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For 10 years, Joe Gallegos Jr. lived the life of an LA actor, driving from audition to audition across the sprawling city in the hopes of landing a role. Things were going well — he'd landed a role in "A Cowgirl's Story," a military drama starring Bailee Madison, the "Dance Moms" star Chloé Lukasiak, and Pat Boone, and he was starting to read for bigger projects.That all changed a few years ago when a film role brought him back to his native New Mexico. He was close to family for the first time in years, and the film industry there was burgeoning. When the movie wrapped, instead of sprinting back to Los Angeles, Gallegos realized he didn't have to go back. The pandemic had shifted from in-person to on-tape. He's since earned acting credits in TV shows like "Pulse," a medical procedural on Netflix; and "Duster," a JJ Abrams drama on HBO Max — both of which filmed in New Mexico. The money he's made from those gigs and a few independent projects made it possible for Gallegos to buy a townhouse in downtown Albuquerque — something he'd never come close to being able to afford in La La Land."It's been a good decision because, as an actor, I can be literally anywhere in the world now," he told me.Lately, creative workers are increasingly chasing their Hollywood dreams in production hubs far from Hollywood. LA continues to hold the lion's share of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hollywood-losing-dominance-tv-movies-employment-chart-2024-10">film and TV jobs</a> in America, but after a long grind of jobs slowly slipping away, the exodus from the city has accelerated in recent years. A recent analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics figures conducted by Patrick Adler and Taner Osman of Westwood Economics &amp; Planning Associates found that the figure was 22% in August, down from about 33% two years earlier.So what's making actors, executives, and studios look beyond the Hollywood sign? Some factors aren't new. Most notably, states have long used financial incentives to try to lure film investment away from California. But those incentives helped establish an infrastructure across the US — with top-notch sound stages being built in cities as varied as Dallas, Atlanta, and Miami — that was ready and waiting when the pandemic-era rise of remote work gave those seeking a lower cost of living a real choice in deciding where to live. Add it all up, and it seems that the glitz and glam of Hollywood is struggling to keep up with simple dollars and cents.The filmed entertainment industry's center of gravity is shifting further from Hollywood at a time of upheaval. The decadelong shift to streaming was exacerbated by the pandemic, which stalled, then boosted, production as people stayed inside and became couch potatoes. Peak TV came to a halt in 2022 when networks, studios, and streamers couldn't make the financial math for all those new streaming shows work. And filming was shut down once again in 2023 because of the Hollywood actors and writers strikes.When projects slowly got back on their feet, fewer of them were turning their lights on in LA. FilmLA, which issues permits for production in the region, found that Greater Los Angeles' share of US-produced TV and film projects declined from 23% in 2021 to 18% last year. The number of people employed in the traditional entertainment industry in LA, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hit a 30-year low in June. At the same time, jobs related to video gaming, live events, and the creator economy rose in the city as people's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.emarketer.com/content/digital-media-makes-up-nearly-two-thirds-of-consumers-total-time-spent-with-media">media diet</a> shifted toward social video and away from traditional TV and movies.The biggest reason that productions are looking elsewhere is cost. The wage gains made by the actors and writers have increased budgets for talent, leading producers to hunt for ways to drive down outlays in other areas — including locations. Thirty-seven states offer perks for film and TV production — typically in the form of tax credits equal to a percentage of a production's in-state spending, or cash rebates — and at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/watch-out-hollywood-states-want-a-piece-of-the-moviemaking-action-1">least 18 states have implemented or expanded</a> film tax incentives since 2021. Georgia boosted its incentive program in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ajc.com/blog/buzz/top-grossing-films-shot-georgia-since-2008/joqaWPplc0L2mKzwmcNMwK/">2008</a>, helping attract big-budget films like Disney's Marvel franchise and the Netflix hit "Stranger Things." Atlanta's share of entertainment employment is still relatively small — just 2%, according to the Otis Report on the Creative Economy, a closely-watched research study — but that has doubled over the past decade and shows no sign of slowing.As productions move out of Los Angeles, it becomes easier for others to follow. Tiffany FitzHenry, an executive producer known for "Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot," has seen the Atlanta area evolve since relocating there from LA in 2009."We have training for not just below the line but people in producing, packaging, financing," she told me, adding that the shift in major studio movies to the city had brought with it the structures needed to sustain a more permanent workforce."The biggest movies have been made here for the past 15 years," she said. "We have all the toys and tools at our fingertips."Other states are getting in on the action. Kentucky passed an incentive program in 2022 offering fully refundable production tax credits worth up to $75 million total or $10 million a project. Its second-largest city, Lexington, recently hired the entertainment marketer Lisa Brin, a Lexington native, to help persuade studios to shoot there. Brin said Lexington had attracted 30 film and TV projects so far this year, representing more than $2 million in local spending. In addition to the financial incentives, the city touts production spaces like Lex Studios, a facility with three sound stages, a growing crew base, and a willingness to pull strings as they did for a recent production that requested a major street to be closed for a shoot.In addition to luring productions, these areas are also trying to make it more appealing for creatives to stick around once the cameras shut off. Georgia and Kentucky are among states that have invested in training programs to foster homegrown talent and initiatives like FilmLex as a resource hub to help productions. For transplants, it's cheaper to live and raise a family outside LA as well as New York, the second-biggest entertainment market. And while jobs and the cost of living might be the primary reasons people move, the proliferation of cultural amenities in many smaller cities makes it easier for them to stay. 26 Keys, a production founded by Noah Hawley, an Austin native who created FX's "Fargo" series, is taking steps to build up Austin's entertainment cultural capital, with plans for a library, events like industry happy hours, and film screenings, working with organizations like the Austin Film Society and South by Southwest. "I just don't think there's a real sort of hub that's trying to connect them," said Maddy Bilder, a project director at 26 Keys. "That's what we're hoping to do here."It's not just other parts of the US that are drawing film crews away from LA; other countries are trying to win over Hollywood as well. Hungary, with a 20-year-old tax rebate and access to culture and an expanding stage system, was recently the setting for Yorgos Lanthimos' "Poor Things." Australia <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ausfilm.com.au/media-releases/ausfilm-celebrates-passage-of-australias-30-location-offset/">nearly doubled</a> its location tax credit to 30% this summer after big-budget titles like the Sony Pictures rom-com "Anyone but You" and the Universal Pictures comedy "The Fall Guy," which starred Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, were shot there. Roughly 60% of Netflix's and Amazon's commissions in the first half of this year were on continents other than North America, according to Ampere Analysis."I know of producers, senior production people, moving to places like Australia or working in Hungary," said Tyler Mitchell, the CEO of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-ron-howard-brian-grazer-impact-production-crew-staffing-platform-2023-3">Impact</a>, a LinkedIn-like platform for Hollywood. "In the UK, Australia, the governments have supported a lot of education, training, to make sure as they built up production facilities, they had enough crew to service sound stages. So there is more of a talent base globally in places like Ireland, Budapest, South Africa, and the UK. I've heard of more productions in Saudi Arabia looking for crew than I ever have."Actually being on a set is only one part of entertainment production. Development, preproduction, and postproduction are responsible for a huge portion of what ends up on screen. But here, too, the need to physically be in the mecca of moviemaking is waning. Technology is giving rise to a Tinseltown version of remote work.Self-tapes, where actors use ring lights and film themselves at home to connect with casting directors, have become commonplace. Many meetings to pitch projects that shifted to Zoom early in the pandemic have stayed on video. On the postproduction side, file sharing and editing platforms like Pix and ScreenIt Pro enable production companies like 26 Keys to review content locally rather than fly to editing rooms in LA."A lot of pitch meetings are happening over Zoom, four years later," Bilder said.While the power of Los Angeles is dispersing, no single "new Hollywood" is coming to take its place. The end of Peak TV has contracted employment all over — the total number of jobs in the industry, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hollywood-losing-dominance-tv-movies-employment-chart-2024-10">at 447,000</a>, declined 9.1% from 2013 to 2024. Even as markets like Atlanta and Miami grow, their homegrown entertainment encampments have a long way to match the hundred-year history of LA — the most valuable parts of the supply chain, like casting big stars, greenlighting, and packaging, are still concentrated in the city."There's high stakes there. This is an area where trust matters," said Adler, the principal at Westwood, which conducted research for the Otis report. "You built it through face-to-face interaction, repeated exchanges. That's why casting for top roles still happens in LA, even if they end up being shot elsewhere."For those who are just starting out or who work on the creative side, too, Hollywood is still where careers are made and nurtured. FitzHenry wishes there were more directors and producers with packaging and marketing skills in Georgia. "It's a skill set that hasn't been outside of Hollywood," she said. "Currently, the only way to learn is for a producer to adopt and teach you. I was lucky to work with highly skilled producers, which I learned in LA, like an oral tradition. That's a lot of relational capital that needs to be established." Keisha Perry, a longtime entertainment attorney in Atlanta whose clients have included Cedric the Entertainer's production company and the movie "The Waterboyz," said that being a local attorney had made it easier to connect with the growing number of productions taking place in the South but that she still traveled to LA regularly."The reality is, a lot of the decision-makers are in LA," she said. "There are those people who feel as though if you're not in LA, your legitimacy can be questioned."Further evidence of LA's staying power is in the industries like video games, marketing, and the creator economy that are concentrated there because of the city's legacy in entertainment, which has endured through the rise of radio, then TV, then streaming. That may not necessarily lead to more TV shows and films being made there, but it underscores The Town's cultural importance.Gallegos estimates that he still gets half his work from outside New Mexico, helped by representation he has in LA. "The reality is, major roles are not cast here and often not shot here," he said. For all the perks, he misses the excitement of being in LA. "There's stuff happening 24/7. I'm a trained dancer, too. I could always jump into something." Then there's the nagging feeling that virtual auditions don't count. "Sometimes I think I'm sending things out into the void that don't get watched."Despite the similar professional gaps she sees, FitzHenry remains deeply rooted in Atlanta. She's found an affordable, friendly place to raise her kids and a tight-knit professional community that pulls together to help bring projects to the state, things she never experienced in LA."There's a sense people really care about each other," she said. "There used to be that mentality of, you have to be in Hollywood to be in the business. I think that's changing."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/lucia-moses">Lucia Moses</a> is a senior correspondent covering the intersection of tech and Hollywood for Business Insider's Media team.

