Dont look now, but meme stock mania appears to be back with a vengeance this week.
This time around, Beyond Meat, Inc. (Nasdaq: BYND) and Krispy Kreme, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNUT) are the two main stocks getting all the attention from meme investors. Heres what you need to know.
Beyond Meat shares skyrocket again
On Monday, Fast Company reported on the surging share price of Beyond Meat, the producer of plant-based meat alternatives. The company started the trading week by enjoying a stock price surge of more than 67% in premarket trading that day.
But far from any change in the companys financial fundamentals, what seemed to be driving shares higher were short sellers and meme stock enthusiasts.
Indeed, Beyond Meats business has been struggling in recent years as consumers have turned away from plant-based meat alternatives.
More recently, Beyond Meat announced that its creditors had agreed to a debt swap, which will result in the issuance of 316 million new BYND shares, thereby diluting existing shares.
But a struggling company in penny stock territory can be red meat to meme investors. For much of the past week, meme traders on Reddit and elsewhere have been pumping up the stockand it appears to be working.
Yesterday, Beyond Meat shares rose a staggering 146% to close at $3.62 per share. And today in premarket trading, as of the time of this writing, BYND shares are up another 103% to $7.37.
That puts Beyond Meat shares at a price they have not seen since 2024.
It also puts Beyond Meats shares firmly in the green for this year. The stock began 2025 at around $4 per share, but that price had fallen to as low as 50 cents per share just last week, before meme stock traders decided to take a bite.
One other contributing factor to Beyond Meats surge this week is that, as CNBC notes, the stock was added to Roundhill Investments Meme Stock ETF on Monday, cementing its place in the meme stock pantheon.
Meme stock traders want dessert, too
Krispy Kremes stock is also seeing some meme stock action this week. DNUT shares rose more than 13% yesterday to $3.71, and as of the time of this writing, in premarket trading this morning, the companys shares are up another 40% to $5.23 apiece.
While those gains are a far cry from the ones BYND shares are experiencing, DNUT shares have more experience in the meme stock arena. Meme stock investors heavily traded DNUT shares earlier this year.
Other factors that may be impacting interest in Krispy Kremes stock include the company’s recent international expansion in Spain, with additional countries, Brazil and Uzbekistan, planned before the end of the year.
Investors likely hope that this expansion can help offset domestic sales issues.
Still, despite its recent gains, DNUT shares remain significantly down from where they were at the beginning of this year. In January, the stock traded at more than $9.80 apiece. And as of yesterdays close, DNUT shares have fallen more than 67% over the past 12 months.
For many, picking up a controller at the end of a long day to neutralize some zombies or take on a side quest with a fairy is a way to unwind and escape from the demands of work.
But it might also have some unexpected benefits that follow you from the character select screen and into the office.
A new report from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) finds that the motivations behind gaming go far beyond fun. While 66% of the more than 24,000 players in 21 countries surveyed say they play primarily for enjoyment, the majority credit gaming with developing real-world skills, like problem-solving, teamwork, adaptability, and critical thinking. All useful transferable skills to play up in a job interview. (Maybe dont reveal you honed them playing Fortnite, though.)
More than half the respondents say playing video games helps relieve stress (58%). Forty-five percent say playing video keeps their minds sharp, and nearly half (43%) of players say video games have positively influenced their education or career path.
The player perspective is supported by scientific research, with many studies concluding that video games improve cognitive skills and decision-making, Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO, Entertainment Software Association, told Fast Company.
A number of industries have already embraced interactive technologies for training employees, from medical treatments and surgery to astronautics and emergency response, says Pierre-Louis. I anticipate more will recognize gameplay as a way to engage with and develop their workforce in the near future.”
Brain health experts are a bit divided as to whether some games, like Wordle, actually improve cognitive function. And while the ESA report is of course an industry one, theres other data out there that may support its findings.
A 2022 study found that kids who play video games showed better impulse control and working memory than those who didnt. Another from 2021 found that playing video games does improve not only cognitive functions, but also mood and emotional well-being in elderly people.
Another, from 2020 from University of Liechtenstein, found a strong correlation between video game skills and managerial ability. In fact, being adept at video games can significantly boost ones career, the researchers wrote.
A literature review published in Procedia Computer Science, cited in the ESA report, also found that gaming can enhance perception, attentional control, and decision-making. Nurses and doctors, for example, who trained with simulation games showed improvements in both risk assessment and response time.
These benefits arent limited to just life-or-death scenarios. Retailers have also turned to game-based tools to prepare employees for peak shopping events, the report notes. Sports teams use simulation tech to help athletes train. Across industries, gaming has become a quick fix to boost preparedness and improve team outcomes.
Of course, spending hours gaming in the evening is not always the answer to your work woes. Sometimes its just a way to unwind after a long day. (There’s research that suggests mental health benefits of having hobbies, by the way.)
But research has also previously found that gaming can actually hinder the amount of work young men do by 15 to 30 hours over the course of one year. And excessive gaming can be detrimental to mental health, or even spiral into addiction for some people.
As companies struggle to maintain engaged employees, burnout is on the up. Who knows? Maybe a chill pastime in front of a glowing screen is just the thing to take the edge off. (Or, in some ways, may also give the edge you need to perform better at work.)
Anthropic insists that its getting along with the Trump administration just fine.In a new blog post published on October 21, the companys CEO, Dario Amodei, pushed back on what he called a recent uptick in inaccurate claims about Anthropic’s policy stances.
