Business

NY rent is so expensive this intern commutes by plane once a week

Living in a big city comes with a hefty price tag which is why city workers often choose to live in the suburbs at a fraction of the price and put up with a grueling commute instead. But one commuter is going to extreme lengths to get to her New York office: Sophia Celentano takes a plane ride to work.

The corporate marketing intern explained in a viral TikTok video, as a hybrid worker, she only needs to get into the office once a week, so living and flying from South Carolina is cheaper than renting in the Big Applea city recently ranked as the worlds most expensive for expats.

Honestly, its cheaper for me to stay at home in Charleston, she said while recording her 3 a.m. morning routine to get into the Newark, New Jersey office for 9 a.m. I still live with my parents and just pay for plane tickets one day a week.

Fortune put Celentanos cost-cutting weekly routinewhich includes flying out specifically on Wednesdays, her in-office dayto the test.

The average rent in New York ranges from $3,485 for a studio rental to $7,800 for a 4-bedroom, according to Renthop. Meanwhile, Fortune found numerous return flights from Charleston to Newark for around the $200 mark.

So flying to the office once a month would cost a hybrid worker, like Celentano, less than $1,000 a monthsignificantly less than the sky-high rent of a New York studio apartment before even taking into account the general increased cost of living in a popular city.

Plus, unlike your standard train commuter who is often hit with disruptions on their way into the office, Celentano boasted that her radical commute means shes actually often in the office before her start time.

Early morning flights are very really delayed, she said, in reaction to viewers concerns that catching the plane to work would result in regularly arriving late for work.

While viewers were shocked by her working arrangement, with one commenting, Not a single job in the world is worth this, Celentano has no problem with her lengthy commute.

I understand this is a very untraditional thing, but it works for me, she doubled down in a video she made in response to the negative reaction her commuting video received.

Moreover, her situation isnt even a rare one-off occurrence in her workplace.

While many in her team travel in from Boston and Philadelphia, one peer in her internship program even commutes from Atlanta.

Plus, as she notes, due to the sheer size of New York and the offices specific location, even locals tend to spend around an hour and a half to get to the office.

So clearly, in the eyes of Celentano (and the intern from Atlanta) killing a couple of extra hours on commuting is worth the thousands of dollars in savings.

Meet the typical Fortune 500 CEO: A total Gen Xer. Basically Keanu Reeves.

Nobody puts baby (boomers) in a corner, or keeps them out of the executive suitebut Generation X is giving them a run for their money. The current brat pack of Fortune 500 CEOs is now made up mostly of people aged 43 to 58, also known as the sandwich generation. Back in the 1990s, they were called the slacker generation: Thats right, Gen X. To paraphrase a generation-defining movie for this cohort, reality no longer bites for the leaders of the countrys biggest firms.

Known for their early efforts to establish a better work-life balance, Gen X might finally be shaking things up from the very top. There are currently 267 Fortune 500 CEOs who could have been held in detention as the Breakfast Club. Its not all that shocking, given that the average age of a Fortune 500 CEO sits solidly in this range: aged 57.7. They have a lot in common with Gen X icon Keanu Reeves, who is just a tad older at age 58. Sorting through all 505 CEOs from this years list, Fortune cross-referenced their ages with the generational definitions used by both S&P Global and Pew Research Center. As Keanu might say, once or twice, or ten times, Whoa.

Gen X has many defining pop culture totems, but few sum up its ambivalence about ambition and careerism like Ben Stillers 1994 film Reality Bites, starring the generations favorite heroine, Winona Ryder (also a close friend of Keanu Reeves offscreen). She must choose between two romantic options, the besuited, status-hungry Michael, played by Stiller himself, and the goateed, aloof Troy, played by then-slacker heartthrob Ethan Hawke.

A Troy soliloquy argues theres no point to any of this, extolling the simple pleasures of a quarter-pounder with cheese, because its all just a a random lottery of meaningless tragedy and a series of near escapes.

But things have changed a few decades on.

From Keanu and Winona to Elon and Satya

The oft-overlooked Generation Xneither as self-mythologizing as the boomers or as economically anxious as the millennialshas been making news a lot lately, as many have reached the height of their power. Whether you love them, hate them, or dont know their names, Gen X leaders include essentially every prominent business leader outside of millennial Mark Zuckerberg. Some of the persistently vocal, like Elon Musk, have made their attempt at a leadership style while slashing jobs and ushering employees back into the office. Other famed Gen X leaders, like Microsofts Satya Nadella, are sharing their takes on A.I. and hybrid work. Nadella recently was voted the most underrated CEO for the six time in a row by Fortunes Worlds Most Admired Companies, and it seems as if Gen X is finally getting properly rated after all.

