Firefighter, marine biologist, astronaut, tech mogul, stay-at-home adult — we’ve all had a dream job, or 10.

And for a while there, many of us wanted to be the same thing when we grew up: a highly paid tech worker.

But today, it seems Gen Zers are hanging up their propeller hats and dreaming of different industries, per Business Insider.

A National Society of High School Scholars survey of 10k high-achieving students illustrates Gen Z’s shifting preferences:

• Google was ranked as the No. 1 dream employer in 2017; in 2024, it dropped to No. 7. Amazon and Apple have also sunk by four and three spots, respectively, since 2018.
• Health care emerged as the most desirable industry, with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital claiming the top spot followed by the Mayo Clinic, Health Care Service Corp., and local hospitals.
• Government jobs also inched up the list, with the FBI at No. 5, NASA at No. 6, and the CIA at No. 11.

The number of applications for government jobs doubled YoY in 2023, according to a survey by Handshake, a job site for college students. Those for tech companies, meanwhile, dropped by 19%.

Weird, no?

Not really. While the federal government and your local hospital might not be as glamorous as a Big Tech firm, they provide things Gen Zers care about.

One priority tops them all: stability. Ranking No. 1 on the Handshake survey, it makes sense given recent events.

• There were 263.1k+ tech employees laid off in 2023. And they’re continuing, with another 106.6k+ laid off in 2024 so far.
• There’s growing uncertainty around AI — 62% of Gen Zers say they’re worried about its impact on job displacement.

This has led to talent flowing out of tech and into other industries, a troubling trend for large tech companies vying for skilled workers.

Though, if you ask us, we’d rather have the best and brightest of the next generation heading the CDC than becoming keg-tapping product managers, anyway.

Kids are always told not to play with their food — unless they’re anthropomorphizing a potato.

In the 1940s, toymaker George Lerner invented plastic eyes, noses, and mouths that you could stick into fruits and vegetables to create a face.

Lerner initially struggled to find a manufacturer as many toy companies found wasting food distasteful — people hadn’t forgotten the rationing that occurred during the Great Depression and WWII.

But after he sold the idea to a cereal company to use as a box prize, it caught the attention of the toymaker Hassenfeld Brothers — later shortened to Hasbro. They bought the idea back, made a deal with Lerner, and began marketing the toy as Mr. Potato Head in 1952. For just 98 cents (~$11.60 today), kids got 30 facial features and accessories.

Of course, potatoes eventually rot and the ‘60s saw new safety regulations regarding pokey choking hazards, so Mr. Potato Head got a plastic head and larger accessories.

This simple toy has remained relevant across the decades, spawning all sorts of potato people, scoring a starring role in the Toy Story franchise, and selling 100m+ toys.

Fun fact: Mr. Potato Head was the first toy advertised on TV.