Leaving Los Angeles: Why the film industry is ditching Hollywood

The Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme, announced in the Union Budget 2024-25, is set to offer a tremendous opportunity for young Indians to gain hands-on experience in leading companies across diverse sectors. As of October 12, the portal for this ambitious initiative is open for registrations, with over 90,000 internship positions posted by top companies like <keyword id="19896380" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Industries" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Reliance Industries" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Reliance Industries">Reliance Industries</keyword>, <keyword id="19895995" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="HDFC-Bank" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="HDFC Bank" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="HDFC Bank">HDFC Bank</keyword>, <keyword id="19950119" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Consultancy-Services" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Tata Consultancy Services" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Tata Consultancy Services">Tata Consultancy Services</keyword> (TCS), ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, and more. Here’s everything you need to know about how to apply, the companies participating, and answers to frequently asked questions. <h2>Step-by-Step Guide to Applying for the <keyword id="23273918" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="PM-Internship-Scheme" source="keywords">PM Internship Scheme</keyword></h2><ol><li>Visit the Official Portal: The PM Internship Scheme’s application process takes place on the official website,<a href="http://pminternship.mca.gov.in"> pminternship.mca.gov.in</a>.</li><li>Register and Set Up Your Profile: After opening the portal, you’ll need to register and fill out basic information, including educational qualifications, age, and internship preferences.</li><li>Explore Internship Listings: With over 90,000 internships available from 193 companies, you can browse listings in sectors like Oil &amp; Gas, Travel &amp; Hospitality, Automotive, Banking, and more. Each listing will provide details on job roles, skills required, and specific fields like Operations Management, Production, Maintenance, and Sales.</li><li>Apply for Your Chosen Roles: You can apply for up to five internships based on your interests, qualifications, and preferred location. The portal allows for an easy application submission and lets you track your applications.</li><li>Confirmation and Next Steps: Once you apply, download the confirmation page for reference. Internships are set to begin on December 2, 2024, so selected candidates will receive further instructions as the start date approaches.</li></ol><h2>Major Companies Participating in the PM Internship Scheme</h2>Here are some of the top companies that have already posted internships on the portal, with more joining every day: <ul><li>Reliance Industries Ltd.</li><li>HDFC Bank</li><li>Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)</li><li>Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)</li><li>State Bank of India (SBI)</li><li>Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.</li><li>Jubilant FoodWorks</li><li>Larsen &amp; Toubro Ltd.</li><li>Eicher Motors Ltd.</li><li>Muthoot Finance</li></ul>These companies are providing internships across over 20 fields, covering a wide range of skills and sectors. The biggest opportunities are currently in the Oil &amp; Gas sector, followed by industries like Travel, Automotive, and Financial Services. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113986236" title="Why so many entry-level jobs aren&amp;#39;t entry-level" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><h2>Key Features of the Internship Scheme</h2>Under the scheme, interns will receive a stipend of Rs 5,000 per month, plus a one-time grant of Rs 6,000 to support miscellaneous expenses. These internships are available across 737 districts in all 37 states and Union Territories, making this a truly inclusive national program. Interns can indulge in many diverse internship roles. From operations to maintenance, sales, marketing, and production, these internships offer a variety of hands-on experiences that match real-world corporate needs. <h2>FAQs about the PM Internship Scheme</h2><h5>Who is eligible?</h5>The scheme is open to Indian citizens aged 21 to 24 who are not employed full-time or enrolled in full-time study programs. Candidates in online or distance learning programs are eligible. <h5>What sectors offer the most internships?</h5>The largest number of internships are in the Oil &amp; Gas, Travel &amp; Hospitality, Automotive, and Banking &amp; Financial Services sectors, with positions also available in fields like Manufacturing, IT, and Retail. <h5>When do the internships start?</h5>Internships for this year will begin on December 2, 2024. The scheme aims to facilitate 1.25 lakh internships this financial year and eventually reach one crore internships over the next five years. <h5>What are the application deadlines?</h5>The portal is open from October 12 for candidates to start applying, with companies continuing to post positions as the scheme rolls out. It’s recommended to apply early, as some positions may fill up quickly. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="114029056" title="Read 5 résumés that helped techies land $300,000-plus jobs at Google, Meta, Amazon, and Salesforce" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

PM Internship Scheme finally launched — here’s how you can apply to work with Reliance, TCS, SBI and more!

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US is in an industrial recession, according to Piper Sandler economist Jake Oubina. </li><li>Manufacturing activity has contracted for the last six months in a row, per the latest ISM report.</li></ul>The US economy is already experiencing an industrial recession — and it could snowball into a full-fledged downturn if oil prices continue to surge, according to Piper Sandler economist Jake Oubina.Oubina, a managing director and senior economist at the investment bank, pointed to the continued slowdown in the manufacturing sector, with activity contracting in September for a sixth straight month. It also marks the 22nd monthly contraction over the last 23 months, according to the latest report from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ismworld.org/supply-management-news-and-reports/reports/ism-report-on-business/pmi/september/">Institute of Supply Management</a>.The slowdown is likely to drag on, Oubina predicted."The only things that are up are things that are financed by chips, [the Inflation Reduction Act], all the high-tech stuff, fueling data centers, semiconductors, etc. That's been up. But in general, the economy's showing an industrial recession," Oubina said in an interview with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0-dWISdBvs">Fox Business</a> on Tuesday.The economy could slip into a broader recession if there's a spike in oil and energy prices, Oubina added. That's in line with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/economy-oil-prices-outlook-stagflation-israel-iran-war-nouriel-roubini-2024-9?_gl=1*1urq63q*_ga*OTI1ODIwOTQ2LjE3MTYzOTg2NjU.*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTcyNzg3NDg3OC4zOTkuMS4xNzI3ODc2NjcxLjU5LjAuMA..">what other economists have warned</a>, with some pointing to the oil price shock that triggered a downturn in the 1970s.Brent crude, the international benchmark, soared this week after Iran launched a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-economy-markets-react-israel-iran-escalates-dockworkers-strike-helene-2024-10">missile attack on Israel</a>, sparking fear of supply disruptions."I think of the biggest risk of that, right, a retaliation by Israel that actually targets oil production facilities," he said of the Tuesday attack. "Oil prices spiking, energy prices spiking in the past, have been enough to tip the economy from a slowing into a recession. So I think that's what we have to worry about."Other economists have flagged the slowdown in manufacturing and a potential rise in oil prices as risks to a soft landing for the US economy. Overall economic growth, however, remains strong. GDP is estimated to have grown 2.5% last quarter, according to the latest <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.atlantafed.org/cqer/research/gdpnow">projection</a> from the Atlanta Fed. That follows nearly 3% growth in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the services sector of the economy remains "healthy," despite "subdued" manufacturing activity, Bank of America strategists wrote in a Tuesday note.

