• The SEC is asking questions about Boxabl, the buzzy tiny-home startup.
• A software engineer who moved to Seattle said it was the loneliest time of his life.
• The presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy tries to appear down to earth. Some former staff say he treated them as servants.
• Why millennials and Gen Zers are flocking to Disney parks with no kids and money to burn.

Job seekers are suddenly paying a lot more attention to UPS.

The shipping company earlier this summer sealed a new deal with the Teamsters union that will see the average full-time UPS driver make $170,000 in annual pay and benefits at the end of the five-year contract.

Tech workers on Blind commented on the deal, with some expressing admiration, and others frustration, that delivery drivers might earn more than a software engineer.

And last week, a Reddit user posted what appeared to be a copy of their UPS paycheck, showing pay of $2,400 for a 49-hour week. The post received close to 10,000 upvotes and garnered more than 1,500 comments.

The $170,000 package includes healthcare and pension benefits, with drivers earning about $95,000 a year with $50,000 in benefits on average, according to the company. Job searches to work at UPS spiked after the wage hike.

The interest in the UPS contract comes as another union, United Auto Workers, launches a historic strike. And in Hollywood, the actors union SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America remain on strike. (Yes, Insider’s own newsroom union also went on strike this summer.)

The industries and negotiations differ. But the visibility of these actions, and the contracts won so far, is fueling a fresh conversation across industries about pay and organized labor.

Now the tiny-home startup has nabbed interest from a high-profile group: the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Three former Boxabl employees told Insider they were recently contacted and interviewed by the SEC. That’s in addition to two people with knowledge of Boxabl’s operations and bookkeeping who told Insider they had been contacted by the regulator.

More on the SEC asking questions about Boxabl.

Also read:

• Boxabl promised to revolutionize housing. But production problems, questionable governance, and its founders’ lavish spending stand in the way.

It’s part of a wider loneliness epidemic within tech, Nguyen said. One reason is software engineering doesn’t require socially demanding skills like other roles do, he said.

Even now, Nguyen grapples with insecurities around his level and compensation, as he compares himself with new grads who have similar compensation and senior engineers with less work experience than him.

More on an engineer’s struggles with loneliness.

Also read:

• ‘Friends’ and ‘Seinfeld’ knew the cure for loneliness
• How to make friends as an adult: A 3-step guide from a millennial who moved from NYC to LA knowing nobody

But some of those who worked with Ramaswamy at Roivant Sciences and Strive Asset Management, two companies he founded, described him as finicky and paranoid. For example: He hired a former Army Ranger as a personal security guard long before his presidential campaign began.

Perhaps Ramaswamy’s biggest quirk is his fixation on temperature, including previously dictating office thermostats be set to 64 degrees or below.

Inside Vivek Ramaswamy’s high-maintenance and highly airconditioned empire.

But millennials and Gen Zers without kids represent a massive cohort that brings significant business to the House of Mouse. One former parks executive estimated that on any given day, roughly half of Disney World’s parkgoers could be adults without kids.

Conversations with 20 people, from pass holders to Disney employees, highlight the trend and the effects it’s having on the parks.

The kidless millennials and Gen Zers spending money at Disney parks.

Also read:

• Bob Iger’s plan to streamline Disney could accelerate — industry insiders unpack the upside and the pitfalls

• CEOs, who often avoid real accountability or responsibility, are prime candidates for being automated away with AI.
• Apple unveiled its new iPhone 15, but fans, and Wall Street analysts, weren’t impressed.
• Retiring early sounds like a dream, but these early retirees have faced plenty of headaches, from concerns over finances to struggling with a sense of purpose.
• A leaked email provides some more clarity about what VMware employees can expect when the Broadcom acquisition closes.
• New Yorkers fed up with a tough housing market are doing the unthinkable — moving to Jersey City.
• Google CEO Sundar Pichai isn’t in a rush to catch up to OpenAI. Instead, he feels “very comfortable about where we are,” he said.

Dan DeFrancesco, senior editor and anchor, in New York City. Diamond Naga Siu, senior reporter, in San Diego. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.

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