Latest news with #CSEA
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Employers Are Still Eager To Hire MBAs, GMAC Finds — Especially Those With AI Skills
As fears of recession, inflation, and global uncertainty grow, employers are sending a clear message to business school graduates: you're still in demand — especially if you can harness AI. That's the takeaway from the Graduate Management Admission Council's 2025 Corporate Recruiters Survey, released today (July 1): Employers across sectors and regions continue to place high value on graduate business degrees, particularly the MBA — but while problem-solving and strategic thinking are still cited as top skills in the workforce, familiarity with AI tools now ranks as the single most important skill for the future. 'As AI becomes more integral in a company's decision-making and strategy development,' GMAC CEO Joy Jones says, 'employers continue to turn to business school graduates for their versatility and strategic thinking, along with growing appreciation for their ability to innovate and navigate the challenges and opportunities of technological disruption.' Source: GMAC GMAC's 2025 report is based on the responses of 1,108 corporate recruiters and hiring managers from staffing firms in 46 countries, 64% of which are Fortune 500 companies. Responses were collected between January and March 2025 with the help of GMAC's survey partners European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and Career Services and Employer Alliance (CSEA). The results show continued hiring momentum from last year's survey, which itself showed a rebound in MBA hiring intentions after a cautious period in the wake of coronavirus-sparked global macroeconomic instability. In 2024, 92% of corporate recruiters said they planned to hire MBA graduates — up from 86% the year prior — and this year's data signals that demand has not only held steady but sharpened in focus. Now, employers are seeking not just business acumen but AI fluency, as artificial intelligence reshapes functions from operations to marketing and strategic planning. In fact, knowledge of AI tools saw one of the steepest year-over-year gains in perceived importance — topping the list of skills employers say they'll value most five years from now. Source: GMAC Joy Jones, CEO of the Graduate Management Admission Council: 'Business schools' intentional cultivation of relevant skills in their students helps them stand out as valuable contributors and future leaders in the ever-evolving business world' GMAC's data show that while demand for AI and technology skills continues to grow, employers are not simply looking for coders or tool users — they want strategic thinkers who can apply these technologies to real business problems. Among global recruiters who indicated that AI knowledge is important in hiring graduate business talent, the majority say they value candidates who can leverage AI tools for business strategy and decision-making, not just those who can operate the tools. In fact, there's a slight uptick in interest in ethical AI usage compared to last year, suggesting that business leaders are becoming more attuned to the societal and organizational implications of deploying AI systems. The ability to use generative AI responsibly and transparently is beginning to show up alongside more traditional tech skills. Among recruiters who prioritized technology skills in general, cloud-based platforms like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform ranked highest, while data visualization and statistical analysis tools — such as SAS, SPSS, or Stata — also earned strong support. This reflects a broader expectation: GME graduates should not only be comfortable with modern enterprise systems but also capable of interpreting data and turning it into actionable insights. Yet even as AI and tech fluency rise in importance, communication remains king. Among the 51% of employers who said communication skills are critical when hiring GME graduates, verbal communication skills topped the list. Presentation and conflict resolution abilities followed closely, while video conferencing skills — heavily emphasized during the pandemic — have declined in perceived value. Source: GMAC Nearly 99% of global employers say they are confident in B-schools' ability to prepare graduates for success in their organizations. And close to two-thirds believe that business education is more important than ever, especially as companies adopt emerging technologies at scale. 'Business schools' intentional cultivation of relevant skills in their students helps them stand out as valuable contributors and future leaders in the ever-evolving business world,' Joy Jones says. Christine Murray, associate dean at Georgetown McDonough, echoes Jones' sentiment: 'Business school graduates — with degrees or credentials earned in-person or remotely — should feel empowered that their employability continues to outperform those without an advanced management degree, especially when they can underscore how they are skilled in strategic thinking, problem-solving, and communications alongside technological savvy.' Source: GMAC MBA hiring continues to be a priority. Three of four global employers plan to hire the same or more MBAs in 2025 compared to 2024, and 90% report plans to hire candidates