The economy is in an industrial recession and higher oil prices could spark a full downturn, Wall Street economist says

New Delhi: Nine of the top-10 most valued firms together added Rs 2,01,552.69 crore in market valuation last week, with <keyword id="19951944" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Bharti Airtel" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Bharti Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword> stealing the show, amid bullish investors' sentiment in equities. Last week, the BSE benchmark jumped 1,707.01 points or 2.10 per cent. The 30-share BSE Sensex hit its lifetime high of 83,116.19 on Thursday. Bharti Airtel's valuation jumped Rs 54,282.62 crore to Rs 9,30,490.20 crore, becoming the biggest gainer among the top-10 firms. The market capitalisation (mcap) of <keyword id="19900482" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-Bank" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="ICICI Bank" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="ICICI Bank">ICICI Bank</keyword> surged Rs 29,662.44 crore to Rs 8,80,867.09 crore. <keyword id="19950119" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Consultancy-Services" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Tata Consultancy Services" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Tata Consultancy Services">Tata Consultancy Services</keyword> (TCS) added Rs 23,427.12 crore taking its valuation to Rs 16,36,189.63 crore. The mcap of Hindustan Unilever soared Rs 22,438.6 crore to Rs 6,89,358.33 crore and that of <keyword id="19895995" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="HDFC-Bank" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="HDFC Bank" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="HDFC Bank">HDFC Bank</keyword> zoomed Rs 22,093.99 crore to Rs 12,70,035.77 crore. The market valuation of Infosys climbed Rs 17,480.49 crore to Rs 8,07,299.55 crore and that of ITC rallied Rs 15,194.17 crore to Rs 6,42,531.82 crore. The valuation of <keyword id="19896380" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Industries" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Reliance Industries" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Reliance Industries">Reliance Industries</keyword> jumped Rs 9,878.19 crore to Rs 19,92,160.61 crore and that of State Bank of India went up by Rs 7,095.07 crore to Rs 7,05,535.20 crore. However, the mcap of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) declined by Rs 3,004.38 crore to Rs 6,54,004.76 crore. Reliance Industries was leading the chart of the top-10 most valued firms followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Infosys, State Bank of India, Hindustan Unilever, LIC and ITC.

Mcap of nine of top-10 most valued firms jump Rs 2 lakh crore, Bharti Airtel leads the surge

