Chris Westfall

1 week ago | forbes.com | Chris Westfall

According to a new study, true unemployment in the United States is a stunning 24.3%, as millions of Americans are “functionally unemployed." The bold claim is a stark contrast to the reported unemployment rate of 4.2% in April, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But in a challenging study cited by CBS News, indications are that the government data might be painting an overly pretty picture for employment opportunities.

1 week ago | forbes.com | Chris Westfall

IBM has replaced hundreds of workers with AI, and now reports that 94% of routine human resources (HR) tasks are handled by artificial intelligence. However, IBM CEO Arvin Krishna says that AI has allowed the company to expand, not shrink. “Because AI gives you more investment to put into other areas,” he tells the Wall Street Journal. The company’s CTO, Ji-eun Lee, says that the company saw a “productivity improvement” of over $3.5 billion in the last two years across 70 business units, due to AI.

1 week ago | forbes.com | Chris Westfall

Projections for the manufacturing sector indicate nearly 30% growth through 2033, according to reports from Deloitte. Construction spending in manufacturing—in other words, dollars invested to build new or expand existing manufacturing facilities—has nearly tripled since June 2020. In January 2024, this investment reached a record high of $225 billion, which is a 37% year over year increase.

1 week ago | forbes.com | Chris Westfall

Over 96% of organizations have experienced disruption in the last two years, according to a global resilience survey from PwC. Resilience - the dynamic capacity to anticipate, adapt to and recover from adversity - is what allows companies and individuals to bounce back after a challenge. Difficulty, change and loss comes to everyone (and every organization) to varying degrees.

3 weeks ago | forbes.com | Chris Westfall

In a survey of 1,000 knowledge workers, 67% of respondents said that their companies use AI, with 56% of companies encouraging AI usage. Owl Labs created the survey, and they found that Gen Z employees are more likely to report being “heavily reliant” on AI, with 70% of the youngest generation leaning in on the tech for a multitude of tasks. That lines up with the observations of OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, who recently shared that Gen Z workers view ChatGPT as a “life adviser".