Following on the February 8 Bloomberg story, "AI Is Driving More Layoffs Than Companies Want to Admit", here's the Wall Street Journal, February 12:
Leaders say the fast-evolving technology means many jobs might never return
Decades after automation began taking and transforming manufacturing jobs, artificial intelligence is coming for the higher-ups in the corporate office.
The list of white-collar layoffs is growing almost daily and includes jobs cuts at Google,
and UPS in recent weeks. While the total number of jobs directly lost to generative AI remains low, some of these companies and others have linked cuts to new productivity-boosting technologies such as machine learning and other AI applications.Generative AI could soon upend a much bigger share of white-collar jobs, including middle and high-level managers, according to company consultants and executives. Unlike previous waves of automation technology, generative AI doesn’t just speed up routine tasks or make predictions by recognizing data patterns. It has the power to create content and synthesize ideas—in essence, the kind of knowledge work millions of people now do behind computers.
That includes managerial roles, many of which might never come back, the corporate executives and consultants say. They predict the fast-evolving technology will revamp or replace work now done up and down the corporate ladder in industries ranging from technology to chemicals.
“This wave [of technology] is a potential replacement or an enhancement for lots of critical-thinking, white-collar jobs,” said Andy Challenger, senior vice president of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Some of the job cuts taking place already are a direct result of the changes coming from AI. Other companies are cutting jobs to spend more money on the promise of AI and under pressure to operate more efficiently.
Meanwhile, business leaders say AI could affect future head counts in other ways. At chemical company
, executives predict they won’t have to recruit as many people in the future.“As the company grows, we’ll need fewer new hires as opposed to having to do a significant retrenchment,” said Chief Executive Mark E. Newman....
....MUCH MORE, some of the examples are pretty dire.
So what to do? For years our standard advice for those who wanted to accumulate a little pile was to go into politics, though we did have some other suggestions:
"The 6 Most Statistically Full of Shit Professions"
#6. Stock Market Experts
#5 Wine Tasters
#4. Art Critic
Hmmm....a disturbing trend appears to be emerging.
"It Turns Out You Can Bullshit A Bullshitter After All"
There was that whole finance phase:
....Previously on Flim-Flam & Mountebank:
- UPDATED--Are You a Recent Graduate Who Hasn't Found a Job? Consider Becoming a Charlatan
- "Follow-up: Choosing the Charlatan Career Path
- A Job the Robots Won't Take: Become a Financial Charlatan
- "20 nifty tricks to argue like a charlatan"
- "Fake Astrology-Based Hedge Fund Threatens To Ruin Things For All The Legit Astrology-Based Hedge Funds Out There "
- Attention Knaves and Varlets: Get Into Neuromarketing While the Getting Is Still Good
- "Pseudo-Mathematics and Financial Charlatanism...."
- Re-post: Peak Oil Stalwart to Shutter Forum/News Site, Persue Career as Astrologer
Although, as usual, Dogbert caught up to and then surpassed our insight:
So, for the concerned, there are options.
See also:
Technical analysis
Fundamental analysis
Divination for Dummies
Pitfalls in Prognostication: Fortune Magazine's August, 2000 "Ten Stocks to Last the Decade"
