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UnitedHealth Group has laid off dozens of remote employees in healthcare technology and services marketing from its Optum unit, who were given two weeks notice in November, sources told Health Payer Specialist. Fast Company has reached out to UnitedHealth for confirmation. Those employees were based in “multiple states on the East coast and in the Midwest,” according to that report, and are among UnitedHealth’s roughly 400,000 employees across the U.S. (It is the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest healthcare insurer.) The healthcare giant is just the latest company in a string of industries to announce layoffs, which have hit almost ever…

UnitedHealth on Tuesday raised its annual profit forecast and said it aims to grow in 2026, in a sign that the turnaround efforts under new CEO Stephen Hemsley were gaining steam. Shares of the company rose more than 5% in premarket trading after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings as the U.S. health insurer kept medical costs in check. The company had set a far lower profit forecast in July after suspending its prior outlook in May, which had sent its shares reeling. The healthcare giant now sees 2025 adjusted profit per share to be at least $16.25, compared with its previous estimate of at least $16.00, and above analysts estimate of…

Epic Universe is massive. Spanning over 110 acres, the new Florida theme park from Universal Studios, which opens today, has created four different themed lands that captivate the imagination and offer a wide array of thrills for park enthusiasts: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon Isle of Berk, and Dark Universe. That count jumps to five if you count Celestial Park, the hub of Epic Universe, with several restaurants and two big rides of its own. The park is massive financially as well. Universal spent an estimated $6 to $7 billion to create the theme park. Dr. Sean Snaith, director of the University o…

The theme park wars will shift into an even higher gear right before Memorial Day. On May 22, Universal Orlando is scheduled to open Epic Universe, it’s $6 billion expansion that’s meant to lure more visitors away from the Magic Kingdom and other assets of Walt Disney World and make the company’s theme-park hub a seven-day visit for tourists. Announced in 2019, Epic Universe will be the first new Central Florida theme park in more than 25 years. Divided into five lands, it’s a park that hopes to have something that appeals to all types of family members. And it’s a serious enough threat that Disney has announced a major upgrade to its Orlando parks, part of a 10-year,…

With no end in sight to the political impasse in Washington that has shut down the government, the U.S. IPO market is expected to experience a significant slowdown just as it was beginning to show signs of life again. Some companies are nevertheless forging ahead with their listings. Phoenix Education Partners, parent company of the for-profit University of Phoenix, which announced its IPO plans one day before the shutdown began, said on Wednesday that it has priced its shares at $32. That’s the midpoint of its earlier targeted range of between $31 and $33 a share. The company intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the “PXED” ticker sy…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. In the past few years, the housing market has experienced a “lock-in effect,” in which many homeowners with lower monthly payments and mortgage rates (some even below 3%) are unwilling to sell and purchase another home with a significantly higher monthly payment and mortgage rate. Last year, researchers from the Federal Housing Finance Agency estimated that the lock-in effect had resulted in more than a million “lost” home sales. But what mortgage rate would it take for homeowners to consider moving? ResiClub aimed to find out with the ResiClub Housi…

Women’s sports continue to thrive. Record-breaking WNBA viewership, a flood of new brand investment, and now Unrivaled: the women’s basketball league built by players, for players. Commissioner Micky Lawler pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to launch a high-stakes sports startup in the full glare of the public eye. The question is no longer whether women’s sports can compete. It’s how fast they can grow. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scalepodcast, Rapid Responsefeatures candid conversations with today’s top business le…

As Americans increasingly report feeling overwhelmed by daily life, many are using self-care to cope. Conversations and social media feeds are saturated with the language of “me time,” burnout, boundaries, and nervous system regulation. To meet this demand, the wellness industry has grown into a multitrillion-dollar global market. Myriad providers offer products, services, and lifestyle prescriptions that promise calm, balance, and restoration. Paradoxically, though, even as interest in self-care continues to grow, Americans’ mental health is getting worse. I am a professor of public health who studies health behaviors and the gap between intentions and outcom…

Say what you will about business and media mogul Kim Kardashian, but if there’s one thing she undoubtedly excels at, it’s building a personal brand so recognizable that all of her ventures scream “Kim.” She’s done it once again with her new energy drink brand Update, which looks like it could’ve organically spawned in the walk-in fridge of her sleek Los Angeles home. Update is a four-year-old energy drink brand founded by CEO Daniel Solomons. On February 24, the brand revealed a full packaging and design overhaul and introduced Kardashian as a cofounder in its new era. In an interview with Fast Company, Solomons said that Kardashian had been a steady customer since 2023 a…

