This issue has a couple of links about AI and employment. On the one hand, even the most strident AI fans don’t think AI can realistically replace people. Still, senior executives admit they are planning for smaller workforces.
Welcome to this week’s collection of thought-provoking things. Each week, I’ll share information about careers and workplace culture, mental health in the workplace, talent development, and important information about privacy, security, and legal tech.
You can find out all about me here - Mike McBride Online.
Of course, we also have a lot of people feeling anxious about their future and others who’ve already hit poor mental health due to layoffs.
It’s getting pretty ugly for everyone, not just the younger employees.
Workplace stress is ruining the marriages of older employees, too.
If you’re a manager, understand what is happening and change it. No job is worth ruining your life and health over.
Careers and the Workplace
Linked - New data shows shortsighted companies will try to replace workers with AI.
Many people who make hiring and firing decisions don't think about AI as a tool for better work-life balance or increased productivity in their workforce. They are planning on replacing their workforce. These are likely the same ones who view layoffs as a strategy to tweak stock prices and see employees as numbers on a financial statement instead of human beings. Increasingly, they are being put in charge by shareholders who see employees similarly - a bothersome cost.
We should not be surprised that younger generations want to blow it all up.
Are Organizations "Quiet Quitting" DEI? Why Now Is Not the Time to Scale Back—I don’t know about the rest of the country, but there’s nothing quiet about it where I live in Louisiana.
We promote people to manager positions without knowing if they can manage. - The real reason why so many managers don’t know how to manage.
Training and Development
Linked - What’s the Business Impact of Customer Training?
There are many good reasons to provide product training to your customers, and the article below mentions many of them. You've probably read many of them. Decreased support tickets, customer loyalty, etc., are good reasons to offer training. In my experience, this is one of the biggest reasons. I've seen it repeatedly: a perfectly decent technology hated by the users inside of a customer because they were left to figure it out on their own and never did.
This is a collection of 60 short videos with tips for anyone who finds themselves facilitating learning sessions - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhKIeVLM8B9bBLb4OI5Hy9E1mIHCThlt7
I have been saying it for years - training is a skill:
Why Your Experts Aren’t Always Great at Teaching
Mental Health in the Workplace
We should be honest about the mental health impacts of layoffs.
Every person you lay off from your business is ten times more likely to try and take their own life.
I don't think senior executives think in those terms. I suspect many are thinking about juicing the bottom line, getting a little stock price bump, maybe making things more efficient, etc. I think large investors think about what is best for their stock values. That's why CEOs announce layoffs of 10% of the workforce and are rewarded with $100 million bonuses.
It’s essential to understand the impact workplace uncertainty can have on employees. - Fear of the unknown: are you more sensitive to uncertainty than others?
Related - Rising Use Of Artificial Intelligence Is Fueling Anxiety In Business.
Privacy, Security, and Legal Tech
We are revisiting the “modern attachments” topic.
The Two Dirty Words in eDiscovery Today
Cloud Attachments: Versions and Purview
There is so much unhappiness with outside law firms. - Law Firms on Notice: Adapt to In-House Counsel's Concerns in the Wake of Axiom's 2023 Findings. Or Else
Social engineering is still a thing - The Human Element in Cybersecurity: Understanding Trust and Social Engineering.
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