbed coffee with fellow journalists I met online and recognized a potential community. Because London is a highly populated city, I felt like I had the best chance of finding my tribe — something I'd been missing for the past few years.

After a few months in London, I couldn't be happier

I've been in London for a few months now, and still feel like I'm trying to find my feet. However, I'm slowly building a community and even reached out to high school friends who ended up in London after university.

I always visit the same local café, where I sit with my laptop and a dirty chai at least twice a week. I avoid crowded areas like Soho and Liverpool Street and push myself to visit a large park every weekend.

Sometimes, I feel like Carrie from "Sex and the City," and other times, I feel far less glamorous and far more cold.

I didn't think I could be happy in such a busy and urban setting, but I've loved carving out my piece of the city, and I plan to keep doing so.

• A Virgin Atlantic flight diverted halfway through its journey from London to Mumbai.
• The Airbus A350 landed at an airport in Turkey and didn't take off for another 40 hours.
• Passengers spent the first night in the departure lounge before hotels could be arranged.

Airline passengers have been delayed nearly two days after a medical emergency forced an unexpected stopover.

Virgin Atlantic Flight 358 took off from London Heathrow Airport at midday Wednesday and was scheduled to land in Mumbai around nine hours later.

However, data from Flightradar24 shows the Airbus A350 turned around over Turkey four hours into the journey.

It diverted to Diyarbakır Airport, which is also used as a military base and doesn't usually accommodate large, wide-body planes like the A350.

The airport is around 2,300 miles as the crow flies from Mumbai and 2,100 miles from London.

An airline spokesperson told Business Insider that one of the passengers was severely unwell and was helped by local medical teams after leaving the plane.

The A350 also required technical inspections, which appear to have exacerbated the delay.

Some passengers took to X to complain about the ordeal, sharing a video of the disgruntled crowd.

One user said that 12 hours after landing, passengers were yet to receive "proper food or accommodation."

In an X post, the airline said customers had to stay in the departure lounge overnight because it was outside the airport's operating hours — while refreshments, including water, were provided.

There were also difficulties with immigration requirements before airport authorities "made an exception to allow passengers to leave the airport temporarily," another post from the airline said.

"The majority of our customers were provided with overnight hotel accommodation ahead of their onward journey today," the Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told BI Friday. "We'd like to sincerely apologize for the delay and any inconvenience caused."

They added that, after receiving the necessary technical approvals, the flight was set to continue at noon local time on Friday — almost 41 hours after landing in Diyarbakır.

The Airbus A350 is scheduled to land in Mumbai at 8:30 p.m. local time Friday.

• Beast Industries generated $473 million in revenue in 2024 and expects to about double that in 2025.
• MrBeast said of his net worth that he's a billionaire on paper but has under $1 million in the bank.
• Jimmy Donaldson's company is eyeing expansions in media, CPGs, and software, per a pitch deck.

MrBeast has shaped the creator economy more than any other YouTuber, with mind-bending competitions and gargantuan cash giveaways that have yielded a multifaceted business known as Beast Industries.

MrBeast — whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson — solidified his status as YouTube's most-subscribed creator with videos like "$456,000 Squid Game in Real Life!" He is now looking to expand his business across three overarching categories: media, consumer product goods, and software.

Business Insider gained insight into Beast Industries' portfolio and future aspirations through a February 2025 pitch deck sent to prospective investors.

A representative for MrBeast did not respond to requests for comment from BI.

Beast Industries' media segment refers to the 26-year-old's YouTube presence and his hit Amazon Prime show, "Beast Games." His CPG business includes chocolate company Feastables, the packaged food brand Lunchly, and a collectible action figure line dubbed MrBeast Lab. On the software front, Donaldson operates Viewstats, a social media analytics platform for fellow creators.

In 2024, Beast Industries "generated $473 million in revenue" — marking 114% year-over-year growth compared to revenue of $221 million in 2023, according to the deck. The company is forecasting revenue of $899 million in 2025.

Donaldson tends to reinvest his earnings in his businesses. MrBeast's net worth is unknown, but he said in a February 2025 interview on the "Diary Of A CEO" podcast that while he's a billionaire on paper, he has less than $1 million in his bank account. That implies that MrBeast's stake in Beast Industries comprises much of his net worth.

Bloomberg reported in February that Beast Industries was raising money at a $5 billion valuation.

Here's a closer look at the inner workings of Donaldson's burgeoning business empire.

How MrBeast got rich

Donaldson posted his first YouTube video in 2012. He now has over 380 million YouTube subscribers and, according to the pitch deck, clocked an average of 3 billion views a month. His viewership spans the globe, with 70% hailing from outside the US, he said in a March 2025 interview on the Colin and Samir YouTube channel. Accordingly, his content is dubbed into more than 40 languages.

On YouTube, creators typically make money from the ad revenue-sharing program AdSense and through brand deals. Donaldson's videos have featured integrations from brands like Yahoo Sports, Samsung, and Shopify.

In total, Donaldson's media business — including his high-budget YouTube channel as well as his Amazon series — accounted for $226 million in revenue in 2024, per the deck.

Donaldson's 10-episode "Beast Games" deal was valued at $100 million, according to the deck. The show marked Prime's biggest unscripted series launch ever, despite the fact that the production faced criticism over its safety protocols and a spate of negative press.

And at the end of the day, the show wasn't a moneymaker for the YouTuber, who said he was out tens of millions of dollars from his own pockets due to the show's costs.

MrBeast's growing business empire

Beyond YouTube, Donaldson has had varying success in the food business. MrBeast Burger, a ghost kitchen company with which he's no longer involved, spawned a legal battle with his partner in the venture, Virtual Dining Concepts.

Elsewhere, Feastables — a chocolate company that emphasizes ethical sourcing practices — appears to be thriving. It drove $215 million in net revenue in 2024, up from $96 million in 2023, per the deck. Donaldson is exploring expansions into milk and ice cream under the Feastables moniker.

Donaldson's toy business, MrBeast Lab, drove $65 million in net sales within its six months of launching, according to the pitch deck.

And he collaborated with YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI on Lunchly. The packaged lunches generated $5 million in sales in their first 11 weeks on shelves, and the brand is set to expand into 13 additional national retailers in June 2025.

MrBeast's philanthropy, investments

Philanthropy has also been a key component of Donaldson's content ethos, though those efforts have sometimes garnered controversy for MrBeast.

A separate YouTube channel exclusively dedicated to MrBeast's charity work counts over 27 million subscribers.

Previous social media-fueled charity campaigns to plant more trees and clean the oceans — dubbed #TeamTrees and #TeamSeas — raised $22 million and $32 million, respectively, according to the deck.

MrBeast's business future

Donaldson has big ambitions for Beast Industries' future: by 2029, the company is forecasting revenue of $4.8 billion.

In media, Donaldson is exploring ways to be off-camera, according to the pitch deck, including with animation. An in-house writers' room — with backgrounds in novels, gaming, comics, TV, and film — is also developing "Beast Universe" IP for licensing across toys, gaming, comics, and merch.

In the CPG space, Donaldson is exploring new product launches in three categories: health and wellness (such as vitamins, electrolytes, and protein powder), personal care (soap, lotion, creams, and ointments), and beverages.

Donaldson is also forecasting big gains for Feastables — to the tune of $375 million in net revenue in 2025.

On the software front, the deck said Donaldson is exploring a video game platform, a loyalty program offering early video access and exclusive content to subscribers, a creator platform to help other YouTubers replicate his success, and a fintech offering dubbed Beast Financial.

• AppLovin confirmed a preliminary bid in an SEC filing to buy TikTok's business outside China.
• China's ByteDance faces a Saturday deadline to divest TikTok's US operations.
• AppLovin joins a long list of suitors who have put in last-minute bids.

Adtech company AppLovin has submitted a last-minute bid to acquire TikTok's operations outside China, joining a crowded list of suitors a day before a US TikTok ban is set to take effect.

AppLovin confirmed it submitted a preliminary "indication of interest" to President Donald Trump in a Thursday SEC filing.

The company, which helps developers market and advertise their apps, said in the filing that "there can be no assurance" that a transaction involving TikTok would proceed.

It's unclear exactly how AppLovin would finance or structure a deal, given TikTok's vast scale. TikTok's US operations are estimated to have a sale value of $40 billion to $50 billion.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has previously suggested TikTok's global valuation could exceed $100 billion, potentially reaching $200 billion if its algorithm is included in the calculation. AppLovin has a market capitalization of just over $89 billion.

The bid places AppLovin among a growing list of late-stage suitors vying for TikTok as US lawmakers push for the app's separation from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

This week, Amazon put in a last-minute bid to buy TikTok, The New York Times reported. And on Wednesday, Reuters reported that a consortium led by OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely had submitted an intent to bid on TikTok.

They add to a flurry of other names that have been linked to buying TikTok.

Oracle has emerged as a leading contender, according to multiple reports, with a deal reportedly involving oversight of TikTok's US user data.

The YouTuber MrBeast said in January that he was part of a group making an all-cash offer for TikTok's US operations.

Other parties linked to a TikTok deal include Microsoft, Walmart, video-sharing platform Rumble, and AI startup Perplexity.

