Latest news with #talent
SBS Australia
2 days ago
- General
- SBS Australia
Indra Ban: ‘An Accidental Migrant'
Subscribe to the SBS Nepali podcast here . Disclaimer: We would like to inform you that the opinions expressed in the segment are those of the talent himself.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
AI Talent Pipeline: How Nations Compete In The Global AI Race
The artificial intelligence revolution is often framed as a clash of algorithms and infrastructure, but its true battleground lies in the minds shaping it – the AI talent. While nations vie for technological supremacy, the real contest revolves around human capital-who educates, retains, and ethically deploys the brightest minds. This deeper struggle, unfolding across universities, immigration offices, and corporate labs, beneath the surface of flashy model releases and geopolitical posturing, will determine whether AI becomes a force for equitable progress or a catalyst for deeper global divides. China's educational machinery is producing graduates at an unprecedented scale. In 2024, approximately 11.79 million students graduated from Chinese universities, an increase of 210,000 from the previous year, with around 1.6 million specializing in engineering and technology in 2022. By comparison, the United States produces far fewer graduates (around 4.1 million overall in 2022), with only 112,000 graduating with computer and information science degrees. This numerical advantage is reshaping the global talent landscape. According to MacroPolo's Global AI Talent Tracker, China has expanded its domestic AI talent pool significantly, with the percentage of the world's top AI researchers originating from China (based on undergraduate degrees) rising from 29% in 2019 to 47% in 2022. However, the United States remains "the top destination for top-tier AI talent to work," hosting approximately 60% of top AI institutions. Despite this, America's approach to talent faces structural challenges. The H-1B visa cap, which limits skilled foreign workers, is 'set at 65,000 per fiscal year, with an additional 20,000 visas for those with advanced U.S. degrees'. This constraint affects the tech industry's ability to recruit globally. This self-imposed constraint forces companies like Google and Microsoft to establish research centers in Toronto and London – a technological offshoring driven not by cost but by talent access. Europe's predicament completes this global triangle of talent misallocation. The continent invests heavily in AI education – ETH Zurich and Oxford produce world-class specialists-only to watch a significant number board one-way flights to California, lured by higher salaries and cutting-edge projects. This exodus potentially creates a vicious cycle: fewer AI experts means fewer competitive startups, which means fewer reasons for graduates to stay – a continental brain drain that undermines Europe's digital sovereignty. As AI permeates daily life, a quieter conflict emerges: balancing innovation with ethical guardrails. Europe's GDPR has levied huge fines since 2018 for data misuse, such as the $1.3 billion imposed on Meta for transferring EU citizens' data to the US without adequate safeguards, while China's surveillance networks track citizens through 626 million CCTV cameras. U.S. giant Apple was recently fined $95 million amid claims they were spying on users over a decade-long period. These divergent approaches reflect fundamentally different visions for AI's role in society. 'AI is a tool, and its values are human values. That means we need to be responsible developers as well as governors of this technology-which requires a framework,' argues Fei-Fei Li, Stanford AI pioneer. Her call for ethical ecosystems contrasts sharply with China's state-driven model, where AI development aligns with national objectives like social stability and economic planning. The growing capabilities of AI raise significant questions about the future of work. Andrew Ng, co-founder of Google Brain, observes: 'AI software will be in direct competition with a lot of people for a lot of jobs.' McKinsey estimates that 30% of U.S. jobs could be automated by 2030, but impacts will vary wildly. According to the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, 'on average, workers can expect that two-fifths (39%) of their existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated over the 2025-2030 period.' The report goes on to state that, 'the fastest declining roles include various clerical roles, such as cashiers and ticket clerks, alongside administrative assistants and executive secretaries, printing workers, and accountants and auditors.' These changes are accelerated by AI and information processing technologies, as well as an increase in digital access for businesses. The panic that could be caused by these figures is palpable, but some are arguing that the real challenge isn't job loss – it's ensuring that displaced workers can transition to new roles. Countries investing in vocational AI training, like Germany's Industry 4.0 initiative, could potentially