United Parcel Service (UPS) is planning to close dozens of packaging facilities this year, the shipping giant revealed in a court filing this week. The plans include shuttering facilities in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and several other states. It includes locations that have union employees, according to a docket made public as part of a lawsuit between UPS and the Teamsters Union. UPS revealed in January that it will cut 30,000 jobs over the coming year. The move was announced as its partnership with Amazon was winding down and amid a broader push toward automation. At the time, it also revealed plans to close 24 total facilities, though it did no…

United Parcel Service (UPS) said on Tuesday it will slash 20,000 jobs and close more than 70 facilities to lower costs as it braces for less Amazon shipments, due to global economic uncertainty and changing consumer habits. The package delivery company said in addition to the job cuts, it would shut at least 73 owned and leased locations this year by the end of June, perhaps more, and expects to save $3.5 billion in 2025 from the cost-cutting measures. UPS’ first-quarter revenue fell slightly to $21.5 billion, but the company still beat Wall Street earnings expectations of $21.05 billion, according to data firm LSEG, per Reuters. Shares of the company (NYSE:U…

A UPS wide-body cargo plane crashed on Tuesday and erupted into a fireball moments after takeoff from the international airport in Louisville, Kentucky, killing seven, including all three aboard, and injuring 11 on the ground, officials said. Flames from the crash, shortly before sundown, ignited a string of fires in an industrial corridor adjacent to the airport, forcing authorities to halt flight operations through the night, the officials said. The Louisville airport, which is home to UPS Worldport — a global hub for the shipping company’s air cargo operations and its largest package-handling facility worldwide — was expected to reopen on Wednesday morning. …

United Parcel Service posted third-quarter results that handily beat Wall Street’s expectations and gave details about its turnaround efforts, including approximately 48,000 job cuts. Shares rose more than 7% in afternoon trading on Tuesday. UPS earned $1.31 billion, or $1.55 per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. The Atlanta-based company earned $1.99 billion, or $1.80 per share, a year earlier. Removing one-time costs, earnings were $1.74 per share. That easily topped the $1.31 per share that analyst polled by Zacks Investment Research were calling for. Revenue totaled $21.42 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s estimate of $20.84 billion. UPS …

On Thursday, United Parcel Service (UPS) predicted downbeat 2025 revenue as it cut back service with its largest customer, Amazon, in order to focus on more profitable businesses. The decision will cut Amazon’s transported volumes by more than 50% by the second half of 2026. The unexpected announcement came with disappointing revenue results, with UPS failing to meet expectations for 2024. UPS’s Q4 revenue was $25.3 billion, slightly below the predicted $25.42 billion. This decision came at a time when UPS is struggling due to a decline in parcel demand following the e-commerce boom of the pandemic and an increase in shipments from discount online retailers such …

Downloads of UpScrolled, a new short-form video app, are surging after TikTok’s recent change to U.S. ownership. Developed by Palestinian-Australian Issam Hijazi, the social media app currently ranks #2 in the U.S. in the Apple store among free apps, following ChatGPT, and markets itself as a place “where every voice gets equal power.” “No shadowbans . . . No pay-to-play favoritism. Just authentic connection where your content reaches the people who matter most,” reads UpScrolled’s website. Last week, Chinese-owned TikTok closed a $14 billion deal, brokered by the The President administration, to avoid a ban in the U.S., creating an American subsidiary with ne…

The headlines are clear: AI is disrupting entry-level jobs across industries, including consulting and professional services. There’s just one problem. Eliminating these roles overlooks a critical business need—your pipeline of next generation leaders. The rush from pyramid to diamond workforce models is short-sighted. In the pyramid model, you grow leaders from the ground up. In the diamond model, you cut the base and bet on later-stage talent to carry the weight. It may look efficient now, but it comes at the expense of long-term leadership development. If we don’t shift the trajectory, it’s likely to worsen the leadership gender gap. Despite women outpacing men…

There are certain things that make it obvious that you are a working parent. And I am not talking about the bags under your eyes or the six cups of coffee needed to get through the day. It usually happens at 4:59 p.m. when they start to pack up so they can make it to daycare or a school recital or any number of obligations parents have. As they slip out of the open-plan cubicle maze, a child-free colleague glances over and thinks (or sometimes says out loud), “Must be nice.” Welcome to the us versus them of modern work life: parents versus nonparents, aka committed versus distracted or the all-in versus the always juggling. In my book How to Have a Kid and a Life, I w…