TikTok's future in the US has been uncertain since April 2024, when Congress mandated ByteDance divest TikTok's US business or face a nationwide ban. After taking office in January, Trump extended that deadline by 75 days.

The White House has been directly involved in deal talks as national security concerns remain central to negotiations.

On Wednesday, Trump introduced an effective 54% tariff rate on Chinese imports. The president told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday it gives the US "great power" to negotiate and a potential bargaining chip in a TikTok deal. On Friday, China announced a 34% tariff on all products imported from the US.

• Trump's new tariffs give China room to play the foil to the US and bolster its hold on the region.
• Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar hold great strategic value for China as it seeks to expand its influence.
• On Friday, China responded to Trump's tariffs with a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the US.

President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs are expected to cut deep against both friend and foe, but several of the nations that stand to suffer the most are right on China's doorstep.

Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar are on track to face tariff rates of 49%, 48%, and 45%, respectively.

All three have maintained close economic and political ties with China, which must itself contend with a total tariff rate of 54% — the highest out of anywhere in the world. China's response was swift: On Friday, Beijing retaliated against Trump's tariffs with a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the US.

Only Lesotho, Madagascar, and Vietnam, which the US is targeting with rates of 50%, 47%, and 46%, have to deal with a higher or equal level of import taxes.

Analysts and researchers who study the area told Business Insider the tariffs will likely push China's allies closer to Beijing, giving Chinese leader Xi Jinping an opportunity to strengthen his hold on a region that his country greatly values.

"Strategically, the US is now handing a victory to China in the US-China competition," said Vina Nadjibulla, the vice president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

"If the US is preoccupied with competing with China, it is ceding ground and losing influence by essentially making China the only possible alternative for many of these economies," she added.

The White House, US Treasury Department, and US State Department did not respond to requests for comment from BI for this story.

Is Trump punishing ties to China?

While many of the nations at the top of the tariff list hold close ties with Beijing, US allies are hit, too.

"Traditional US allies such as the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and even Australia were all subject to these tariffs," said Baogang He, a professor of international relations at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.

Trump's rates appear to be tied to US trade deficits with each country, though the president has characterized the tariffs as reciprocal to taxes imposed by those nations.

"The rates are all about trade deficits," said Emily Kilcrease, a senior fellow who studies the US-China relationship for the Center for a New American Security.

Cambodia's export surplus to the US is worth $12.34 billion, Laos' is worth $760 million, and Myanmar's is worth $580 million.

Ian Bremmer, the founder and president of Eurasia Group, said at the World Economic Forum in January that he foresaw Trump targeting China through third-party countries that Beijing is using to manufacture goods to be shipped to the US.

"The only way the Chinese economy is succeeding right now is through their $1 trillion export surplus," Bremmer said at the time. "And so you see Trump and his team focusing a lot on Mexico, and India, and Vietnam. The other conversations they are having bilaterally, one of the top priorities is: squeeze China coming in. That's very hard for China to respond to."

Bremmer told BI on Thursday that he stands by his earlier comments.

"Absolutely. And the Chinese government has felt the same way about the United States pushing Mexico hard on getting Chinese pass-through trade out of the economy," Bremmer said.

Countries such as Mexico, Cambodia, and Vietnam have been key players in a manufacturing network known as "China+1," which emerged in response to Trump's restrictions on Chinese exports during his first administration.

To circumvent those measures, Chinese firms diversified their supply chains by sending raw materials to friendly countries and having the host nations manufacture products instead. The goods could then be exported to the US at lower costs.

China+1 at risk

Trump's tariffs will likely stifle China+1 among Beijing's close allies.

Cambodia, for example, relies largely on China+1 for its exports of clothing, sporting goods, luggage, and other products.

"Cambodia has no raw materials. All the raw materials, the supplies have to come from mainly China, even buttons or threads," said Mu Sochua, a former Cambodian minister who works in exile due to her criticism of the incumbent government.

"In a week from now, if Cambodia cannot negotiate to have the tariffs go down significantly, there will be an immediate economic crisis," she added. She added that if factories there shut down or pause production, over a million factory workers could lose their livelihoods.

Vietnam, a major base for making Chinese-partnered goods, is likely to try negotiating its 46% tariff with the US. Hanoi has asked Washington to pause the taxes and come to the table, and Trump has said he is open to discussion on his tariffs.

Beijing's opportunity

Vietnam balances its ties more evenly with the US and China, and its relationship with Beijing suffers from disputes over the South China Sea.

Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar are far deeper in China's camp.

China works closely with Myanmar's ruling junta and opposing rebel factions to maintain access to vast rare earth mineral reserves in the country's north. Myanmar is also the only geographical barrier between China and the Indian Ocean.

The Trump administration has shown little interest in extending influence over Myanmar. The US was absent from the list of parties sending aid to the country after a devastating earthquake struck Myanmar on March 28.

Meanwhile, Cambodia hosts a naval base built by China on its southern coast — an important facility that would extend China's reach into Southeast Asia and on Taiwan's flank.

Cambodia's long-ruling and iron-fisted prime minister, Hun Sen, also enjoys close personal ties with Beijing. The country's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

Kilcrease of CNAS said the incentives for China's allies to look to Beijing are already shaping up on paper.

"We did some back-of-the-envelope math, and it appears that most countries in the world now face a higher tariff rate from the US than from China," she said. "So, yes, there is a significant risk that these countries move closer to China."

Beijing is also generally well-received in Southeast Asia, said Kristina Fong, the lead researcher on the region's economic affairs at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

She cited a study of attitudes among over 2,000 Southeast Asians conducted by her institute in early 2025.

"56.4% of Southeast Asian respondents cited China as Southeast Asia's most influential economic power. China was the choice for all ASEAN countries," Fong said.

The ball is in China's court

In the interim, the ball is in Beijing's court, said Austin Strange, an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong's Department of Politics and Public Administration.

"China's government, at least in the short term, can make public relations gains — just as in other areas of foreign policy, such as international development — by presenting itself as a stable, reliable partner amid US foreign policy upheaval," he said.

Beijing's state media reported last weekend that its authorities agreed with South Korea and Japan to issue a joint response to any US tariffs. However, Tokyo has said its leaders simply met to share views. Seoul said reports of a team-up were "somewhat exaggerated."

"But I expect China and other economies to continue to find workarounds," Strange added. "They have, after all, had months if not longer to prepare, as Trump has consistently pledged to levy sweeping tariffs."

• For my family's first trip to Disney World, we splurged on all-inclusive packages and extras.
• We thought doing this would prevent us from having more arguments about spending.
• Instead, my husband and I acted like monsters, obsessed with getting our money's worth on the trip.

Money has always been a minefield in my marriage.

My husband compares prices on toothpaste and won't toss a tube until every last drop has been squeezed from its lifeless body. I, on the other hand, operate on, ahem, vibes.

This difference in spending styles is especially pronounced when we travel. On vacation, I don't want to agonize over whether a $17 cocktail is worth it — I just want a lychee martini in my bloodstream as soon as possible.

And, more often than not, instead of having honest discussions about vacation spending, my husband and I just avoid them.

So when we planned our first-ever Disney World trip over February break, we thought we had cracked the code: Go all-inclusive.

We booked a room at Disney's Contemporary Resort and opted for the Disney Dining Plan. The idea was that if everything was prepaid, there'd be no decisions left to argue about.

Going all-inclusive quickly turned us into theme-park economists

At first, our plan totally worked! We tapped our MagicBands without a second thought to bickering over $12 Mickey-shaped pretzels.

When our 3-year-old had a full-scale meltdown at Chef Mickey's character dinner, we didn't feel the sting of wasted money — we just laughed and accepted that oversized cartoon heads on human bodies are, objectively, the stuff of nightmares.

But while the all-inclusive plan helped us avoid fights, it also unleashed something unexpected: the unrelenting need to maximize.

Suddenly, we weren't just skipping the money bickering — we were fully committed to extracting every ounce of value from our prepaid adventure.

This is how we found ourselves at 7 p.m., dragging two very sleepy children back into Magic Kingdom because, dammit, we paid for those full-day passes.

That's also how we ended up on The Little Mermaid ride, each adult cradling a completely unconscious child, whispering to ourselves, "This is the magic."

By day two, our warped logic had fully taken over. Did we need to be there for rope-drop at Epcot after staying out late for the Magic Kindom fireworks? No. But we could, and it was included, so we must.

Ironically, the very thing meant to reduce stress drove us into full-blown vacation optimization mode.

Fortunately, there are ways to find the sweet spot for sanity

By the time we left, my husband and I were both relieved and deeply aware of our own absurdity.

Yes, the all-inclusive plan helped us avoid our usual debates over spending, but it also made us act like we were strategizing for a corporate retreat rather than enjoying a vacation.

If you and your partner approach spending differently, especially on vacations, here are a few things I've learned:

Agree to a budget ahead of time — but allow some flexibility

Before you book anything, have the hard conversations upfront and decide on a spending plan together.

If one person needs a clear budget to feel comfortable, set that one in advance. If the other (hi, it's me) wants some spontaneity, build in a little wiggle room for guilt-free indulgence.

