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Given the rise of mental health woes, financial strain, and concerns over layoffs, there’s a lot weighing on the modern employee. But one company is hoping to offset the stress with . . . Legos?Deloitte is offering to pay for employees’ Legos to help them connect away their stress. The firm, which already offered well-being items and experiences, updated its employee subsidy program on June 1 to cover the toy. According to internal documents accessed by Business Insider, Deloitte will reimburse employees up to $1,000 for gym memberships and equipment, spa services, gaming consoles, and, now, Legos and puzzles. The move is getting mixed reactions on social media. On X, comments about the Lego perk ranged from “cheaper than therapy” to lots of laughing emojis to utter confusion. One popular post points out that the company had layoffs to cut costs just prior to announcing the Lego incentive, hinting that maybe the funds could be better allocated to retain employees rather than to add offbeat incentives. “Corporate culture is irrevocably broken and backwards,” the post reads. One Deloitte employee told Business Insider that the perk was received with a mix of jokes and enthusiasm. “Most of the responses are things like ‘Lego?!?!? Finally!’ or jokes about how they can now rationalize buying the coveted Millennium Falcon Star Wars Lego set,” the employee said. (The set costs $850). While Legos might be fun, or even therapeutic, employees who are battling against very real modern concerns might need more than building blocks to avoid burnout. And that may be especially true at firms like Deloitte, where the workweek can average 55 hours. Fast Company reached out, but Deloitte declined to comment. Matthew Owenby, chief strategy officer and head of HR at insurance company Aflac, tells Fast Company that employees today are up against big challenges. “Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic first started a national conversation around mental health [and] employee burnout persists at very high levels,” Owenby says. According to the 2024-2025 Aflac WorkForces Report, more than half of all U.S. employees say they face at least moderate burnout, with nearly a quarter experiencing high burnout.” That report also points out that nearly half (47%) of respondents said having an employer who respects the importance of time off helps with their work-life balance. Likewise, 51% said more paid time off (PTO) is the most effective way to alleviate burnout. Shockingly, the report did not ask respondents how much Legos impacted their well-being. Owenby says that addressing the burnout epidemic is not quite as easy as providing a stipend for puzzles and building blocks. Instead he recommends examining employees’ heavy workloads, giving them flexibility and time off. “When asked about the most effective ways to address burnout, employees offered simple and straightforward solutions: giving employees the option to work from home, increasing paid time off, and creating company-sponsored self-care programs,” Owneby said. Again, Legos did not make the list. Sadly, while workers desperately seem to need PTO, they don’t always feel they can take it. A June 2025 report from LiveCareer showed that one in three workers are worried that taking vacation days will lead to layoffs. Fear of layoffs and job insecurity is at an all-time high, and these concerns are influencing the workforce to deprioritize their overall well-being, Jasmine Escalera, career expert for LiveCareer, said in the report. When employees hesitate to take the PTO theyve earned, it can seriously impact their mental health, productivity, and overall engagement at work. That’s not to say that hobbies like social time, crafts, or even playing with Legos can’t be helpful. However, when it comes to employee satisfaction, a Lego allowance feels a bit like, well, child’s play. Because unless those Lego sets come with an extra week of vacation and the time to actually play with them, how much good can they really do for employees anyway?
Category:
E-Commerce
Despite crypto being all the rage (again) in 2025, the announcement yesterday that President Trumps Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (Nasdaq: DJT) is seeking approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a crypto-based ETF has so far done little to turn around the fortunes of DJT stock, which is currently down over 45% since the beginning of the year. Heres what you need to know about the Trump Media crypto ETF and the companys latest stock price movement. What does Trump Media want to launch? Yesterday, Trump Media & Technology Group, owner of President Trumps Truth Social social media network, announced its intention to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) comprising two assets: Bitcoin and Ethereum. Those two cryptocurrencies are the most popular in the world, so its no surprise that Trump Media would focus on combining them into a single ETF. The fund would allow people to invest in two cryptocurrencies at once by purchasing a single share of the ETF. Announcing that it has filed its Form S-1 registration statement with the SEC, declaring its intentions to launch the ETF, Trump Media said that the ETF, officially called the Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, B.T., will hold Bitcoin and Ethereum directly. Bitcoin will make up 75% of the ETFs assets, with Ethereum accounting for 25% of the ETFs assets. The ETF announcement represents a further expansion of Trump Medias business portfolio, which currently includes the Truth Social social media network, the Truth+ streaming platform, and the FinTech brand Truth.Fi. Yet if executives at Trump Media were hoping for a stock price boost from the news, theyll be disappointed today. As of the time of this writing, DJT shares are currently up around 1.69% to $18.98. The stock actually sank yesterday when the news was announced. Investors shrug off the crypto news Yesterday, on the same day that Trump Media filed its SEC paperwork for the crypto ETF, Trump Media shares closed at $18.67. However, todays modest price rise suggests that investors so far dont seem to think that the potential ETF offering will significantly impact the companys financials. One reason for this could be that cryptocurrency ETFs are becoming an increasingly crowded market. As noted by Reuters, Morningstar ETF analyst Bryan Armour said that any company newly entering the crowded crypto ETF market will face challenges. The only way to stand out will be through fees or brand, Armour said. However, another reason could be that many investors still view Truth Socials stock as a belief stocka proxy for Donald Trumps popularity, rather than a company with strong fundamentals behind it. Whatever the reason, the ETF news so far hasnt turned Trump Medias fortunes around when it comes to the companys share price. As of this writing, DJTs share price has fallen over 11% in the last five trading days alone. Over the past month, DJT shares are down more than 27%. And since the beginning of the year, DJT shares have cratered more than 45%. What do Trump Media’s financials look like? On May 9, Trump Media reported its most recent quarterly results, which cover the companys Q1 of fiscal 2025, which ended on March 31. The company reported a net loss of $31.7 million for the quarter. In other Trump business news, yesterday, the Trump Organization, a separate entity from Trump Media, announced its plans to launch a new cellular network called Trump Mobile and also a new smartphone called the T1 Phone. The move largely baffled industry experts. Disclosure: Morningstar was founded by Joe Mansueto, owner of Fast Company‘s parent company.
