New mothers working in software development are staring down an AI-pilled workplace they barely recognize. As Danielle settled into the rhythms of new motherhood, her profession underwent a drastic reinvention. Danielle, who asked to use her first name to avoid damaging her job prospects, worked as a software developer at a car company in Portland, Oregon. Before she left the workforce in mid-2024, barely anybody used AI to write code; by the time she was ready to return, a year later, it had become the expectation. Once upon a time, she had been drawn to coding for the job security it offered, but AI was threatening to upend that.

One in six young people will not be in education, employment or training within five years unless urgent action is taken, a major review has warned. The education, health and welfare systems are no longer fit for purpose in preparing young people for adult life, said its author former minister Alan Milburn. We are at risk of a lost generation, he warned, with the number of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work, education or training set to rise to 1.25 million by 2031. The first rung of the career ladder has thinned and that for too many young people it is now simply out of reach, Milburn is set to say in a speech later. That places them in a hopeless catch-22 where employers ask for work experience but the opportunities for young people to gain it have narrowed or gone, he will say.

Companies Keep Slashing Employees' Benefits for the Worst Reasons Workers are getting worse health care, parental leave, and retirement benefits, showing once and for all that your job doesn't love you back. Employee benefits are in the spotlight this week, and that's because of three recent stories about US companies cutting back on non-wage compensations for workers. A Texas tech consulting firm with a forgettable name--TTEC--suddenly became a lot more memorable when it suspended its discretionary 401(k) match program for 16,000 employees through at least the end of 2026. According to Business Insider, which viewed an internal TTEC memo, the company plans to invest in AI certifications, AI tools and training, and automation, among other things. The auditing and consulting giant Deloitte is also reportedly slashing benefits for some workers starting next year.

Anxiety over AI replacing entire industries has already pushed people to change course in their classes and career. Anxiety over AI replacing entire industries has already pushed people to change course in their classes and career. Matthew Ramirez started at Western Governors University as a computer science major in 2025, drawn by the promise of a high-paying, flexible career as a programmer. But as headlines mounted about tech layoffs and AI's potential to replace entry-level coders, he began to question whether that path would actually lead to a job. When the 20-year-old interviewed for a datacenter technician role that June and never heard back, his doubts deepened.

'The search is soul-destroying': Young jobseekers on the struggle to find work Young people are bearing the brunt of the UK's weak labour market, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Some 16.1% of people aged 16 to 24 are not able to find work, compared to a national unemployment figure of 5.1%. That does not include young people who are out of work but not looking for a job, due to ill health or who are still studying. Businesses, particularly in sectors that traditionally gave young people their first jobs, like retail and hospitality, say higher costs are leading them to cut staff or not take on new hires, which often hits young workers the hardest. But graduate-level roles are also proving harder to land.

He Did PR for Zuckerberg, Musk, and Google. Now He Says He'Only Told Half the Story' Thirty thousand feet in the air, Mark Zuckerberg turned to his speechwriter. The duo were flying in Zuckerberg's jet to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where the Facebook boss was scheduled to address world leaders. Zuckerberg had a question for his companion. "Wait, what exactly is the UN?" Dex Hunter-Torricke had to hide his surprise. Zuckerberg was, by this point in 2015, the head of a company that was reshaping politics and societies around the world, with 1.5 billion users and counting.

As patients and employers look for alternatives to pricey GLP-1 drugs, Silicon Valley startup Twin Health is using AI and wearable sensors to help people make healthier choices. Rodney Buckley has lost 100 pounds in less than a year, not by using a GLP-1 drug but with the help of a digital twin. Last March, the 55-year-old retired firefighter turned village mayor of Third Lake, Illinois, was 376 pounds. He had tried different diets over the years and would typically lose some weight but eventually gain it back. When his wife's employer started offering a program from startup Twin Health, he thought he would give it a try.

We study the linear contextual bandit problem where an agent has to select one candidate from a pool and each candidate belongs to a sensitive group. In this setting,candidates' rewardsmaynotbedirectly comparable between groups,for example when the agent is an employer hiring candidates from different ethnic groups and some groups have a lower reward due to discriminatory bias and/or socialinjustice.

New York state has required companies to disclose if "technological innovation or automation" was the cause of job loss for nearly a year. Over 160 companies in New York state have filed notices of mass layoffs since last March. None--in a group that includes Amazon, Goldman Sachs, and other employers that are adopting AI tools --attributed their workforce cuts in those filings to "technological innovation or automation." That option was added 11 months ago to a required question on paperwork that businesses with 50 or more employees must file with the state to notify of sizable job losses. New York's Department of Labor told WIRED that, as of the end of January, no employer had marked tech as the reason for their workforce reduction.

The Corporation of London is calling on employers to re-skill female workers not currently in technical roles. The Corporation of London is calling on employers to re-skill female workers not currently in technical roles. 'Mid-career' females also being sidelined by rigid hiring processes, says City of London Corporation Women working in tech and financial services are at greater risk of losing their jobs to increased use of AI and automation than their male peers, according to a report that found experienced females were also being sidelined as a result of "rigid hiring processes". "Mid-career" women - with at least five years' experience - are being overlooked for digital roles in the tech and financial and professional services sectors, where they are traditionally underrepresented, according to the report by the City of London Corporation. The governing body that runs the capital's Square Mile found female applicants were discriminated against by rigid, and sometimes automated, screening of their CVs, which did not take into account career gaps related to caring for children or relatives, or only narrowly considered their professional experience.