For example, next time, we'll establish some "no-questions-asked" splurge zones so our family can chug every mug of LeFou's Brew at Gaston's Pub without thinking too much about how it's basically just apple juice with a lot of ice.

Give kids their own spending budget

Walking the parks, it's easy to go overboard every time your kid begs for yet another $35 light-up fairy wand (especially knowing you could get almost the same thing back home at the dollar store).

For our younger kids, we told them they could each pick one souvenir under $40. My friend with older children actually gives them cash to buy whatever they want within that amount. Anything they don't spend is theirs to keep.

This is a sensible way to curb impulse buys on things you know are overpriced without having to argue.

Consider prepurchasing souvenirs

Another friend takes this a step further — she buys Disney-related toys on sale before they leave, hides them in her luggage, and surprises the kids with them throughout the trip.

It's a genius compromise between splurging and budgeting.

Remember not every expense needs to be optimized and that time itself is a valuable asset

An all-inclusive package can be great if it prevents constant cost calculations, but don't let it force your schedule.

Sometimes the best use of your vacation budget is simply resting — lounging in the shade with a Frozen ice cream shaped like Olaf's head.

Time is its own kind of currency, and spending it well is just as important as spending money wisely.

Balance efficiency with actual enjoyment

Yes, Disney is expensive, and yes, you'll want to make the most of yor trip — but the goal is still to have fun, not to create a perfectly executed itinerary.

Your kids won't remember if you got your money's worth on lunch. However, they will remember if you were relaxed enough on the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride to enjoy shooting that infrared laser cannon at Buzz's arch-nemesis. (And hopefully, they'll forget the expletives you uttered every time you missed).

Next time, we'll shoot for a balanced trip

On our next Disney trip — note that we need at least two to four years to recoverfrom this one — we'll aim for a middle ground.

Maybe we'll book a resort for the perks but pay for meals à la carte. Perhaps we'll accept that not conquering every ride is OK if it means we're actually soaking up moments instead of sprinting between them.

Because, in the end, the best vacation strategy isn't about spending more or less. It's about making room for the magic to happen without turning "magic" into another item on your to-do list.

… and it's about triple-checking that your "all-inclusive" includes babysitting for at least one night, so you can focus on what's really important: ditching your kids to ride Space Mountain.

• There are so many drones over Ukraine that soldiers can be unsure which ones belong to each side.
• But a Ukrainian operator said Russia is innovating less, making some of its drones easier to beat.
• Ukraine has hundreds of companies working on drones, while Russia has a more centralized approach.

Russia is flying fewer types of drones than Ukraine, which is making them easier to recognize and defeat, a Ukrainian drone operator told Business Insider.

Dimko Zhluktenko, a drone operator with Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, told BI that when it comes to some Russian drone types, "it's very easy to identify them. They rarely make any changes to the design."

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has become a war of drone-filled skies.

Yet Ukraine is presenting a bigger variety of drone types to counter, aided by a huge domestic drone industry with hundreds of companies producing a vast range of different models and technologies.

Russia, in contrast, has focused on making bigger numbers of just a few models. While this has helped it produce them at scale, it also aids Ukrainian drone operators in identifying them and developing a sense of how to defeat them.

Hard to surprise

Zhluktenko said that Ukraine's more dispersed way of making drones means that "it is very hard for them to surprise us and it's very easy for us to surprise them."

He said Russia doesn't upgrade its drone designs very often, so it can be "very easy to identify friend/foe."

Russia's defense procurement is highly centralized, with soldiers getting material through state weapons manufacturers and Russian allies like Iran and North Korea.

Ukraine, in contrast, has hundreds of homegrown defense companies that work directly with soldiers to develop, test, and roll out gear, as well as volunteer networks that buy, alter, and develop new equipment for soldiers.

James Patton Rogers, a drone expert at the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute, told BI that Russia's more centralized process means that "if there's an error with a component part, then it will be an error that spreads across systems. If there's a loophole that allows you to hack, then it spreads across all systems and makes them vulnerable."

The different varieties of drones give Ukraine some advantages, but it still has a huge challenge.

An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NPR last month that Russia is a few months behind Ukraine when it comes to drone innovation, but has a far larger production capacity.

The production gap means Ukraine's soldiers are still using some drones bought from Western and Chinese companies. Those can be bought by the soldiers themselves, or by crowdfunding groups.

Zhluktenko said they are needed, but typically don't perform as well as Ukrainian-made drones designed specifically for this fight.

A booming drone industry

Ukraine is making most of its drones itself. Its military said more than 96% of the 1.5 million drones it bought last year were of Ukrainian origin, and that number is set to increase in 2025.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country would make 1.4 million drones in 2024, but it's not clear if that goal was met.

Most of the drones that Russia has fired at Ukraine have been Shaheds, a type of drone given to Russia by Iran and that Russia has started making itself.

Mauro Gilli, a senior researcher in military technology at ETH Zurich, told BI that Russia "does not have the type of production, both scale and diversity, that Ukraine has."

He also said that Ukraine has been the first in the world to develop some drone tech. Ukraine's pioneering drone types have included different naval drones, and drones that can fly over 1,800 miles.

A drone war

Drones remain key to Ukraine's fightback against Russia, especially given its smaller military and population.

Zhluktenko said that in his unit's area of the front, up to 80% of hits on Russian infantry and mechanized targets are being made by drones. Ukraine also uses them to identify and launch attacks, hit Russian ships and oil refineries, and in place of weaponry like artillery.

But while Russia's approach to different drone models makes it easier, defeating them is still a struggle.

Zhluktenko said it can still be "a big problem" to recognize whose drones are whose, because there are so many flying at any given time.

Another drone operator, who spoke to BI on the condition of anonymity, said there can be so many drones in the sky that infantry can be ordered to shoot down every one they see.

Even so, they said that Ukraine's overall tactics and equipment were constantly changing toward unmanned systems, and that drones were proving "decisive."

Ukraine will be hoping it can keep this advantage.

• I thought hard work would earn me a promotion.
• However, I was continuously skipped over for promotions and larger projects at my design firm.
• A colleague told me to move my desk to be more visible in the office, and I instantly got more work.

Growing up, I was always taught that hard work pays off, so I assumed that was how the real world worked.

I worked hard in high school, earning all A's and just one B in my last semester. I got into my first choice school for college and landed every job interview up to that point. My hard work paid off.

One of my college professors then recommended me to the hiring manager for a paid internship at a design firm in Chicago while I was still in school. She had noticed my excellent work and active participation in her class.

Upon graduation, I was hired full-time at that architecture and design firm to work in the resource library. I planned to climb the ladder and land a role on the design team with the hard-work mentality that had served me well thus far.

I figured if I kept exceeding expectations, I'd be noticed and promoted. But it wasn't that easy, and one piece of career advice changed everything for me.

I kept getting passed over for a promotion

I gave my all to the role and the firm. However, I was continually passed over for larger projects and for promotions.

I kept going above and beyond, working 12- to 14-hour days to complete my duties and assisting the design teams on their projects. Yet, I still wasn't selected for a promotion outside the library.

When I asked around why I hadn't been picked for an associate position, several people thought I already was one because of all my work and accomplishments, so no one thought to nominate me. Designers I had spoken to said I hadn't done anything wrong; I just simply wasn't there in the team area when assignments were made.

Finally, an architectural principal saw me working late one evening and asked what my goal with the firm was. I told him I wanted to move out of the resource library and onto design projects full-time.

He shrugged and said three words that changed the trajectory of my career: "Move your desk."

He finally explained that people assign projects to people that are top of mind. Since I was tucked away in a remote corner of the office, I was rarely considered. I needed to move my desk to the exact area where I'd like to work so they could literally see my face.

At the time, I was an avid rule follower, so I was afraid to move my work desk without being invited, but I did it anyway.

I took my colleague's advice, and everything changed

I moved my desk to the office's main area — where I had wanted to work — and did my library work from there. Being physically present in the new workspace, I was assigned to projects I wanted to be on almost overnight.

I worked on hotels local to Michigan Ave and overseas. I was also handed a multimillion-dollar military project, for which I even got to travel.

I was getting assignments time and time again — both in the hospitality and military sectors.

Finally, I was promoted to junior designer — just a few weeks after moving my desk.

Hard work isn't always the answer

After my experience at the design firm, I learned one crucial lesson: Hard work alone isn't what gets you places. It's how you play the game; it's proactively putting yourself in places and positions you want to be in — before you're actually "there."

Unfortunately, I spent many late nights in the wrong place in the office, where no one could see my accomplishments.

My performance and results are always stellar, but I've learned I can be great without running myself into the ground.

As long as I put myself in front of people with power, I can take my career to the next level.

• I tried all the wraps and sandwiches I could find at Trader Joe's in the prepared foods section.
• I thought the tuna salad wrap was slightly lacking in flavor.
• The turkey apple cheddar sandwich would be perfect for an office lunch.

Trader Joe's is known for its varied and affordable prepared foods section.

From soups and salads to sandwiches, the grocery chain offers many choices for a quick lunch on the go.

To see which wraps and sandwiches are worth the money, I tried nine different kinds from my local Trader Joe's in Brooklyn, New York.

Some, like the chain's tarragon chicken wrap and turkey apple cheddar sandwich, would be perfect for a cheap office lunch or beach picnic. Others, like the tuna wrap, were decent, but I wouldn't reach for them again.

