HR News: Almost Half of Americans Fear Losing Their Job to AI, Business Trips Are Back, Caretakers Are Not Valued, and More Layoffs
HREN News Roundup for the Week of 8/14
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This is a weekly roundup of the latest in HR News.
HR news takes things up a notch this week. A recent survey reveals the true fear humans have about being replaced by the robots. Women, who are the majority of the caregivers for ill and elderly family members and children, found out that they are simply not valued enough in this society. Perhaps, the news is not surprising, but it bears repeating - and manifests in great disappointment. Business trips are a thing again, and the layoffs never seem to stop. Just ask Aetna, HBO, Max, and Biogen this week.
Get the details on these HR headlines here:
People Fear AI More Than Ever Before
For many years, business researchers and economists warned people that the robots would soon be coming for their jobs. In the last year, this discussion has ramped up and now the general public is taking notice of increased automation and more advanced technology. More than 45% of respondents to a survey by the American Staffing Association said they either somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that their jobs are replaceable by artificial intelligence (AI). One-third of Americans are already using AI at work.
"The recent rapid development of generative artificial intelligence has extended the potential for automation of many more on-the-job tasks," according to Bloomberg.
This response stands in "stark contrast" to a similar survey in 2017 in which people did not express as much concern about losing their jobs to automation.
Business Trips Make a Comeback
Just as personal travel became hot again in the aftermath of the pandemic, business travel is picking up swiftly now, according to the Dallas Morning News. Business trips are back as return-to-office (RTO) mandates become the norm. The Global Business Travel Asssociation predicts that corporate travel spending will reach $1.8 trillion by 2027. It's already on the rise with the expectation of reaching $1.4 trillion in 2024.
Pay Gender Gap Exacerbated by Caregiving
Did you know that Aug. 15 is Mother's Equal Pay Day because it is the day in the year when the average American mom earns what a father did the year before? To honor this day, LinkedIn reported a piece of data from Bloomberg that should make people angry and motivated to make change: "Women would make an additional $627 billion a year, based on a new analysis. Add to this difference the fact that women are often paid less at work — and less still when caregiving results in career setbacks — and the pay gap comes to $61 trillion since 1967, writes Bloomberg."
WATCH: Women at Work 2023
More Layoffs
Aetna, Biogen, HBO, and Max reported layoffs in the last week. CVS Health has been planning to slash about 5,000 jobs to cut costs, and the Harford Courant reported that it had confirmed this with the company. As a result, people at Aetna began receiving notification of their layoffs this week.
READ: HR Guide to Layoffs
Biogen announced its 1,000 person layoffs began in Cambridge, according to the Boston Business Journal. In addition, HBO and its streaming service Max are committing to double-digit layoffs in the latest round of cuts by Warner Bros. Discovery brands, according to Variety.
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk for Pexels
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