Category: Business Trends

Business trends discusses the implications of economics, employment, mergers, acquisitions, and regulatory changes on talent, leadership, recruitment, and human resources issues.

Are You Ready For This New Go-Go Economy?

The American economy has transformed itself. Covid-19 was first identified in January of 2020, four years ago. And despite the peak unemployment of 14.7% in Spring of that year, the US economy is now booming. Here’s the evidence:

Bloomberg reports that 80% of the S&P 500 Index companies reported earnings above plan, exceeding the ten ... Read more»

Why Do Companies Hire Too Many People?

This week we witnessed one of the most amazing business stories in years. Meta announced a 22% reduction in headcount coupled with a 25% increase in revenue, resulting in a net income of $14 Billion, up 203% from the year before. This means Meta, a $160+ billion company, is generating 35% net profit after ... Read more»

HR Predictions for 2024: The Global Search For Productivity

For the last two decades I’ve written about HR predictions, but this year is different. I see a year of shattering paradigms, changing every role in business. Not only will AI change every company and every job, but companies will embark on a relentless search for productivity.

Think about where we have been. Following ... Read more»

AI Implementations Feel More Like Traditional IT Projects Every Day

As we learn more and more about corporate implementations of AI, I’m struck by how they feel more like traditional IT projects every day.

Yes, Generative AI systems have many special characteristics: they’re intelligent, we need to train them, and they have radical and transformational impact on users. And the back-end processing is expensive.

But ... Read more»

Four-day work week

The Four-Day Work Week: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

We just completed a large study of the 4-day work week and the results are clear. Under the right conditions it really works. And the results are very positive: improvements in employee health and wellbeing, increases in productivity, and overall improvement in revenue, profit, and customer service.

Wait a minute. Are you actually saying that ... Read more»

Introducing Galileoâ„¢, The World’s First AI-Powered Expert Assistant For HR

As many of you know, HR professionals play a vital, complex, and constantly changing role in business. These 30 million professionals hold more than 250 job roles and leverage over 400 skills to help companies with all aspects of management: recruiting, development, leadership, coaching, diversity, pay, benefits, hybrid work, and more. And they must also ... Read more»

Womens Rugby Dynamic Organization

Why Are Some Companies More Dynamic Than Others?

Every day we read about an iconic company that’s falling behind. This year it’s Disney, Nike, and Nokia, but over the years we’ve seen hundreds of innovators fail to adapt to change. I remember when Digital Equipment eclipsed IBM, only later to fall into disrepair and be acquired by Compaq, who was then acquired by ... Read more»

Labor shortages are here

Why We Are Entering A Secular Labor Shortage

There are lots of economists waiting for the labor market to “cool,” enabling unemployment to rise and inflation to slow. Yet despite these projections, unemployment remains at a 45 year low and it’s still hard to hire. Why the change? Our research clearly shows that we’ve entered a whole new economy, one that makes labor ... Read more»

Welcome To The Post-Industrial Economy: AI Is Here To Save Us

This week we published my keynote speech from Irresistible 2023, and I encourage you to watch it. Here’s the story in brief, and I’ll be talking a lot more about this at the HR Technology Conference and Unleash 2023 conferences in October.

 

The Post-Industrial Economy

Business leaders are confronting a world of opportunity ... Read more»

Perceptyx acquires humu

Perceptyx Acquires Humu: HR Tech Is Harder Than It Seems

I’ve been an analyst covering HR Technology for more than twenty years and there’s one big thing I’ve learned: it’s a tough market for entrepreneurs. While it looks like a massive and easy-to-understand space, the competition is brutal and HR professionals are very pragmatic buyers. So when companies with new ideas like Humu come along, ... Read more»

Adapting To AI: The New World Of Organizational Ingenuity

As we all begin to understand the role of AI in our companies, a new era has emerged. The era of what I call the “Super-worker” – where each individual in the company has “superhuman” powers they’ve never experienced before.

Yes, thanks to AI we all have access to information, insights, education, and perspectives we ... Read more»

The Rise Of The Copilots: Microsoft Steps Up The Pace

This week Microsoft unleashed a massive array of product announcements (50 in total) around the use of Copilots throughout our daily lives. And while we all may understand the idea, now these tools are real. And it’s clear to me that Microsoft has gotten their groove and is executing quickly with a laser focus.

While ... Read more»

Why Is The World Afraid Of AI? The Fears Are Unfounded, And Here’s Why.

This week we saw another flurry of panic about AI. Elon Musk and a number of senior researchers wrote a letter asking the world to “slow down” for six months before advancing GPT4 (published by The Future of Life Institute). Goldman Sachs published a note that claims 300 million jobs will be affected by ... Read more»