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More than half of U.S. workers fear artificial intelligence will take their jobs. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that 52% of its survey respondents worried about being replaced. Employers, meanwhile, insist that AI is meant to boost productivity, not cut head count. A new survey of startup founders suggests those employers may have a point. Mercury, a company that works with financial service providers to offer business banking for startups and small businesses, has published the results of a survey conducted in May of 1,500 early-stage founders and execs in the U.S. While the economy may be whipping business leaders back and forth, the survey does find that, interestingly enough, 87% feel better than they did last yearsaying that their confidence in their businesses’ financial prospects have improved when compared with last year. But perhaps most interesting is the sentiment around AI. Specifically, companies that have adopted AI tools are much more confident and, perhaps most surprisingly, say they intend to hire more human workers. The data shows that repeat founders are 12% more likely to hire much more due to AI tools, and 26% of first-time founders are likely to do the same. Overall, almost 80% of companies with significant AI adoption say theyre hiring more people because of it, and theyre doing so across numerous roles, including business development, sales, and marketing. We produced this report to get an unfiltered look at todays startup economics, and the data made AIs influence hard to ignore. The biggest gaps in growth, optimism, and hiring were between companies that had meaningfully adopted AI and those that hadnt, says Sid Orlando, co-author of Mercury’s report. Seventy-nine percent of AI adopters said theyre hiring more because of it. Theres plenty of talk about AI killing jobs, but in our survey, those using AI were growing their teams, not shrinking them. Others agree. “Survey respondents reported that their application of AI is leading to increased hiring, not decreased. That response seems counter to the narrative that AI will eliminate jobs, says John Dearie, president of the Center for American Entrepreneurship. But it’s consistent with a major take-away from a roundtable with AI-focused entrepreneurs that CAE conducted in Houston on May 6, during which participants told us that they are using AI to analyze their relationships with customersidentifying problems and challenges their customers are struggling withwhich helps deepen and extend those customer relationships, with clear implications for additional hiring at the startups, Dearie adds. Even so, AI has made a dent in the workforce, and estimates suggest that as many as 300 million workers could be replaced worldwide. However, were still relatively early in the AI adoption curve, and its anyones guess as to what could happen. While employers are still likely to reduce head count, thanks to some AI tools, Mercurys data does provide some insight into the thought process of small and younger companieswhich could give hope to workers who fear replacement. With nearly half of Americans working for smaller companies, rather than big enterprises, this shows another side to the AI-and-jobs story, Orlando says.
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E-Commerce
Air Canada said Tuesday it will gradually restart operations after reaching an agreement with the union for 10,000 flight attendants to end a strike that disrupted the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of travelers.The union first announced the agreement early Tuesday after Air Canada and the union resumed talks late Monday for the first time since the strike began over the weekend. The strike is affecting about 130,000 travelers a day at the peak of the summer travel season.Canada’s largest airline said flights will start resuming Tuesday evening. Flight attendants walked off the job early Saturday after turning down the airline’s request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which allows a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract.The union said the agreement will guarantee members pay for work performed while planes are on the ground, resolving one of the major issues that drove the strike.“Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power,” the union said in a statement. “When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.”Chief executive Michael Rousseau said restarting a major carrier is a complex undertaking and said regular service may require seven to 10 days. Some flights will be canceled until the schedule is stabilized.“Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for our customers’ patience and understanding over the coming days,” Rousseau said in a statement.The two sides reached the deal with the help of a mediator early Tuesday morning. The airline said mediation discussions “were begun on the basis that the union commit to have the airline’s 10,000 flight attendants immediately return to work.” Air Canada declined to comment further on the agreement until the ratification process is complete. It noted a strike or lockout is not possible during this time.Earlier, Air Canada said rolling cancellations would now extend through Tuesday afternoon after the union defied a second return-to-work order.The Canada Industrial Relations Board had declared the strike illegal Monday and ordered the flight attendants back on the job. But the union said it would defy the directive. Union leaders also ignored a weekend order to submit to binding arbitration and end the strike by Sunday afternoon.The board is an independent administrative tribunal that interprets and applies Canada’s labor laws. The government ordered the board to intervene.Labor leaders objected to the Canadian government’s repeated use of a law that cuts off workers’ right to strike and forces them into arbitration, a step the government took in recent years with workers at ports, railways and elsewhere.