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Plus: The rise of the avocado, where Gen Z gets their financial advice (yikes), word games, and more. View Online We're working on a story about Facebook Marketplace. Maybe you've just browsed the wares, maybe you once conquered the platform like a discount Gordon Gekko, or maybe you've made it your life's mission to acquire all the finest vintage end tables our nation's grandparents have to offer — either way, we'd love to hear from you right here. In today's email: Vocational school: Why Gen Zers are strapping on toolbelts. Avocados: No longer in a pit of despair. Not necessary: A $30k+ way to play golf at sea. Around the web: Learn more about a popular word game, then play a new one. 👇 Listen: What made America finally hop on the avocado bandwagon? The Big Idea Less coursework, more benchwork: Gen Z goes to trade school Faced with a host of unique challenges, young people are turning to skilled trades. 2024-04-10T00:00:00Z Sara Friedman Back-to-school shopping this year might entail a tool belt and goggles instead of textbooks and binders. Enrollment at US community colleges focused on vocational skills rose 16% in 2023 to its highest level since 2018, according to National Student Clearinghouse data. The number of students enrolled in four-year colleges rose just 0.8%. Gen Z is driving that trend as a generation faced with unique challenges, per The Wall Street Journal. The price to attend traditional four-year colleges has surged. Some private colleges and universities recently announced $90k+ annual tuition for the 2024-25 school year. Families are facing a record amount of student loan debt, with an estimated ~$100B of new loans to be issued in 2024, up from $98B in 2023. More than half of college grads get jobs after graduation that don't use their degrees. The US construction industry alone has a shortage of 500k+ workers as older tradespeople retire, driving up labor costs. These factors have enticed young people to explore options outside of traditional schooling. In a Jobber survey of 1k Americans ages 18-20, 75% said they would be interested in paid training at a vocational school. Adding to the temptation, 2023 was the fourth consecutive year that the median pay for new construction workers was higher than that of new hires in professional services or information industries. The median annual pay for new construction workers rose 5.1% to ~$48k in 2023, compared to new professional hires whose pay was ~$39.5k. Young, wild, and debt-free The new trend means that more workers are entering skilled trade occupations, and they're younger. The number of carpenters in the US grew from 1.2m in 2013 to 1.3m in 2023, while the median age fell from 42.2 to 40.9. There were 959k electricians in 2023, up from 730k in 2013, but their median age fell by 2.9 years. More young people in the trades means skilled professions are getting a rebrand. And technology is helping: Some vocational programs are replacing outdated tools with high-tech solutions like robots. Speaking of tech, one last reason some are turning to skilled trades: AI. Jobber's survey found that 34% of respondents felt trade careers could offer more job security than desk jobs as generative AI takes off. Free Resource The social trends that matter most for brands No need to frantically flounder 'round the web to track down the must-know trends of the year. We've published facts, stats, and best practices for brands right here. Read the 2024 Social Media Trends Report for our top tips on how to thrive online. Inside the social feed deep dive: 10 social trends to internalize The top platforms out right now The numbers behind the growth of social shopping How brands are divvying their investments Why big creative swings pay off Stay sharp on what's making waves on socials with insights sourced from 1.5k+ marketers. Sparkle on socials → TRENDING This feels good and healthy and won't lead to negative societal repercussions of any kind: A survey found that 50% of Gen Z teens have taken financial advice from social media influencers, per fintech firm Greenlight. (The results also showed that financial anxiety rockets up for kids starting around age 14. Oof.) SNIPPETS Google unveiled Google Vids, a Gemini-powered AI app that creates videos from text prompts and document uploads. The app joins Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides as part of Google Workspace. Automattic, the company that owns WordPress and Tumblr, will acquire Beeper for $125m. Beeper is no stranger to headlines — it's the app that brought blue texts to Android before getting blocked by Apple. 