with MBA degrees — surpassing both bachelor's graduates and external hires. This closely mirrors the hiring optimism reported in 2024, when more than 9 in 10 recruiters anticipated strong MBA demand. Together, the last two surveys point to a post-pandemic stabilization of the MBA hiring market, now more influenced by emerging skills — especially in AI — than by Covid-era volatility. Source: GMAC The report also offers insight into how employers perceive today's newest graduate business hires — the so-called Generation Z. About 61% of recruiters say Gen Z MBAs demonstrate the same level of professionalism as previous generations, suggesting that many employers are broadly satisfied with the workplace readiness of recent graduates. However, that still leaves a sizable minority with reservations. Recruiters in consulting and healthcare/pharmaceutical sectors, where interpersonal communication and client-facing skills are critical, were more likely to express concerns. Some flagged issues related to professional appearance, reliability, and respectfulness, indicating that while Gen Z grads bring strong technical and analytical skills, they may need additional support or coaching when stepping into high-stakes external-facing roles. Source: GMAC The technology sector continues to lead the way in embracing flexible work models and evolving educational formats. More than half (55%) of tech employers report that the skills gained through a business degree are even more valuable when applied in hybrid or remote work environments where self-direction, digital collaboration, and cross-functional agility are essential. In addition, 57% of tech recruiters say they place equal value on graduates of online or hybrid programs compared to those who completed their studies fully in person. This marks a notable shift in employer perceptions, signaling growing acceptance of nontraditional learning pathways — particularly in sectors where digital fluency and performance often matter more than physical presence. Overall, 'The 2025 Corporate Recruiters Survey reaffirms employers' trust in management education's ability to develop leaders who can navigate complexity and drive innovation,' Joy Jones writes in the introduction to the 2025 report. 'As AI reshapes work and hybrid workplaces become more common, this confidence reflects graduates' ability to adapt and lead through uncertainty, signaling that business schools remain essential partners in developing the skillsets and mindsets organizations need. With this strong foundation of trust, employers, business schools, and their graduates can thrive through the transformational changes ahead.' Read GMAC's 2025 Corporate Recruiters Survey here. DON'T MISS STRONG MBA HIRING FORECAST IN NEW GMAC SURVEY OF RECRUITERS (2024) and HOW THE MBA CLASS OF 2025 CAN THRIVE IN TODAY'S UNCERTAIN JOB MARKET The post Employers Are Still Eager To Hire MBAs, GMAC Finds — Especially Those With AI Skills appeared first on Poets&Quants. 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
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Children could be banned from social media for LIFE 'if they share classmates nudes'
Children could face a lifetime ban from social media if they share classmates' nudes, under new proposals. Ofcom is urging online platforms to block these classroom cyberbullies from using their sites ever again. Tech companies will be told to cover all bases to ensure offenders cannot re-register using a different name, by using identity verification systems and internet address tracking. The rules are also likely to apply to school kids who share nude images on group chats. More than half of 13 to 15-year-old children who have sent nude pictures of themselves online have had the images distributed to unintended recipients, according to Snapchat. The regulator said those who 'share, generate, or upload CSEA (child sexual exploitation and abuse) content… should be banned from the service and prevented from returning', the Telegraph reports. Ofcom admitted that it was a 'particularly difficult issue' to establish whether children should come under such online rules, including young people who were coerced into sending pictures of themselves. The intention is neither to penalise grooming victims nor those in consensual relationship, the body insisted, but images distributed to a wider group 'can have a significant impact on victims'. The body has considered more lenient options including banning children on a case-by-case basis or introducing an appeals process, but it fears taking an easier position against younger people would encourage adults to pretend to be children in a bid to escape punishment. Sharing or receiving sexual images of children is already against the law but children are not normally prosecuted for the crime if they are a victim or it is seen as non-abusive. The new rules would also apply to images produced by artificial intelligence. Some sites have existing zero tolerance policies for those who distribute such pictures but the new plans will enforce these in law. Tech giants with more than one service, including Meta which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, would be required to ban people who break new rules from all of their platforms. The policy is part of a wider aim to protect children online and prevent illegal content going viral. The Internet Watch Foundation, Britain's child abuse imagery hotline, reported receiving an alert every 74 seconds in 2024 - a rise of eight per cent compared with the previous year. In June it was reported that ministers are considering proposals to hand children a social media curfew under measures to improve online safety. