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Fears of artificial intelligence costing people their jobs are already proving to be true.
Or at the very least, CEOs are now admitting to the technology’s impact as AI-related layoffs ramp up, especially in the tech industry, reports Forbes’ Richard Nieva. Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman is just the latest to say out loud that AI is already a threat to all kinds of jobs—including his. In an April memo to his 1,200 employees, he wrote: “AI is coming for your jobs. Heck, it’s coming for my job too.”
“I hear the conversation around the office. I hear developers ask each other, ‘Guys, are we going to have a job in two years?’” Kaufman tells Forbes now. “I felt like this needed validation from me—that they aren’t imagining stuff.”
He joins the likes of Andy Jassy at Amazon, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and Shopify’s Tobi Lutke in admitting that AI will replace humans in white-collar jobs, some going as far as predicting a “white-collar bloodbath.”
The impacts are already being felt, particularly for young coders and entry-level workers. The total number of employed entry-level developers from ages 18 to 25 has dropped “slightly” since 2022, after the launch of ChatGPT, said Ruyu Chen, a postdoctoral fellow at the Digital Economy Lab of Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI.
But not everything can, or should, be automated just yet. Take the buy-now-pay-later firm Klarna, for example, which last year slashed its workforce by 40% in part to the company’s investments in AI. A year later, it launched a massive recruiting push for human customer service agents. “We have noticed that in a world where everything is automated,” Klarna spokesperson Clare Nordstrom told Forbes, “people put a premium on the human experience.”
Happy reading, and hope you have a lovely week!
WORK SMARTER
Practical insights and advice from Forbes staff and contributors to help you succeed in your job, accelerate your career and lead smarter.
Why mastering “systems-thinking” skills could protect your job from AI.
What to do when someone is hired above you.
Amid all the hype, here’s why you may not need an AI agent.
TOUCH BASE
News from the world of work.
Looking for lower costs, different lifestyles and less toxic politics, more Americans are considering retiring abroad. In its annual Best Places To Retire Abroad, list, Forbes ranked the 24 countries and 96 spots that could make the most sense for retirees looking outside the U.S.
Beloved office snacks might soon be a thing of the past, thanks to Congress. Despite luring workers back into the office with the promise of free food, employers will no longer be able to deduct the cost of the food they provide for their employees as part of President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. The only exceptions: restaurants and the Alaskan fishing industry.
One seemingly innocuous kiss cam at a Boston Coldplay concert has caused quite the workplace drama at tech startup Astronomer, pushing the company into the internet’s spotlight. Former CEO Andy Byron stepped down after being caught embracing chief people officer Kristin Cabot at the concert, while the company’s cofounder and chief product officer Pete DeJoy has stepped up as interim chief executive.
More than half of U.S. companies are looking to pare back on health benefits as weight loss spending soars, according to Reuters. Increased cost sharing means employers could raise deductibles or maximum out-of-pocket costs, or even look beyond traditional pharmacy benefit managers, which act as middlemen between patients and insurers.
NUMBER TO NOTE
9.3%
That’s how much of the WNBA’s league revenue is allocated to player salaries, significantly less than the 49% to 51% players in the NBA get. The significant salary disparity, which has star players like Caitlin Clark earning just $76,535 according to MarketWatch, has come to light after WNBA players wore a black shirt that read “Pay us what you owe us” during last weekend’s All-Star Game warm-ups.
VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2DYvvBPRx4
Could Tesla’s Board Oust Elon Musk?
QUIZ
What bank joined JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs in cracking down on junior bankers accepting early private equity job offers?
A. Bank of America
B. Barclays
C. Citi
D. Morgan Stanley
Check if you got it right here.