His comments come after David Sacks, a prominent tech venture capitalist currently serving as the Trump administrations AI czar, accused Anthropic of having an agenda to backdoor Woke AI through state-level regulation and working with Democratic mega-donors. That narrative has since gained traction within online right-wing spaces. The comments also follow the White Houses release of an executive order specifically focused on combating woke AI earlier this year, though officials have yet to say how it will be enforced.
Now Anthropic is defending its work on AI safety, which Amodei argued should prioritize policy over politics. He also doubled down on the company’s position on regulating AI on the state level, in absence of a national standard.
Citing JD Vances comments on AI directly, Amodei pointed to several areas of agreement with the Trump administration, including to maximize applications that help people, like breakthroughs in medicine and disease prevention, while minimizing the harmful ones.
The CEO also questioned the notion that Claude, the companys flagship chatbot, is more susceptible to political bias than other similar large language models. Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have increasingly leveled accusations that the countrys leading AI companies are building biased AI models, echoing the accusations made against social media companies in recent years.
In short, Anthropic wants to toe the line between sticking to its commitment to study AI safetysafeguarding against general artificial intelligence endangering the human species and society in all sorts of destabilizing waysand appeasing the professed concerns of the Trump administration. Thats all happening while the company attempts to scoop up more government work.
Anthropic is committed to constructive engagement on matters of public policy. When we agree, we say so, wrote Amodei. When we dont, we propose an alternative for consideration. We do this because we are a public benefit corporation with a mission to ensure that AI benefits everyone, and because we want to maintain Americas lead in AI. Again, we believe we share those goals with the Trump administration, both sides of Congress, and the public. We are going to keep being honest and straightforward, and will stand up for the policies we believe are right. The stakes of this technology are too great for us to do otherwise.
Federal contracts
Amodei underscored that Anthropic already has myriad partnerships with the federal government, including a contract with the Pentagon and work with the Energy Departments national laboratory system. Along with competitors like OpenAI, Google, and xAI, Anthropic is also working with the General Services Administration to offer its enterprise Claude service to federal agencies at a discounted price.
Anthropics work within the GSA seems to be unaffected by whatever might be happening within the Office of Science and Technology Policy, where Sacks serves as an adviser, a government official familiar with the matter told Fast Company. Last month, Democrats launched an ethics inquiry into the investor, who has received waivers that allow him to participate in the administration while maintaining some of his investments.
Anthropic has gotten good feedback from the GSA about government use of the tool, a company spokesperson says. The AI developer also points to its ongoing partnership with Palantir on meeting Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) requirements, a wonky but critical cloud security review program used to offer technology across federal agencies.
Palantir is a controversial technology contractor thats seen its business with both the defense and civilian sides of government grow in recent years. As part of that work, Palantir has already been cleared to provide its cloud technology to federal agencies.
While Anthropic has been picking up government contracts, it appears to be falling behind OpenAI on independent FedRAMP authorization. This could be a game changer for OpenAI: Should OpenAI earn that accreditation, it wont need to work through another companylike Microsoftto offer its technology directly to the government. At that point, OpenAI would be a more freestanding government contractor, maintaining far more independence from other major cloud companies.
The same government official told Fast Company that Anthropic has yet to share a plan for gaining accreditation for its systems through that program, or securing a sponsorship for review in another way. A spokesperson for the GSA declined to comment.
Fast-food companies, beware: Gas stations and convenience stores are coming for your customers.
Fireside Market, a Wisconsin convenience store chain, announced a new store concept in Slinger, Wisconsin, designed to sell more burgers and less gas. It has a drive-through, curbside pickup area, and gourmet menu itemsand it’s a model of the convenience store of the future.
Fireside Market’s burger and sandwich menu is several steps up from the outdated idea of day-old taquitos spinning on a rotating food warmer at the local convenience store. Instead, its menu has items like a burger topped with bacon, pastrami, and balsamic-onion jam, and a grilled-salmon sandwich.
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Falling demand for gas, tobacco, and lottery tickets has upended the business model convenience stores once relied on. In a world with fewer smokers and more Teslas, it’s no longer enough for convenience stores to be an afterthought for drivers stopping to fuel up on gas or soda. They need kitchens.
The percentage of in-store sales that comes from food servicea category that includes prepared foods, commissary, and beveragesis on the rise. It grew from 23% of in-store sales in 2021 to nearly 29% today, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores trade group. That trend is especially noticeable at breakfast time: Sales from morning-meal traffic at food-forward convenience stores grew 9% in the third quarter this year, compared to just 1% at fast-food chains, according to data from market research firm Circana.
Fireside Market’s 9,700-square-foot Slinger location, its first with EV chargers, is designed for this new reality. 7-Eleven closed more than 400 stores in North America last year, but it’s looking to grow its fresh prepared-food offerings as part of its comeback. Meanwhile, food-forward chains are in expansion mode.
Buc-ee’s in Luling, Texas, circa 2024 [Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images]
Buc-ee’s opened its largest location ever in Luling, Texas, last year, while convenience store chain Sheetz opened its 800th location in Raleigh, North Carolina, in August. Caseys General Stores, known for its pizzas, has broadened its menu to include burgers and sandwiches, while Fast Stop, a Louisiana-based convenience store chain, is taking the trend a step further, spinning off its made-to-order menu of Cajun-inspired foods into its own restaurant with nary a gas pump in sight, according to trade publication C-Store Dive.
