Latest news with #ResumeNow
USA Today
17 hours ago
- Business
- USA Today
Jobs that don't need a college degree − and won't be replaced by AI
Jobs that don't need a college degree − and won't be replaced by AI Show Caption Hide Caption Gray collar jobs: Tips for making money without a college degree Dan Roccato, a professor at the University of San Diego, talks about the importance of gray collar jobs and how you can make money even without a college degree. Fox - 32 Chicago If you think most Americans finish college, think again. Going to college is an American rite of passage. But not everyone goes to college, and many students never make it to graduation. Among Americans ages 25 and over, only 38% are college graduates, according to the Education Data Initiative. A new report from the resume-writing service Resume Now identifies 13 careers that offer good pay and long-term stability and that don't require a college degree. Better still, none of the jobs are likely to be replaced by AI. The analysis 'focused on three or four fears that people have right now,' said Keith Spencer, a career expert at Resume Now. Americans worry about signs of a softening job market. They're concerned about the cost of college, and whether a degree is still worth it. And employees in many fields fear that AI – or robots, or other nonhuman hands – might sweep in to replace them. Despite the slow creep of automation, many fields still require the human touch. To build out this list, Resume Now found careers that require only a high school diploma, that pay at least $50,000 a year, and that represent growing fields with high-demand skills. The report draws on Bureau of Labor Statistics data. 'They sort of all have some similarities, in terms of the need for significant human interaction,' Spencer said. 'Maybe they require manual dexterity in unpredictable environments, or high levels of creativity.' The list comes in two parts: jobs with relatively low AI risk, and positions with 'moderate' AI risk, based on the need for human decision-making, manual labor, personal interactions and other factors. Some of the jobs listed below require 'a level of relevant experience,' Resume Now reports. But none, apparently, requires a college degree. Here's the list, including job descriptions for less familiar positions, and median salaries for all. Jobs with low AI risk According to Resume Now, these careers offer a good income and strong job security because they require skills that go well beyond the capabilities of AI. Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists Job description: Judge fire hazards, investigate wildfire causes and enact prevention strategies. Why they're AI-resistant: Fire prevention requires humans in the field and cannot be entirely automated. Median pay: $71,420 a year Flight attendants Why they're AI-resistant: AI can't serve meals. In-flight customer service requires a human touch. Median pay: $68,370 a year Lodging managers Job description: Think 'The White Lotus.' Oversee lodging operations, manage the staff and keep the guests happy. Why they're AI-resistant: AI can't unclog a guestroom toilet. You need people to provide the personal touch. Median pay: $65,360 a year Electricians Why they're AI-resistant: AI can't install your chandelier. Electrical work requires a human presence. Median pay: $61,590 a year Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters Job description: Plumbers install and service water and gas systems in homes and businesses. Why they're AI-resistant: Plumbing is unpredictable work. AI-controlled robots could handle some of it but not all. Median pay: $61,550 a year Industrial machinery mechanics Job description: Maintain mechanical systems in industrial workplaces. Why they're AI-resistant: AI would struggle with the real-time problem-solving demands of the work. Median pay: $61,170 a year Chefs and head cooks Why they're AI-resistant: AI can't taste the soup. Recipe development and food prep require a creative touch. Median pay: $58,920 a year Hearing aid specialists Job description: Work with hearing aids and provide patient care. Why they're AI-resistant: AI can't handle the hands-on requirements of the job. Median pay: $58,670 Personal service managers Job description: Oversee wellness programs, event planning or luxury concierge services. Why they're AI-resistant: The work requires personal interactions, emotional intelligence and decision-making that AI cannot handle. Median pay: $57,570 Jobs with moderate AI risk These careers involve tasks that eventually could be automated, Resume Now reports. But, for now, they still rely on human judgment and adaptability. Maintenance workers, machinery Job description: Close cousins to the industrial machinery mechanic, listed above, machinery maintenance workers perform routine upkeep on industrial machinery. Why they're AI-resistant: Complex repairs require real-time problem-solving by humans. Median pay: $61,170 a year Insurance sales agents Why they're AI-resistant: AI can handle some underwriting tasks, but this career requires personal service. Median pay: $59,080 a year Aircraft cargo handling supervisors Why they're AI-resistant: AI can handle some aircraft cargo tasks, but you need human supervisors to handle the unexpected. Median pay: $58,920 Security and fire alarm systems installers Why they're AI-resistant: Installing and troubleshooting security and fire systems requires humans. Median pay: $56,430 a year
Forbes
19 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
The ‘Ghostworking' Boom: 92% Of Workers Job Hunt On Company Time