achieve smoother workforce transitions. By 2030, China could reverse its brain drain through initiatives like the Thousand Talents Plan, which has already repatriated over 8,000 scientists since 2008. If successful, this repatriation could supercharge domestic innovation while depriving Western labs of critical expertise. Europe's stringent AI Act may inadvertently cede ground to less regulated regions. Businesses could potentially start self-censoring AI projects to avoid EU compliance costs, with complexity, risk governance, data governance and talent listed as the 4 major challenges facing EU organisations in light of this Act, according to McKinsey. They went further to state that only 4% of their survey respondents thought that the requirements of the EU AI Act were even clear. This could create an innovation vacuum, pushing experimental AI development to jurisdictions with less stringent oversight. Breakthroughs in quantum computing could reshape talent flows. IBM's Condor and China's Jiuzhang 3.0 are vying to crack quantum supremacy, with the winner likely attracting a new wave of specialists. 'We need to make the world quantum-ready today by focusing on education and workforce development,' according to Alessandro Curioni, vice-president at IBM Research Europe. A recent WEF report on quantum technologies warns that, 'demand for experts is outpacing available talent and companies are struggling to recruit people in this increasingly competitive and strategic industry.' An IBM quantum data center dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images The focus on human talent suggests a more nuanced understanding of AI development – one that values creative problem-solving and ethical considerations alongside technical progress. "I think the future of global competition is, unambiguously, about creative talent," explains Vivienne Ming, executive chair and co-founder of Socos Labs. 'Everyone will have access to amazing AI. Your vendor on that will not be a huge differentiator. Your creative talent though-that will be who you are.' Similarly, Silvio Savarese, executive vice president and chief scientist at Salesforce AI Research, believes: 'AI is placing tools of unprecedented power, flexibility and even personalisation into everyone's hands, requiring little more than natural language to operate. They'll assist us in many parts of our lives, taking on the role of superpowered collaborators.' The employment landscape for AI talent faces complex challenges. In China, the record graduating class of 11.8 million students in 2024 confronts a difficult job market, with youth unemployment in urban areas at 18.8% in August, the highest for the year. These economic realities are forcing both countries to reconsider how they develop, attract, and retain AI talent. The competition isn't just about who can produce or attract the most talent – it's about who can create environments where that talent can thrive and innovate responsibly. The AI race transcends technical capabilities and infrastructure. While computing power, algorithms, and data remain important, human creativity, ethics, and talent ultimately determine how AI will shape our future. As nations compete for AI dominance, they must recognize that sustainable success requires nurturing not just technical expertise but also creative problem-solving and ethical judgment – skills that remain distinctly human even as AI capabilities expand. In this regard success isn't about which nation develops the smartest algorithms, but which creates environments where human AI talent can flourish alongside increasingly powerful AI systems. This human element may well be the deciding factor in who leads the next phase of the AI revolution.
Harvard Business Review
4 days ago
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
4 More Ways to Structure AI–Human Work
Yesterday, we shared three ways to begin structuring work for AI-human teams. Today, we're back with four more tips to help you build a scalable workforce strategy that treats agentic AI as a core part of the talent mix. Redesign your labor model. Blend full-time employees, freelancers, and AI agents into a unified strategy. Decide whether to build your own AI tools, lease them like temp staff, or outsource entire functions. Match your approach to the needs of the business—and develop new KPIs that reflect how digital labor actually works. Establish legal and ethical rules now. Draft company-wide AI policies with legal, compliance, and ethics teams. Define how data is used, how bias is addressed, and how systems remain accountable. Regulatory risk is rising—and early movers will adapt faster than those who delay. Continuously refine your human–AI mix. Don't treat AI deployment as a one-time event. Monitor performance, retrain models, and update strategies as needed—and as the technology evolves. Stay focused on people. AI should amplify—not replace—human strengths. Invest in training that boosts creativity, relationship skills, and ethical judgment. This is how you'll stay competitive and keep your best talent engaged.
