Family friends inquiring “So, what’s the plan now?” will probably irk recent college grads more now than it has in a while. It’s been harder for people with fresh diplomas to get jobs this spring, as entry-level hiring is projected to fall by 5.8% in 2024 compared to last year, per the National Association of Colleges and Employers. 

Entry-level employee confidence is the lowest it’s been since at least 2016, according to Glassdoor, and many soon-to-be grads submitted over 100 applications in order to land a job. The vibe shift is particularly salient for those looking to get their foot in the door in parent-pleaser industries like finance, consulting, and especially tech, per Bloomberg.

Computer science major bummer

Big Tech layoffs and a hiring pivot to AI-focused roles that typically require experience beyond internships mean that computer science majors’ LinkedIn profiles aren’t getting swamped with recruiter DMs.

• Software engineer hiring on Indeed dropped 30% from pre-pandemic levels, per the WSJ.
• The number of people studying computer science went up 41% between 2018 and 2023, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, creating a glut of graduates competing for fewer vacancies.

Career advisors are pushing the Class of 2024 to cast a wider net in pursuing post-grad employment.

There’s still work

Young professionals with tech know-how are needed in the healthcare and government sectors, Joseph Mercadante, the senior associate director of the NYU Wasserman Center for Career Development, told the Financial Times.

Newly minted diploma-holders also have the fallback option of snagging a part-time position in retail, transportation, or healthcare, the industries with the most active hiring, according to the latest Labor Department jobs report.

In the wider job market…signals are mixed as unemployment remains low at 3.9% but white-collar hiring has slowed and workers are switching jobs less than before.—SK

After working in climate change for 10+ years, Sachi Singh knew the planetary benefits of sustainable seaweed. But she discovered it had an even greater power: It could transform women’s health.

That’s why she founded Rootless, and it’s one of the most exciting investment opportunities this year.

Over 1b women will experience menopause by 2025. Helping solve for the root cause of hormonal imbalance is an untapped $600b market.

And Rootless has the answer. Their seaweed-powered Daily Bites are proven to improve hormonal balance in 100% of women. No wonder they’ve seen sales explode 251% in 2023 alone.

Now they’re ready to scale. For a limited time, get 10% bonus shares when you invest before May 31.

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders. The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and others on war crimes charges stemming from Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s response in Gaza. Both Israel and the US have opposed that action against the Israeli leaders and the appearance of equating the government to the militant group. Meanwhile, Hamas said the prosecutor should have included more Israeli officials and condemned the inclusion of its own leaders. A panel of ICC judges will decide whether to grant the request, a process that usually takes about two months.

Red Lobster is bankrupt. Those shrimp may not be endless after all: The seafood chain that helped define casual dining filed for Chapter 11 protection yesterday, days after announcing it was closing ~99 locations. The filing will allow Red Lobster to continue operating while its current owner, seafood supplier Thai Union Group, works to sell the business to a group of its lenders. The decision to file comes after a sale to a private equity fund in 2014 saddled Red Lobster with costly leases for its restaurants, and Thai Union’s decision to make the Endless Shrimp deal year-round took an $11 million bite out of profits last year.

Target will lower prices on 5,000 items to get shoppers shopping. The retailer said it has already cut prices on 1,500 popular purchases and will continue to slash more, including grocery staples, over the summer. The lowered prices come as consumers have been stretched thin by inflation, leading even some with big budgets to turn to Target’s competitor, Walmart. The move appears timed to Target announcing its quarterly earnings tomorrow, but it isn’t the only company trying to offer deals to win back wary spenders. McDonald’s, for example, has plans to roll out a $5 meal deal soon.

The telehealth startup that got popular selling generics for Viagra and Rogaine recorded its largest intraday market jump in more than three years yesterday after announcing that it’s adding weight loss shots to its Rx offerings—and for a fraction of their typical price.

Hims & Hers stock soared as much as 38% on the news that it’ll provide GLP-1 injections with the same active ingredient as Ozempic or Wegovy for just $199/month—an 85% discount compared to Wegovy’s ~$1,350 monthly price tag (without insurance).

This isn’t a Canal Street knockoff, but it’s not exactly Ozempic or Wegovy, either. During medication shortages like the one that’s been squeezing GLP-1s since 2022, the FDA allows pharmacies to produce “compounded” (or copycat) versions of patented drugs. That practice is growing rapidly in the weight loss space, Bloomberg reported.

Proceed with caution. The FDA has received reports of negative effects from people taking Ozempic or Wegovy copycats and recommends avoiding compounded drugs, which aren’t subject to the same stringent review as branded medicines, when possible. Hims & Hers plans to offer the branded versions once industry supply catches up to frenzied demand.

Hims & Hers is on fire. The startup’s stock had already jumped more than 60% this year before yesterday’s announcement, while its existing weight loss products were projected to pull in $100+ million next year, making it the company’s fastest-growing division.—ML

This painting sold for $8 million…and everyday investors profited. Thanks to Masterworks, the platform for investing in blue-chip art. Over 940,000 people have signed up, but Morning Brew readers can skip the waitlist here.

Neuralink is getting a second chance to make a first implantation.

The FDA granted Elon Musk’s neurotech company approval to place its brain chip into a second human test subject using a new method designed to correct issues that arose after its inaugural insertion in January, per the Wall Street Journal.

What’s new? The company’s first implant, in quadriplegic Noland Arbaugh, allows him to operate a computer with his mind. But Arbaugh said Neuralink had to tweak the software to maintain the chip’s functionality when 85% of the ultra-thin threads connecting it to his brain’s cortex detached. The new technique that will be used on the next candidate will implant the threads 8 millimeters into the brain’s cortex, about 3- to 5 millimeters deeper than the method used on Arbaugh, to give the device better stability.

Who’s next? Neuralink said more than 1,000 quadriplegics have applied to receive the chip, although fewer than 100 meet the criteria for its study, which is still accepting applications. The company’s goal is to implant 10 chips into a diverse group of patients this year, but it said most candidates so far are white males.—DL

Stat: OpenAI pulled a recently released ChatGPT voice that sounds suspiciously like Scarlett Johansson in the movie Her. Even though Her is Sam Altman’s favorite film, OpenAI said any resemblance to ScarJo was merely coincidental and that it had narrowed down 400+ submissions from voice and screen actors to pick the five it recorded for ChatGPT’s voice (the other four are still in use). Before you get too impressed that only one out of five made people immediately think of dystopian sci-fi, Johansson said that her lawyers got OpenAI to stop using the voice, developed only after Altman unsuccessfully tried to convince her to provide one herself. OpenAI claims the other actress was cast before this outreach.

Quote: “Bring ya ass.”

Minnesota’s tourism board couldn’t have asked for a better impromptu spokesperson than Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. He’s gone gone viral for colorfully exhorting Charles Barkley in a postgame interview Sunday to get himself there after the latter said he hadn’t visited the state in ~20 years. And they know it—bringyaass.com now redirects to a Minnesota tourism site. Though Barkley requested a list of restaurants to dine at during his next trip, it seems the hot dish didn’t make much of an impression the last time he was in town, since it wasn’t two decades ago but in 2019 for the Celebrity Crunch Classic.

Read: Inside the booming black market for human poop. (Slate)