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle indicated he was considering an 'app cap' to restrict how much time youths spend on their phones. The cap would limit access to apps to two hours a day, outside of school time and before 10pm. It came as Mr Kyle came under fire from the father of a teen who took her own life after viewing harmful content warned 'sticking plasters' will not be enough to strengthen online safety measures. The Online Safety Act has passed into law, and from this year will require tech platforms to follow new Ofcom-issued codes of practice to keep users safe online, particularly children. But Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly died in 2017, said it was not tough enough and urged the Prime Minister to 'act decisively' in toughening legislation to protect young people online. Mr Russell, who is chairman of the Molly Rose Foundation set up in his daughter's memory, said: 'Every day the Government has delayed bringing in tougher online safety laws we've seen more young lives lost and damaged because of weak regulation and inaction by big tech. 'Parents up and down the country would be delighted to see the Prime Minister act decisively to quell the tsunami of harm children face online, but sticking plasters will not do the job. 'Only a stronger and more effective Online Safety Act will finally change the dial on fundamentally unsafe products and business models that prioritise engagement over safety.' Hefty fines and site blockages are among the penalties for those caught breaking the rules, but many critics have argued the approach gives tech firms too much scope to regulate themselves.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Telegraph
Children face lifetime social media bans for sharing classmates' nudes
Schoolchildren face lifetime social media bans for sharing nude images of their classmates under online safety proposals from Ofcom. The regulator is proposing that tech giants enforce permanent bans on users who share illegal images of underage nudity as part of plans to keep children safe. The crackdown may extend to children who share the images among friends on group chats, meaning classroom cyber bullies could be permanently blocked from social networks. Platforms will be required to take steps to ensure users cannot simply sign up under a new name, such as tracking their internet address or verifying their identity. Ofcom announced on Monday that it would consult on a range of new measures to protect children online and clamp down on illegal content going viral. It said those who 'share, generate, or upload CSEA (child sexual exploitation and abuse) content … should be banned from the service and prevented from returning'. The watchdog said there was a 'particularly difficult issue' in deciding whether to enforce this against children, including those who are coerced into sending images of themselves and children who receive an image but then share it with friends. Ofcom said that while it did not want to penalise children who were victims of grooming or were in consensual relationships, images being shared more widely 'can have a significant impact on victims'. Sharing and receiving child sexual imagery is a criminal offence but children are typically not prosecuted for it when they are the victim or if it is considered non-abusive. More than half of 13 to 15-year-olds who have sent nude images of themselves have had the pictures spread beyond the intended recipient, according to Snapchat. Ofcom is considering options such as an appeals process or banning children on a case-by-base basis, but says taking an easier stance against children would encourage adults to pose as teenagers to avoid punishment. Several large sites have zero-tolerance lifetime bans for users who share illegal images of children, but the rules would enforce this in law and apply to all 'user-to-user' services such as messaging apps and social media companies. The proposals also cover those who disseminate images generated by artificial intelligence. They come amid a set of measures designed to strengthen online safety laws, which will have to be voted on by Parliament and are likely to come into force next year. These measures include requiring social media firms to set up 'war rooms' during crises, such as last year's Southport riots, with police having a direct line to the companies. Adults will also be banned from commenting on live streams of children or sending virtual 'gifts'. Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom's online safety group director, said: 'Important online safety rules are already in force and change is happening. We're holding platforms to account and launching swift enforcement action where we have concerns. 'But technology and harms are constantly evolving, and we're always looking at how we can make life safer online. So today we're putting forward proposals for more protections that we want to see tech firms roll out.'
