This week, we’re covering:
Workforce and Labor Trends, By the Numbers
AI Workforce Effects Are Beginning to Show and Tops List of Fastest-Growing Skills
Connecting Learners and Employers Requires More Than Just Good Technology. It Needs Real Leadership.
Partnerships, Investments, and Company Innovation
What We’re Reading (And Listening To)
Workforce and Labor Trends, By the Numbers
Global IT spending is expected to reach $6.31 trillion, up 13.5% from 2025, with some tech leaders claiming that spending on AI has grown beyond the cost of employees.
69% of companies report using AI in their talent acquisition strategy, with candidate screening and communication being the most common use cases.
The professional and business services sector led in hirings and firings in March, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, with job openings declining by 318,000 and layoffs of 527,000 workers.
53% of employers are struggling to find AI-ready graduates, according to new research from Pearson and AWS Global.
AI Workforce Effects Are Beginning to Show and Tops List of Fastest-Growing Skills
According to a new report from Stanford’s Institute for Human-centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), organizational AI adoption has reached 88%, and the workforce effects are beginning to show up in the data. Entry-level software developer positions for workers aged 22-25 are down nearly 20% since 2024, making it the first white-collar job category to show measurable contraction attributable to AI. One in three surveyed organizations expect AI to reduce their workforce in the coming year, while AI and big data now top the list of fastest-growing skills globally.
Connecting Learners and Employers Requires More Than Just Good Technology. It Needs Real Leadership.
Prompted by recent federal and state initiatives, states are racing to stand up talent marketplaces—state-specific digital platforms that match workers with employment opportunities based on their skills and credentials. According to Arkansas’ Chief Data Officer Robert McGough and Nathaniel Rankin, director of the Alabama Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Statistics, states must look at more than the technologies behind talent marketplaces and focus on governance. Early models like Arkansas LAUNCH and Alabama's Talent Triad—both built in partnership with the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN)—have proven that governance-first design can deliver measurable outcomes at scale, with Alabama recording nearly 272,000 completed and validated credentials since 2020.
Partnerships, Investments, and Company Innovation
Lowe's Foundation announced a $250 million commitment to train 250,000 tradespeople by 2035 through its Gable Grants program, with nearly $53 million already invested in 65 nonprofits and community colleges nationwide. The pledge reflects the company’s claim that skilled trades are increasingly the anti-AI hedge in workforce strategy.
ServiceNow announced a major expansion into AI specialists that complete entire business processes end-to-end across IT, HR, finance, legal, and procurement, without human intervention, alongside expanded partnerships with Microsoft and Nvidia.
BlackRock announced a $30 million philanthropic investment in Texas through its Future Builders initiative—the first grant from a broader $100 million national commitment—with the goal of training more than 12,000 Texans for electrical careers over three years. The announcement, timed to National Skilled Trades Day, signals how major financial institutions are connecting AI infrastructure demand to workforce development strategy.
What We’re Reading (And Listening To)
This Is a Hard Time to Start a Career. These Two Words Can Help. [The New York Times, subscription model]
Achieve Partners Bets on Apprenticeships to Uplift Careers—and Investment Returns [Wall Street Journal Pro Private Equity, subscription model]
Graduates Reset Ambitions in Pursuit of First Jobs [The New York Times, subscription model]
The Apprentice President: Missing on Apprenticeships [RealClear Education]
How to Avoid "Skillfishing" Traps [HR Dive]
Upskilling to Bridge the Skills Gap [HR Morning]
The Jobs Most Exposed to AI, According to Microsoft Researchers [Fortune, subscription model]
The Workforce Solution Employers Keep Overlooking [HCA Magazine]
New Microsoft study: Leaders, not workers, are responsible for successful AI integration [Fast Company, subscription model]
This edition of “New Skills, Talent and Development” was drafted by Zoe Almeida and Annie Han and edited by Julia Pasette-Seamon and Erica Price Burns.