In January, Jon Bach got laid off as a director at eBay, where he had worked for 13 years. He loved his job, so he was disappointed. But he didn't panic. The unemployment rate was near a five-decade low, and he had 30 years of experience in the tech industry. How hard could it be to find another job?Pretty hard, it turned out. After applying for 135 openings, Bach has received 91 nonresponses, 42 rejections, two callbacks — and zero offers. "I don't know what's going on," he says. "I've been doing this for a minute, and I've proven my value. And then you apply to one place, two places, 10 places, 50 places, 135 places. And you go, 'Am I the guy I think I am?'"By all the standard economic measures, America's labor market looks fine. But ask white-collar professionals who are actually looking for a job, and they'll tell you horror stories that are eerily similar to Bach's. As I wrote last spring, that's because the job market has essentially split into two distinct tiers. Even though hiring has held up well for lower-earning workers, it has plunged for people earning six figures or more. We're in the midst of a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-slump-professional-white-collar-jobs-recession-high-salary-2024-4">white-collar recession</a>.Now, new data from LinkedIn — which tracked how often its users landed new jobs — shows which white-collar jobs are being hit the hardest. Some of them are the usual suspects in a downturn. You don't need recruiters when you're not recruiting, so hiring in human resources has slumped by 28% since 2018. Hiring in marketing, another department that's often the first to lose its budget in leaner times, is down 23%.But the most surprising feature of the job freeze is the pullback in tech. Hiring has plunged 27% in IT, 32% in quality assurance, and 23% in product management. In Bach's field of program and project management, recruitment has slumped 25%. Even more surprisingly, engineering, which was long considered recession-proof, is down 26%. That kind of cutback in coders was long unthinkable in Silicon Valley, which treated programmers like rare minerals — so scarce that they needed to be preserved at all costs, regardless of how the economy was faring.On the flip side are the professions that are holding up well. Military and protective services, a category that includes security guards, is down only 6%. Community and social services is down by only 3%. And healthcare, which is battling an acute staffing shortage fueled by an aging population and extraordinary levels of burnout on the front lines, is actually up 10%. You can see the same winners and losers on hiring platforms like Indeed: Since the pandemic, job postings for physicians and physical therapists have surged more than 80%, while those for software developers, data analysts, data scientists, and IT operations have declined by 20% or more."We have not seen the hiring slowdown everywhere," says Kory Kantenga, an economist at LinkedIn. "But there are particular areas where it's been very dramatic."Why has tech slammed the brakes on hiring? One reason is that tech companies, panicked by the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-great-reshuffle-upward-mobility-quitting-jobs">Great Resignation</a> that followed the pandemic, hired way too many professionals — leaving them with a glut of staff when the economy hit the skids. LinkedIn, which compared recruitment in 2018 to 2022, found that post-pandemic hiring spiked 89% for product managers, 79% for HR professionals, and 43% for engineers. When employers realized that they'd gone overboard, some resorted to mass layoffs to slash their headcounts. But most have taken a gentler route, implementing hiring freezes to slowly shrink their ranks by voluntary attrition.Another reason tech companies are hiring fewer professionals is that their existing employees are opting to stay put. "One of the things we hear repeatedly is that candidates are looking for stability," says Jenny Diani, a senior director of global technical recruiting at Autodesk, a leading software provider. "Candidates are being much more careful." Visier, an HR software provider, reports that so far this year, voluntary turnover at its tech clients is under 20% — down from almost 27% in 2022. That means a company that wants to maintain a head count of 10,000 employees would need to hire 720 fewer professionals this year.AI may also be playing a role in the hiring freeze. With tools like ChatGPT enabling tech workers to complete tasks more quickly, employers may see less of a need to increase head count. Nowhere is this productivity gain more evident than in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-ai-technology-end-of-coding-software-developers-jobs-2023-4">coding</a>: In an early study of an AI coding copilot, AI-assisted programmers were 56% faster than programmers working alone. Google recently boasted that more than a quarter of its new code is now being <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-earnings-q3-2024-new-code-created-by-ai-2024-10">generated by AI</a>."It's not like you're going to lay off a whole team," says Jon Stross, a cofounder of Greenhouse, one of the biggest providers of hiring software. "But maybe we don't have to grow quite as fast because we can automate more things and be more efficient. My guess is there are folks who are trying to make that happen."To make matters worse, changes in the way companies hire people are making the job freeze feel even more terrible than the numbers indicate. Several job seekers I spoke with told me their searches have been "slow" — which is putting it mildly. In mid-2021, according to Greenhouse, it took its clients an average of 52 days to make a hire. In the first quarter of this year, searches were dragging out to 66 days.The slowdown in decision-making is a bit of a paradox. Given all the qualified candidates on the market right now, you'd think companies would have an easier time making a selection. But weirdly, the seemingly infinite supply of candidates makes them want to review even more applications before they make a decision. "In the recruiting world, we call it See More Disease," says Diani, who is juggling three times as many job applications at Autodesk as she did during the Great Resignation. "We really need to coach our managers that even in this market, people with highly qualified, in-demand skills aren't going to be sitting around forever."<div type="image" title="Dashboard with various summary stats of job seeker's job search" height="757" width="1209" msid="115416165" hostid="261" sizebytes="43790"></div>What shocks job seekers the most, though, is how many roles they have to apply for just to get a few measly callbacks. The 135 applications that Bach submitted might seem crazy high, but these days it's actually the new norm. Santiago Rodriguez, a data scientist, told me he had applied to 669 positions — so many that he built an <a target="_blank" href="https://job-search-cd9a22.gitlab.io/">online dashboard</a> to track his progress. Like the diligent statistician he is, he plans to analyze the data to see which versions of his résumé are generating a higher success rate.It doesn't help that job candidates, desperate to land a new role, are responding to the hiring slowdown by applying to every job in sight. LinkedIn has an "Easy Apply" button that makes it easy to flood the market with applications, and AI-powered services will even <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/job-applications-hiring-ai-bots-spam-resume-cover-letter-2024-3">mass-apply to jobs</a> for you. It makes sense for individual job seekers to maximize their chances by applying widely. But the more everyone piles on, the harder it gets for anyone to stand out. In the first quarter of this year, job openings at Greenhouse's clients received an average of 222 applications — almost three times as many as at the end of 2021. "It's exacerbated by everyone in this arms race applying to so many jobs that companies are just overwhelmed with applicants," says Stross. "And so they don't get back to people."For job seekers, being ghosted makes the process feel downright dehumanizing. "There's so much angst," says Stross. "Like: 'I need a job and I can't get anybody to look at my résumé.'"The good news is, some data suggests that we're already past the worst of the white-collar recession. At the end of last year, according to the industry group CompTIA, companies posted only 144,000 new tech roles. That has now rebounded to 223,000 openings — and is starting to approach the pre-pandemic level of 322,000 jobs. "We're slowly, slowly recovering," says Art Zeile, the CEO of Dice, a tech job board. The hope is that in the new year, with the election over and a couple more interest-rate cuts under the economy's belt, white-collar employers will regain their appetite to start hiring again."I'm hopeful," Bach told me. "I think a lot of people like me are eager to get back to work, to show companies that we're worth taking a chance on. If you take a risk on me, I'll show you that I'm worth it."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/aki-ito">Aki Ito</a> is a chief correspondent at Business Insider.

