Searches for AI skills on gig platform surge as businesses embrace new tech

Interest in artificial intelligence exploded in the past year after the rollout of ChatGPT caught the public's attention, and fresh data indicates the frenzy for AI-related skills is far from over as more businesses embrace the technology.

Freelance digital services platform Fiverr's latest Business Trends Index released Thursday found global searches for AI content editing soared by 10,490% over the past six months, while inquiries for prompt engineering surged 7,345% and those related to AI video rose 3,746%. READ MORE

America's CEOs weigh in on the top three issues facing businesses nationwide

Despite sky-high borrowing costs and economic uncertainty, America's CEOs are more confident than they were a year ago, a lot more in fact, 77% this year vs.   64% in 2022, according to a new survey released by KPMG on Thursday.

"American and global businesses, and particularly in the U.S., have been very, very resilient. The recession that was forecast some time ago hasn't really arisen yet. You could argue there have been some rolling sector recessions, but not the macro recession that everyone expected," KPMG CEO Paul Knopp told FOX Business. READ MORE

Choose the Right Employee Evaluation Phrases in Your Performance Reviews

For anyone in a managerial role, writing employee evaluations becomes a repetitive task and there are only so many times they can write “good performer” and “team player” without running out of useful employee evaluation phrases. According to an SHRM article, managers spend an average of 210 hours a year on performance management activities. 

With this much time invested into an activity, it is imperative that the results are worthwhile, otherwise skipping the reviews entirely might be ideal. This is why it is ideal to write a good evaluation with useful employee evaluation comments that can actually benefit the receiver. So what do you write in an employee evaluation and how do you decide on appropriate phrases? READMORE

Effective performance management can help reduce quiet quitting

Quiet quitting isn’t a fly-by-night viral trend on social media. It’s a lifestyle response being adopted by millions who are struggling for a better life. Due to wage stagnation and year-over-year inflation, many feel life is harder now and more expensive, and they simply don't want to be in survival mode any longer. In other words, quiet quitters are rejecting the demands of hustle culture.

The term ‘quiet quitting’ refers to employees who don’t go ‘above and beyond’ at work to put in more effort than absolutely necessary. The increase in this phenomenon was highlighted in a report published earlier this summer by the London School of Economics and is more prevalent than some think. A job satisfaction survey of 2,080 UK professionals published this year found that up to two-thirds of UK professionals have ‘quiet quit’ their jobs. The survey also found 25% of those polled admitted they would be keen to change jobs in the next 12 months. Additionally, a 2022 Gallup survey estimated that half of the U.S. workforce consists of quiet quitters. If Gallup’s estimate is accurate, that equates to 80 million workers. READ MORE

What was Elon Musk’s strategy for Twitter?

On the day that public records revealed that Elon Musk had become Twitter’s biggest shareholder, an unknown sender texted the billionaire and recommended an article imploring him to acquire the social network outright.

Musk’s purchase of Twitter, the 3,000-word anonymous article said, would amount to a “declaration of war against the Globalist American Empire.” The sender of the texts was offering Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, a playbook for the takeover and transformation of Twitter. As the anniversary of Musk's purchase approaches, the identity of the sender remains unknown. READ MORE

Microsoft CEO warns of ‘nightmare’ future for AI if Google’s search dominance continues

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warned on Monday of a “nightmare” scenario for the internet if Google’s dominance in online search is allowed to continue, a situation, he said, that starts with searches on desktop and mobile but extends to the emerging battleground of artificial intelligence.

Nadella testified on Monday as part of the US government’s sweeping antitrust trial against Google, now into its 14th day. He is the most senior tech executive yet to testify during the trial that focuses on the power of Google as the default search engine on mobile devices and browsers around the globe. READ MORE

ESG has lost its meaning. One advocate says let’s throw it in the trash

Not so long ago, Wall Street had a particular obsession with ESG investing, which favors companies that promise to make certain strides on the environment, societal impact and corporate governance. Nearly every CEO of a major company touted their firm’s progress toward creating a more sustainable future.

Now the term is falling out of favor. S&P 500 companies citing “ESG” on earnings calls last quarter reached their lowest number since the same quarter in 2020, according to FactSet data. READ MORE

How To Spot Red Flags In Your Startup’s Business

Running a tech company or investing in one can be a thrilling journey filled with potential rewards, but it’s equally fraught with risks.

While some people might rely mainly on their intuition, there is immense value in assessing the financial well-being of a tech company, a practice that proves beneficial for entrepreneurs and investors alike. READ MORE

Why you may see a smaller pay raise and less chance of a promotion next year

US employers are planning smaller pay raises and fewer promotions next year, compared to what they gave this year.