It's the new workplace secret no one wants to admit. While bosses push for productivity and presence, a staggering 92% of workers are quietly job hunting on company time, according to a new survey from Resume Now. This hidden trend, dubbed 'ghostworking,' is reshaping office culture and revealing just how far employees will go to keep their options open in today's uncertain job market. LinkedIn's 2025 Work Change report backs this up. Nearly three in five professionals worldwide plan to job hunt this year, and many are doing it during work hours. With trust being tested on both sides, ghostworking is more than a fad. It's a wake-up call for employers and a survival tactic for millions of employees. So, what's fueling this surge in on-the-clock job searches? Here's what the latest research reveals. According to Asana's 2024 State of Work Innovation Report, 65% of workers admit they perform tasks just to appear busy. Workers who engage in this behavior, called productivity theater, are 13% more likely to experience burnout. Here's what's driving this trend: The primary driver appears to be a crisis of meaningful work. When employees lack clear expectations, purposeful tasks, or genuine engagement with their roles, they naturally seek alternatives. 'Our research consistently shows that when employees can't see how their work aligns with company goals, their efforts lose meaning,' shares Dr. Rebecca Hinds, Head of the Work Innovation Lab at Asana. The pressure to appear busy creates a toxic cycle where workers feel compelled to perform productivity theater instead of focusing on results. With layoffs making headlines across industries and job security feeling increasingly fragile, employees are hedging their bets. The mentality has shifted from loyalty-based career building to self-preservation. Workers are no longer waiting for pink slips to start exploring options. They're proactively positioning themselves for whatever comes next. Remote and hybrid work arrangements have blurred traditional boundaries between personal and professional time. This ambiguity creates opportunities for ghostworking that didn't exist in conventional office settings. Many employees report feeling undervalued, underpaid, or stuck in roles that don't align with their career aspirations. Ghostworking becomes an escape valve for frustration and a concrete step toward change. It's a way to regain some control in situations where workers feel powerless. The Resume Now survey uncovered a range of strategies that go beyond casual browsing during lunch breaks. The most brazen forms of ghostworking involve active job hunting during work hours: Beyond active job hunting, employees have developed elaborate strategies to appear busy: The energy and creativity invested in ghostworking could be redirected toward productive work if underlying workplace issues were addressed. While the ghostworking epidemic presents serious challenges for employers, it also offers valuable insights into workplace dysfunction. The most immediate implication is the massive waste of human resources. When most employees are job hunting on company time, organizations are paying for their workforce to plan their departures. This represents a misallocation of payroll dollars and a clear indication that employee engagement strategies are failing. Ghostworking creates an adversarial dynamic where managers feel compelled to monitor, and employees feel justified in deceiving. This cycle of suspicion undermines the collaborative relationships necessary for high-performance teams. When workers spend mental energy on appearing busy rather than being productive, everyone loses. Organizations that invest in employee development, training, and career advancement are effectively subsidizing their competitors' recruitment efforts. The return on investment for human capital development plummets when employees are actively seeking alternatives. The key to addressing ghostworking starts with understanding why employees disengage in the first place. Forward-thinking employers can use ghostworking data to identify deeper organizational problems: While monitoring might reduce ghostworking behaviors, it doesn't address the underlying causes driving employee disengagement. The ghostworking trend shows no signs of slowing down, and several factors suggest it may actually intensify: The ghostworking trend reflects broader shifts in how we perceive work relationships. The traditional model of employer-employee loyalty is breaking down, replaced by a more transactional dynamic in which workers prioritize their own growth and well-being. In this new reality, employees feel empowered to job hunt whenever opportunities arise. Rather than fighting this shift, smart organizations will adapt by creating environments where employees genuinely want to contribute, not because they have to but because they choose to engage rather than go through the motions.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What is ‘ghostworking'? Most employees say they regularly pretend to work
There's nothing spooky about ghostworking, apart from how popular it may be right now. The newly coined term describes a set of behaviors meant to create a facade of productivity at the office, like walking around carrying a notebook as a prop or typing random words just to generate the sound of a clacking keyboard. (Some might call this Costanza-ing, after Jason Alexander's example on a memorable episode of Seinfeld.) Spicy AI-generated TACO memes are taking over social media because 'Trump always chickens out' Lego's first book nook is an addictively interactive diorama Forget quiet quitting: I'm using 'loud living' to redefine workplace boundaries Pretending to be busy at the office is not something workers recently invented, of course, but it appears to be reaching critical mass. According to a new survey, more than half of all U.S. employees now admit to regularly ghostworking. That statistic doesn't necessarily mean, however, that the American workforce is mired in permanent purgatory. Conducted by top resume-building service Resume Now, the report is based on a survey of 1,127 U.S. workers this past February. The