Here's every Trader Joe's wrap and sandwich, ranked from worst to best.

My least favorite sandwich was the tuna salad wrap.

It cost $5.49, excluding tax.

It came in a wheat tortilla with tuna salad and lettuce.

The tuna salad was moist and packed with chopped tomatoes, but it tasted flavorless, underseasoned, and bland overall.

The wrap could have benefited from other vegetables, like celery or red onion, to add more of a crunch.

Next up was the Italian-style wrap.

It cost $4.99, excluding tax.

The wrap had uncured smoked ham, provolone cheese, genoa salami, and sopressata tucked into a wheat tortilla.

The wrap came with a creamy mustard spread, which I wasn't sure how to use. I ended up dipping the sandwich into the spread as I ate, which added a sharp spiciness to the sandwich.

The meat tasted fresh. However, other than the mustard sauce, it didn't pack much flavor.

I thought the creamy hummus and vegetable wrap was a good vegetarian option.

It cost $4.99, excluding tax. I thought this was a little pricey for a meatless wrap that didn't come with a dipping sauce.

The wrap was fresh and flavorful but not very filling.

The wrap was simple, and the hummus was just as creamy as described.

The chopped carrots, cucumber, red bell pepper, and red cabbage gave it a Mediterranean flair and added flavor. Overall, however, I didn't feel completely satiated by this meatless option. I'd need a bit more than this wrap to fill me up at lunchtime.

The turkey club wrap was a tomato-flavored twist on a classic sandwich.

It cost $5.49, excluding tax.

The wrap was stuffed with turkey breast, spinach, turkey bacon, and tomato mayonnaise.

The turkey breast was moist and flavorful, and the turkey bacon added a slight smokiness. The spinach added a touch of freshness, and the tomato-flavored wrap added even more flavor to this take on a club sandwich.

However, I thought the wrap could have used a touch more mayonnaise, and the tomato flavor in the sauce didn't come through as much as I expected it to.

I also tried the turkey breast, spinach, and Swiss cheese wrap.

It cost $5.49, excluding tax.

The wrap was made with an herb and garlic tortilla.

The fresh flavor of the spinach and pungent Swiss cheese really came through, as did the honey Dijon mustard sauce. I thought the tortilla was also really flavorful.

However, other wraps from Trader Joe's delivered a more dynamic flavor profile. This wrap was undeniably tasty but just a little boring.

The grilled pesto chicken wrap landed in the middle of the pack.

It cost $5.49, excluding tax.

The wrap was made with pesto-seasoned grilled chicken, ricotta, feta cheese, zucchini, and sundried tomatoes.

This wrap was really moist and flavorful, and the nuttiness of the pesto, which came on the side, added a vibrant flavor that really impressed me.

The two different types of cheese also added a lot of moisture and flavor to the wrap. I liked the addition of the pesto sauce, which I drizzled over the top of the wrap as I was eating.

I'd definitely buy this again for an easy lunch on the go.

My third favorite sandwich was the Buffalo-style chicken wrap.

It cost $5.49, excluding tax.

This was the only Trader Joe's wrap I had tried before, so I already knew I liked it.

The wrap features chicken meat tossed in spicy Buffalo sauce, complete with diced celery in a tomato-flavored flour tortilla. It also includes a packet of blue cheese dressing.

I thought this wrap was super flavorful and had just the right amount of spice. I dipped the sandwich in the blue cheese dressing provided, which added a more savory flavor.

The wrap was moist without being soggy, and overall, it impressed me.

My second favorite was the only true sandwich in the lineup: Trader Joe's turkey apple cheddar sandwich.

It cost $4.99, excluding tax.

The sandwich is made with thick slices of turkey breast, sliced apples, cheddar cheese, arugula, and Dijon mayonnaise.

Unlike the wraps, this sandwich came served on a multigrain rustico roll.

I loved every part of this sandwich and thought it would make the perfect lunch for the office or a refreshing beachside snack in the summer.

The apple slices added a tart contrast to the savory turkey and Dijon mayonnaise, while the nutty, grainy bread tied all the flavors together.

It was also heartier and more filling than many of the wraps despite being less expensive in most cases. I thought that made this sandwich the best value by far.

The best wrap from Trader Joe's was the tarragon chicken salad wrap.

It cost $5.49, excluding tax.

The wrap was stuffed to the brim with thick chunks of chicken and romaine lettuce.

This wrap reminded me slightly of a chicken Caesar wrap but had even more flavor. The tarragon's fragrant flavor balanced out the fresh notes of the lettuce and mayonnaise, while the almonds added the ideal amount of nuttiness and crunchy texture.

It had a great depth of flavor and kept me full all day. However, it was also one of the highest-calorie wraps I tried, so keep that in mind if you're trying to cut back on your intake.

That said, based on flavor and size, I thought this wrap was great value for the money, and I'd definitely buy it again.

• COVID-era accommodations are losing ground to more high-pressure work schedules.
• Workplace experts say DOGE has set an example that could impact corporate culture and expectations.
• "A perfect storm" of rising costs and recession fears makes workers more afraid to quit.

If you've noticed an uptick in emails from your boss during weekends, are facing strict return-to-office orders, or are being told to accomplish more with less, economic uncertainty and DOGE could be to blame, according to experts in workplace management.

"I think that the pendulum is swinging toward much less work-life balance and much more constant chronic stress," Dr. Tasha Eurich, organizational psychologist and New York Times bestselling author, told Business Insider.

Eurich said increased chaos in the markets is making it much more difficult not only to get by but also to find a way to thrive at work and in life.

"We know that uncertainty is one of the most aversive states for human beings — it sets off the same parts of our brain as would happen when we are being chased by a tiger when our ancestors were trying to stay alive together," said Eurich.

Eurich pointed to data from the World Uncertainty Index — which tracks worldwide political events — showing that levels of uncertainty about geopolitics and economic situations have been steadily climbing back to early pandemic levels over the past six months.

While ongoing conflicts may have contributed to the level of concern, many workplace experts say that in the US, economic uncertainty and the rise of DOGE could also contribute to feelings of uncertainty, especially since the beginning of 2025, which may cause more to hold on to their desks and accept less desirable conditions.

The DOGE effect

With Elon Musk, Tesla's billionaire CEO, as its face, DOGE brought his controversial "hardcore" management style to the government.

This year, DOGE fired tens of thousands of federal workers via email, citing poor performance. Meta has also been using the same tactic for "low-performers."

In February, DOGE sent a weekend email demanding federal employees justify their jobs with an email detailing five accomplishments by Monday night. Musk then said on social media that non-respondents were considered resigned.

This week, DOGE also used Tesla's badge-scan layoff tactic at the Department of Health and Human Services: if badges worked, jobs were safe; if not, employees were out. Many were left in tears.

Musk himself also said that he works 120-hour weeks and expects similar dedication from his employees, particularly from those hired by DOGE. On X, he called working the weekend "a superpower."

Rahaf Harfoush, a digital anthropologist and future of work expert, told BI that figures like Musk create a dangerous cultural script and embody the myth that if you just work hard enough, you'll succeed. This myth, she says, conveniently leaves out structural advantages like generational wealth, elite networks, and access to opportunity.

"What's left unsaid is this: billionaires can work those hours because their wealth buys them time," said Harfoush. "They have chefs, nannies, drivers, assistants — an entire infrastructure that handles the responsibilities most people can't outsource."

"Because these leaders are idolized, their behavior sets a tone. It becomes a kind of performative workaholism that companies mimic not because it's effective but because it aligns with our deeply held beliefs about what ambition and success should look like," Harfoush added.

'A perfect storm'

While Musk and DOGE push a version of work driven by ambiguous measures of high performance and includes toiling through the weekends, the job market and economic uncertainty make it harder for unhappy workers to find new opportunities.

Businesses large and small are finding themselves in limbo because of Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs on the US and Canada. Workers are becoming more afraid to quit under the concern that there will be a 2008-esque recession.

"We're seeing a perfect storm of factors colliding," said Harfoush. "We're seeing echoes of 2008 — people taking on more work, fewer breaks, and less pay — because survival feels more urgent than balance."

How workers can regain control

However, a workplace driven by fear and an idealized version of productivity won't necessarily deliver results in the long run. Homa Bahrami, a senior lecturer at the Haas School of Business of UC Berkeley, said that while workers may comply in the short run when CEOs put a virtual "gun to their head," such moves would impact goodwill, commitment, and the emotional engagement of the employee.

"Ultimately, if you're working in a place with core values are exactly the opposite of yours as a human being, then it's not sustainable, and you're not going to make it really work," said Bahrami.

Eurich also echoed this sentiment and called laying off workers to set an example the "most counterproductive thing" a company could do.

There are ways for workers to push back and regain some extent of control.

Bahrami said that though burnout can often not be avoided when conditions are adverse, it helps to have a forward-looking mindset, update skills proactively, and set goals for reaching an ideal job.

Harfoush said that even small acts of resistance could go a long way, starting with delaying that first email check until an hour after waking up, taking real lunch breaks, and, for managers, having explicit conversations with their team about response expectations.