Tech jobs are mired in a recession

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The freight recession will likely remain drag on into a sixth quarter, according to AFS Logistics.</li><li>Bankruptcies and aggressive competition have defined the industry downturn, the firm told Business Insider.</li></ul>There's no end in sight for the freight recession, and the downturn is reshaping dynamics in the industry.A lack of certainty looms over experts regarding when the trucking industry could recover from its slump, and there was little good news in the second quarter.According to the recent AFS Logistics and TD Cowen freight index report, truckload rate per mile has continued to slip this year, and the trend is set to continue for a sixth straight quarter.At the heart of the problem are simple economics. When COVID-era consumption surged, trucking capacity ballooned to embrace it. But a few years later, high interest rates have pressured Americans' spending habits, leaving the industry with a supply-demand mismatch."Now you have more capacity, meaning more trucks, more drivers, chasing less freight," AFS Logistics CEO Tom Nightingale told Business Insider. "What that ultimately means is reduced prices across pretty much all [freight] modes."AFS tracks truckload, less-than-truckload, and parcel modes. Each segment is facing its own set of issue, Nightingale said, and they're all amplifying the current depressed conditions.<h2 id="867b7395-76b8-451e-a07d-d8e58079dce7">Bankruptcies</h2>One of the dominant themes of the freight recession has been a surge in bankruptcies. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/carrierok_this-year-88000-carriers-faced-the-tough-activity-7139780831971078144-CLdU/">CarrierOK</a>, 88,000 carriers and 8,000 freight brokers shut down their operations in 2023.The trend isn't over. This month, S&amp;P Global downgraded the credit rating of Accuride, a trucking parts manufacturer. Part of its reasoning was that commercial trucking would remain <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/accuride-default-freight-recession-outlook-trucks-consumer-demand-sp-global-2024-7">depressed for two years</a>, squeezing the firm's sales and cash flow."As truckload carriers become increasingly stressed, and in some cases, unable to service their interest payments, we start to see the pace of bankruptcies accelerate," Nightingale noted, and cited this as a strong catalyst for conditions to eventually recover: "That's generally what causes an increase in pricing in the truckload side of things."Consider the less-than-truckload sector. These carriers, which combine shipments from multiple customers, at first benefited from last year's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trucking-giant-yellow-shuts-down-after-99-years-teamsters-2023-8">closure of Yellow</a>.When this century-old firm went bankrupt, it pulled supply out of the sector and buoyed up pricing, Nightingale said.<h2 id="a9baae1c-9a1d-4b66-83f4-34fcdc0624c0">Chasing demand</h2>Meanwhile, declining consumption is playing out uniquely among parcel carriers, a sector comprised of courier-service shippers.Here, <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/ups-stock">UPS</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/fdx-stock">FedEx</a> are the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/regional-startups-parcel-delivery-taking-on-ups-and-fedex-2023-4?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=business-sf">dominant players</a>. When parcel volumes started falling, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/regional-startups-parcel-delivery-taking-on-ups-and-fedex-2023-4?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=business-sf">competition</a> picked up between the two players.Chasing after limited volumes has caused both companies to extend aggressive discounts to small- and medium-customers, AFS found in its report. It cited that the ground parcel rate per package index dropped from 28.8% to 26.8% between the first and second quarter.At the same time, AFS noted that these companies have looked to boost revenue in other ways. For instance, both carriers have consistently raised fuel surcharges on shipments since August 2021, despite the fact that fuel prices have fallen, the report said.Shares of UPS plunged more than 12% last Tuesday after the company reported an earnings miss.Part of the carrier's challenge is that it's still trying to offset cost increases stemming from last year's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ups-170k-deal-driver-job-searches-soar-union-wage-increase-2023-8">major wage negotiation</a> reached with the Teamsters union, Nightingale said ahead of the earnings report.During the earnings call, demand conditions were also a cited factor:"Our revenue came in just short of the low end given the current volume momentum we are now experiencing in our business," CEO Carol Tomé <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/23/ups-earnings-q2-2024.html">said</a>. However, she noted that the second quarter was the first in nine in which the company saw US volume growth resume.

From bankruptcies to price wars, the US freight recession is reshaping the industry

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Intel is struggling to gain market share in the semiconductor industry.</li><li>Intel becoming a globally competitive US chip manufacturer is vital for the US economy.</li></ul>US government officials are counting on Intel to lead the country's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-semiconductor-chip-production-continue-harris-trump-presidency-arizona-jobs-2024-10">chip manufacturing</a> renaissance but the company is struggling to meet expectations.Intel becoming a globally competitive US chip manufacturer is "imperative for the US economy and national security," said Stephen Ezell, the vice president for global innovation policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the director of its Center for Life Sciences Innovation. That's because the US needs to secure its domestic supply chains of the chips that power items like iPhones, washing machines, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-ai-nvidia-us-bockade-smuggling-2024-8">military equipment</a>.When it comes to bringing advanced chip manufacturing to American shores, the US government is short on options. Jimmy Goodrich, senior advisor for technology analysis to the RAND Corporation, told BI that only three companies in the world are manufacturing the most advanced, "leading edge" chips: Intel, Samsung, and TSMC. Intel is the only company in this trio that is based in America — Samsung's headquarters are in South Korea and TSMC is based in Taiwan.If Intel falls short, there is "reasonable concern that advanced fabs will not be sustainably