results show that 58% of employees admit to regularly pretending to work, while another 34% claim they merely do so from time to time. What might be most striking about the report's findings, though, are some of the elaborate methods workers use to perform productivity. Apparently, 15% of U.S. employees have faked a phone call for a supervisor's benefit, while 12% have scheduled fake meetings to pad out their calendars, and 22% have used their computer keyboards as pianos to make the music of office ambiance. As for what these employees are actually doing while pretending to crush deliverables, in many cases it's hunting for other jobs. The survey shows that 92% of employees have job searched in some way while on the clock, with 55% admitting they do so regularly. In fact, some of those fake calls employees have made while walking around the office may have been on the way to making real calls to recruiters, since 20% of those surveyed have taken such calls at work. While ghostworking may overlap in some ways with the quiet quitting trend that emerged in 2023, there's a clear distinction between them. It hinges on the definition of the word 'perform.' 'Someone who is quiet quitting has essentially checked out of their job mentally and is performing the bare minimum of work necessary,' says Keith Spencer, a career expert at Resume Now. 'They are flying under the radar and operating in a way that avoids any attention. Ghostworking, on the other hand, is a performance. It involves actively projecting an appearance of busyness without actually engaging in meaningful work.' If quiet quitting was a response to pandemic-era burnout and an abrupt surge in return-to-office mandates, ghostworking appears to be a response to, well, everything that has happened since. Even before the newly created DOGE began decimating some government and contractor offices around the country in late January, the waves of layoffs starting in 2023 have continued to gain momentum in the tech world and beyond. Unemployment is still fairly low at 4.2%, not counting those workers who are 'functionally unemployed,' but workers everywhere are worried about a recession. Meanwhile, the drive to incorporate AI into workflow at most companies has created a palpable sense of uncertainty around exactly how to perform jobs in the present, and whether those jobs will even exist in the future. It's no wonder a recent LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Survey found that U.S. workers' faith in their job security and ability to find new work has plummeted to its lowest level since April 2020, during the onset of the pandemic. Adding to this decline in morale and engagement is a recent decrease in clarity of expectations. According to a Gallup poll from January, just 46% of employees clearly know what's expected of them at work these days, down 10 points from a high of 56% in March 2020. Many workers now live with the tacit understanding that they will have to work harder than ever to avoid getting caught in an impending cull, but without quite being aligned with management on what that work entails. It's in this kind of office environment that ghostworking seems to thrive. 'The workforce is currently under immense pressure to appear productive, even when it's counterintuitive to actual productivity,' Spencer says. 'These behaviors point to a deeper disconnect between how productivity is perceived and how it's actually delivered. In many cases, the appearance of working has become just as important as the work itself.' The Resume Now survey indicates that 69% of employees believe they'd be more productive if their manager monitored their screen time. However, this invasive approach to task visibility seems destined to backfire. A 2023 report from analytics firm Visier found that employees faced with surveillance tools were 'more than twice (and in some cases three times) as likely to commit the most egregious performative behaviors, like keeping a laptop screen awake while not working, asking someone to do a task for them, and exaggerating when giving a status update.' Even if surveillance did prove effective against ghostworking, it would be an attack on its symptoms, rather than the root causes. The ongoing return-to-office resurgence has left many employees feeling like they're working inside of a fishbowl, right as other external factors have made their jobs more challenging and less stable. Some data shows that workers are just as productive while working from home as at the office, while other studies find workers are even more productive at home. Still, for some leaders, a full office humming with deskside chats that could possibly be brainstorming sessions is the only productivity metric that matters. Employees sensing a greater need to broadcast that they're getting work done than to actually do the work at hand suggests managers may be rewarding performative work. Whatever the solution to the ghostworking trend might be for any individual company, it will likely have to come from those managers shifting their thinking. As Spencer notes, 'when managers offer more trust, flexibility, and space to do meaningful work—instead of focusing on constant visibility—teams are more likely to stay engaged and actually deliver.' This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fast Company
28-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
What is ‘ghostworking'? Most employees say they regularly pretend to work