Fast Company
5 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
How to go from ghosted to multiple offers in your job search
The last two years have been one of the toughest job markets I've seen in decades. This isn't like 2020 or 2021, where after the initial phase of the pandemic receded, jobs quickly reappeared. This one has been slow and unrelenting—market volatility causing uncertainty, and digital transformation of workplaces, and AI taking over jobs faster than you can read the headlines. These days, it feels like you're sending your resume into the abyss. Sound familiar? I see it every day as a recruiter and career coach: talented job-seekers submitting application after application into what feels like a black hole. Weeks turn into months. The silence is deafening. Each passing day without a response chips away at your confidence, your bank account, and your sense of professional identity. Luckily, through my work, I've also developed tried-and-true strategies for standing out no matter the market conditions. Here are three powerful steps to reinvigorate your job search. 1. Reclaim Your Value Whether you've just gotten laid off or have already been job searching for months, your self-esteem probably isn't the strongest. You may be feeling bitter, angry, and doubtful of your professional value. Being in that kind of mindset while trying to find a job won't allow you to show up as your best self. For example, I recently worked with a very successful leader who had steered a company over the last several years with enormous success, each year hitting higher and higher revenue targets and winning some of the most sought-after projects in the industry. As the economy shifted, those revenues took a hit—and he was let go because of a 'spreadsheet decision.' He was blindsided and stepped into his job search doubting himself. When working with job seekers who are struggling, we always start with a simple but powerful exercise: documenting significant achievements from their career. Not just responsibilities—actual metrics and results, problems solved, value delivered. I'll ask people to think about things they've done that they're really proud of. I make them dig deep to detail what they do really well, what gets them fired up, and ask them how their colleagues and clients would describe working with them. As they reconnect with their expertise, things they haven't thought of for a while, I see their faces light up and confidence starting to return. You can do this with a career coach, your partner, a best friend, even a colleague who knows you well—just ask them to take notes about what you're telling them to read back to you at the end. Working through these questions with my executive client helped remind him of the successes he was responsible for and the resilience he showed in a tough market. Those reminders allowed him to work through his disappointment, prepare for how he'd talk about the challenges when asked, and enter his job search with renewed confidence in what he had to offer. This isn't just about feeling better; it's about how you show up. When you remember your professional value, you communicate with clarity and conviction. Your entire energy changes, and people take notice. 2. Stop Trying to Be Everything to Everyone When desperation sets in, the instinct is to cast a bigger net. The thinking is, by applying to more jobs, you'll have better odds of landing something. This approach feels logical, but produces the opposite of what you hope for. Sure, you'll be busy applying to things, but because you're not the expert, you likely won't get responses, so all that busy work will lead to frustration and burnout. I recently worked with a client who was going on two years of being out of work. The longer his job search went on, the more he began applying to a broader set of roles, thinking it would increase his chances of landing something. Here's the counterintuitive truth: The more you narrow your focus and lean into your specific expertise, the more responses you'll receive. When I tell people this, their initial response is anxiety; they don't want to limit their options. But when you stop trying to appeal to everyone and boldly claim your niche, everything changes. Applications that once disappeared suddenly generate responses. Interviews that went nowhere convert to eager follow-ups. When you're interviewing for a role where you are the expert, that's the interview you're going to ace. When I work with clients to understand how they're speaking about themselves, we dig deep into what truly distinguishes them. We return to some of those questions from above that uncover their unique approach and what motivates and energizes them. Then we look at the roles they're applying to and narrow their focus to roles and companies where their specific and unique expertise is sought after. We look at their job application materials and see if they're making statements that many others could equally say and ensure that we get quite specific. When I read their new narrative back to them, all of it in their own words, many remark that they got chills—they're finally hearing their professional value articulated in a way that feels authentically powerful and totally unique. When I reminded my client of his incredibly niche expertise—skills that very few people possess—and focused all his job-seeking efforts on companies who could benefit from him, things immediately began to shift. Within one day, he landed an interview. Two days later, he was meeting the leadership team. Companies want to hire the expert. Show them that it's you. 3. Show That You're The Solution They're Looking For The interview is your last chance to not just show why you're great, but show why you're exactly the solution an employer has been looking for. I've seen so many clients underperform in interviews because they're not giving themselves enough credit. But a few simple shifts can transform that: Think offense, not defense. The minute you start justifying why you're right for the role, you've already lost it. Interviewers can feel defensiveness. Own the narrative before that happens by confidently articulating how your experience directly addresses the role's most critical requirements before doubts can surface. Use high-impact storytelling. Give specific examples demonstrating how your experience solves exactly what they need. When you paint these pictures vividly, you allow the interviewer to truly see how effective you will be on day-one. Rehearse your stories before your interview so they are memorable. Embrace transparent confidence. Nothing undermines trust faster than pretending to know everything. When you confidently acknowledge what you know and don't know, you establish genuine credibility. If they really like you and you satisfy most requirements, chances are they can evolve the role around you and fill in the gaps. Take your time. Less is often more. Really listen to what they are asking you, pause, and take a moment to reflect so you can give a considered response. If it's a really tough question, you can even tell the interviewer you'd like a moment to think through your response. It buys you a few seconds to really compose a well-thought out answer and it never fails to impress an interviewer. They'll remember the great answers and they often remark how much they enjoyed how reflective you were in wanting to answer it well. Simple Job Application Changes, Profound Results The strategies I've shared may seem straightforward, or even obvious. But when implemented with consistency and conviction, they transform job searches from no traction to multiple interviews and competing job offers. These strategies work not because they're complicated, but because they align with a fundamental truth: Employers aren't looking for generic candidates; they're looking for the expert to solve their problem, now. When you reconnect with your expertise, focus your efforts, and communicate your value with clarity and confidence, you become that solution. You transform from just another resume in the pile to exactly what they've been searching for.