3G Capital said hold the ketchup, please. The Brazilian PE firm sold its 16.1% stake in Kraft Heinz, leaving Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway as the largest remaining shareholder. Argentina's Grupo Financiero Galicia — the country's fifth-largest bank — is buying HSBC Argentina for $550m, which will amount to an estimated ~$1B loss for HSBC. Pfizer's RSV shot, Abrysvo, showed promising results in a clinical trial. The shot — which is currently approved in some countries for people ages 60+ and pregnant women — could potentially protect the ~10% of US adults ages 18-49 who are at risk of the severe disease. Feeling golden: NBCUniversal said it has already locked up $1.2B in ad revenue for this summer's Paris Olympics, which start on July 26. Coachella is going to Epic Games' "Fortnite" for the third time, taking over Fortnite Festival's Jam Stage to let players access themed content, like special outfits and tracks from Coachella performers. Dude Perfect, those YouTubers known for trick basketball shots, landed a $100m+ investment to expand their business. The cash infusion will fuel more programming, more live experiences, and presumably, the purchase of so many basketballs. Bracket braggarts: Your March Madness office pool winners have now received their spoils, which, on average, is a $100 gift card — according to Brex data, which also showed a 69% YoY increase in overall tourney-related spending. Losing steam: Marketing is always evolving, so marketing playbooks should evolve, too. Check out these five dying trends to keep ahead of the game. ICYMI Talk about a much-needed rebrand: From alligator pear to avocado Americans — all of them, not just the wellness influencers on Instagram — combined to eat 250m pounds of avocados around this year's Super Bowl. That's a lot of green, in more ways than one: the Hass avocado alone now notches ~$2.7B in annual sales. The fruit's modern popularity is extra impressive considering Americans were only eating 100m pounds of avocado 10 Super Bowls ago, and 43.8m pounds 10 Super Bowls before that. Avocados have always been playing catch up in the US — they didn't arrive from Mexico until the early 1900s, and when they did, the fruits were rare, expensive, and going by an unappetizing moniker: "alligator pear." The avocado had a big branding problem. And it took an incredible marketing success story, spanning 100+ years and costing hundreds of millions of dollars, to fix it — and to spur our modern love affair with the glorious giver of guac. 🥑 The rise of the avocado → FIT THE BILL There are thousands of companies valued at $1B+. How many clues do you need to identify today's billion-dollar brand? Clue 1: Though this isn't a French company, it became an official drink supplier of the Eiffel Tower in 1890. Clue 2: We don't have the stats to back this one up, but it's very, very likely no brand has been responsible for more people raising a glass and saying "proost," or "cheers" in its native language. Clue 3: Its core product, sold in a green bottle with a red star, may claim to be the best 'dam beer in the world, but this Amsterdam-based company has added plenty more beloved beer brands to its portfolio — e.g., Dos Equis, Tiger, and Lagunitas. 👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇 Not Necessary Zen Green Stage and Stable Hole in your wallet: Nothing more annoying than when you're trying to golf on your superyacht and the waves throw off your swing — right? We can't relate, but it seems some billionaires can, because Zen Green Stage and Stable created a golf-putting platform for yachts that uses stabilization technology and precision adjustments to replicate the golf green back on land. That means you can finally sink a putt without a wave knocking it off course, all for the low, reasonable price of $19.5k for the Zen Swing Stage. If you want the tour-quality golf experience, and are in the mood to splurge, the Zen Green Stage rings up at $31k. AROUND THE WEB 📚 On this day: In 1906, O. Henry's twisty tale The Gift of the Magi was published in his second collection of short stories, The Four Million. 🧩 Game: Figure out the phrase that describes the game's image. 🎧 Ooooh: We're unveiling something exciting next week. Listen to the trailer here so you can earnestly say you found it first. 🧠 That's interesting: Behind the success of The New York Times' fun and frustrating word game, Connections. 🐱 Aww: This cat is very big. SHARE THE HUSTLE Hey. Don't keep us a secret. Refer just 3 people and we'll send Hustle essentials as a thank you. Share this custom referral link: https://thehustle.co/join?ref=7598767985 Your referral count: 0 Today's Fit the Bill answer is Heineken (Market cap: $54.88B) Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Sara Friedman. Editing by: Ben "Every avocado deserves a toast" Berkley. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. 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