In a world that runs on less gas, gas stations have to adapt to survive. Many are finding food is the answer.
The White House, one of the most historically significant and secure buildings in the United States, is being torn apart.
Demolition crews were on the White House grounds this week to begin demolition of the front facade of the East Wing in order to make way for the construction of a new 90,000-square-foot ballroom that President Trump announced in July. “I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom,” Trump wrote on social media the day the work began.
When the ballroom was first announced this summer, Trump said the project “won’t interfere with the current building.” During a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt went even further, saying “nothing will be torn down.”
Those statements turned out to be false. Photos and videos taken at the site on October 20 show the walls of the building being chewed to bits by heavy construction equipment outfitted with a jaw-shaped demolition tool that looks like the head of a tyrannosaurus rex.
“This is one of the most important buildings in the nation. This is one of the symbols of who we are as a people,” says Bryan Green, a former commissioner on the National Capital Planning Commission, a government agency that oversees and advises on planning in the Washington, D.C. area. “It’s hard to look and see a wrecking ball hitting it.”
An exemption leaves little protection for the People’s House
Despite the White House’s historic and symbolic significance, there was little to protect it from the demolition work now underway. The White House, along with the Supreme Court building, the Capitol building, and several other properties, is exempted from historic preservation rules that would otherwise stand in the way of such a building being torn down.
Under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, a strict review process is required for federal projects that may affect historic buildings, leading to both public scrutiny and legal obligations surrounding any proposed changes to existing historic resources. When it comes to the White House, various other entities have some level of oversight, including the National Park Service, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capitol Planning Commission, but none can fully override a project like the demolition and ballroom addition due to the building’s Section 106 exemption.
During his time on the National Capital Planning Commission, Green says he participated in the Section 106 review process and found it beneficial to the outcome of the projects in question. “Projects generally improve as a part of that process,” he says. “You’re having lots of eyes on them, having lots of different people with different interests look at these things and comment on them. They get better.”
The White House ballroom project and its related East Wing demolition had very little, if any, public involvement. Though Trump initially said that several concepts were being considered for the project, the administration did not release any designs or name any architects ahead of July 31, when Trump announced that the White House had chosen Washington, D.C.-based McCrery Architects as the lead architect of the project. Trump has said the project, with an estimated cost of $200 million, would be funded by donors, himself included, “with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. McCrery Architects referred Fast Company’s questions to the White House.
“A reminder of how far that exemption can be taken”
The White House’s exemption from the Section 106 review process is “unfortunate,” says Priya Jain, an associate professor of architecture at Texas A&M University. “This project and what is happening serves as a reminder of how far that exemption can be taken,” Jain says.
The exemption for the White House, along with the Supreme Court and the Capitol, is not explicitly explained by the policy, but Jain says it likely has to do with evolving security and operational needs that officials don’t want bogged down with an official review or approval process. “Security and safety concerns are paramount,” she says.
Jain is also chair of the Heritage Conservation Committee of the Society of Architectural Historians, which recently issued a statement expressing concern over the lack of oversight on this project, calling for “a rigorous and deliberate design and review process.”
The organization notes that the White House has undergone numerous exterior and interior modifications since construction began in 1792, including a major reconstruction after the British set fire to the building during the War of 1812, the construction and expansion of the West Wing in the first decade of the 1900s, and the construction of the two-story East Wing building in 1942. This was the last major addition to the White House.
The White House has evolved, but so has the preservation field
In a recent post on LinkedIn, White House Historical Association president Stewart McLaurin ran through the changes the White House has seen over the centuries, and the criticism they caused. For example, the now-iconic colonnades added to the building by Thomas Jefferson in 1801 were seen at the time as extravagant and reflecting “aristocratic tendencies,” according to McLaurin.
The East Wing, as it was until a few days ago, was built in the midst of World War Two, sparking criticism about the misappropriation of funding during an international crisis. Even the Rose Garden, which has since been paved over by Trump, was criticized for its elitism.
“Media and Congressional criticisms have often focused on costs, historical integrity, and timing, yet many of these alterations have become integral to the identity of the White House,” McLaurin writes. “It is difficult for us to imagine The White House today without these evolutions and additions.”
Notably, all these changes happened before the creation of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act, which is why the Society of Architectural Historians is so concerned about the Section 106 exemption being exploited for such a large demolition and construction project.
“The preservation field has come a long way,” says Jain. She notes that though the section had exempted the buildings at the time of writing, their status as prominent public buildings sets a precedent for other preservation projects and “they should follow some of these best practices that have been established.”
The Trump administration has emphasized the importance of having the ballroom completed “long before” the end of Trump’s term, which may have played a role in the fast pace of design selection and starting construction.
“Designing in public takes time. It takes time to work towards a consensus,” Green says. “I would assume that the goal was just go fast, no revisions. I don’t know that for sure, but it sure looks like that.”
In 2022, Elisha Zepeda had given up on becoming a designer and was working as a barista at an Oregon bookstore. Today, hes a salaried book cover designer at Penguin Random House and an in-demand freelance designerand its all thanks to one TikTok video.
Zepeda spent four years at California State University working for his schools marketing department. After he graduated in 2018, though, he faced a problem thats become commonplace for job seekers today: No one in the design industry seemed to be hiring. So he started working as a barista at a local bookstore with a coffee shop. While organizing the shops books into categories by color palette and typography, he became fascinated with book cover design. This interest led him to curate a portfolio of faux book covers for about a year before a book cover design studio in the area hired him.