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
The Platform Imperative: Why Every Staffing Company Needs An Operating System
We've spent the last decade talking about the future of work. It's no longer a conversation about what might happen. It's happening now. The $650 billion staffing industry is shifting beneath our feet, and the clearest signal is this: traditional staffing companies are starting to look more like tech platforms. The legacy infrastructure, built around manual workflows and rigid applicant tracking systems, wasn't designed for today's pace or scale. Rising expectations, tighter margins, and global talent shortages have exposed the limits of these systems. What's replacing them isn't just more software. It's a new operating model. At the center of that model are AI-powered platforms that don't just digitize processes but reimagine how work flows from end to end. One company trying to address this shift is Graphite, which recently launched GraphiteOS, an operating system for staffing firms and gig platforms. The idea is to treat recruiting not as a series of siloed handoffs, but as an orchestrated environment where human insight and machine intelligence work together. GraphiteOS spans sourcing, matching, onboarding, and back-office management. Rather than removing recruiters from the process, it aims to automate the repetitive tasks so recruiters can focus on judgment, trust, and relationships. While it's still early, some GraphiteOS clients report faster placements and improved match quality. These are encouraging signs, not proof points, but they reflect a broader movement. Staffing companies aren't just layering AI on top of their workflows; they're rethinking the workflows entirely. Bullhorn offers another perspective. A long-standing player in staffing tech, it has been trying to evolve its platform to support more connected, automated experiences. Its Bullhorn One suite now supports functions across the talent lifecycle, from client management to invoicing. What's notable isn't just the technology, but the shift in philosophy. Bullhorn isn't treating AI as a bolt-on. It's becoming central to how the platform is designed and deployed. Then there's which offers a white-label platform that helps staffing firms build their own branded marketplaces. Its tools automate shift scheduling, onboarding, and billing. The AI component predicts candidate availability and potential no-shows, helping firms stay ahead of disruptions. This approach is especially relevant for on-demand staffing, where reliability is everything. Each of these companies represents a different response to the same problem. The traditional staffing playbook doesn't scale anymore. What's replacing it isn't one-size-fits-all, but it is universally platform-driven. Some are focused on infrastructure, others on governance or market reach. They all are betting that adaptive, AI-integrated systems will become the new baseline. If that sounds familiar, it should. The staffing industry is going through what marketing went through a decade ago. Back then, CMOs moved from managing campaigns to owning revenue, supported by platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot. Now it's HR and staffing's turn. Leaders who embrace platform thinking will shift from reactive hiring to building fluid, skills-based ecosystems. Integrating full-time employees, freelancers, and AI agents into unified teams. It means matching people to work based on skills and availability, not just job titles and resumes. What's emerging isn't just a technology stack. It's a new architecture for work. Platforms like GraphiteOS, Bullhorn, and Wolf show different paths, but the direction is clear. The future of staffing will be built on systems that support scale, intelligence, and adaptability. Companies that treat AI as a side project will struggle. The ones that reimagine their foundations will move faster and operate with more precision. This is the platform imperative. And it's not in the distance. It's already here.