Boomers are not far behind Gen X, standing at 226 CEOs aged 59 to 77. This cohort is also more likely to be billionaires than younger generations, as the Wealth-X Database found that the median age of such high-net individuals was 67. Given their greater time to establish themselves in their careers and less obstacles to building wealth, such as stagnant salaries, greater student debt and more vulnerability to recessions that plagued younger cohorts, Boomers have had a leg up for some time.

Meanwhile, our youngest Fortune 500 CEO, the aforementioned Zuckerberg, is currently employing his company to wage the battle of denying that he was ever knocked out in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament. Playing dead is a classic move that every dog on the top of their game employees, but Mark Zuckerberg denies he was unconscious at all, claiming that the referee misheard his snores. At 38, hes one of the 1% of millennials that represent Fortune 500s spriest chickens. There are only seven CEOs in the list that can be considered millennials. This generation is still establishing itself, having been held back by the Great Recession and the cost of education. Besides, Zuckerberg and other young CEOs are like most people that still use Facebook, older millennials that are practically Gen X.

Also only representing 1% of the Fortune 500 list are CEOs from the postwar, or silent generation. Older than boomers, these executives are aged 78 to 95. There are just five CEOs of this cohort, including Berkshire Hathaways Warren Buffett.

Still early in their career, theres no Gen Z Fortune 500 CEOs yet. Which makes sense given that the cohort is born between the years of 1997 to 2012, and despite Republican efforts to chip away at child labor laws, a lot of this highly educated group thats between the ages 11 and 26 is still in school or just establishing themselves in the workforce. For now its the dawning of the age of Gen X.

As for Winona, in Reality Bites, of course she chooses the slacker Troy instead of the ambitious Michael, but as the Fortune 500 list will tell you, the latter probably ended up as a CEO somewhere.

McKinsey Global Institute sees 4 possible scenarios for the economy by 2030. Only one leads to long-term growth

COVID-19. War in Europe. Inflation. Geopolitical uncertainty. Global business leaders have had a lot to deal with in the last few years, and they cannot assume the future will be any easier or more familiar. Rather, the economic, banking, and investment landscape of the next decade is likely to look materially different from the recent past.

Economically speaking, the 21st century has been unusual. The global balance sheet is an accounting of the whole worlds economycounting up the assets and liabilities of households, corporations, governments, and financial institutions. Before 2000, the balance sheet grew in tandem with GDP. Since then, the assets on the balance sheet have increased far faster than GDP, as assets like equity and real estate created $160 trillion in paper wealth. In effect, a glut of savings couldnt find productive outlets in the real economy, so investment was low. That contributed to sluggish growth, low global inflation, and declining interest rates.

These trends may now be fading. Investment requirements are rising. Progressing toward net-zero emissions, for example, will require incremental investment estimated at two percentage points of global GDP for the rest of this decade. Then there are the stated commitments to new infrastructure, stronger supply chains, and defense.

Whats next? And what can we do about it? To address those questions, the McKinsey Global Institute considered four different plausible scenarios for how the global economy will evolve by 2030.

Scenario #1: Repeat performance

Looking just at the United States, in this scenario, volatility ebbs, and the economy goes back to roughly where it was from 2000 to 2020: high savings, weak investment, a not-too-tight labor market, and low inflation and interest rates. Productivity and output growth are both weak. Wealth continues to grow, but at the expense of real economic output and higher inequality. The balance sheet expands relative to GDP and remains vulnerable to disruption.

Scenario #2: Back to the 70s

No, not platform shoes and disco. In this scenario, there is something akin to the stagflation the U.S. experienced in the 1970s. Inflation and short-term interest rates stick at around 4%, depressing the real value of assets including equity and real estate. Central banks have to balance fighting inflation with supporting financial stability. Consumption is strong, but growth is unimpressive. Corporate earnings grow slowly, and the lack of price stability means a high risk of market volatility. Real household wealth declines. Relative to GDP, the global balance sheet reverts toward historic averages.

Scenario #3: A balance sheet reset

Think Japan after the real-estate/equity bubble burst, when its total net worth relative to GDP contracted by 20% from 1990 to 2000. Known as the lost decade, this was essentially a 10-year episode of stagnation and recession, affecting wealth, income, and financial stability. In this scenario, fiscal and monetary policy tightens strongly to bring inflation down. Asset prices contract in response, putting financial institutions under pressure. Prolonged deleveraging dampens growth as consumers pay down debt rather than spend.