There's nothing spooky about ghostworking, apart from how popular it may be right now. The newly coined term describes a set of behaviors meant to create a façade of productivity at the office, like walking around carrying a notebook as a prop or typing random words just to generate the sound of a clacking keyboard. (Some might call this Costanza-ing, after Jason Alexander's example on a memorable episode of Seinfeld.) Pretending to be busy at the office is not something workers recently invented, of course, but it appears to be reaching critical mass. According to a new survey, more than half of all U.S. employees now admit to regularly ghostworking. That statistic doesn't necessarily mean, however, that the American workforce is mired in permanent purgatory. Conducted by top resume-building service Resume Now, the report is based on a survey of 1,127 U.S. workers this past February. The results show that 58% of employees admit to regularly pretending to work, while another 34% claim they merely do so from time to time. What might be most striking about the report's findings, though, are some of the elaborate methods workers use to perform productivity. Apparently, 15% of U.S. employees have faked a phone call for a supervisor's benefit, while 12% have scheduled fake meetings to pad out their calendars, and 22% have used their computer keyboards as pianos to make the music of office ambiance. As for what these employees are actually doing while pretending to crush deliverables, in many cases it's hunting for other jobs. The survey shows that 92% of employees have job-searched in some way while on the clock, with 55% admitting they do so regularly. In fact, some of those fake calls employees have made while walking around the office may have been on the way to making real calls to recruiters, since 20% of those surveyed have taken such calls at work. Subscribe to the Daily newsletter. Fast Company's trending stories delivered to you every day Privacy Policy | Fast Company Newsletters While ghostworking may overlap in some ways with the quiet quitting trend that emerged in 2023, there's a clear distinction between them. It hinges on the definition of the word 'perform.' 'Someone who is quiet quitting has essentially checked out of their job mentally and is performing the bare minimum of work necessary,' says Keith Spencer, a career expert at Resume Now. 'They are flying under the radar and operating in a way that avoids any attention. Ghostworking, on the other hand, is a performance. It involves actively projecting an appearance of busyness without actually engaging in meaningful work.' If quiet quitting was a response to pandemic-era burnout and an abrupt surge in return to office mandates, ghostworking appears to be a response to, well, everything that has happened since. Even before the newly created DOGE began decimating some government and contractor offices around the country in late-January, the waves of layoffs starting in 2023 have continued to gain momentum in the tech world and beyond. Unemployment is still fairly low at 4.2%, not counting those workers who are 'functionally unemployed,' but workers everywhere are worried about a recession. Meanwhile, the drive to incorporate AI into workflow at most companies has created a palpable sense of uncertainty around exactly how to perform jobs in the present, and whether those jobs will even exist in the future. It's no wonder a recent LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Survey found that U.S. workers' faith in their job security and ability to find new work has plummeted to its lowest level since April 2020, during the onset of the pandemic. Adding to this decline in morale and engagement is a recent decrease in clarity of expectations. According to a Gallup poll from January, just 46% of employees clearly know what's expected of them at work these days, down 10 points from a high of 56% in March 2020. Many workers now live with the tacit understanding that they will have to work harder than ever to avoid getting caught in an impending cull, but without quite being aligned with management on what that work entails. It's in this kind of office environment that ghostworking seems to thrive. 'The workforce is currently under immense pressure to appear productive, even when it's counterintuitive to actual productivity,' Spencer says. 'These behaviors point to a deeper disconnect between how productivity is perceived and how it's actually delivered. In many cases, the appearance of working has become just as important as the work itself.' advertisement The Resume Now survey indicates that 69% of employees believe they'd be more productive if their manager monitored their screen time. However, this invasive approach to task visibility seems destined to backfire. A 2023 report from analytics firm Visier found that employees faced with surveillance tools were 'more than twice (and in some cases three times) as likely to commit the most egregious performative behaviors, like keeping a laptop screen awake while not working, asking someone to do a task for them, and exaggerating when giving a status update.' Even if surveillance did prove effective against ghostworking, it would be an attack on its symptoms, rather than the root causes. The ongoing return to office resurgence has left many employees feeling like they're working inside of a fishbowl, right as other external factors have made their jobs more challenging and less stable. Some data shows that workers are just as productive while working from home as at the office, while other studies find workers are even more productive at home. Still, for some leaders, a full office humming with deskside chats that could possibly be brainstorming sessions is the only productivity metric that matters. Employees sensing a greater need to broadcast that they're getting work done than to actually do the work at hand suggests managers may be rewarding performative work. Whatever the solution to the ghostworking trend might be for any individual company, it will likely have to come from those managers shifting their thinking. As Spencer notes, 'When managers offer more trust, flexibility, and space to do meaningful work—instead of focusing on constant visibility—teams are more likely to stay engaged and actually deliver.'
