AI and free money (Elon), 80K fake resumes Job market

Author

Candle Team
April 09, 2024

📰 In this issue

🔹 Insider: Exclusive for our community

🔹 Opportunity: Good news on tech hiring through the year.

🔹 Trends: Corporate America worries again about recession in 2024

🔹 Tools: Gen AI helps, but doesn’t make the final call.

🔹 Sparks: Elon -free money, 80K fake resumes, US election

🗃Insider

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🚀 Opportunity

CompTIA 2024 - News on tech hiring? 😀 🤔 😃 🤔

Are you ready for some decent news on the jobs front? CompTIA's latest report, "State of the Tech Workforce 2024," forecasts a killer increase in tech employment this year. We're talking about an additional 9.9 million workers! That's an addition of over 300,000 net new tech roles, a pretty decent 3.1% jump - compared to last year’s weak ass 1.2% growth.

The tech industry's economic impact is nothing short of fire, continuing to build on an estimated $2 trillion in annual direct economic contributions. With more than 650,000 tech companies fueling the U.S. economy, and tech sectors in 30 states generating $10 billion or more each, the job front looks pretty solid.

Looking ahead, the forecast for tech job growth is solid, expected to outpace overall U.S. employment growth by double over the next decade. Especially fast growth is predicted in hot areas like data science, cybersecurity, software development, UI/UX design, and emerging technologies such as AI. Plus, core infrastructure roles in networking and cloud engineering, along with tech support positions, are set to be the launching pad for many tech careers.

With nearly 2.9 million job postings for core tech roles in 2024, and a mega 8.9 million listings seeking digital skills, it's pretty clear: the demand for tech talent isn’t going south anytime soon. This is some serious welcome news after all the layoff and AI disruption gloom and doom. Right‽?‽‽

🔥 Why You Should Care - This comes down to continuous learning - period.
 
🔑 Key Point -Preparing for the future of work becomes paramount.

📎 Related Resource

Viral Video - Getting laid off in real time.

Employers added 303,000 jobs in March, the 39th straight month of growth. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8%. Sure as hell not in the tech industry. Take a look at Challenger, Gray & Christmas’ report on tech.

When you look at these numbers, they are totally skewed. Healthcare, government, and leisure and hospitality were the drivers of growth and were instrumental in generating 63% of the total job gains. Last year they were responsible for 75% of all employment increases. For professionals in the knowledge worker sector, understanding the dynamics within these key industries offers valuable insights into the broader economic shifts and potential opportunities for career development and strategic planning.

Here we are on April 9th and the tech sector outlook isn't brightening. Recent findings from a ResumeBuilder survey involving around 900 leaders from organizations, paint a somewhat bleak picture for the near future. Nearly 40% of these leaders foresee layoffs at their companies, while around half anticipate a freeze in hiring. The specter of a recession looms large in these projections, cited by half of the respondents as a significant concern. But, take it with a grain of salt, remember economists and investors alike warned the economy was absolutely headed for. recession by early 2023. Never happened.

But back to reality today About 40% of the surveyed leaders indicated that the integration of AI into their operations would likely result in job reductions. Notably, again, companies like Dropbox, Google, and IBM have already initiated layoffs tied to AI advancements. As a matter of fact a bunch of companies are cutting ties with employees and it’s all about AI and recession fears…again.

For those of us in the digital economy, these developments are a clarion call to adapt and recalibrate. As industries continue to transform, understanding these trends and preparing for the future of work becomes paramount.

🔥 Why You Should Care. Being proactive in your career learning is essential
 
🔑 Key Point - The specter of a recession looms large in these projections.

📎 Related Resource

🚀 Tools

Let the Algorithms Do the Work: Leveraging Gen AI to Land Your Dream Job

Struggling to Find a Job? The AI Robots say - no problem.

It's no secret that job hunting is a major pain in the ass - job specific resumes, cover letters, and interviews are enough to make anyone want to do some heavy imbibing. But over the last year we’ve had some help and more is on the way, daily. Gen AI steps up to assist, not replace the tasks.

According to a recent report from ZipRecruiter, 53% of newly hired U.S. workers used the power of generative AI to help them with their job search. That's up from just 25% in the second quarter of 2023, proving that the robots are taking over (and we're totally cool with it).

So, how are the recently laid off job seekers putting AI to use? Well, the top use case is resume-writing, with about 23% of AI users saying they let the LLMs do the heavy lifting. After all, who needs a human touch when you've got ChatGPT churning out cover letters that are "100% original and totally not plagiarized, we promise"? Buying that?

Other popular AI applications include:

  • Exploring Career Options (because understanding your interests and abilities is important)

  • Preparing for Interviews (because thoughtful responses can showcase your qualifications)

  • Negotiating Salary (because advocating for fair compensation is valuable)

Hey, AI can be a useful tool, but some career experts caution against over-relying on it. Overly automated job search and application processes can result in inauthentic materials and a lack of genuine preparedness. However, a balanced approach that combines technological assistance with personal reflection and engagement can lead to more authentic and successful outcomes.

The data shows that younger job seekers are the real AI aficionados, with 71% of millennials and 60% of early Gen Xers using the technology in their search. Meanwhile, the boomers are still trying to figure out how to turn on their computer, let alone leverage AI to land their dream retirement job.

So, if you're looking to rejoin the digital economy, let the gen AI players churn out the data on your behalf. Just make sure you can actually do the job once you get it - otherwise, you might find yourself back to square one on the job market. Then rethinking that there’s a slight possibility that maybe you have more information on you than the 45 terabytes in ChatGPT’s arsenal.

🔥 Why You Should Care - Plain and simple AI doesn’t have your touch.
 
🔑 Key Point - You vs. 45 terabytes in ChatGPT’s arsenal. You win!

📎 Related Resources

🚀 Sparks

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