Category:
E-Commerce
The U.S. economy is mostly in good shape but that isn’t saving Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell from a spell of angst.As the Fed considers its next moves during a two-day meeting this week, most economic data looks solid: Inflation has been steadily fading, while the unemployment rate is still a historically low 4.2%. Yet President Donald Trump’s widespread tariffs may push inflation higher in the coming months, while also possibly slowing growth.With the outlook uncertain, Fed policymakers are expected to keep their key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday at about 4.4%. Officials will also release a set of quarterly economic projections that are expected to show inflation will accelerate later this year, while unemployment my also tick up a bit.The projections may also signal that the Fed will cut its key rate twice later this year, economists say.The prospect of higher inflation would typically lead the Fed to keep rates unchanged or even raise them, while rising unemployment would usually lead the Fed to cut its key rate. With the economy potentially pulling in both directions, Powell and other Fed officials have underscored in recent remarks that they are prepared to wait for clearer signals on which way to move.The Fed is in “an uncomfortable purgatory,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting giant KPMG. “Without the threat of tariffs, we would be seeing the Fed cut. That’s not where we’re at because of the uncertainty and the threat and the effects (of tariffs) that we don’t know yet.”The Trump White House has sharply ramped up the pressure on Powell to reduce borrowing costs, with Trump himself calling the Fed chair a “numbskull” for not cutting and other officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, also calling for a rate reduction.When the Fed reduces its key short-term rate, it oftenthough not alwaysleads to lower costs for consumer and business borrowing, including for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards. Yet financial markets also influence the level of longer-term rates and can keep them elevated even if the Fed reduces the shorter-term rate it controls.For example, if investors worry that inflation will remain elevated, they can demand higher interest rates on longer-term Treasury securities, which influence other borrowing costs.Even though Trump has said the economy is doing well, he has also argued that a rate cut would cause the economy to take off “like a rocket.”But Trump has also highlighted another concern: If the Fed doesn’t cut rates, the federal government will have to pay more interest on its huge budget deficits, which are projected to grow even larger under the White House’s proposed tax and budget legislation currently being considered by the Senate.“We’re going to spend $600 billion a year, $600 billion because of one numbskull that sits here (and says), ‘I don’t see enough reason to cut the rates now,'” Trump said last week.Pushing the Fed to cut rates simply to save the government on its interest payments typically raises alarms among economists, because it would threaten the Fed’s congressional mandate to focus on stable prices and maximum employment.Yet the markets haven’t reacted much to Trump’s recent attacks on the Fed, now that the Supreme Court, in a ruling last month, suggested that a president doesn’t have the legal power to fire the Fed chair.Still, with inflation remaining low, so far, despite the imposition of tariffs, the Fed may come under greater pressure in the coming months from economists and investors to cut rates. Policymakers estimate that the interest rate that would neither stimulate the economy nor slow it downknown as the “neutral rate”is about 3%.Meanwhile, inflationaccording to the Fed’s preferred measureis just 2.1%, almost back to the central bank’s 2% target. Such a low reading suggests the Fed’s rate should be closer to neutral, below its current level of 4.4%, because it doesn’t need a high rate to slow inflation.“It’s a reasonable case for the Fed to grapple with,” said Jon Hilsenrath, a visiting scholar at Duke University.Yet according to a survey Hilsenrath conducted for Duke of former Fed officials and staff, they expect the Fed to cut interest rates just once this year. “There’s a risk that inflation moves up and they don’t want to get ahead of themselves,” he said.It’s possible that tariffs may not push up inflation as much as economists have feared. But one reason for that could be that the economy may slow, lifting unemployment and making consumers unwilling to pay higher prices, which would reduce inflation.Economists at Goldman Sachs said in a recent research note that they expect inflation will rise to 3.6% by December, but that the increase will only be temporary.“The main reason we are less worried is that we expect the economy to be weak this year, with . . . a modest rise in the unemployment rate,” Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman, and his colleagues wrote.A noticeable weakening of the economy that slows consumer spending and holds down inflation would likely lead the Fed to quickly cut rates. But they will be more comfortable doing so once they have a better sense of the full impact of tariffs.Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Morgan Stanley, said in a note Monday that the Fed “will need several months to assess the effects of policy changes, believing that ‘later and correct is better than sooner and wrong.'” Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writer
Category:
E-Commerce
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