On a whim, Zepeda decided to share his design process on social media. The first video he ever posted to TikToka relaxed breakdown of how he builds out cover options for publishershit more than a million views overnight. Since then, Zepeda has honed his editing technique to create a video style that feels entirely his own, centered on calming music, simple text, and engaging visuals. Today, he has almost a million total followers across TikTok and Instagram.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Elisha Zepeda (@ez.bookdesign)
This visibility earned Zepeda his job as a designer at Penguin Random Houses nonfiction Penguin Press vertical, where he produces about 20 covers per year. Outside of that position, he also takes freelance work from clients who primarily discover him through TikTok. The lesson, he says, is clear: Designers across categories need to start viewing social media as their primary portfolio.
Fast Company sat down with Zepeda to chat about breaking into book cover design, how to start using social media like a portfolio, and which book cover tropes he tries to avoid.
The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Why did you start sharing your work on social media?
I was with that local studio for about a year, and I knew that no one I worked with was on TikTok. There was a book I was working on called Infinite Life, and one night, without telling anyone I worked with, I made that video and posted it. Overnight, it had a million views. I ended up talking to my boss, and they were really stoked about it, but they were like, Lets just check with publishers from here on out before you post anything. From then on, I just consistently kept doing it.
What kinds of ripple effects has this had on your career?
It truly changed my career path. I saw that Penguin was hiring, and I reached out to the art director, and he was like, I know your work from social media, and I was pretty much hired.
Suddenly, all of these art directors and publishers knew who I was, and then I got to work with Penguin. It’s the perfect fit for my style. I just really lucked out, and it all happened so fastfrom when I started posting, it was maybe three to six months later that I was getting work from big art directors, hired by Penguin, switched my job, and moved cities.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Elisha Zepeda (@ez.bookdesign)
What does your brainstorming process look like when you first get an assignment?
I love Pinterest. The first thing I do is make a mood board. I’ll get a brief from clients that has maybe a couple of paragraphs. Lately, it seems like the bigger the client, the less restriction they have on the cover. Theyre like, Youre the person were paying to be creativejust make a bunch of options and well see where it lands. Which is why I think these huge publishers have all these bestsellersbecause they trust creatives.
During my brainstorming process, I think of every project like, How can I make something that I personally would want to buy, and I personally think looks good? Every bestseller becomes a bestseller because it’s fresh and looks new. You can’t copy something else and expect it to have the same reaction from an audience. All you can really do is make a mood board and trust your instincts with what you think looks good.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Elisha Zepeda (@ez.bookdesign)
How important has creator-led marketing become for designers?
I think people should be viewing their social media as their portfolio. I know we have portfolio websites, and you can make it clean and crisp and how you want it to be, but realistically, art directors check social media like anyone else.
Are there any book cover design tropes that you tend to steer clear from?
Now that Im working with these art directors that I admire, I have to be very aware of what is out there already in a certain genre, because you never know who you’re going to work with. I just don’t ever want to rub someone the wrong way if it looks like I totally ripped off something they did that succeeded.
As far as trends go, I wouldn’t say there’s necessarily a no-no. A lot of times, if something follows a trend, it was very specifically asked for by the publisher. The first thing that comes to mind is that thrillers are teal and yellow. We really try to push back on that, but our directors will be like, No, it has to be teal and yellow so people know it’s a thriller. And it’s like, okay, well, that’s why there’s this trend, because they’re specifically asking for it.
The best thing I can say about Google’s Pixel Watch 4 is that I don’t think about it all that much.
Whenever I wear my Apple Watch, it’s kind of a nuisance. Stand up. Breathe. How are you feeling right now? Looks like you’re on a walk. Was that an exercise you just started? Even just regular notifications for emails and text messages can get overwhelming.
The Pixel Watch 4 is unintrusive by comparison. While it’s full of fitness tracking features and can put notifications on your wrist, it doesn’t ask for much of your attention in return. In a way, that’s pretty refreshing.
Fitness optional
My big disclaimer with this review is that I’m not big into quantified health. Filling an activity ring never clicked for me as extrinsic motivation (I blame decades of video games for numbing me to such things), and I don’t need a fitness band to remember whether I went for a swim or walked more than usual.
So while the Apple Watch has leaned ever further into fitness features, I’ve felt increasingly alienated from it. Yes, you can turn off the various notifications to get out of your chair, consider some exercise, or focus on mindfulness, but figuring out how to do that is a hassle. It also comes with a pang of guilt: Am I neglecting my health by telling my watch to shut up?
[Photo: Jared Newman]
The Pixel Watch 4’s fitness features aren’t as aggressive. While it performs all the requisite activity trackingcounting steps, checking heart rate, measuring sleepand can log an array of specific exercises, it never interrupts you to start doing those things. There’s a “Reminders to Move” setting deep within Google’s Fitbit app, but it’s off by default. Google won’t even bother you to start logging an exercise in progress, and will instead wait until afterward to ask whether you want to confirm it or look at a recap.
The Pixel Watch 4’s biggest out-of-the-box nag involves stress levels. The watch uses a continuous electrodermal activity sensor to understand when theres sweat on your skin, and combines that with changes in heart rate and skin temperature to pick up on potential stress events. You then get a notification encouraging you to reflect and optionally log how youre feeling.