available in the US," said Dylan Patel, the chief analyst at the semiconductor research and consulting firm SemiAnalysis.While Samsung is building a chip factory in Taylor, Texas the company has postponed taking deliveries of chipmaking equipment because it has yet to land any major customers for the project, Reuters <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/samsung-delays-taking-deliveries-asmls-chip-gear-its-new-us-factory-sources-say-2024-10-18/">reported</a> in October. TSMC is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tsmc-making-apple-iphone-chips-helps-us-semiconductor-bet-2024-10">producing chips for Apple</a> in its Phoenix-based factory and has plans to build two more factories in the city. However, the company has historically preferred to invest in Taiwan, Patel said.These conditions are why Intel's recent struggles have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-dow-jones-ai-chip-lag-2024-11">raised concerns</a> among some government officials. In August, the company announced it would be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-layoffs-cost-cutting-measures-pay-cuts-reduced-perks-2024-10">parting ways</a> with roughly 15,000 workers through voluntary separation agreements and layoffs. On October 31, the company reported its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/31/technology/intel-earnings-loss.html">biggest</a> quarterly loss ever. The third quarter loss was driven by slowing demand for the chips that power personal computers, struggles to gain market share in the booming AI chips sector, and significant investments in its chip manufacturing technology.To be sure, Intel's third-quarter revenue <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/intel-reports-third-quarter-loss-forecasts-q4-revenue-above-estimates-2024-10-31/">beat</a> expectations, and executives said the company is making progress on executing a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-ceo-pat-gelsinger-turnaround-plan-aws-2024-9">turnaround plan</a>. In September, Intel announced it will be expanding its collaboration with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-ceo-pat-gelsinger-turnaround-plan-aws-2024-9">Amazon Web Services</a>, and the company is optimistic that its new <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-chips-act-funding-all-hands-meeting-2024-11">18A chip</a> —which it's expected to start producing next year — will help it gain market share in the industry.However, industry analysts told Business Insider that competing with the likes of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tsmc-suspend-ai-chip-production-china-us-2024-11">TSMC</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-ai-chip-semiconductors-tsmc-intel-jobs-arizona-2024-2">Nvidia</a> will be an uphill battle — in part due to a series of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-dow-jones-ai-chip-lag-2024-11">strategic missteps</a> Intel has made over the past two decades.Another potential wild card is whether a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-second-trump-term-means-for-intel-2024-11">Trump administration</a> — specifically its proposed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-raising-prices-trump-tariffs-inflation-goods-getting-more-expensive-2024-11">tariff policies</a> — would aid or hinder Intel's turnaround efforts. President-elect Donald Trump has expressed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-semiconductor-chip-production-continue-harris-trump-presidency-arizona-jobs-2024-10">support</a> for boosting domestic chip manufacturing but has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-second-trump-term-means-for-intel-2024-11">criticized</a> the CHIPS Act, a key Biden administration initiative that companies like Intel are counting on for funding.An Intel spokesperson told BI that the company's recent quarterly earnings demonstrate the "tangible progress" the company is making on its turnaround strategy. They added that the goal of making the US a leader in semiconductor manufacturing was a priority in the first Trump administration and continues to have bipartisan support."We look forward to working with President-elect Trump and his administration to advance America's technology and manufacturing leadership," they said.<h2 id="3cef0621-01c3-4b2a-b136-2affb93b6fc9">Intel's problems have ramifications outside the company</h2>The stakes aren't just high for Intel employees and executives: Intel is the largest recipient of funding from the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-chips-act-funding-all-hands-meeting-2024-11">CHIPS Act</a>, which included $52.7 billion in tax breaks and subsidies intended to bolster the US semiconductor industry. The Biden administration bet that boosting domestic chip manufacturing would make the US less reliant on chips sourced abroad from TSMC, which produces, by some estimates, about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asml-tsmc-semiconductor-chip-equipment-kill-switch-china-invade-taiwan-2024-5">90%</a> of the world's advanced chips. Additionally, fears of a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-taiwan-china-chip-war-2024-6">Chinese invasion</a> of Taiwan complicate the US's dependence on TSMC.Intel was awarded $8.5 billion in grants and $11 billion in loans through the CHIPS Act, which it plans to use to supplement the over <a target="_blank" href="https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/news/us-chips-act-intel-direct-funding.html">$100 billion</a> it's committed to expanding its operations in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon. Like most companies, Intel hasn't received any of these funds yet. Recipients are required to meet certain benchmarks — which can include building a chip fab or securing customers — before the funding is doled out and Intel hasn't met those milestones yet.In response to the company's struggles, government officials have discussed whether it should receive <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-dow-jones-ai-chip-lag-2024-11">additional financial support</a> or merge its chip design business with a competitor. Last month, The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/us/politics/intel-chips-biden.html">New York Times</a> reported that Gina Raimondo, the US secretary of commerce, urged chief executives from Google, Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, and other firms to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-dow-jones-ai-chip-lag-2024-11">buy chips from Intel</a>."Our Q3 results underscore the solid progress we are making against the plan we outlined last quarter to reduce costs, simplify our portfolio, and improve organizational efficiency," CEO Pat Gelsinger said on the company's earnings call on October 31.

