The Gen-Z Influencers Making #BlueCollar Cool

Good afternoon. Today we're exploring the rise of skilled-trade influencers who are making plumbing and construction look cool, the American worker's ever-longer office commute and the antidote to being a cynic at work.

These Social-Media Influencers Wear Tool Belts

Most of the time, when Lexis Czumak-Abreu is stripping cables in a ditch or troubleshooting a sparking outlet, the size of her fan base doesn’t mean too much to her. Yet some 2.2 million people on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook watch Czumak-Abreu do her work as an electrician in Cornwall, N.Y.

She's part of a coterie of influencers whose videos and DIY tutorials are burnishing the image of skilled-trade careers and creating lucrative side hustles on social media.  

• How Gen Z Is Becoming the Toolbelt Generation (Read)
• Influencers Are Driving a New Category of Unionizing: Pharmacists (Read)

America's work commute is getting longer and longer

Big shifts in the way people live and work are making commutes of over an hour into the office more common—and even more palatable. The share of super commutes—those 75 miles or longer—have grown the most and are up by nearly a third since 2020, according to new research from Stanford University.

• The Math Behind the New Super Commute (Read)
• I'm a Supercommuter. Here's What It's Really Like (Listen)

Quit being a cynic at work. It’s holding you back.

We don’t want to be friends with our co-workers. We don’t want to help out with that project. We don’t trust the CEO…or our boss…or that guy in accounting. It's easy to feel cynical about our jobs, yet having a bad attitude can stunt our careers in the long run, and hurt our mental and physical health, writes Work & Life columnist Rachel Feintzeig.

• Being Too Nice Can Damage Your Career, Too (Listen)

Best of the Rest

Check out some of the Journal's best-read stories on work life over the past week:

• The Workers Who Do Everything on Their Phones—Except Answer Calls (Read)
• His Ex Is Getting His $1 Million Retirement Account. They Broke Up in 1989 (Read)
• One Way Not To Get the Job: Interview From Your Bed (Read)

This is a condensed version of WSJ’s Careers & Leadership newsletter. Sign up here to get the WSJ’s comprehensive work coverage in your inbox each week.

This newsletter was curated by Vanessa Fuhrmans, WSJ's Careers and Leadership Deputy Bureau Chief. Reach her on LinkedIn.