🎉 4,000 jobs eliminated by AI?!

July 04, 2023

Read time: 2.5 minutes

Good Morning Party People! 🎉

Happy 4th of July! Hope you all are partyin’ it up - not in the office.

But this Office Party must go on. If this newsletter was a firework, it would be the illegal kind (the ones that go airborne).

Here’s what we got today:

🤖 AI is eliminating jobs?!

đź’° Pay transparency = less turnover

đź‘Ž Longer job interviews

👩‍💻 Side hustle season

And, of course, MEMES!

MOTD (Meme of The Day)

Meme creds: Kylee Giancola

Think you have great meme skills? Reply to this email with your best meme to be featured in the MOTD.

AI is Eliminating Jobs?!

According to the Challenger Report, AI contributed to nearly 4,000 job losses in May. This accounts for 5% of all jobs lost in the month. Previously, Goldman Sachs predicted that 300 million jobs will be replaced by AI. The AI fear porn is real.

“The job cuts come as businesses waste no time adopting advanced AI technology to automate a range of tasks — including creative work, such as writing, as well as administrative and clerical work” (CBS).

Reducing manual administrative and clerical work makes sense. Writing? ChatGPT writes like your coworker, Gregory (who plagiarized his essays in college).

The good news? Even if AI replaces jobs, new ones will be created.

The AI job loss trend is worth monitoring. But AI will never stop The Office Party.

Read more about the recent AI job loss trend here.

Mo Money, Fewer Problems?

The only thing worse than a job description with an unspecified pay range is finding out that your coworker, Doug (the slacker) is making more money than you.

Everyone wants better pay transparency. Well, pretty much everyone. And according to a report done by Payscale, it turns out that increasing pay transparency decreases the likelihood that your employees will be looking for new jobs.

Employees who don’t believe they’re being compensated fairly tend to look for new jobs. And one of the best ways to ensure fair compensation is through transparency.

The good news? Pay transparency is on the rise.

“In 2023, more employers are publishing pay ranges in job postings than ever — double compared to last year in the United States” (Payscale).

The following states currently have salary range transparency laws:

  • Maryland

  • Colorado

  • Connecticut

  • Nevada

  • Rhode Island

  • Washington

  • California

  • New York

The bad news? Salary ranges sometimes look like this:

$51,290 - $742,000

Want your employees to stay with you? List the dang salary!!

To learn more about pay transparency and employee retention, check out this article by HR Dive.

Longer Interviews Are on The Rise

You can never be too sure if a candidate is the right fit for your company. When in doubt, just keep interviewing them.

And it’s getting worse (sorry to be the bearer of bad news). The average recruitment process now lasts 44 days.

“As our data shows, time to hire has risen consistently for the last four years. Make no mistake, the hiring market is not going to get easier any time soon” (Sykes).

Why are interview processes getting longer? It’s no longer a candidate’s market. With so many layoffs, and so few companies hiring, companies can better dictate the terms of their hiring processes. For many, this means drawing out interviews over the course of 40+ days.

Here’s where it really causes problems. Companies have been adding steps to interview processes, not knowing what they want. Candidates are left confused and hung out to dry.

The “let’s take our time” strategy can backfire for companies, though. Top talent won’t put up with being strung along in an endless interview process. They’ll simply go work somewhere else.

Looking for a new job? Do your research on the company’s interview process. Don’t get strung along. Hint: use Glassdoor.

Read more about longer interview processes here.

44% of Americans (Allegedly) Have a Side Hustle

Inflation is eating away at everyone’s paychecks. So naturally, people are looking for ways to make some extra cash. (Insert GaryV maniacal laugh).

According to a survey by Lendingtree, 44% of Americans have a side hustle. On average, side hustlers are bringing in an extra $473 per month (aka 3 extra cartons of eggs).

“And now that inflation has gone wild, more and more people have embraced side hustles out of necessity. Life is really expensive today and many people need that extra side hustle income to make ends meet or to provide themselves with a little bit of financial wiggle room” (Schulz).

The most common side hustles?

  • Etsy (8%)

  • Babysitting, petsitting (7%)

  • Food or grocery delivery (6%)

  • Reselling items (6%)

  • Selling illegal substances (2%)…some people really snitched on themselves

Read more about the side hustle trends here.

Party Favors (extra reading)

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