"Often, the pressure to be always-on isn't real — it's imagined," said Harfoush. "But it becomes real when no one challenges it."

• I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. I worked for the nonprofit sector for eight years.
• I wasn't paid much, had limited benefits, and had no financial safety net going into my 30s.
• I pivoted to the private sector and landed a job at Google that instantly tripled my salary.

When I graduated from university, working at a Big Tech company wasn't part of my plan.

I have a bachelor's degree in history and international relations and a master's in human rights. I wanted to address complex social problems and make a meaningful impact on people's lives.

That's why I spent nearly eight years working in the nonprofit sector. I reported on civil rights violations, advocated for women's rights, and worked as a researcher, project manager, and policy advisor for global human rights organizations.

Even though my work gave me a strong sense of purpose, I questioned the sustainability of my path

The organizations I worked for had limited financial resources, usually lacked benefits, and required frequent relocation, often with minimal logistical support.

As I neared my 30s, the pressures of everyday life — like rent and bills — started piling up. So, I decided to pivot and explore opportunities in the private sector.

When I shared my plans to transition, the responses were far from encouraging. Some said, "No one will hire you — you don't have the right experience," while others suggested I start with an internship.

One mentor advised that my best option was to accept a junior role with a steep pay cut and fewer responsibilities, and then work my way up.

The problem was that after nearly a decade in low-paying nonprofit roles and without a financial safety net to fall back on, I couldn't afford to take on unpaid or underpaid work.

Despite the naysayers, I stayed the course

I threw myself into networking. I attended events, reached out to people on LinkedIn, and applied to roles that felt slightly out of reach.

I also tailored my CV and cover letters to highlight transferable skills: stakeholder management, cross-cultural communication, strategic thinking, working under pressure, and navigating complex environments across time zones.

I applied to many roles across Europe, ranging from startups to scale-ups to mission-driven companies. Most of the time, I heard nothing back, and when I did, it was usually a rejection.

Then, I got an unexpected email

Three months into my job hunt, an email from a Google recruiter unexpectedly landed in my inbox.

Five interviews and a written assessment later, I was offered the role of policy advisor to help engineering, product, and legal teams design policies for user safety across Google's products.

At Google, I was earning three times as much as I had in my nonprofit role. For the first time, I wasn't stressed about rent or bills, and I could finally start planning for my future. Being able to think seriously about long-term goals like savings and retirement was a big relief.

I often wondered how, despite rejections from far less competitive companies, I was able to convince Google I was the right fit. Fortunately, the hiring panel became my colleagues and my manager, so the answers were just a Gchat away. They gave me three clear reasons.

3 reasons why Google hired me

First, they hired me because my background was different from the typical candidate, not despite it. They thought my experience in the nonprofit sector and my understanding of ethics and human rights could bring nuance and complexity to discussions on Google's product policies.

Second, having lived in multiple countries (four at the time: Germany, the UK, South Africa, and Lebanon) and visited over 40 for my work, I offered a global perspective. Google is a global company, so this skill was seen as highly relevant.

Third, because I had worked in challenging environments, I knew how to rely on a broad range of input and support to solve problems. My adaptability and ability to work collaboratively with broader communities convinced them that I could manage stakeholders effectively.

This process taught me that what makes us unconventional can also be our greatest asset

In my experience, Google operated like a diverse ecosystem, where every individual and their distinct perspective played a vital role in driving meaningful outcomes.

I spent two years at Google as a senior individual contributor before taking on a new role at TikTok.

My experience at Google made it easier to transition into a new tech role with a more senior title, bigger responsibilities, and a notable 20% pay bump.

• China will impose a 34% tariff on all US imports from April 10.
• China had retaliated against earlier tariffs from Trump in recent months.
• Trump has imposed 54% tariffs on China since taking office in January.

China announced its own levies on US imports on Friday following President Donald Trump's tariffs decision.

Beijing will start charging a 34% tariff on all US imports from April 10, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

That matches the 34% tariffs against China that Trump announced on Wednesday. They come on top of 20% levies against the country since he took office in January, bringing the total to 54%.

The announcement triggered further falls on stock markets, with Europe's STOXX 600 tumbling 4.5% in early afternoon trading. Dow Jones futures shed about 2.6% at 7 a.m. ET, indicating a fall at the open of about 1,100 points.

A statement from China's Office of the Tariff Commission of the State Council hit out at the "reciprocal tariffs" being imposed on Chinese goods exported to the US.

"The US practice is inconsistent with international trade rules, seriously undermines China's legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice that not only undermines the interests of the United States itself, but also endangers global economic development and the stability of the production and supply chain," it read.

Guo Jiakun, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Thursday that the US move "gravely violates WTO rules, and undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system."

China had retaliated against earlier tariffs from Trump in recent months.

In February, Beijing retaliated against a 10% tariff Trump put on all Chinese goods. At the time, China's Ministry of Finance said the country would impose a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas and a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, and some vehicles.

In March, China hit back swiftly again after Trump doubled tariffs against the country to 20%. This time, Beijing targeted American agriculture, announcing 10% tariffs on US soybeans, pork, and beef imports and 15% tariffs on chicken and cotton imports.

Analysts had signaled more measures from China were likely after Trump's Wednesday announcement.

"Retaliation will likely follow a phased progression, leaving stronger actions in reserve for further escalation while also maintaining space for possible negotiations," Eurasia Group analysts in a Thursday note.

"However, each round of escalation and retaliation increases the likelihood of a breakdown in bilateral ties this year."

• Airline stocks have been plummeting this year on fears of reduced demand.
• They were among the hardest hit by Trump's Wednesday tariff announcements.
• Analysts also expect ticket prices to rise for customers as a result of the sweeping tariffs.

Tariffs are spelling more bad news for airlines and passengers.

Even before Donald Trump's self-styled "Liberation Day" announcement, the big three airline stocks had fallen around a quarter in a month.

Analysts have already warned that airline customers are set to have less spending money while plane ticket prices rise. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America analysts said the effective tariff rate was about double what they expected.

With US companies paying the tariffs on items they import, prices are set to go up for Americans.

"The resulting hit to purchasing power could take real disposable personal income growth in 2Q-3Q into negative territory, and with it the risk that real consumer spending could also contract in those quarters," JPMorgan Chase's chief US economist Michael Feroli wrote in an analyst note.

Vacations aren't a necessity, so are something people can forego when they tighten their purse strings. Cruise and hotel stocks have dipped, too. Corporate travel is expected to drop as well, since the tariffs are designed to incentivize doing business at home.

Higher-than-expected tariffs have exacerbated an already dreary outlook for travel.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines' share prices have fallen more than a third since the start of the year. American Airlines' is down 44%.

Stocks dipped on Tuesday after Jefferies analysts downgraded American Airlines and Delta Air Lines to Hold ratings.

They said consumer sentiment was at a four-year low and cited "swelling macro uncertainty." In other words, fewer people want to fly because of the state of the economy.

On Monday, Virgin Atlantic executives also warned of softening demand for Americans flying to the UK — although travel in the opposite direction remains at expected levels.

"We think that's quite a natural reaction to the general consumer uncertainty there is in the US at the minute," chief financial officer Oli Byers said in comments reported by several outlets.

The day after the tariffs were announced, the big three airline stocks dropped between 10% and 15% — compared to the broader S&P 500's 5% decline.

Airline ticket prices have been lower this year due to slower demand, but some analysts say they're set to get more expensive.

Airfares set to rise

Tariffs are set to hit planemakers with the costs ultimately being passed down to passengers.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told a Senate hearing Wednesday that 80% of its airplanes are sold to customers outside the US, and a fifth of the production materials are imported.

"Free trade is very important to us," he added.

Morningstar's analyst for aerospace and defense equities, Nicolas Owens, said: "Investors concerned that the new import tariffs might be devastating to US aerospace firms may overestimate the risk."

However, there is also the risk of retaliatory tariffs on exports. Boeing's share price fell more than 10% on Thursday.

While European rival Airbus has an assembly line in Alabama, it would still have to import parts there.

"Obviously there would be an increase of cost and most probably in price for the airlines, and therefore to the end customers," CEO Guillaume Faury said in February.

In a note Thursday, analysts at Vertical Research Partners also warned they expect airfares to get more expensive.

"Ultimately we see these cost increases being passed on to airlines, and the flying public, which logically will have a negative impact on passenger demand […] and airline profits," they wrote.

Business Insider attended a summit at Airbus' headquarters in Toulouse, France, last week. At the summit, executives spoke to reporters ahead of the tariff announcement.

"We are in an industry where I think tariffs will be very, very damaging," Faury said. "Probably more damaging to the US at first glance."

He also pointed to the effects of a 17-year dispute between the US and Europe over subsidies given to Boeing and Airbus, with tariffs imposed as a result.

"It was so bad for everybody that it came to a cease-fire," he said.

Airlines have already taken a hit as Canadians book fewer flights to the US. Europeans are also starting to lose interest in transatlantic travel, the CEO of hotel operator Accor told Bloomberg.

While airlines have yet to see a drop in demand on this route, the looming trade war could change that.

• Lindsey Granger and Kolyn Boyd travel with their toddler for a docuseries.
• Their toddler has spent over 80 hours on long-haul flights since she was a baby.
• They shared their tips for a successful long-haul journey with a young kid.

