Hi, I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. Welcome back to Insider Weekly, a roundup of some of our top stories.
On the agenda today:
- Some job applicants are hiring stand-ins to do their job interviews for them.
- The most promising startups of the year — from retail to climate tech.
- The Knot is losing its shine as the best place for wedding vendors to advertise.
- Remote work is killing Florida as a retirement paradise.
But first: The US is now a gerontocracy. (If that term is new to you, it's "a state, society, or group governed by old people.") A new four-month investigation from our politics team looks at the disastrous effect it's having on American democracy. Deputy editor Dave Levinthal explains below.
If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app here.
Inside the US gerontocracy
Getty; Rebecca Zisser/Insider
Our elected officials are pretty old. That's hardly news, deputy editor Dave Levinthal writes.
But our government has never been older than it is today. And the gap between US leaders and those being led is historically wide — at a time when voters will soon hit the polls for another election.
Insider's new "Red, White, and Gray" project explores the costs, benefits, and dangers of life in a democracy helmed by those of advanced age, where issues of profound importance to the nation's youth and future — technology, civil rights, energy, the environment — are largely in the hands of those whose primes have passed. Here's what we found:
- Nearly one in four members of Congress are in their 70s or 80s, with key leaders born before or during World War II.
- Almost 50% of Americans are under the age of 40, but only about 5% of members of Congress are.
- The brain of an 80-year-old is almost certainly different than that of a 45-year-old, neuroscience tells us.
Plus, federal lawmakers such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Lauren Boebert, and Jon Ossoff dished on why youth is an advantage in Washington, DC — and congressional staffers described the lengths to which they've gone to keep aged lawmakers focused, engaged, and sometimes upright.
You can read more of our key findings here.
The rise of the 'bait-and-switch' job interview
Tyler Le/Insider
Are you sure that new employee is the same person you interviewed?
According to recruiters, employers, and job applicants interviewed by Insider, an increasing number of candidates are employing stand-ins to do their job interviews for them. Then, on the first day of work, the real candidate shows up in place of the stand-in — and may have no idea what they're doing.
How some applicants are cheating the system.
Also read:
Top VCs pick the most promising startups
Damir Becirovic/Index Ventures, Meera Clark/Redpoint Ventures, Morad Elhafed/Battery Venture, Amy Saper/ Accel, Tyler Le/Insiders
Want to know what VCs are keeping an eye on this year? Insider has you covered. Our tech team spoke with top venture capitalists to compile exhaustive lists of the most promising startups spanning education, retail, health, crypto, and more. Take a look:
- The 24 most promising retail startups of 2022
- The 23 most promising education startups of 2022
- The 21 most promising healthtech startups of 2022
- The 53 most promising crypto startups of 2022
- The 37 most promising climate-tech startups of 2022
- The 27 most promising consumer startups of 2022
Some wedding vendors are turning on The Knot
Shutterstock; Rachel Mendelson/Insider
The Knot promises to walk couples through "every part of planning," while getting businesses "in front of 13 million couples," its site says. But The Knot is in the business of selling ads, not producing results, and some companies are questioning the value of listing on the site.
Several business owners told Insider they weren't getting a return on their investments and were ready to take their ad dollars elsewhere — a shift that could dethrone a behemoth of the $ 3 billion nuptials industry.
Why The Knot is losing its dominance.
Remote work is killing Florida as a retirement paradise
Rebecca Zisser/Insider
With warm temperatures and low living costs, Florida has been a haven for retirees for decades. But between April 2020 and April 2021, more than 300,000 people moved to the state, making it the top destination for people relocating states during the first year of the pandemic.
Now, rising home prices — driven in part by the influx of remote workers — are threatening America's retirement dream, and retirees are feeling the squeeze.
This week's quote:
"After more than two months of browbeating, exhaustion, and a tireless sojourn to make my bosses happy while bingeing way too much caffeine, I was ready to walk away and give it all up."
- An investment-banking intern on his Wall Street summer from hell.
More of this week's top reads:
- Here's everything that will happen during Queen Elizabeth II's funeral tomorrow.
- Analysts predict the eight companies Amazon, Google, or Microsoft could buy next.
- An Airbnb host shares the tools he uses to bring in $ 475,000 in revenue each month.
- These 20 jobs may disappear in the US over the next decade.
- Meet the 10 leaders shaping BlackRock's new digital-assets strategy.
- With Goldman Sachs layoffs around the corner, we got an inside look at the bank's annual performance review.
- Fed up with high gas prices and slow Amazon deliveries? Two century-old laws could be to blame.
- Googlers who used to work at Amazon are sharing horror stories about their former employer's "frupid" culture.
Plus: Stay updated on the latest business news throughout your weekdays by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here tomorrow.
Curated by Matt Turner. Edited by Jordan Parker Erb and Lisa Ryan. Sign up for more Insider newsletters here.
https://i.insider.com/63248c6fe555ad001852f2b1?format=jpeg