Forbes
24-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Ghostworking: 92% Of Employees Job Search On Company Time
A new study reveals ghostworking is killing productivity and that a whopping 92% of employees say ... More they job hunt when they're on the clock. The trend of ghostworking—pretending to work while doing little to no meaningful work--isn't a new phenomenon. It has been a tactic for employees to react to demands imposed on them from management or the result of their desperation to prove they're working for fear of losing their jobs. It used to be called productivity theater or quiet quitting. Now, ghostworking has taken on a whole new dimension--not just fake working but job hunting when on the clock. Ghostworking is a sign of the growing mistrust and tug-of-war between employers and employees, as both sides display under-the-radar tactics. Since the pandemic, employers have been engaging in certain types of quiet maneuvering like 'quiet cutting' and employee surveillance to assuage the needs of business and stabilize their workforce. Employees, under pressure to perform and 'prove' they're working, have retaliated with quiet workaround tactics of their own such as mouse shuffling, 'coffee badging' and 'quiet vacationing.' A new study reveals that ghostworkers are adding insult to injury, not only pretending to work but job hunting on company time. Resume Now's latest Ghostworking Report indicates a growing productivity crisis of employees faking productivity and even job searching instead of working. The survey was conducted with 1,127 American workers on February 25, 2025. Participants were asked about their time-wasting habits, workplace distractions and the frequency of procrastination at work. As companies explore ways to prevent killers of productivity, researchers insist that data from this study suggests time-wasting is about the pressure to appear busy. Employees have developed creative strategies to maintain the illusion of productivity, even as many report wasting more time while working remotely than in the office. The findings reveal that 58% of workers admit they regularly pretend to work and 34% do so occasionally—often due to pressure to appear busy rather than actually being productive. The survey listed the common strategies employees use to create the illusion of productivity at work: The researchers explain that these behaviors are the result of a widespread disconnect between expectations and engagement. The study reveals that, when you think the divide couldn't get any worse, shocking numbers of employees confess that they job search when they're supposed to be working. Perhaps the most shocking survey findings are what ghostworkers are doing to kill time. A whopping 92% admit that they have job-searched during work hours, 55% have regularly searched for a new job while on the clock and 37% have occasionally searched for a new job during work hours. The most common bold job-hunting move is the 24% of ghostworkers who use company time to edit resumes. Another 23% confess to applying for jobs using work computers, 20% admit to taking recruiter calls from the office and 19% say they have sneaked out for an interview. Keith Spencer, career expert at Resume Now, sees ghostworking as a symptom of poor communication and burnout. 'Many employees feel pressure to appear busy rather than actually being productive,' he says. 'Rather than focusing on monitoring, companies should explore why employees feel the need to fake productivity and consider addressing underlying issues like unproductive meetings and communication gaps.' On the surface, the profile of all ghostworking looks the same. But it's important that employers exercise caution in judging employee motives without knowing the whole story. A deeper look unearths a variety of factors that can lead workers to check out and not measure up to their potential. Don't judge a book by its cover. The first step employers can take is to distinguish between ghostworkers who are dragging their feet and doing the bare minimum for the wrong reasons and an A-team worker who is engaged, doing the best but burning out. Or a disheartened employee, overlooked for a promotion, but has been committed to the company. It's important to heck in with employees on a regular basis in a non- threatening way and engage employees in a two-way conversation about their emotional state and individual goals that indicate you care and appreciate them. Give employees a seat at the table. Let them know you see and hear them. Connect with individual workers on a regular basis so they feel valued and appreciated. Open and honest conversations with staff about expectations can make employees feel like they have a vested interest in the company. Celebrate and acknowledge workers. Most surveys show that the number one quality employees want above all others is feeling valued and appreciated by their company. Create employee appreciation initiatives so team members feel celebrated and acknowledged for their hard work. Offering growth opportunities for advancement is the ticket to company loyalty. Workers want to know that their company values their development, wants to see them meet their full potential and is willing to support their training, mentoring and coaching. The Resume Now survey asked employees whether monitoring employee activity would increase productivity, and 69% answer they would be more productive if their employer monitored their screen time, 19% say monitoring would not change their work habits, 10% say they would just find other ways to take breaks and three percent say it wouldn't matter because they already stay focused. The larger, more significant view, however, is building employer-employee trust. It's a vicious dance. When employers micro-manage employees, ghostworking is a natural consequence, and when management is aware of ghostworkers, supervision is the result. Both reactions are productivity killers that fuel the cycle. Both sides can end the ghostworking cycle when they place value on productivity over mere visibility and grow a healthier, more productive and engaged workforce.