Scenario#4: Productivity acceleration

This is the only scenario that envisions long-term growth of both income and wealth. Greater real investment and the deployment of digital and emerging technologies such as generative A.I. raise productivity. Brisk, broad-based GDP growth boosts household wealthas much as by an additional $16 trillion in the U.S. alone. Inflation falls while real interest rates rise to about 1 percent on average, supporting productive capital allocation, and improving the health of the global balance sheet. In this strong and stable economy, deposits shrink in real terms and central banks roll back quantitative tightening.

These four distinct scenarios have one thing in common: major real-world consequences. The difference in household wealth between the balance sheet reset and high-productivity scenarios adds up to $48 trillion in the United States alone by 2030, according to our estimates. And the difference in GDP growth is 1.7 percentage points.

To plan for such a broad range of possibilities, businesses need to go beyond tracking short-term indicators like interest rate decisions or monthly inflation numbers. Instead, they will want to plan for the longer-term structural shifts that will shape your industry. Are net-zero commitments being met? Are trade policies changing? What domestic policy factors matter most?

Because the future is uncertain (and could be worse), firms need to strengthen risk management. Actions could include bolstering equity buffers, strengthening balance sheets, and offloading macro risk. Finally, even while shoring up resilience, businesses should seek new growth opportunities, which may require developing new business models and capabilities.

In recent years, the global economy has endured shock after shock. No doubt many people wouldnt mind a return to the relative calm of, say, 2019. But the fact is, that cannot be assumed.

Of course, business leaders and policymakers should strive to achieve the best scenario, productivity acceleration. But given recent volatility, they should also be preparing for the less favorable ones. When it comes to economics, whats past is not always prologue.

Jan Mischke is a partner with the McKinsey Global Institute, based in Zurich. Sven Smit is a senior partner in Amsterdam, and global leader of the McKinsey Global Institute. Olivia White is a senior partner in McKinsey & Companys San Francisco office and a director of the McKinsey Global Institute.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

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Biden vetoes bill that would have canceled his plan to forgive student debt

The measure had been pushed by Republicans, but it garnered a handful of Democratic votes in the Senate as well.

It is a shame for working families across the country that lawmakers continue to pursue this unprecedented attempt to deny critical relief to millions of their own constituents, Biden said in a statement when announcing his veto.

Despite the veto, Bidens plan still isnt secure. The U.S. Supreme Court, which is dominated by a conservative majority, is reviewing a legal challenge that could eliminate the program. A decision is expected this summer.

If enacted, Bidens plan would forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year.

Student loan payments were paused at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they will resume in August for anyone whose debt is not wiped out by Bidens plan.

Google tightens back-to-office policy by making attendance part of performance reviews

With COVID-19 becoming somewhat-old news, companies are increasingly desperate to bring their employees back into officersone way or another.

Google is the latest company to tighten its return-to-work policies to get workers to commute more often. In an internal email, the company said it could make office attendance an element of an employees performance review if they did not comply with the three-day minimum for in-office work, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Nor is Google planing to grow the number of its employees working-from-home full-time. The company said it will only consider allowing fully remote arrangements in exceptional cases.

Our employees have been in our hybrid work model for over a year nowspending three days a week in the office and the other two working from home, Google spokesperson Ryan Lamont told Fortune in an email. Its going well, and we want to see Googlers connecting and collaborating in-person, so were limiting remote work to exception only.

Google first started asking employees to spend three days a week in the office over a year ago. The move, which came after two years of remote work due to pandemic-related restrictions, was a logistical mess at first due to a deluge of returning employees.

Our hybrid approach is designed to incorporate the best of being together in person with the benefits of working from home for part of the week. Now that were more than a year into this way of working, were formally integrating this approach into all of our workplace policies, Lamont said.

Google did not return Fortunes request for further elaboration on how attendance will be linked to employee performance.

RTO mandate struggle

Tech companies have struggled to get their workers to comply with return-to-office mandates, and firms like Google are now clamping down on remote work to get people back.

Some companies are turning to creative ways to get workers back in the office. Cloud company Salesforce offered to donate $10 to a local charity for each day of in-person work from an employee between June 12 and June 23, Fortune reported Tuesday.

Googles employees wont have as nice an office experience as they would have had before the pandemic. The search giant, in a bid to cut costs, did away with employee perks like free massages and said it expected workers to share desks.

A long-due end to remote work?

Working-from-home became the preferred way of working for many during the pandemicbut the time of fully remote work may be coming to an end. The drive to get workers to come in to the office at least part of the time accelerated this year, with companies like Disney, Meta, and Starbucks announcing plans for at least a few days of in-person work a week.