[Photo: Jared Newman]
I’m not entirely bothered by this, because the point is to be mindful of something that’s actually happening. Itd be nice if these reminders arrived sooner, though. Too often I get pinged about some anxiety from 10 or 15 minutes earlier and can no longer remember what triggered it.
Google still hasn’t shipped the Personal AI Coach that demoed a couple of months ago, so we’ll see if that feature introduces more nuisances. For now, I’m thankful for a watch with fitness features that arise only when you actually want them.
Charging is easy and fast
Charging is another common annoyance for smartwatches, especially as they push into sleep tracking and discourage overnight charging. Google has solved this problem by making the charging mechanism on the Pixel Watch 4 faster and more convenient.
[Photo: Jared Newman]
In my testing, a complete charge from dead to 100% took 42 minutes, but it needed only about 15 minutes to get from 25% to 80%. If you use the watch for sleep tracking, you can recharge while getting ready in the morning and still have enough power to get through the day. You’ll also get a helpful notification when the watch is fully charged, though I wish you could tweak the threshold to get an alert at, say, 80%, in case your morning routine doesn’t allow enough time for a full charge.
Google also redesigned the Pixel Watch 4 charger so that the watch sits upright in a little groove, with the screen facing out and the crown facing up. If the chargers on your desk or nightstand, this allows the watch to face outward so you can tap the screen to glance at the time. It also allows the charger to rest flat on a table even with a continuous, loop-style watchband. It’s just a smarter design that Apple and every other smartwatch maker ought to copy.
Fewer nagging notifications
The Pixel Watch 4 has a smart way of handling notifications as well, particularly around sleep.
Like most smartwatches, the Pixel Watch 4 lets you set up a sleep schedule that’s synced to your phone, so your wrist doesn’t buzz during bedtime, but it can also use sleep detection to toggle Bedtime mode automatically. This can prevent you from being jolted awake y late-night notifications if you fall asleep early, and can resume notifications if you’re awake earlier than usual.
This can backfire if, like me, you sometimes wake up too early and struggle to fall back to sleep, as the watch might disable Bedtime mode during those times of restlessness. Fortunately, you can disable turning Bedtime mode off automatically in the morning and still have it turn on by itself at night (or vice versa).
What’s still annoying
Most of my Pixel Watch 4 usage is passive. I’ll glance at the time, look at a notification, or get a sense of how I slept, but otherwise will leave the watch mostly alone. Some small annoyances arise, though, when I’m actively trying to use it.
For one thing, Google’s Wear OS platform needs better app support. While watch apps tend to be less useful than just taking out your phone, I’ve missed having an MLB app to check scores, along with the “Live Activities” that appear on the Apple Watch for things like fantasy football scores or Uber ride status. (The latter aren’t full-blown apps, but are mirrors of the same feature on the iPhone.)
I’ve also struggled with the raise-to-talk feature for Gemini, which is one of the Pixel Watch 4’s hallmark features. While this ought to be the best way to have quick exchanges with Google’s AI, the response to raising your wrist just doesn’t feel snappy enough. Too often it failed to respond at all.
Out of the way
The Pixel Watch 4 doesn’t fundamentally change what smartwatches can do. It’s obviously nicer than its predecessors, with a higher screen-to-body ratio and brighter display. I appreciate that it’s a genuine breakthrough in smartwatch repairability. But it’s not a huge leap from earlier Pixel Watches or a major departure from what competitors offer.
Instead, the Pixel Watch 4 takes the existing smartwatch formula and makes it a little less intrusive. Rather than being another device I have to constantly babysit, it’s mostly just a watch. That’s alright with me.
Either youve lived it, or youve heard about it from friends: the endless job search, featuring hundreds of applications sent. Maybe one or two companies reply . . . that end up being bots. It can feel like your résumé has been sucked into a black hole.
And in a way, it has.
Its perhaps been consumed by a ghost joba job listing that looks legitimate, with a full description for a role, maybe even a starting date and a LinkedIn link.
Theres a twist, though. The job isnt real. Its either an essentially fake listing for a job that doesnt really exist, or the role isnt really open. And they make up roughly 40% of job listings, according to a 2024 Resume Builder survey.
There may be no hiring manager on the back end, or it’s not really a position that exists, says Brandi Britton, an executive director at recruiting company Robert Half. Theyre becoming more common, and companies do this for a variety of reasons. But in a job market as miserable as this one, they can feel like a cruel trick on job applicantswhich is exactly how the recruiters Fast Company interviewed for this story describe them.
A lot of companies see this as a harmless strategy, says Michael Baynes, cofounder and CEO of financial consulting firm Clarify Capital. His company led a 2025 survey that asked 1,000 U.S. employers why they werent actively trying to fill current open job positions. Answers included: their company is always open to new people (37%), to have an active pool of applications in case of turnover (22%), and in case irresistible candidates apply (16%). But frustrated job seekers feel misled.
Why would companies bother to post jobs theyre not hiring for? And how can you spot them? Fast Company talked to several hiring professionalswho point-blank call the increasingly common practice toxic.
Read on where we’ll cover:
How to spot ghost jobs a mile away
Which types of jobs tend to be magnets for ghost jobs
Why recruiters think it’s a failing strategy for both applicants and employers, but why it persists
Whos posting ghost jobs and why?
Recruiters who spoke with Fast Company for this story say posting ghost jobs might even damage companies reputations with job seekers who come to find them unreliable. But thats not stopping companies of all stripes from posting notices for ghost jobs.
