#ai-and-automation

#ai-and-automation

I spent several years of my career in the uncomfortable role of middle manager. On one side, I had executives asking me why my team couldn't "do more," and on the other side, my employees told me they were stretched too thin. It was an endless tug-of-war. I was both the enforcer of company expectations and the advocate for my team's needs. At times, my role felt at complete odds with itself. Executives push for efficiency and growth, while employees look for empathy and stability.

For months, leaders from Ford CEO Jim Farley to the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have sounded the alarm that AI could wipe out entry-level jobs. Now, newly released data suggests they could be right: Since ChatGPT's rise, job postings across the U.S. have fallen by about 32%, according to data from the Federal Reserve, as employers increasingly turn to AI tools and automation to boost efficiency.

Creativity, AI, analytical thinking, problem-solving, and leadership skills are core skill sets that are in extremely strong demand for 2026 and beyond, based on data gathered from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' projections, the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report and Coursera's Job Skills Report, From these skills, there are three specific skills that are directly tied to high-paying jobs, which are already in demand right now.

Employers are taking longer to choose who to hire as they balance tighter recruitment budgets, and a surplus in applications, with a renewed focus on finding the right people to drive growth, according to new research from Totaljobs. The average time it takes for employers to hire someone after first publishing a vacancy has risen to 8 weeks, with larger businesses now taking up to 9 weeks to fill roles.

As the world is now acutely aware - with self-driving cars, job-stealing AI, around-the-clock Orwellian surveillance and a plethora of other nightmares that sci-fi novels warned us about - the fruits of tech's progress have not been 100% positive. We know that legitimately terrifying developments are already in full swing, even though our brains - and our lawmakers - can scarcely keep up with the speed of it all.

"The agricultural revolution unfolded over thousands of years. The industrial revolution took more than a century," the report reads. "Artificial labor could reshape the economy in less than a decade."

Reaching 30,000 agents is a proud moment, but we view it as another step toward building a transformative platform for the next generation of real estate professionals and the clients they serve. The brokerage was recently named the top mover in the 2025 RealTrends Verified rankings. Real advanced from No. 10 to No. 5 in sales volume and secured the No. 6 spot in transaction sides. The firm first appeared on the RealTrends rankings three years ago.

Ford CEO Jim Farley is issuing a wake-up call to America: the country's economic strength depends not just on the innovation hotspots of Silicon Valley, but on the everyday industries that get things "moved, built, or fixed." In a series of recent commentaries and interviews, Farley has been highlighting the mounting crisis in the "essential economy"-sectors like manufacturing, skilled trades, and infrastructure-and outlines how automation and artificial intelligence threaten to upend the white-collar workforce while blue-collar fields face unprecedented shortages.

School is expensive, student loan debt is often onerous and job security for those with degrees has diminished - even more so with the advent of AI. Plus, at the moment new graduates are seeing higher unemployment rates. There's also growing interest and appeal for young adults in the skilled trades - becoming plumbers, electricians, etc. - especially as AI appears to threaten white collar work.

Britain has recorded the steepest decline in hiring intentions of any major European economy, as employers struggle with the fallout from last autumn's £26bn payroll tax raid and brace for another squeeze in the Chancellor's November Budget. Data from recruiter ManpowerGroup UK shows the UK labour market is slowing at a pace unmatched elsewhere in Europe. The margin has since collapsed to just 11 points, marking a 17-point fall over the past year.

A decade ago, startups often equated success with rapid headcount growth. The formula was simple: build a product, raise a round, hire fast. Bigger teams meant bigger bets. But the rulebook is getting rewritten as a new generation of startups scales with leaner teams and fewer people. They're not building out sprawling customer support or sales teams, and seem to be automating what once warranted entire departments.