Latest news with #DOGE-led
The Star
16-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
AI could steal many more jobs than previously thought. Here's why
If you ask ChatGPT if the technology behind it is stealing people's jobs, the response is telling: 'AI is changing the job market by automating certain tasks, which can reduce the need for some roles, especially repetitive or data-driven jobs,' it admits. Then it adds a positive spin that aligns with an idea AI hawks are promoting, noting that AI 'also creates new opportunities in tech, Al development, and industries adapting to new technologies.' While few reports say AI is actually creating new jobs, other, more critical reports suggest it's actually taking plenty of people's work away. New research from a leading human resources consulting firm suggests that the number of these lost jobs may be underreported. That means AI may already be replacing human workers at a much higher rate than anyone realises. Executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, based in Chicago, reports that research into AI job replacement found that only 75 actual job cuts in the first half of the year in the US were explicitly linked to AI, according to industry news site HRDive. The firm trawled through public data, including statements made by other companies, as well as government filings. It concluded that while tech-linked factors like automation did play a role in some 20,000 job cuts, a startlingly low total were directly attributed to AI replacing humans. 'We do see companies using the term 'technological update' more often than we have over the past decade,' Andy Challenger, a senior vice president at the firm, explained in an interview. He voiced his own suspicion that 'some of the AI job cuts that are likely happening are falling into that category,' without being directly blamed on AI. This might seem confusing, since the fact that many companies are adopting AI is public knowledge. Big names like Meta openly state that they are reducing the number of people in certain roles because the efficiencies or technical abilities of AI tools mean they can take on the duties of some employees, such as mid-level coders at Meta. Challenger suggested one reason for the low number of job reductions explicitly linked to AI adoption by businesses: It might be because certain firms simply 'don't want press on it,' he said. This notion might track for companies that are sensitive to their public image or that traditionally control the media narrative around their business carefully, like Apple. Challenger's report says that of the over 744,000 jobs cut in the US in the first six months of the year, cuts directly related to DOGE-led efforts took the biggest share, at nearly 287,000 people. 'Market and economic conditions' were the second-most-cited reason for workforce downsizing, responsible for over 154,000 job losses, the data show. Compared to these figures, the mere 75 roles directly lost to AI sounds all but unbelievable, lending support to Challenger's assertion that companies are hiding AI-related job cuts under other labels. Part of the issue here is that while some companies are making bold assertions about the quantity of work that AI is performing – Microsoft and Google's CEOs recently said AI is writing upwards of 30 percent of the code these companies rely on. Other tech leaders, such as Amazon's Andy Jassy, are warning, sometimes clumsily, that AI will lead to staffing cuts. The fact is, even AI experts don't know how much AI will impact existing jobs across the world economy. A lively spat between billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban and Dario Amodei, CEO of leading AI company Anthropic, over the risk AI presents to white-collar jobs provides a great example. In an interview, Amodei warned AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs inside the next five years. Cuban, no stranger to successful high-tech businesses, fired back on social media that 'Someone needs to remind the CEO that at one point there were more than 2m secretaries. There were also separate employees to do in-office dictation.' Cuban was referencing the workforce revolution that ubiquitous computer and smartphone tech has brought to the office. He concluded that 'New companies with new jobs will come from AI and increase TOTAL employment.' This confusion could also be why some companies may be hiding AI-related downsizing in other categories in their public statements: No company leader wants to look like they've made a big business mistake by jumping on the latest, buzziest bandwagon if it later proves to have been a bad idea. – Inc./Tribune News Service
Business Insider
16-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
A giant Elon Musk bust was spotted at a Utah national park with a sign calling out DOGE cuts