That’s according to a new survey from human resources consulting firm Mercer. The survey was taken by more than 900 of its clients, who are employers of varying sizes across 15 industries. READ MORE

Two out of three workers say prices are still rising faster than wages, new survey shows

The cost of living continues to stress out American workers, even as inflation eases from four-decade highs.

Sixty-seven percent of employees say the cost of living is outpacing growth in their salary and wages, according to a Bank of America survey shared exclusively with CNN on Monday. READ MORE

A monopoly-busting Amazon lawsuit might be Biden’s boldest move yet to tame tech

A long-awaited antitrust case against Amazon’s massive online retail operations is expected to be filed in federal court as soon as Tuesday, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

The Federal Trade Commission has been preparing a complaint since at least the start of this year targeting an array of Amazon’s business practices. The exact details of the lawsuit are not known, and changes to the final complaint are possible until it’s officially submitted. But personnel throughout the agency, including FTC Chair Lina Khan herself, have homed in on several of Amazon’s business practices, POLITICO has previously reported. READ MORE

How to Keep the Peace in the Workplace

Camilla Bank Friis et al. (2020) investigated workplace aggression with the benefit of reviewing body-worn camera analysis of situational encounters.1 They recognize that occupational victimization literature frequently discusses the enhanced level of danger associated with factors such as having a high-pressure work environment and interaction with the criminal element, but face-to-face interaction patterns are studied less frequently.

One study they recognize as among the key exceptions (Landau and Bendalak, 2010) demonstrated a positive association between the inability to effectively communicate with patients in a hospital emergency ward setting and the likelihood of serious aggression toward staff. Other research they cite (Rabe-Hemp and Schuck, 2007) found less chance of police staff victimization where the officers initiated citizen contact when first arriving at the scene. But, in terms of practical examples that are arguably broadly applicable, they examined a specific type of encounter that capitalized on some of the more common responses to being confronted with negative news within a relationship of power imbalance. READ MORE

Recognition, appreciation and engagement: A strategy for happier employees

As employee frustration with unmet needs rises and managers face backlash from employees on returning to the office, celebrating wins could be part of the solution to resetting the workplace and getting everyone on the same side of the table. By focusing on the peaks instead of the valleys, HR leaders can see measurable results in terms of employee engagement and organizational performance.

Though often considered a “nice-to-have,” tangible recognition can go a long way in cultivating a strong culture and fueling motivation. The result will be happier employees, more connected teams and better business all around. READ MORE

37 Red Flags To Look For In Job Interviews

Workplace abuse, toxic bosses, and underpaying jobs have increasingly entered the public conversation in the past year, as many return to jobs or offices after lockdowns and start realizing that there's a lotttt of stuff they really shouldn't have to put up with. READ MORE

Why RTO mandates are layoffs in disguise: ‘Companies are daring employees to quit’

The return-to-office debate sees no end in sight as companies grapple with mandates and the employee backlash that follows.  

While a whopping 90% of companies plan to implement return-to-office policies by the end of 2024, flexibility remains a top priority for employees — and the lack of it might push them to seek other opportunities.  READ MORE

Arm Holdings IPO: What to know

Arm Holdings, the chip designer owned by SoftBank, priced it's initial public offering (IPO) at $51 per share, above the expected range, valuing the company at $54 billion amid higher demand. 

Shares will begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "ARM." It's the biggest U.S. IPO since Rivian in 2021. READ MORE

CEOs are having their worst year in decades

It’s been a bad year for CEOs.

Chief executives have left their posts at an alarming rate as their performance — and their behavior — come under increased scrutiny by corporate boards.

What’s happening: Well over 1,000 CEOs have left their companies this year, according to a Challenger, Gray & Christmas report. That’s 33% more than last year and the highest total in the first seven months of the year since the staffing research company began tracking exits in 2002. READ MORE

Jamie Dimon warns of risks to US economy: 'We've been spending like drunken sailors'

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sounded the alarm over the state of the economy on Monday, warning that the "booming environment" cannot last forever. 

Speaking at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference in New York, Dimon warned of significant headwinds to the economy, including geopolitical tensions, government spending and monetary policy tightening by central banks across the world. READ MORE

Harnessing Grassroots Automation

Companies are increasingly embracing the idea of helping nontechnical staff members — those who have deep business-area expertise — learn to directly automate processes that give them headaches and eat up their time. For instance, human resources employees are uniquely qualified to identify the mundane and repetitive parts of their jobs, such as candidate-tracking tasks, and then, with some training, build automations that will relieve them of chores such as duplicative data entry and data cleaning. READ MORE

3 Companies on the Scrappy Tactics They Used to Scale Up

So, you started up, and now you need to scale up. But be careful to do so both effectively and cost-effectively.

Entrepreneurs will usually look to grow once they've plotted a path toward profitability, accrued enough loyal customers, and reached a sustainable revenue path, according to the financial services platform Stripe.  READ MORE