Newswise — Layoffs at technology companies will exceed 260,000 in 2023 and continue into 2024. This is despite a strong non-tech job market. Smith & Co.’s Roland Last said that much of the mainstream media coverage tends to ignore the specific context of the analysis, saying, “Continued layoffs by tech companies are a sign of ‘thinking’ across the broader labor market. ‘We foresee a significant decline in jobs, and people will be increasingly forced to look for work.’ Work that makes you feel more. ”
“We predicted exactly this phenomenon in a study published in 2018,” said (pointing to co-author Ming-Hui Huang), a professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Medicine. said Rust, Distinguished Professor of Business and David Bruce Smith Professor of Marketing. We then provided empirical evidence in his 2019 article (co-authored with Huang and Smith colleague Vojislav Maksimovic) and compiled it into a complete picture in our 2021 book. [‘The Feeling Economy: How Artificial Intelligence is Creating the Era of Empathy.’]”
“As AI evolves to handle much of the thinking required in areas across the labor market, humans will be able to use intuition, We need to recalibrate and leverage strengths that go beyond pure intellect, such as empathy and emotion.” creativity, emotions, and interpersonal skills. ”
He further points to a recent essay he has produced as an example of a broader shift from “thinking” to “feeling.” The nature of work will also change in an emotional economy. A seemingly thought-centered job like being a financial analyst can actually be more emotion-centered. One financial analyst said she is now leaving the technical stuff to her AI and focusing instead on customer relationships, holding hands and reassuring customers. This change is happening across the economy. Previously, customer service representatives answered the phone, but now routine questions are handled by her AI chatbot. Customer service agents handle non-routine issues, but fewer agents are needed, and those that remain are tasked with tasks that involve judgment, creativity, intuition, emotion, empathy, and interpersonal skills. Focus on tasks that are difficult to perform.
Interestingly, Rust said: “The Washington Post recently featured someone who gave up technology and went back to school to study psychology. This is exactly what we predicted in the book. In response, he proposed scaling back the promotion of STEM, which has already reached its peak, and focusing on developing human resources with better interpersonal skills. For example, Google conducted an extensive study on the factors that lead to career success there, and STEM skills came in last and interpersonal skills came first. ”
He concluded, “The accelerating improvements in AI are increasingly eliminating thinking jobs, including technology-related jobs, and rapidly ushering in a ‘feeling economy.'”