A giant Elon Musk bust appeared at Arches National Park in Utah over the weekend. The bust appeared aimed at DOGE-led cuts to the National Park Service. A spokesperson for Arches National Park said there has not been an increase in lines this year. A giant bust fit for a Big Tech museum appeared at Arches National Park in Utah over the weekend with a message aimed at the person it was molded after: Elon Musk. The piece was on a trailer that was being pulled by a white pickup truck, according to photos shared with Business Insider. The bust was enclosed in a frame lined with blue stars and also carried a sign fashioned after President Donald Trump 's signature style. Karen Henker, acting public affairs specialist for Arches National Park, confirmed to BI that the Musk bust was spotted in the park over the weekend. Nancy Charmichael, who spotted the head and shared the photos with BI, said it was probably around 10 to 12 feet tall and had a "self-satisfied smirk." Charmichael, who was visiting from Orlando, said she saw the bust a couple times while driving around the park and that she "appreciated it." She said she'd been concerned about recent cuts to the National Park Service. "It's unfortunate," she said. "But we were just there, they're still beautiful." It's unclear who was behind the piece, but it appeared to be in response to cuts made to the National Park Service that were fueled by the White House DOGE office. Musk was the face of government efficiency efforts before he stepped back from his White House work in May. Musk and the White House did not respond to requests for comment from BI. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, a park advocacy group, NPS has lost 24% of its permanent staff since January. "The park staff who remain are being asked to do more with less, and it's simply not sustainable," the group said in a statement this month. The recently passed spending bill, aka the " Big Beautiful Bill," also cut $267 million of funding that had been committed for national parks, which advocates say were already underfunded and understaffed as park visitation reaches all-time highs. Henker, the park spokesperson, said that "lines to get into Arches are very common and have been for years." Arches is among the national parks that have enacted a timed-entry reservation system, which limits how many visitors enter the park at certain times. Henker said there has not been an increase in lines at the park this year compared to prior years. Do you have a story to share about what it's been like at national parks this summer? Are you the person behind the Elon Musk bust? Contact this reporter at .
USA Today
10-07-2025
- Business
- USA Today
State Department tells staff planned layoffs to begin soon
President Donald Trump's administration plans to overhaul the U.S. diplomatic corps and cut jobs, an official said. WASHINGTON – The State Department will start sending notices to members of its workforce impacted by the reorganization soon, the agency's top official for management said on Thursday, as President Donald Trump's administration moves ahead with its plans to overhaul the U.S. diplomatic corps and cut jobs. "Soon, the Department will be communicating to individuals affected by the reduction in force," Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Michael Rigas said in an email to the workforce. "Once notifications have taken place, the Department will enter the final stage of its reorganization and focus its attention on delivering results-driven diplomacy," Rigas said. The move is the first step of a restructuring that Trump has sought to ensure U.S. foreign policy is aligned with his "America First" agenda. It will likely result in hundreds of job cuts, including members of the elite foreign service who advocate for U.S. interests in the face of growing assertiveness from adversaries such as China and Russia. More: Veterans Affairs Department scales back DOGE-led plan for over 76,000 layoffs No State Department official publicly said when the first notices for the planned layoffs would be sent, but the widespread expectation is for the terminations to start as soon as Friday. The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to pursue the job cuts and the sweeping downsizing of numerous agencies, a decision that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs while dramatically reshaping the federal bureaucracy. More: Top nuke officials admit staffing challenges after DOGE layoffs, hiring freeze Trump issued an executive order in February directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to revamp the foreign service to ensure that the Republican president's foreign policy is "faithfully" implemented. He has also repeatedly pledged to "clean out the deep state" by firing bureaucrats whom he deems disloyal. Neither Rigas nor any other State Department official specified how many people would be fired, but in its plans to Congress sent in May, the Department had proposed laying off nearly 1,900 employees of the 18,000 estimated domestic workforce. Another 1,575 were estimated to have taken deferred resignations. The plans to Congress did not specify how many of these people would be civil service and how many from the foreign service, but said that more than 300 of the department's 734 bureaus and offices will be streamlined, merged or eliminated. 