Denver-based journalist Lindsey Granger and producer and director Kolyn Boyd have spent over 80 hours on long-haul flights with their 3-year-old, Kynsley, in tow.

They've been traveling with Kynsley since she was an infant. The globetrotting tot has flown over 167,000 miles to 12 states and seven countries. Granger and Boyd document their family travels on the international docuseries "World of Travel" on Samsung TV Plus, which was recently renewed for a second season.

Over the past three years of trips with Kynsley, Granger and Boyd have learned from their travel mistakes — from overpacking to missing flights. They told Business Insider their biggest tips for a successful long journey with a young kid.

Take your child on long-haul journeys as an infant — it will make flights easier as they get older.

One of Boyd's top tips for flying with kids is to start them young.

"You just have to jump out there and get your baby used to doing these flights," Boyd said. He added that flying with an infant is challenging because they can't express their needs — not to mention frequent diaper changes.

"With a toddler, it's a little easier because she's able to go to the bathroom, notice the TV, and play with toys," Boyd said.

Since she flew so much as a baby, Boyd said that as a toddler, Kynsley doesn't seem anxious when the plane takes off. Instead, she finds it fun to go faster and faster until they're soaring through the sky.

Granger said that while she and Boyd may get nervous during storms and turbulence in the air, Kynsley seems unbothered.

"She's really the cool, calm, collected person," Boyd added. "Her being calm actually helps me because I think, 'I can't be scared if my baby's not scared.'"

Travel with family and friends to lighten the load.

Granger and Boyd advise traveling with a group who can help with parenting duties.

"I always recommend traveling with family or a friend who's willing to watch the baby and let the adult be an adult," Granger said. "We had a bunch of family and friends with us on the same flight to South Africa."

Granger added that having so many loved ones around on their 15-and-a-half-hour flight to South Africa seemed to make 3-year-old Kynsley feel more comfortable on the plane, too.

Do your research to ensure you don't overpack large items like strollers or car seats.

"One of the big lessons we learned as a group is how to condense and pack appropriately for the trip," Boyd said, adding that they'd made the mistake of packing the wrong stroller and unnecessary car seats.

Granger advised that before checking your car seat, find out if there will be one at your destination, especially if you're renting a car. When deciding on strollers to pack, do your research to ensure they'll suit the destination.

For example, she said bringing a bulky industrial stroller on their trip to Greece was a bad idea because they had to take about 10 ferries.

"Look at the landscape. Is there cobblestone everywhere? Then you can't bring your cheap umbrella stroller because your wheels will break like ours have," Granger added.

Shift your baby's sleep schedule the night before so they're more likely to rest on the plane.

When the family took a red-eye flight to Greece in 2023, Boyd remembers everyone around him sleeping — except for 2-year-old Kynsley.

"She stayed up the entire night until it was time to land, and I had my opportunity to get one hour of sleep," Boyd said. "She was super excited, so she wanted to play the entire time."

Granger said this often happens when she doesn't adjust Kynsley's sleep schedule the night before a flight.

"Let's say she went to bed at 7 p.m. and our flight is at 5 a.m. — she had her 8-hour rest already, so she's wide awake and ready for the day," Granger told BI. "But if she went to bed a bit later, waking her up around 5 a.m. would throw off her sleep, so she might go right back to sleep and give me a peaceful flight."

Allot extra time for TSA screenings to avoid missing flights — especially if you're bringing milk.

"I used to pump a lot and then bring a lot of milk through TSA, which parents should know you are allowed to do," Granger said. "It's just a rigorous process where they scan every bottle."

When traveling with milk through TSA, Granger recommends arriving at least two hours before departure for domestic flights and three hours before international flights.

If you're traveling with a toddler and no milk, she suggests arriving one and a half to two hours before domestic flights and two and a half to three hours before international flights.

"If your child is mobile or prone to meltdowns, give yourself extra buffer time for security and bathroom stops," she added.

Don't stress over missed flights.

When I asked Granger and Boyd if they'd ever missed a flight with Kynsley, they chuckled.

From long TSA stops to ill-timed diaper changes, they said they've missed multiple flights — some by two minutes and others by a full hour.

"At this point, we just laugh it off and get something to eat," Granger said. "We travel a lot, so we know there will be mishaps. We just figure it out day by day."

Maintaining a light mood after a missed flight has led to some special memories for the family of three.

"I'll never forget when we missed a flight to New York before we went to Greece," Boyd said.

As they waited for the next flight, 2-year-old Kynsley was bored, so Boyd gave her his GoPro for the first time.

"I wanted to see what she would do, and she started taking pictures and filming our experience in the airport," Boyd said. "And now she really loves cameras because of that moment. So it was actually a really good day."

Respect the people seated around you on the flight.

In Granger's experience, other passengers are typically courteous and understanding of a sightly bothersome young child — but there's a limit.

"It is a tough time traveling with your kid, but you have to be a good neighbor still — you can't let your kid stick their arm through the middle of the seat, throw stuff, kick the seat," Boyd said. "You have to be a responsible parent and make other people comfortable as well."

Granger and Boyd's strategy is to find something else she'd be interested in doing, like walking the aisles or getting a snack box as a reward for stopping.

When babies cry and toddlers have tantrums, keep calm.

Boyd said that when Kynsley cries or throws a fit on an airplane, he goes through the list of things she may want or need, from food and cuddles to walking the aisles and playing with toys.

"If your child is throwing a tantrum, just be calm because no matter what, it just is what it is," Granger said. "So just relax, engage with them, and see what they need or want or how you can play with them so that maybe you could stop the tantrum."

Let kids be kids, and ease restrictions you may have at home.

As a toddler, Granger and Boyd give Kynsley more freedom on flights, from what she wears to how she passes the time.

Throughout long-haul flights, they ask Kynsley what she wants to do — whether it be watching a movie, playing with toys, having a snack, walking the aisles, or even using the iPad, a device they don't allow at home.

"It's really about making her comfortable, especially because, at the end of the day, she didn't ask to travel," Granger said. "She's still a toddler, but she's autonomous, and we want her to feel excited about flying rather than 'Do what I say' for 10 to 15 hours."

Granger said she also allows Kynsley to pack her own bag "full of nonsense" for flights now that she's a toddler.

"Kynsley brought her Halloween costume to South Africa in November," she said. "She actually wore it and felt like the trip was fulfilling to her — even just the journey."

• European countries bordering Russia are taking steps to leave a key land mine treaty.
• Land mines have seen widespread and aggressive use in the Ukraine war.
• NGOs are concerned about the impact of land mines on civilian populations.

A growing number of countries bordering Russia are abandoning a long-standing treaty banning the use of anti-personnel land mines.

On Tuesday, Finland became the latest country to announce it was withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention, the 1997 treaty banning the use, sale, and production of land mines.

This follows an announcement in March by Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia that they were also withdrawing, amid growing concerns about Russian aggression.

Military analysts told Business Insider that the war in Ukraine is reshaping thinking about some weaponry, shattering long-standing bans against the use of weapons like land mines.

Land mines make a comeback

"Finland will prepare for the withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention," Finnish President Alexander Stubb posted on X Tuesday.

He said the decision was "based on a thorough assessment by the relevant ministries and the Defence Forces," but added that the country was "committed to its international obligations on the responsible use of mines."

The Ottawa Convention has over 160 signatories, with the US, Russia, and China among the notable absences.

In announcing their own decision, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland said: "We believe that in the current security environment, it is of paramount importance to provide our defense forces with flexibility and freedom of choice of potential use of new weapon systems and solutions."

For years, NATO members have developed tactics based on the assumption that modern armies would have to be highly maneuverable. But the Ukraine war has come to more resemble World War I, with sides entrenched in heavily defended static positions.

European countries now seem to be rapidly adjusting their strategies in response to the lessons from Ukraine, and over fears that Russia could attack elsewhere in Europe if it gets a partial victory in Ukraine.

Jacob Parakilas, a research leader for Defence Strategy, Policy and Capabilities at RAND Europe, told BI that the Ukraine war had proven the continued utility of land mines. "The landmine still has significant military value in shaping the battlefield and deterring or slowing enemy advances," he said.

Mines, Mines, everywhere

In Ukraine, both sides have often struggled to break through each other's defensive positions, some of which are heavily fortified with minefields.

During Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive, Russia laid vast swaths of the explosives, and Ukraine has also used land mines. Ukraine is now recognized as the most heavily mined country in the world, with estimates suggesting it could take decades and billions of dollars to neutralize them.

Naval mines have also been deployed in the Black Sea, which offer their own issues and long-term challenges.

When it comes to land mines, Riccardo Labianco, the international policy manager at UK anti-landmines charity MAG, told BI that the risk to civilians is too severe to justify abandoning the Ottawa Treaty.

"We recognize there are no easy choices when a state feels under threat of armed aggression, but International Humanitarian Law, including the Ottawa Convention, is designed precisely for times like these," he said.

However, Marcus Solarz Hendriks, the head of the national security unit at Policy Exchange, co-authored a report last month calling for the UK government to abandon its own ban.