Tech, education, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail are posting the most, in that order, per Clarify Capitals survey. But recruiters who spoke with Fast Company say its about equally prevalent across industries.
Ghost jobs are usually for roles that are more entry level, more junior, that have multiple head count, or for companies that know they’re going to be hiring tens of hundreds that year, especially with bigger companies, says Lamar Nava, vice president of customer services at Betts Recruiting. Shes seen a lot of employers post them, particularly when hiring took a big dip in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns. They were either posting for roles they assumed would open back up in the future, or trying to look more like they were thriving while they were struggling.
But pipelining for roles that arent openaka building a talent pool to potentially tap for future roles when its not time to actually hireis a request Navas employer clients have been making for the past decade. Its one of the most typical reasons recruiters see companies posting ghost jobs. Sometimes, Navas clients will fill a role and then ask her to continue sending through candidates for that pipeline, just in case they find someone really good.
I have always been very against that. Not only is it a huge waste of time, Nava says, but it’s a horrible candidate experience.
Bill Sofio, an Express Employment Professionals and Specialized Recruiting Group franchise owner, says companies create pipelines for specific roles via ghost jobs because those companies have already filled roles with overqualified candidates who they fear will leave once the job market improves. The biggest problem with this pipelining technique, says Robert Halfs Britton, is that most companies never end up going back to that pool of candidates. Either their priorities change, or they simply dont have the bandwidth.
Then theres company reputation.
Posting lots of job openings can indicate a companys success, either for the sake of potential candidates, or for investors. But Nava thinks it can have the opposite effect: When a role is open for so long, it can make people suspect of the company and ultimately hurt its brand. Thats despite companies posting ghost jobs to signal growth.
They want to show the market exists [for that role], and there is a need, says Gillian Robles, vice president of accounts and growth at Maven Recruiting, even though they dont necessarily have the budget or head count to hire.
Ghost job postings may also serve to test out the overall candidate pool.
A couple of years ago, in the tech space, Nava says, people would post to test out potential salaries for specific areas . . . just see what their talent pool would look like. Now, she adds, theres so much technology that can do that for companieslike websites that offer salary benchmarking toolsthat ascertaining possible ranges through job postings ranks among the least efficient ways to get that information.
Still, some hiring managers, particularly newer ones at smaller companies with fewer resources, may post jobs to simply scope out the candidate scene.
They post a ghost job to potentially see: What is out there? How do I look for this? What should I price this at? Robles says. They want to see whats out there before engaging with candidates.
Sometimes, companies list ghost jobs as a signal for current employeesparticularly underperforming ones. They throw the job posting out there while the underperforming employee is on a performance improvement plan, Sofio says. While he interprets that as companies hedging their bets, others see it as an explicit threat to employeesas in, you’d better shape up because youre replaceable.
Lastly, certain companies or scenarios necessitate posting jobs that a companys already hired for. For example, says Britton, some government entities are required to post to make sure they consider all applicants and to show theyre recruiting from a diverse pool, even if theyre not. In situations where companies want to hire someone specific from abroad, who would join with an H-1B visa, theyre obligated to post that role to the job market in the U.S. to prove that its specialized enough to necessitate hiring from abroad.
How do you spot a ghost job?
Fortunately for job seekers, there are a few tells that a post for an open position isnt real.
Look out for long-running job postings with no updates, or postings that appear and disappear all the time, Sofio says. That may seem obvious, but Robles cautions that a job thats bee up for six months could mean two things. It could be an evergreen posting, or its a stale job, she says. If its evergreen, it doesnt mean its not a ghost. It could represent wishful thinkingthe company wants to always be hiring for that position, so they leave up the posting even when hiring has come to a standstill.
Vague job descriptions, says Britton, can also mean a posting is fake, as can ones with start dates from a few months before the time youre seeing it. (An August start date listed on a post thats up in October constitutes a red flag.)
Some signs point to real jobs. On LinkedIn, for example, you can see if a job has been promoted, meaning a company spent extra money to get that post in front of more candidates. You wouldn’t necessarily do that if this is a ghost job, Robles says.
She adds that clear next steps in a job posting is a positive sign. Is there a specific hiring manager tied to the job posting? she says. If theres no contact information, to me, thats a red sign.
Lingering specters
That said, some ghost jobs even lead candidates to interviews. Even if there are no plans to hire, they could sometimes just take advantage of the growing candidate pools they create.
In that case, candidates should ask their employer contacts why the position is open, how long theyve been looking to fill it, and what theyre not seeing, but would like to see, in the candidates who have applied. Questions that drill down on these specifics, says Robles, can help reveal to candidates whether companies have a real need or if theyre being wishy-washy.
Overwhelmingly, recruiters who spoke with Fast Company felt that posting ghost jobs was bad corporate practice.
You’re not only frustrating a whole bunch of people, says Sofio, but those people talk to the people you’re trying to attract.
Nava calls it cruel to job seekers, who are in a vulnerable position. Despite job seekers voicing frustrations over nonresponsive job postings, some signs point to the practice letting up.
New Jersey, Kentucky, and California have all introduced legislation that would require companies to remove inactive job postings or disclose if a posting is for a future opening. Plus, Clarify Capital saw the rate of employers who kept job postings active for more than 30 days go from 68% in 2022 to just about 33% in 2025.