'Too bureaucratic' to function Last week, more than 130 retired diplomats and other former senior U.S. officials issued an open letter criticizing the planned overhaul. One of the criticisms has been directed at the firing of potentially several hundred U.S. foreign service officers who typically are evaluated based on years of experience, knowledge of particular areas and regions in the world and language skills. The administration, as it vowed to bring back "merit", has dismantled many diversity and inclusion efforts. Most, if not all, of the DEI programs at the State Department have been rescinded. More: Judge says Donald Trump cannot downsize federal agencies without Congress U.S. officials said the criteria for the layoffs have been based on the functions of the bureaus that the agency sees are redundant and overlapping in responsibilities and not based on the personnel that occupy those roles. "The focus is on the org chart first. Functions of a more efficient, capable, fast and effective State Department," said a senior State Department official speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity. "When something is too large to operate, too bureaucratic, to actually function, and to deliver projects, or action, it has to change," Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a news briefing earlier. As part of the reorganization, the role of a top official for civilian security, democracy, and human rights will be eliminated, along with the offices that monitored war crimes and conflicts around the world, according to the congressional notification the Department sent to Congress. A new Senate-confirmed role of under secretary for foreign assistance and humanitarian affairs will oversee the new Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, which is to be reorganized to "ground the Department's values-based diplomacy in traditional Western conceptions of core freedoms" and headed by a deputy assistant secretary for "Democracy and Western Values." David Brunnstrom and Ismail Shakil, of Reuters, contributed.
USA Today
08-07-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Veterans Affairs Department scales back DOGE-led plan for over 76,000 layoffs
The Department of Veterans Affairs massively cut down its DOGE-led plan to lay off at least 76,000 people. WASHINGTON − The Department of Veterans Affairs has massively scaled back a DOGE-backed plan to sack more than 76,000 employees, saying it had "eliminated the need" for the huge workforce cut. A leaked memo from VA leadership obtained by USA TODAY and other outlets in March outlined a plan to shed more than 76,000 workers as part of the Trump administration's widespread efforts to reduce the federal workforce. The VA has now abandoned that goal, it said in a July 7 announcement. More: Despite DOGE, Pentagon escapes Donald Trump's budget cuts unscathed The Department is "on pace to reduce total VA staff by nearly 30,000 employees by the end of fiscal year 2025, eliminating the need for a large-scale reduction-in-force," it said. Nearly 17,000 VA employees left their jobs from the beginning of the year through June 1, and the department expects almost 12,000 more to leave by the end of September, according to the announcement. Under former presidential adivsor Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, tens of thousands of federal employees were purged from in widespread sackings and through a deferred resignation program, which offered federal workers a buyout to leave their jobs early. In July, President Donald Trump extended a government-wide hiring freeze until Oct. 15. The freeze, which he imposed by executive order in January, was set to expire on July 15. The VA said it "has multiple safeguards in place to ensure these staff reductions do not impact Veteran care or benefits." It has claimed throughout the DOGE-led cuts that "mission-critical" positions are exempted from the hiring freeze and layoffs. USA TODAY and other outlets reported in February that some responders on the Veterans Crisis Line, a hotline for veterans at risk of mental health crisis or suicide, were temporarily laid off – they were rehired following an uproar from Democratic lawmakers and labor unions. Still, widespread fires and rehires across the department sent morale among workers plunging and sparked fears of serious impacts to veterans hospitals that were already severely understaffed and crucial VA-funded research programs. 'A great start' Veterans Affairs Sec. Doug Collins told Fox News in a July 8 interview that VA leaders conducted a "very thoughtful, very careful study" of the department's structure before implementing layoffs and that 350,000 positions were "protected." "We've still got a little bit to go. We've got some other things that we want to do in the future. This is a great start," he added. Peter Kasperowicz, a department spokesperson, said "VA is not planning to make any other major changes to staffing levels beyond those outlined" in the July 7 announcement. Sen. Jerry Moran, the Republican chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a July 7 statement that he had spoken with Collins and "appreciate his efforts to make certain veterans are at the center of any changes at the VA." Democratic lawmakers stressed the workforce reduction would still amount to the loss of tens of thousands of VA workers which would have a devastating impact on veterans' healthcare. More: DOGE staffer nicknamed 'Big Balls' leaves White House cost-cutting staff 'This announcement makes clear VA is bleeding employees across the board at an unsustainable rate because of the toxic work environment created by this Administration and DOGE's slash and trash policies," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, the committee's top Democrat, said in a statement. "It is shameful, and it will continue to ruin veterans' trust in VA for years to come," he added. But some labor unions representing federal workers celebrated the announcement. 'Because AFGE members across the country raised our voices, built coalitions, and took action, that plan was stopped in its tracks," Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said in a statement. "This is a major victory for federal workers, for veterans, and for the American people."