He told BI that Ukraine had shown they were a vital weapon for defending against large-scale invasions, "namely by restricting maneuverability and channelizing troops into pre-prepared kill zones," or areas where large gatherings of troops are targeted.

"This operational advantage is particularly well suited to numerically disadvantaged forces," he said, "as would likely be the case should these states be forced to defend against attempted Russian advances."

Getting your hands on mines

Countries like Finland, and to a lesser extent Latvia and Estonia, share long land borders with Russia, putting them on the frontline of any future Russian aggression.

Finland also announced Tuesday it was increasing its defense budget to 3% of GDP, and many nations bordering Russia are steeply increasing their defense spending.

For those considering land mines, one issue could be obtaining them. The Ottawa Treaty bans not just the use, but also the manufacture of landmines, meaning they can't be easily bought on the European market.

Parakilas said that some European countries obtain mines from Singapore or South Korea, which has a large, heavily mined border zone with North Korea.

Even so, mines aren't difficult to make, he said, meaning that domestic production could be geared up in "the order of months, rather than years or decades."

While land mines, at their core, are little changed, some of the tech has developed. This includes sensors that enable mines Russia claims to have developed to distinguish between types of object, enabling them to tell apart an approaching civilian bus from a tank.

Others are fitted with devices that mean they defuse after a period of time, reducing the risk of civilians triggering forgotten but unexploded mines years later.

However, Parakilas said that sophisticated devices are more expensive, and are less likely to be used to mine large swaths of territory.

Concerns over mines

While some countries appear to be looking more favorably on mines, others continue to warn against abandoning the Ottawa Convention, despite the growing threats.

Norway's foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, on Wednesday criticized Finland's announcement.

"If we start weakening our commitment, it makes it easier for warring factions around the world to use these weapons again, because it reduces the stigma," he told Reuters.

But Solarz Hendriks told BI that a ban on land mines that made sense in the 1990s no longer does in the face of threats from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, which all have large land mine stockpiles.

"The recent decisions of our allies to close this capability gap, in the name of self-defense, therefore carry minimal proliferation risk," he suggested.

And as the threat of Russia grows, along with concerns over the US's long-term commitments to European security, others could soon join the likes of Finland and the Baltic States in reassessing their opposition to mines.

• Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs sparked a major sell-off in the iPhone maker on Thursday.
• Investors are spooked after Trump slapped heavy tariffs on its key supply chain hubs, such as China.
• It was Apple's biggest one-day drop in five years.

Apple has suffered its biggest one-day drop in five years after Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs sparked a roughly $300 billion sell-off among investors panicking over their potential impact on the world's most valuable company.

The iPhone maker suffered a roughly 9% drop at market close on Thursday as investors digested the impact of the president's tariff plans, which included a 54% effective tariff rate on China, the central hub for Apple's vast supply chain operations.

Trump slapped China with a 34% tariff in addition to an existing 20% tariff — a move that threatens to raise the cost of imports from Apple's most important manufacturing and assembly base.

Apple's yearslong efforts to diversify its supply chain away from China were also squashed by Trump's plans. Fast-growing hubs in Apple's supply chain, including India, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, were hit with tariffs well above Trump's 10% global baseline rate.

Though Apple secured an exemption from the tariffs Trump imposed in his first term, there are no signs yet that Apple will be able to secure a similar exemption this time. Apple's market capitalization fell to $3 trillion, wiping almost nine months of gains.

Trump's tariffs add further woes to Apple, which has faced a difficult few months as investor concerns over iPhone sales and future bets such as Apple Intelligence and the Vision Pro have weighed on its stock. Shares are down more than 16% year-to-date.

The tariff plans have raised concerns among analysts about the potential hit to consumer demand for iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and other Apple products if the company decides to raise prices to counter the spiraling costs it would face from tariffs.

Srini Pajjuri, an analyst at investment bank Raymond James, wrote in a research note published Thursday that Apple would "need to raise US hardware prices by about 30%, all else equal," to fully offset the tariff impact on earnings per share.

If the company chooses not to raise prices, analysts forecast a significant hit to its profit margins, which have long been prized by investors.

Apple was not the only tech company whose shares took a hit on Thursday, with Nvidia down about 7.8% and Tesla down about 5.5%.

The Dow Jones Index closed down nearly 4%, while the S&P was down over 4.8%.

Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

• Posts about feminine energy are popular on social media.
• Creators say feminine energy can help any person trust their intuition and live authentically.
• Experts warn the message can get lost in translation when its watered down on social media.

Alexis Smith and Nadia Khaled were at a crossroads in their early 20s. Smith, 25, was reeling from an intense breakup, while Khaled, 26, needed a change after losing her job.

Then, they tapped into their feminine energy — and everything changed.

The concept of divine feminine energy, which believers feel is a force that exists in everyone and guides our emotional and creative sides, has been all over social media.

You might've seen videos of women breaking down their rituals to connect with their energy, inspirational Instagram graphics about how feminine energy can change your life, or clips of people discussing how they healed their feminine side.

Content creators like Smith and Khaled said that tapping into their feminine energy was key to creating the lives they wanted.

However, experts told Business Insider that the recent trend has some drawbacks, from reinforcing gender norms to opening the door to alt-right pipelines.

Say hello to divine feminine energy

It's tough to find an exact definition of divine feminine energy on social media. Still, it generally refers to a manifestation of creativity and emotion, complementing the action and logic that come from masculine energy, experts said.

The concept of femininity versus masculinity isn't new. It appears in different religions and psychological frameworks, like in controversial Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Carl Jung's musings on the anima and animus, which he saw as the feminine side of men and the masculine side of women.

Author and physician Deepak Chopra also embraces the idea of the divine feminine, writing in a 2021 essay, "The adjectives that apply to the personal feminine are love, affection, forgiveness, compassion, allowing, nurturing, and creative. They need to be present in everyone's life, whether you are a man or woman, and every child needs to be exposed to them."

Smith and Khaled told BI they learned about the divine feminine online and through books like "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle and podcasts such as Jay Shetty's "On Purpose."

"It comes down to really tuning into my body and what my body is calling me to do as opposed to what my brain is telling me to do," Khaled said of how feminine energy functions in her life.

She said she tries to actively tap into her feminine energy by making herself feel present in her body, whether by taking herself on a date to Barnes & Noble, doing a more in-depth skincare routine, or listening to her body when she's exhausted.

"If I am feeling really burned out, I don't push myself to go harder," Khaled said. "I take that as a sign to step back and relax, and when I'm feeling inspired to take action, that's when I start doing the initiating and leaning more into that masculine energy."

Smith, a feminine energy coach and content creator, said she thinks of feminine energy as "life force" energy and a way to get in touch with her younger, most authentic self.

Meanwhile, she said she relies on masculine energy for her work but often needs to turn that "energy off," which "takes a lot of planning and organization."

Both creators also said focusing on their feminine energy enabled them to adopt an "attract, don't chase" motto in their personal and professional lives, which they say has made them more successful.

Khaled saw her social media following explode when she started approaching content creation with this mindset, and Smith said she's been happier while dating since she embraced it.

A form of empowerment

Although Smith and Khaled use feminine energy similarly, the term holds different meanings in other settings.

Erika Evans, a sexologist and relationship therapist, discusses the idea of feminine and masculine energy with her clients from a therapeutic lens. She said tapping into those sides can help her clients grow and trust their instincts.

Evans also encourages her clients to create rituals, such as dancing, journaling, or spending time in nature, to help them tap into their feminine energy.

Jessica Maddox, an associate professor of digital media at the University of Alabama, told BI she thinks there can be "power" in divine feminine social media content that tells women to trust their instincts.

"Women are often dismissed as being too emotional or hysterical," she said. "Anything that encourages women to listen to their own feelings and trust themselves is important."

"This divine feminine trend can push back against some sexist ideas that women are just hysterical and over-emotional," she added.

Still, she also sees potential risks with the trend.

A shrinking ideal of womanhood

Divine feminine energy is pretty innocuous as a mindset or spiritual concept. However, Maddox said that as it's watered down for 20-second clips on social media, it's easy to be oversimplified or become devoid of context, so some of the message's intricacies are lost.

"That's generally the problem with social media," Maddox said. "The more and more things spread and go viral, the more divorced from their original context and meaning they become."

For instance, Maddox said she could see how someone trusting only their instincts could lead them to disregard science or believe conspiracy theories.

Likewise, Khaled and Smith told BI that it's important for everyone to connect with their feminine and masculine energies, but some divine feminine content on social media shifts from focusing on energies to giving advice on what women should do versus men. That can reinforce a traditional gender binary and exclude queer or trans people. It can also suggest that there is only one way to embody feminine or masculine energy.

Evans uses the concept to help people of all gender identities explore what feminity or masculinity means to them as individuals. But that self-exploratory conversation with an expert isn't possible on social media.

Divine feminine energy content also isn't too far removed from other popular social media trends, like manifestation content and "soft living" posts, which oppose hustle culture and prioritize self-care and overall health. In some ways, this line of thinking offers a cheat code for success in an ever-more-competitive world, telling people the problem is that they're working too hard or that the corporate world isn't suited to their needs.

Still, those posts sometimes transition to anti-work content targeted at women. Some creators have also jumped on the stay-at-home girlfriend trend or pivoted to the much-discussed tradwife content that preaches one way to be a wife or mother and emphasizes domesticity.