Intel is far from becoming the American chipmaking powerhouse the US needs

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russia will resume public sector layoffs, affecting up to at least 40,000 workers, per Kommersant.</li><li>Layoffs were paused due to COVID-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.</li></ul>Russia is expected to lay off at least 40,000 government officials next year, according to a report by the Russian <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/7296193?tg">Kommersant</a> newspaper.Russian President Vladimir Putin last month<a target="_blank" class="" href="http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/document/0001202410290050?index=1"> ordered regional branches of federal government agencies to cut staff by 10%</a> by July, per the publication.The layoffs were believed to be planned for much earlier but were put on hold for several years due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.According to Kommersant, the cuts are designed to make the civil service more efficient and raise the salaries of existing staff.Russia's official wage statistics, published in January, showed wages in the private sector rose by 8% to 20% last year.The cuts would also allow more people to enter Russia's labor market which is experiencing a widespread shortage of workers amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.According to an estimate from the Russian Academy of Science's Institute of Economics, Russia was short a record 5 million workers at the end of 2023.Workers have been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-raises-mobilization-age-some-reservists-can-be-called-70-2023-7">pulled into the </a>Ukraine war or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/number-of-russians-fleeing-draft-bigger-1st-invasion-force-uk-2022-9">forced to flee</a> after Putin enacted a major mobilization to increase wartime recruitment.Russia has turned to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-making-labor-crisis-worse-sending-workers-to-war-ukraine-2023-11">migrant</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-economy-worker-shortage-prison-labor-ukraine-war-putin-kremlin-2023-10">prison labor</a> to supplement its workforce, but those aren't sustainable solutions to its population problem, according to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-population-decline-worker-shortage-growth-outlook-ukraine-war-2024-8">report</a> by Harley Balzer, a professor emeritus at Georgetown University.Last year, Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina warned that continued <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/russias-depleted-workforce-threatening-economic-growth-says-central-bank-2023-11-09/">workforce depletion</a> would threaten Russian economic growth.However, so far, Russia's economy has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-outlook-defense-budget-spending-ukraine-war-putin-sanctions-2024-10">held up</a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-ukraine-war-moscow-military-spending-inflation-worker-shortage-2024-2"> partly because of its war spending</a>, which has boosted growth despite soaring <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-outlook-stagflation-recession-inflation-gdp-growth-ukraine-war-2024-9">inflation</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-central-bank-raises-key-interest-rate-to-21-2024-10">high interest rates</a>.Inflation<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbr.ru/eng/press/keypr/"> hit 9.8%</a> in September, and potatoes, which are a staple of Russian diets, saw a<a target="_blank" href="https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/172_08-11-2024.html"> 64% increase in price</a> this year.Russia is expected to spend <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-defense-sector-on-overdrive-but-firms-warn-of-collapse-2024-11">$140 billion on its defense industry in 2024</a> and up to $145 billion in 2025, or 6.3% of its GDP.