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rubio Rejects Gates Plea To Reverse Musk's Foreign Aid Cuts
On June 6, 2025, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates made a discreet stop at the White House to press Secretary of State Marco Rubio to roll back steep reductions to foreign aid instituted by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The cuts—totaling $8–9 billion—hit hard at USAID programs focused on HIV, AIDS, malaria, and other critical health initiatives in Africa. The visit, first reported by veteran political journalist Tara Palmeri in her Red Letter newsletter, came just hours after former President Trump departed for Bedminster. Palmeri noted that Gates was seen entering the Eisenhower Executive Office Building around 4 p.m., reportedly in a last-ditch effort to capitalize on the Trump–Musk political rift, which had spilled into public view days earlier. 'With Musk on the outs, Gates clearly saw an opportunity to argue for the reversal of the DOGE cuts,' Palmeri reported. What did Rubio say? Despite the high-level ask, Rubio held the line. According to Palmeri's sources, Rubio told Gates plainly: 'The country is insolvent. We can't pay back our debts.' A senior State Department official confirmed the meeting and emphasized that Rubio sees no justification for restoring the aid programs Musk dismantled. 'The Secretary's position on making important and necessary cuts to foreign aid has not changed,' the official told the New York Post. 'He does not believe U.S. taxpayers should be burdened with covering the costs for progressive projects abroad, including funding contraceptives, electric buses, and DEI.' Rubio's view reflects the broader Trump-era stance that foreign aid should only fund 'true lifesaving programs' that align with direct U.S. interests. Why it matters now USAID—which once managed over $40 billion and employed more than 10,000 people—has undergone dramatic restructuring. On March 28, the State Department officially shuttered the agency following a court ruling upholding the DOGE-led cuts. As of June 10, Rubio ordered the termination of all remaining overseas USAID staff, fully consolidating aid efforts under State Department control. Humanitarian fallout An analysis from The Times of London estimated that the DOGE cuts could contribute to as many as 300,000 global deaths, with over 200,000 children potentially affected by disruptions to malaria, HIV, and maternal health programs. The figure, based on modeling by Boston University's Brook Nichols, has been widely circulated by global health advocates and activists. But the number remains highly disputed. In testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on May 21, Secretary of State Marco Rubio flatly rejected the claim: 'No one has died because of USAID [cuts],' he said, dismissing the figure as misleading and unsupported by evidence. Rubio and others in the administration argue that much of the spending eliminated had little to do with urgent, lifesaving care and was instead tied to ideological or bureaucratic programs that failed to serve core U.S. interests. Despite the warnings from aid groups, the administration contends that strategic reductions are both fiscally necessary and morally responsible in the context of record federal debt and public skepticism about global spending. What's next? Legal pushback: Multiple lawsuits are challenging the legality of DOGE's actions, including one from a coalition of NGOs and USAID staff arguing the agency's dismantling violates Congressional authority. Legislative efforts: Quiet efforts are underway in the Senate to reauthorize a scaled-down version of USAID's health division, possibly under new branding. Public pressure: Gates is expected to increase visibility around the issue, and has already hinted at launching a global campaign to restore bipartisan support for foreign aid. Bill Gates' private appeal to Secretary Rubio was a high-stakes intervention aimed at stopping what many global health leaders are calling a humanitarian disaster. But the Trump administration, bolstered by Musk's cost-cutting playbook and Rubio's ideological resolve, is signaling no intention to reverse course.
