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The combination of tariff-driven inflation and a downturn in hiring has posed a “challenging situation” for the U.S. economy, according to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Delivering an annual address in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Friday morning, Powell underscored that the economy was engaged in a “curious kind of balance” from a slowdown in both the supply and demand for workers. READ MORE
Microsoft and the NFL announced on Wednesday that they’re extending their partnership to bring real-time game data and analysis to coaches and players using Microsoft Copilot and Azure artificial intelligence.
The multiyear partnership will upgrade the NFL’s sideline viewing system by equipping 32 teams with more than 2,500 custom-built Microsoft Surface Copilot tablets to enhance data collection during game days. Microsoft and the NFL said the deal will also support operations by helping managers track factors such as weather delays or technical equipment issues. READ MORE
Americans are deeply concerned over the prospect that advances in artificial intelligence could put swaths of the country out of work permanently, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The six-day poll, which concluded on Monday, showed 71% of respondents said they were concerned that AI will be "putting too many people out of work permanently." READ MORE
Gen Z grads are struggling to land jobs. But pursuing a doctoral degree to stand out is not the answer, warns Jad Tarifi, the founder of Google’s first generative-AI team. Students could end up “throwing away” years of their lives, as technology is moving so quickly. This comes as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says ChatGPT can already perform on par with PhD-level experts, and Bill Gates admits that AI is accelerating at a pace that surprises even him. READ MORE
Tech industry leaders are not usually thinking about the long-term consequences of AI when developing the technology, computer scientist and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton told Fortune. They are instead concerned with immediate research outcomes and short-term profits. Hinton, known as the “godfather of AI,” has long warned about the consequences of AI development without intention and guardrails.
Elon Musk has a moonshot vision of life with AI: The technology will take all our jobs, while a “universal high income” will mean anyone can access a theoretical abundance of goods and services. Provided Musk’s lofty dream could even become a reality, there would, of course, be a profound existential reckoning. READ MORE
After robust retail purchases last month, consumer sentiment faltered in August for the first time in four months, according to a University of Michigan survey.
“This deterioration largely stems from rising worries about inflation,” Joanne Hsu, director of the university’s consumer surveys, said in a statement. READ MORE
Cities used to pulse with connection. The park bench, the public square, the library reading room, these weren’t just places. They were invitations. Invitations to sit, to meet, to be. But today? We’ve designed those invitations out of existence. In their place: parking lots, paywalls, privatized corners of what used to belong to everyone. We have confused movement with meaning, infrastructure with inclusion. Our public spaces now serve commerce more than community. Let’s be honest about what’s happening: public space has become collateral damage in the pursuit of profit. READ MORE
As more tariffs take effect on goods imported into the U.S., a specific accounting method could have major implications for how American retailers calculate the impact.
A tariff adds to the cost of an imported item when it’s received and paid for when it crosses a border. While there’s debate over who pays that tariff — the manufacturer, the retailer, the consumer or some combination — the hit will likely show up in retailers’ bottom lines. READ MORE
Markets ended last week largely unfazed by a hotter wholesale inflation print and signs of firming consumer prices, but some economists warn the underlying story is more concerning than investors seem to believe.
The Producer Price Index (PPI) for July surged to a three-year high, with services inflation playing a key role in the gains. A similar trend appeared in the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report earlier this week as firming prices in services like dental care and airline fares marked a surprise reversal from the prior softening that had been offsetting higher goods prices from tariffs. READ MORE
From The Great Resignation to quiet quitting, there’s been no shortage of trends over the past few years that reflect growing dissatisfaction and disengagement in the workplace.
The newest trend, “quiet cracking,” coined by TalentLMS, describes ongoing burnout and stagnation leading to disengagement and poor performance. Their research shows 20% of employees experience it frequently, and 34% occasionally. READ MORE
Burnout is no longer a buzzword—it’s a business reality. In 2024, more than half of employers reported an increase in leave requests, and over half of those saw increases exceeding 20%. While the reasons for this uptick vary—including illness, mental health, caregiving responsibilities and parental leave—the common denominator is that today’s workforce is stretched thin. In frontline service industries like hospitality, senior care and restaurants, where labor shortages are already impacting operations, the strain is even more visible. READ MORE
President Trump has claimed that his sweeping tariff regime will reshore American companies and revive manufacturing in the U.S.
So far, that hasn’t happened. Economic activity tied to manufacturing has shrunk for most of Trump’s second term. READ MORE
When Mark Cuban declares an industry practice "insane" multiple times during a panel discussion, it's worth paying attention. At Brown & Brown's Benefits Evolved 2025 event, Cuban joined our founder and CEO, Jake Frenz, Avantika Waring, MD and Chief Medical Officer at 9am Health, and Jared Bowcutt, Senior Vice President at Brown & Brown for a no-holds-barred conversation about pharmacy benefits. What emerged wasn't just criticism of the status quo, but a roadmap for employers seeking better value, greater transparency, and improved outcomes.
Here are seven critical lessons every employer should consider as we move forward into this time of reckoning. READ MORE
Most workers with side hustles aren’t leaving their full-time jobs to become business owners — instead, they’re using their side gigs as insurance policies for financial stability, according to a July 29 report from Glassdoor.
Although the percentage of workers with multiple jobs has increased during the first half of 2025, the applications for new businesses has remained flat. Glassdoor calls these workers “employee+” professionals who are diversifying their income without leaving their primary job. READ MORE
Samsung has joined the growing list of companies requiring full-time in-office attendance with a new five-day policy for some of its US-based employees.
The company implemented the full five-day RTO policy in early July for a group within its semiconductor business and is rolling out a tool internally to track employees' compliance, Business Insider has learned. READ MORE
At any given time, I employ between 40 and 50 people on a full-time basis. I've probably interviewed around 500 people.
I created my first company, an enterprise contract management software in 2010, and sold that business in 2014. READ MORE
Are performance review systems broken? According to one report, the answer is yes.
A 2025 Corporate Performance and Learning SurveyOpen in a new tab by Acorn, an HR technology company, found only 29% of surveyed workers trust how their organization evaluates performance. The survey included responses from 1,239 U.S.-based full-time workers, spanning executives, managers and individual contributors across HR, learning and development, and business teams. READ MORE
Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters is standing out in the global banking sector by maintaining a flexible, hybrid work policy and resisting the rigid office mandates now sweeping through much of Wall Street. As peers from companies like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs urge staff back to traditional office rhythms, Winters has doubled down on a philosophy of employee autonomy and trust, placing his bank in sharp contrast to its U.S. and U.K. peers. READ MORE
Traditional hiring practices have long relied on intuition and subjective judgment to identify the right candidates. However, forward-thinking organizations are discovering that applying rigorous data-driven methods to talent acquisition can improve both the quality and predictability of hiring decisions. READ MORE
For decades, the one-on-one meeting has been a sacred ritual of managerial life. It’s the office equivalent of a treadmill session: repetitive, well-intentioned, and mostly endured out of guilt.
Conventional wisdom says every manager should have regular 1:1s with their direct reports to build trust, boost engagement, and drive performance. However, as work evolves—with a faster pace, flatter structures, hybrid and asynchronous communication, AI tools that manage tasks more efficiently than most humans ever will—it’s worth asking: Do we still need all these 1:1s? READ MORE