Robles advises optimism. With companies using more tech like AI to search through candidates résumés, they might have an easier time returning to those pipelines their ghost job postings filled that they previously didnt have the bandwidth to meaningfully explore. In other words, ending up in a ghost job-fueled talent pipeline may not be as hopeless as it once was.
Technology tools can pull your application again to the surface when needed, she says of the increasing use of AI in hiring.
Perhaps, then, unlike a ghost job that was never really realyour very real application comes back from the dead.
If you encounter a ghost job,” notes Robles, “maybe it comes back around.”
In July, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at expanding access to alternative investments like private equity and cryptocurrency in retirement accounts. The move reflects a broader shift in how Americans think about wealth building and financial freedom, and it is a signal to employers that the future of employee benefits is going to look very different.
While crypto may have once seemed fringe or speculative, digital assets have steadily moved into the mainstream. From Fortune 100 companies to institutional investors, the appetite for diversification beyond traditional asset classes is growing. According to a survey by NYDIG, 36% of employees ages 30 and under would be interested in putting a portion of their salary toward Bitcoin; nearly a third of respondents would choose an employer that offers that kind of benefit over one that does not.
Today, the question for HR leaders is no longer if crypto should be on the table, it is how to responsibly offer it as part of a modern benefits package. Whether you are crypto-curious or already exploring alternative benefits, 2026 presents a pivotal moment to reevaluate your retirement offerings and meet your workforce where they are.
The Shift in Retirement Planning
For decades, 401(k)s and employer-sponsored retirement accounts have focused almost exclusively on stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and were the gold standard for most company benefits packages. These traditional assets remain foundational, but they are no longer the full picture. The recent executive order removes some regulatory barriers that have made it difficult for plan administrators to offer alternative investments like crypto.
This is particularly relevant for younger, tech-savvy employees. A growing share of Gen Z and Millennial workers are seeking out portfolios that reflect both their values and their appetite for innovation. A recent YouGov study found 42% of Gen Z investors own crypto, which is nearly four times higher than the share (11%) who have a retirement account. For these employees, diversification is not just about returns. It is about autonomy and flexibility and moving away from traditional norms.
Why Crypto Deserves a Seat at the Benefits Table
Cryptocurrency is continuing to mature, and over the last decade, Bitcoin has delivered a total return of more than 43,000%, compared to roughly 200% for the S&P 500. While volatility remains a key characteristic, digital assets have demonstrated long-term potential as hedges against inflation, vehicles for international wealth transfer, and tools for financial inclusion. Major institutions now offer crypto products and ETFs tied to Bitcoin are increasingly accessible through traditional brokerages.
From a benefits perspective, offering crypto access is not about replacing existing options. It is about adding choice. In the same way some employees opt for ESG-aligned investments or Roth versus traditional accounts, digital assets offer a new flavor of personalization in retirement planning that caters to younger demographics. Importantly, this aligns with broader trends. Employees are demanding more modern, self-directed benefits that reflect how they live, spend, and save in the digital age.
Acknowledging the Risks and Addressing Them
Of course, crypto is not without risks and I always recommend that individuals do their research before opting in. The solution is not to avoid the topic; it is to empower employees with tools and education.
Employers exploring crypto-based benefits can take a measured approach. They can consider offering it as an optional investment, not a default. Id also suggest working with vetted providers who prioritize security, compliance, and clear communication. Pairing any offering with robust educational resources, FAQs, and access to financial advisors who can demystify digital assets, is also a great way to boost comfortability.
The key is to treat crypto the same way you would any emerging benefit, with transparency, optionality and a commitment to employee well-being.
Practical Steps for HR Leaders in 2026
For HR leaders ready to explore crypto benefits, the first step is understanding your workforcedemographics and culture matter. A fintech startup with a younger, more digitally native employee base might see strong engagement with crypto offerings, while a more traditional organization may need to start with education before adoption. Surveying employees to assess their interest in digital assets can be a simple but powerful way to temperature check.
The next step is choosing the right partners. Not all crypto providers are equipped to support retirement accounts, so it is critical to work with platforms that prioritize regulatory compliance, custodial protections, and seamless integration with existing 401(k) systems. Some platforms now offer hybrid investment options that allow employees to allocate a portion of their paycheck into select digital assets without leaving the benefits ecosystem they are already using.
Transparency is important. Its best to avoid automatically enrolling employees in crypto offerings. Instead, HR teams should provide opt-in structures that come with clear, plain-language explanations of both the opportunities and the risks. Educational webinars, explainer videos, and live Q&A sessions with financial experts can go a long way toward demystifying the space. If your company already hosts financial wellness sessions, this could be a natural extension of that programming.
Pilot programs can also be an effective way to start small. For example, a small to medium-size tech company might roll out crypto access to new hires first or limit participation to a single office location. This allows HR teams to collect feedback, monitor engagement, and refine the program before scaling company wide.
Finally, do not forget governance. Any new benefit, particularly one tied to emerging financial tools, may need to be incorporated into your companys official investment policy statement and reviewed by legal and compliance teams. Document the process for evaluating and updating these benefits, and make sure employees receive up-to-date risk disclosures and support materials.
Crypto does not have to be a wholesale transformation of your retirement program. But offering a responsible, opt-in pathway to digital assets could send a strong message to employees that your company is forward-thinking, flexible, and prepared to meet the evolving financial needs of its workforce.
The Future of Financial Benefits
Offering access to crypto does not mean veering from traditional assets. It means you are acknowledging the financial lives of your employees are evolving and that your benefits should, too. An important strategy for companies looking to hire smart young talent.