Associated Press
09-04-2025
- Associated Press
When dating apps turn dangerous
EDINBURGH, United Kingdom, April 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Women looking for love online are being warned of a sinister side to dating apps, with new evidence that abusers may try to groom them to gain access to their children. Research by Childlight Global Child Safety Institute finds men who sexually offend against children are nearly four times more likely to use dating sites than non-offenders. The unit, hosted by the University of Edinburgh and University of New South Wales, found nearly two thirds (66%) of men who sexually offended against children used dating platforms – and over one in five (22%) used them daily. The report is part of a broader investigation into the multi-billion-dollar industry of child sexual exploitation and abuse, which financially benefits perpetrators, organised crime and even mainstream companies. While Childlight warns that sexual exploitation and abuse of children has become a pandemic, affecting over 300 million every year, it says education, legislation and technological measures can help prevent it. Its findings, based on a survey of about 5,000 men in Australia, the UK and US, represent the latest evidence of the risk of dating site misuse by people who sexually offend against children. It follows a separate recent survey by the Australian Institute of Criminology that found 12% of dating apps users received requests to facilitate child sexual exploitation and abuse – often related to their own children. Recent high-profile cases include Scottish lorry driver Paul Stewart who manipulated single mothers via dating apps to gain access to their children for sexual abuse. He was jailed for over three years last December. Around 381 million people use dating apps like Tinder, according to Statista. Report co-author Professor Michael Salter, director of the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub at UNSW, said: 'Our findings provide clear evidence that dating apps lack adequate child protection measures, and loopholes are exploited by abusers to target single parents and their children.' The survey of 5,000 men found 11.5% admitted having sexual feelings towards children, while 11% confessed to sexual offences against minors. Most dating sites do not require new users to provide evidence of their identity. Salter recommends user verification processes, like mandatory ID checks, and tools to detect predatory behaviours like grooming language or suspicious messaging patterns. Childlight's research also reveals that mainstream companies profit from and perpetuate the global trade in technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse of children (CSEA). They include payment transfer firms and social media platforms where illegal child sexual abuse images are present and where abuse-related traffic can increase advertising revenues. Debi Fry, Childlight's Global Director of Data and Professor of International Child Protection Research at University of Edinburgh, said: 'Child sexual exploitation and abuse is a global public health emergency that requires emergency measures but it's preventable. We must mobilise globally, focusing not just on reactive law enforcement but on prevention strategies tackling underlying determinants of abuse — including financial and technological ecosystems sustaining it.'
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘There is nothing good in that bill': Retired deputy superintendent speaks out against HALT Act & striker firings
AUBURN. N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The state-wide prison strike is over, but the court battle might just be getting started. On Tuesday, March 11, the governor said the 2,000 correction officers who didn't go back to work by Monday's, March 10, deadline, the ones now being fired, will never be able to apply for a state job again. Big 12 commissioner believes NCAA Tournament expansion is due. He says 76 teams is the right number Trump doubles down on tariffs threat amid market downturn U.S. says Ukraine has agreed to ceasefire proposal Temperatures dropping; how much cooler Wednesday?? Texas measles outbreak rises to 223 cases 'It has been all consuming. It has been wildly expensive for taxpayers, approaching $100 million. It created a very dangerous situation, which I called out from the second day,' Gov. Kathy Hochul said. 'Individuals walked off their job and left the incarcerated population alone, left fellow union members from PEF and CSEA who work in healthcare and food support area, left them alone. Thank God we were able to get this done. And there are consequences for people who break the law, and that means you're not working in our state workforce ever.' Years before the strike, a leader of a local state prison saw the writing on the wall, worried about changes to the correction system. After working 27 years in corrections, Stephen Woodward, a former deputy superintendent at Five Points Prison in Seneca County, retired the same month Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the HALT Act. 'There is nothing good in that bill,' Woodward said. 'The discipline of the inmates was going to go out the door.' That new law is blamed for allowing violent inmates to be put into special housing and then leave 15 days later. 'They could come out, punch an officer in the face, break their eye socket, get 15 days in a special housing unit or rehabilitation unit, come right out and do it over again,' Woodward explained. What Woodward saw early is why thousands of officers skipped their shifts the past three part of a deal to end that strike, parts of the HALT Act are paused for 90 days. Woodward believes it should be suspended forever. 'They can recruit all they want, but no one is going to take this job,' he said. 'Even if you had 100 officers in an academy right now to start coming in refilling the system, it's not going to help any.' The governor announced on Tuesday that 10,000 officers are back at work and will be supported by over 6,000 national guard service members. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