This ever-softer archetype of a woman is met with an increasingly aggressive ideal of a straight man, which can be a harmful dichotomy as these models seep into the real world. Self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate, who has been accused of human trafficking and sexual misconduct, aptly demonstrates the real-world risks of buying into the exaggerated gender binary. (Tate has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.)

So, while the concept of divine feminine energy might feel empowering for some, it can also lead to dangerous repercussions offline when it's used to weaponize feminity.

Approaching divine feminine with nuance

Evans thinks creators could fuel a more nuanced conversation around the divine feminine by balancing feminine and masculine energy in their content.

"I would love it if creators or content producers would spend equal time on divine feminine and masculine energies and how they play together because they don't exist in a silo," she said. "The reality is when you're talking about energy, they're always going to be in contrast with one another."

Maddox said that if you want to learn more about divine feminine energy, remember that it doesn't have to resonate with others, even if it holds meaning for you.

"As long as people continue to understand that everybody has their own idea of what gender is and means to them and how they can adopt it into their own lives, I think that's OK as long as they don't expect it to apply to other people as well," she said.

Smith's simple hope for what divine feminine energy can bring to people sums up the positive potential of the trend well: "Does it feel good for your body to do?"

"If the answer is yes, that is your feminine energy," she said. "Anytime something brings your soul joy, that is your feminine energy, and never let anyone tell you what it looks like because feminine energy is unique."

• Federal job cuts are creating an opportunity for companies in need of skilled workers.
• While private-sector hiring for desk workers is sluggish, it could offer a narrow lifeline to some.
• The CEO of Range said the startup hopes to accelerate hiring because so many workers are available.

Fahad Hassan has seen the impact of federal job cuts through some of the people he's met.

Not long after the Department of Government Efficiency began orchestrating sweeping cuts to the federal workforce, Hassan's friends introduced him to several government workers who were seeking safer waters.

He sensed an opportunity.

Hassan, who is cofounder and CEO of Range, a digital wealth-management startup outside Washington, DC, saw the exodus of federal employees as a chance to scoop up workers with the expertise he needed.

"We're getting lucky and potentially being able to hire a bunch of folks ahead of schedule," he told Business Insider.

Some of the places where people with extensive public sector experience have traditionally landed, such as universities or nonprofits, face their own funding challenges under the DOGE doctrine.

Yet companies like Range that haven't slowed hiring amid concerns about a possible economic gut punch from a trade war could offer an important, if narrow, lifeline for current and former government workers seeking jobs.

Finding a home in the private sector won't necessarily be easy. The job market for desk workers is broadly sluggish — something some laid-off government workers are already experiencing even as some state governments try to pick up the slack.

Cuts outlined by DOGE, the advisory body led by Elon Musk, translated to more than 280,000 planned layoffs of federal workers and contractors in the past two months, according to a new tally by the staffing firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

More government layoffs followed this week, for example, at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Federal knowhow

A recent analysis by Indeed found that workers at government agencies in DOGE's crosshairs are searching for and applying for jobs at "well above" the usual level.

Ben Walker, CEO of Ditto Transcripts, sees a potential benefit from the government's retrenchment. He often seeks to hire people with federal certification to work with the criminal justice information that his company handles.

Many of Ditto's clients are law enforcement and other government agencies that work with sensitive records pertaining to everything from healthcare to criminal activity and wiretaps.

Because more people with government experience — and familiarity with the federal guidelines his company needs to adhere to — are or soon could be out of work, Walker expects it will be easier than in the past to find workers.

Walker said he's hoping to hire as many as 10 transcriptionists in the next two to three months for various contracts that he expects will come through. The company is based in Denver, but most of its 50-some employees work remotely throughout the US.

Walker said he might also use the market's surplus of qualified workers to cut a handful of low-performers.

"Why wouldn't we replace them with three or four outstanding people?" he said.

'A ton of opportunity'

Hassan said Range is looking to hire 100 people, including staffers in operations, marketing, and product management and more than 30 engineers.

Range is largely hiring at its McLean, Virginia, headquarters, though also in the New York and Seattle areas.

"We have a ton of opportunity," Hassan said. Many would-be employees exiting the government he's met are available, excited, and interested, he said.

Those with federal experience on their résumé often use that as an in with businesses that contract with the government.

Yet it's not clear how much of that work will persist, said Patrice Williams-Lindo, CEO of Career Nomads, which helps professionals navigate career changes.

She told BI that government contractors could see their workloads decrease as spending cuts in Washington, DC, ripple through the economy. That could occur if the government dumps contracts or if it says no to some of the related add-ons that tend to extend workloads — and the need for employees.

"The pie is smaller," Williams-Lindo said.

Nevertheless, she said, even a job that doesn't last as long as government jobs historically have would likely be a godsend for someone needing work.

A possible payoff

For federal workers who manage to snag a role in the private sector, the rewards could be substantial.

Hassan, who runs Range, said government workers with the necessary skills and expertise can often expect a jump in pay. He said an engineer with seven years of experience earning about $145,000 at the Department of Energy could pull in closer to $250,000 a year at Range.

Hassan said he doesn't want to take advantage of workers accustomed to government salaries by lowballing them.

"I'm going to pay them what they're worth," he said.

Hassan doesn't worry that those who have spent "their whole lives" in government aren't suited for life inside a startup. He said the right people are those who can be trained and who can pivot, including federal workers.

"They've got amazing skills and superpowers in one or two areas," Hassan said of the government workers he's spoken with. "If we need to adjust them to be in a more Google-like environment, we can do that."

Ultimately, he said, there are phenomenal people everywhere.

"A lot of them are in government," Hassan said.

Are you a government worker? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at tparadis.70. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Tobi Adekeye quit her six-figure tech job to rest and explore different interests.
• Adekeye said she plans to accomplish a different personal goal each quarter during her career break.
• She credits her decision to take a gap year during a tough job market to being a Gen Z worker.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tobi Adekeye, a 27-year-old content creator and project manager based in Toronto. It's been edited for length and clarity.

In mid-2024, I started playing around with the idea of quitting my job, but I hesitated.

I felt it would be shameful to already be taking a career break at 27 years old. At the same time, I realized the longer I waited to take a break, the harder it would be to do it without consequences.

So, I officially quit my six-figure tech job in December 2024.

I have moments of doubt about my decision, but my time away has made me realize how much time work steals from my life. It has also changed the way I'm approaching my career moving forward.

I had a great job, but I wanted to leave

I find project management intellectually stimulating and rewarding, but I started to question whether I wanted to continue on the same career path without exploring other possibilities.

I had just been promoted to project manager at a tech company and worked with amazing colleagues. My six-figure salary not only allowed me to live comfortably but also allowed me to buy my first investment property by the age of 26.

Here I was with all of my boxes ticked off, and I still felt myself asking, "What's next?"

I used my investment property savings to fund my career gap

I had been saving up to make a down payment on a second investment property, but I decided to pivot and use the money to fund my career break instead. It was a tough decision because I'd be potentially sacrificing investment gains and income, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

I didn't create a strict timeline for my career break, but I have a comfortable financial runway of about a year.

I'm following a loose plan for my gap year, but sometimes I feel I'm not doing enough

I decided Q1 of 2025 would be about resting and focusing on wellness, Q2 would be about exploring new career options, and Q3 would be about taking action on an idea. It's very vague right now because I honestly have no idea what's next for me.

When I first quit, I found myself trying to stay productive all the time and even planning my days in Google Calendar. But, I've been trying to remind myself that future me would regret not utilizing this time to rest. Still, I have moments where I feel like I'm not doing enough.

On days when I have too much downtime, I begin to worry if I made a huge mistake

Sometimes, I wonder if I made a mistake leaving my secure job, and I worry about how a career gap might look on my résumé. I also wonder if taking a break will make it harder to find a job in an already tough market.

On a more personal level, I worry that I'm slacking or falling behind my former timeline for how my life should look.

A few things that help silence those thoughts and are a priority for me are moving my body, leaning into my faith, spending time with loved ones, and pursuing creative hobbies like content creation.

I'm really trying not to limit myself

If I feel like watching a movie at 1 p.m. on a Monday, I go to the movies. But, surprisingly, I don't have as much free time as I thought I would.

Whether it's cooking, laundry, or grocery shopping, I feel like there's always some adult responsibility keeping me busy. It's crazy to think that I used to only have the weekends to do those tasks when I should've been spending that time resting and connecting with friends and family.

I've been very intentional about who I tell about my career break

I know that not everyone will understand my decision to take a career break, so I've been avoiding certain people. I don't need anyone else to seed fear in me, and I don't feel like explaining to them why I'm taking a break to explore different interests.

I feel like my generation, Gen Z, is breaking societal expectations and seeing that there's more to life than just work. I'm realizing that I can create my own path and work the way I want.

Up until this year, I believed I'd work until I made a certain amount of money and then retire. Now, I'm heading into Q2 of my career break — my exploration phase — and I'm looking forward to diving deep into new sectors that excite me.

If you made a decision that impacted the way you approach your career and would like to share your story, please email the editor, Manseen Logan, at [email protected].