As the regulatory landscape continues to shift, employers have a rare opportunity to lead withinnovation. Crypto-based benefits are not a gimmick or a passing trend, they are a signal that your company is preparing for the future of work and the future of wealth.
As a leader, make sure you empower your team with the options they need to build a more diversified, resilient financial future.
When teachers rely on commonly used artificial intelligence chatbots to devise lesson plans, it does not result in more engaging, immersive, or effective learning experiences compared with existing techniques, we found in our recent study. The AI-generated civics lesson plans we analyzed also left out opportunities for students to explore the stories and experiences of traditionally marginalized people.
The allure of generative AI as a teaching aid has caught the attention of educators. A Gallup survey from September 2025 found that 60% of K-12 teachers are already using AI in their work, with the most common reported use being teaching preparation and lesson planning.
Without the assistance of AI, teachers might spend hours every week crafting lessons for their students. With AI, time-stretched teachers can generate detailed lesson plans featuring learning objectives, materials, activities, assessments, extension activities, and homework tasks in a matter of seconds.
However, generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot were not originally built with educators in mind. Instead, these tools were trained on huge amounts of text and media drawn largely from across the internet and then launched as general-purpose chatbots.
As we started using these tools in our practice as educators, we noticed they often produced instructional materials and lessons that echoed the recite and recall model of traditional schooling. This model can be effective for memorizing basic facts, but it often fails to engage students in the active learning required to become informed citizens. We wondered whether teachers should be using these general-purpose chatbots to prepare for class.
For our research, we began collecting and analyzing AI-generated lesson plans to get a sense of what kinds of instructional plans and materials these tools provide to teachers. We decided to focus on AI-generated lesson plans for civics education because it is essential for students to learn productive ways to participate in the U.S. political system and engage with their communities.
To collect data for this study, in August 2024 we prompted three GenAI chatbotsthe GPT-4o model of ChatGPT, Googles Gemini 1.5 Flash model and Microfts latest Copilot modelto generate two sets of lesson plans for eighth grade civics classes based on Massachusetts state standards. One was a standard lesson plan and the other a highly interactive lesson plan.
We garnered a dataset of 311 AI-generated lesson plans, featuring a total of 2,230 activities for civic education. We analyzed the dataset using two frameworks designed to assess educational material: Blooms taxonomy and Banks four levels of integration of multicultural content.
Blooms taxonomy is a widely used educational framework that distinguishes between lower-order thinking skills, including remembering, understanding and applying, and higher-order thinking skillsanalyzing, evaluating and creating. Using this framework to analyze the data, we found 90% of the activities promoted only a basic level of thinking for students. Students were encouraged to learn civics through memorizing, reciting, summarizing and applying information, rather than through analyzing and evaluating information, investigating civic issues or engaging in civic action projects.
When examining the lesson plans using Banks four levels of integration of multicultural content model, which was developed in the 1990s, we found that the AI-generated civics lessons featured a rather narrow view of history often leaving out the experiences of women, Black Americans, Latinos and Latinas, Asian and Pacific Islanders, disabled individuals and other groups that have long been overlooked. Only 6% of the lessons included multicultural content. These lessons also tended to focus on heroes and holidays rather than deeper explorations of understanding civics through multiple perspectives.
Overall, we found the AI-generated lesson plans to be decidedly boring, traditional, and uninspiring. If civics teachers used these AI-generated lesson plans as is, students would miss out on active, engaged learning opportunities to build their understanding of democracy and what it means to be a citizen.
Why it matters
Teachers can try to customize lesson plans to their situation through prompts, but ultimately generative AI tools do not consider any actual students or real classroom settings the way a teacher can.
Although designed to seem as if they understand users and be in dialogue with them, from a technical perspective chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot are machines that predict the next word in a sequence based on massive amounts of ingested text.
When teachers choose to use these tools while preparing to teach, they risk relying on technology not designed to enhance, aid or improve teaching and learning. Instead, we see these tools producing step-by-step, one-size-fits-all solutions, when whats needed in education is the opposite flexibility, personalization and student-centered learning.
Whats next
While our study revealed that AI-generated lesson plans are lacking in many areas, this does not mean that teachers should not use these tools to prepare for class. A teacher could use generative AI technologies to advance their thinking. In the AI-generated lesson plans we analyzed, there were occasional interesting activities and stimulating ideas, especially within the homework suggestions. We would recommend that teachers use these tools to augment their lesson-planning process rather than automate it.
By understanding AI tools cannot think or understand context, teachers can change the way they interact with these tools. Rather than writing simple, short requests Design a lesson plan for the Constitutional Convention they could write detailed prompts that include contextual information, along with proven frameworks, models and teaching methods. A better prompt would be: Design a lesson plan for the Constitutional Convention for 8th grade students in Massachusetts that features at least three activities at the evaluate or create level of Blooms Taxonomy. Make sure to incorporate hidden histories and untold stories as well as civic engagement activities at the social action level of Banks four levels of integration of multicultural content model.
Our study emphasizes the need for teachers to be critical users, rather than quick adopters, of AI-generated lessons. AI is not an all-in-one solution designed to address the needs of teachers and students. Ultimately, more research and teacher professional development opportunities are needed toexplore whether or how AI might improve teaching and learning.
Torrey Trust is a professor of learning technology at UMass Amherst.
Robert Maloy is a senior lecturer of education at the University of Massachusetts.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