Employees have criticized these policies. Amazon called its workers back into the office with effect in May, spurring protests. Employees staged a walk-out over the return-to-work policy last week, but the tech and cloud giant has remained unfazed so far.

Yet despite these corporate efforts, office occupancy in the top 10 metro cities is still averaging less than 50% each week, according to security firm Kastle Systems, reflecting the choice of employees to maintain flexibility between remote and in-person work.

Remote works impact on productivity

Google argues that it needs in-person work to encourage collaboration. Not everyone believes in magical hallway conversations, but theres no question that working together in the same room makes a positive difference, wrote Google chief people officer Fiona Cicconi in the email announcing the change, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Google is not the only tech company that believes that workers are helped by opportunities for in-person work and collaboration.

Both Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claim that fully remote workers are less productive than those who had at least some in-person office time before the pandemic. Our early analysis of performance data suggests that engineers who either joined Meta in-person and then transferred to remote or remained in-person performed better on average than people who joined remotely, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a statement in March.

It is still unclear how remote work changes employee productivity. Managers believe that staying at home hurts performance, while employees argue the opposite. Workers also save time by not commuting, which is often put towards doing more work. And as much as companies want workers back, experts argue that remote work will be part of the new normal.

Barnes & Noble workers at Manhattan flagship store vote to unionize

Workers at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattans Union Square, one of the retail chains signature stores and home to its corporate offices, have voted to unionize.

They join employees at a handful of other Barnes & Noble stores in the Northeast who have affiliated with unions in recent weeks, following a wave of union activity over the past few years at independent booksellers.

The Union Square employees are now part of the the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which also represents workers at McNally Jackson, Greenlight Bookstore and other independents.

In an announcement Wednesday, the RWDSU cited issues at the Union Square store ranging from workplace harassment to unstable scheduling practices and favoritism by management.

Together, with their colleagues in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and just across the water in Brooklyn, Barnes & Noble workers in Union Square have sent a message all across the nation the bookstore industry can and must treat workers with dignity and respect, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement.

Workers at this store not only organized and won their union voice, but they did so with management literally above their heads in the corporate headquarters, which is housed just above the store in the same building.

Barnes & Noble issued a brief statement saying, We look forward to the new contract with the Union Square Booksellers.

Circle hires former CFTC Chair Heath Tarbert as top lawyer

Stablecoin giant Circle announced on Thursday that Heath Tarbert, a former regulator who has held senior positions at Citadel Securities and the World Bank, is joining the company as Chief Legal Officer and Head of Corporate Affairs.

The appointment comes at a critical time for Circle, which oversees nearly $30 billion of the USDC stablecoin along with Coinbase, but is navigating U.S. regulatory waters that have become deeply hostile to crypto.

As a former Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commissionan agency that is jockeying for a bigger role overseeing crypto marketsTarbert is likely to provide Circle with both expertise and valuable connections in Washington, DC.

In an interview with Fortune, Tarbert described himself as a longtime digital asset enthusiast, and said he was attracted to Circle because of the companys reputation for prudence, and because he considers USDC to be the most popular regulated stablecoin.

There will be a convergence between the traditional financial system and blockchain technology, he said, and predicted that stablecoins will come to be a critical element of the future payment eco-system.

According to Tarbert, the tokenization of the dollar on blockchains is inevitable, but he added the U.S. still needs a model for government-supported stablecoins that permits innovation and that doesnt permit Chinese-style currency surveillance.

In pushing for a regulatory framework for stablecoins, Tarbert and Circle may have their work cut out for them. Recent attempts to push forward crypto legislation in Congress have stalled due in large part to the fallout from the FTX scandal, which saw investors loses billions and hundreds of politicians having to give back campaign contributions they received from the companys disgraced founder.

Tarbert, however, expressed confidence that Congress will pass a crypto law so long as its focus is limited to stablecoins. He cited a stablecoin bill currently under debate, pointing out that it is only 15 pagesversus more comprehensive proposed legislation that runs over 100 pagesand noting that lawmakers are more keen to move on stablecoins given the geo-political landscape. In particular, Tarbert said national security hawks are watching digital money initiatives in other countries, and want to ensure the U.S. dollar does not lose ground.

Meanwhile, Circles founder and CEO, Jeremy Allaire, touted Tarberts financial expertise and leadership in a statement.

As we continue building a bridge between traditional finance and Web3, Heaths perspective, legal acumen and global regulatory experience will help us advance the utility value of USDC worldwide, said Allaire.

Learn more about all things crypto with short, easy-to-read lesson cards. Click here for Fortunes Crypto Crash Course.