Insider Finance - Business - What it’s like to work at party hostels

January 5, 2023

Hello, Insiders. You know him as one of the internet’s best editors — but did you also know that Insider’s John Cook is also a guitar-playing TV extra? If you watched the new series “Fleishman is in Trouble,” you definitely saw (and heard) John singing “Free Bird” in a BBQ scene. Watch the moment here — and then check out the show.

And if you’re looking for more to watch, our entertainment team has you covered. They’ve got the details you may have missed from Yellowstone, the best movies coming to Netflix, and a guide to the new series “Kaleidoscope” that can be watched in any order. But we’ve got a lot to go over, from why moving to Florida could cost you to the latest on the chaos in the House. Let’s get started.

— Nicholas Carlson

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The latest

• Three American Airlines pilots say they weren’t given enough time to learn new safety protocols. One said it has created “unpracticed anarchy.” Read the full story.

• Members of congress say they can’t access key national security intel following Kevin McCarthy’s sixth lost vote to become House speaker. More here.

• Amazon is laying off the largest number of workers in the company’s history. CEO Andy Jassy said 18,000 roles will be cut. Get the details here. 

The big story

Stephen Swintek/Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/Insider

“I pay them $2.50 per hour”: Inside the hidden market for “virtual” assistants.

Outsourcing work has long been popular, but the growth of remote work and new technology has allowed the virtual-assistant industry to take off.

For some, the gig — in which they complete tasks for clients remotely — allows them to make bank and work on a flexible schedule. Insider has interviewed plenty of VAs bringing in big bucks with their remote gigs. But others aren’t as lucky.

Some small business owners have tried to cut costs by hiring VAs in developing countries like the Philippines, and paying workers pennies on the dollar compared to their peers in the US and Europe. A 38-year-old in the UK tweeted that she hired two VAs and wrote, "I pay them $2.50 per hour and they take a LOT off my plate."

But while these entrepreneurs are reaping the benefits of inexpensive VAs to jump-start their businesses, many of the people whose skills they're profiting from are struggling to get by. One 25-year-old Filipino who works as a VA put it bluntly: "exploitation at its finest."

Top reads

Nathan Wells

• “I spent 88 days in Russia's filtration system in Ukraine.” Ihor Talalay spent three months in the Donetsk region, facing savage beatings, harsh interrogations, and squalid conditions. Insider’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comics team adapted his story into a comic, 88 Days of Hell. Read it here.

• Moving to Florida could cost you more overall. Americans are moving to Florida for better weather and lower taxes, but home and rent costs are rising — and wages aren't keeping up. Here's the deal.

• “I work in party hostels all around the world — here’s what it’s like.” Taylor Futch loves the hostel life, even when it means cleaning up drunk guests’ vomit. But the free accommodation and extensive travel (and the all-night pub crawls) make it all worth it. Inside the party-hostel life.

• Elon Musk just cut a major fertility benefit for Twitter employees. Musk, who has used fertility treatments to conceive most of his 10 known children, has cut many employee benefits since taking over Twitter two months ago. Read more.

• “I'm a writer for ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.’ It was an incredibly difficult road to get here.” Felipe Torres Medina said the US immigration system was a hindrance early in his career, and that applying to be a late-night writer is a very selective process. Read about his career path here.

• A new app can detect whether your essay was written by ChatGPT. Edward Tian, a student at Princeton, built the app to help combat increasing AI plagiarism. It’s already proved so popular that it crashed due to high traffic. Find out how it works.

• An author faked her own suicide in an apparent book-promotion ploy.  In 2020, a post on Susan Meachen's Facebook page said she "passed away." But Meachen has announced she’s alive and well, saying her family "did what they thought was best for me" by faking her death. Find out more.

Watch this

From the engineers who build million-dollar crash-test-dummies, to the designers behind fancy cars that never see the road, here are 10 car jobs you never knew existed.

Can't get enough of Insider?

• Compare salaries with our Salary Database
• Build better pitch decks with our Pitch Deck Library
• Get even more of Insider delivered to your inbox
• If this newsletter was forwarded to you, sign up here
• Download Insider's app for news on the go

This edition was curated by Nicholas Carlson, and edited by Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan, Dave Smith, and Nathan Rennolds. Get in touch: insidertoday@insider.com.