“Your right to vote on your wages was preserved,” the union said in a post on its website.Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day. The airline estimated Monday that 500,000 customers would be affected by flight cancellations.Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that as of Monday afternoon, Air Canada had called off at least 1,219 domestic flights and 1,339 international flights since last Thursday, when the carrier began gradually suspending its operations ahead of the strike and lockout that began early Saturday.Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, Canada’s largest, said it will deploy additional staff to assist passengers and support startup operations.Passengers whose flights are impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline’s website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. Rob Gillies, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
I learned very early in my professional life that there are two paths to career success. Become an expert at one specific thing. Or master a few skills and leverage them simultaneously.The second option is working for me. Becoming a skills-powered professional is how I can survive the future of work. The narrow expert path doesnt work for everyone. New research from McKinsey shows that 44% of Americans want to switch careers, but nearly half say their biggest obstacle is a lack of skills. The biggest skills gap isnt a lack of technical knowledge; its a lack of adaptability. Employers want people who learn fast, wear different hats, and solve cross-functional problems. In short, they want generalists. Just be enough You dont need to be everything. You just need to be enough of many things. You cant master everything. Thats not the point. A generalist is strategically skilled in diverse areas. They are able to connect the dots others dont see. As David Epstein writes in his bestselling book Range, Modern work demands knowledge transferthe ability to apply knowledge to new situations and domains. To thrive in the future of work, think of yourself as a Swiss Army knife, built for the complexity of the productive environment. Skill stacking What you can do now is stack your skills. Then make them talk to each other. What makes you indispensable isnt in any one ability. Its a combination of transferable skills. Lets say youre decent at writing, coding, and psychology. Individually, none of those put you at the top. But together? You might be the professional an employer needs to design an app with a better user interface. And human behavior knowledge is integrated into every interaction. Skill stacking can raise your market value by making you proficient (if not necessarily exceptional) in multiple areas. Make peace with not being the best In any room, theres always someone who knows more about something. Becoming a generalist means focusing on what fits you. It means letting go of being the best at one thing, especially when the rules keep changing. Become the most adaptable. The most curious. The most useful in unexpected ways. Employers want people with a diverse skill set who can adapt to the changing demands of work. A generalist has a beginners mindset Every new skill you learn humbles you. It teaches you to learn faster, listen better, and synthesize across departments. Over time, you stop pursuing titles and start stacking tools that can help you become adaptable. Right now, talent is everywhere. AI can out-code us. Specialists can outshine in narrow fields. But no one else can have your exact set of skills, experiences, and insights. Your generalist path can become your defence against becoming obsolete. Dont just pursue a career. Build capability Careers are changing fast. Roles are disappearing. Even titles are evolving. But capabilities stick. Learn how to write clearly. Think critically. And present ideas. Invest in survival skills. Theyre what employers really want. Being good at many things, combined with the ability to switch context fast, is now a competitive edge. Im not saying reject mastery. If something makes you come alive, by all means, hone in on it. But be open to building a bridge across many domains. You dont need to fit into one box The world of work wont stop changing. Professionals like you who adapt, connect, and evolve will be ready for the uncertainties. Its how you stay useful when the rules change. The more skills you build, the more freedom you earn. Freedom to switch, lead, and secure your career. Stack your skills. You dont need to out-specialize anyone. You just need to be able to connect the dots that matter. And solve problems from multiple angles. A generalist knows how to learn, pivot, and apply knowledge across fields. Get into what excites you Become what psychologist Carl Rogers calls the fully functioning person. Someone open to experience and always evolving. The best generalists are not just jacks-of-all-trades; theyre masters of reinvention. Specialists see the trees. Generalists see the forest and the paths between them. You can offer both skills and perspective. Thats why companies now prioritize learning ability over fixed expertise. Stay curious. Stay flexible. The future isnt about what you know. Its about how fast you can learn. Like Bruce Lee said, Be water, my friend. Thats how generalists win.
Category:
E-Commerce
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