Under strain from war, Russia plans a massive layoff in its public sector: report

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Private jet travel has surged in recent years, and two big changes explain why.</li><li>The COVID-19 pandemic pushed many to opt for private planes.</li></ul>Flying private has gotten a lot more popular over the last several years.The number of miles flown by private jets soared 53% between 2019 and 2023, while the number of private aircraft rose by 28%, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=bb670b62fe8601c53f0889bedb04ce80a89285ec5116fc9bfce8af0b92d7edbd&amp;postID=672e281e1153528a7c5476e4&amp;postSlug=private-jets-soaring-popularity-pandemic-costing-taxpayers-environment-2024-11&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs43247-024-01775-z%3Futm_campaign%3Dheatmap_am%26utm_medium%3Demail%26_hsenc%3Dp2ANqtz--vq6RgIU87OiaVJyWfQp3iftvp2MS7Dkc9PJqq0pmWvFSj6lVdf4st7myisjTFMgJFzXJTcDWFXZOM6BTtLE3b3ycu2NAARlpnMBLHahNAHpjJ1hM%26_hsmi%3D332998403%26utm_content%3D332998403%26utm_source%3Dhs_email">a major new study</a> published in Nature.Two big factors led to that spike in private flights: The pandemic and a spate of more affordable options for flying private.When the pandemic hit in 2020, both commercial and private flights ground to a near-halt. But soon, private jet travel surged even as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://fortune.com/2024/04/29/business-travel-trends-pre-pandemic-levels-zoom-era-corporate-flights/">commercial flying remained depressed</a>.While <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bts.gov/newsroom/full-year-2021-and-december-2021-us-airline-traffic-data#:~:text=U.S.%20airlines%20carried%20674%20million,2019's%20927%20million%20(unadjusted)">commercial airline ridership</a> was down 27% in the US between 2019 and 2021, over the same period, business jet flights were up from about <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://aspm.faa.gov/apmd/sys/bjpdf/b-jet-202410.pdf">3.8 million to about 4.4 million</a>. Many of those who could afford to avoid cramped commercial airline cabins — and the extra exposure to the virus that comes with that — <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/new-jet-set-how-covid-driven-boom-private-jets-is-still-flying-high-2022-05-02/">opted to charter or purchase a private plane</a>.Meanwhile, fractional ownership of private planes, fly-share services, subscriptions to private jet companies, and other on-demand private flying options have also grown <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.avbuyer.com/articles/business-aviation-market-analysis/new-jet-deliveries-to-fractional-programs-increases-113837#:~:text=Winding%20back%20the%20clock%2010%20years%20to,in%202023%20it's%20already%20risen%20to%2016.8%.">much more popular</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cntraveler.com/story/all-the-ways-to-fly-private-starting-at-dollar100-per-flight">made private flying more accessible and affordable</a>.New services have made it possible to find and book private flights from a smartphone. While purchasing a private plane costs millions of dollars, on-demand private flying through newer services like Blade can charge <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.blade.com/price-new-york-miami">as little as $1,700</a> to jet <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blade-one-private-jet-seat-new-york-miami-photos-review-2022-12">from New York City to Miami</a>. That's not much more than the <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=2ed5c9bdb1346b6ac93979e86ed8f5005d86da32ff8ca9e12d99f23c589a9394&amp;postID=672e281e1153528a7c5476e4&amp;postSlug=private-jets-soaring-popularity-pandemic-costing-taxpayers-environment-2024-11&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.momondo.com%2Fflights%2FFirst-Class-United-States-US0%2FMiami-MIA.fc.ksp%23%3A~%3Atext%3D%24981%2520is%2520the%2520average%2520price%2CAmerican%2520Airlines%2520flights%2520to%2520Miami%3F">nearly $1,000 price tag</a> of a typical first-class commercial ticket between those two cities.In the years since the COVID-19 outbreak, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/affordable-luxury-air-travel-on-the-rise-private-jets-2024-6">industry experts say</a> customers have a higher budget for travel and are more willing to spend big to make it luxurious. These days, those who fly private say time savings and convenience are the biggest reasons, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://privatejetcardcomparisons.com/2024/10/14/the-top-reasons-for-choosing-private-jets-over-airline-flights/">a recent survey</a> of private fliers found.Private jet usage peaked in 2022 and dipped slightly last year. But private travel was still <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://privatejetcardcomparisons.com/2024/03/25/2023-private-jet-flight-hours-dip-3-7-2007-to-2023-by-year-recap/">17% higher in 2023</a> than it was in 2019. This year, demand for private air travel <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/16/private-jet-flights-covid-era-demand-wanes.html">has fallen a bit more</a> as costs have risen. The industry expects the number of private aircraft will <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://aerospace.honeywell.com/content/dam/aerobt/en/documents/landing-pages/brochures/2023_BusinessAviationReport.pdf">grow by almost a third</a> by 2033.The uptick in flights has led to soaring carbon emissions from private jets. The Nature study found that climate-heating emissions rose 46% between 2019 and 2023.Private jets emit up to 14 times more climate-warming pollution per passenger than commercial planes, according to a report by the NGO Transport &amp; Environment <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/private-jets-can-the-super-rich-supercharge-zero-emission-aviation/">in 2021</a>, largely because of smaller passenger loads and shorter flights.The US is the biggest global hub of private aviation. While the US is home to about 4% of the world's population, the Nature study noted that about 69% of private jets are registered here.US taxpayers are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ultra-wealthy-private-flyers-are-costing-average-flyers-a-lot-in-taxes-2023-5#:~:text=Private%20jet%20travel%20has%20surged,Policy%20Studies%20and%20Patriotic%20Millionaires.">heavily subsidizing private jet travel</a>. Private jet travelers pay just two percent of the taxes used to fund the Federal Aviation Administration, despite making up one in six flights handled by the FAA's air-traffic controllers, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://ips-dc.org/report-high-flyers-2023">according to a report published in May 2023</a> by the Institute for Policy Studies and Patriotic Millionaires. Private jets also use almost 3,000 of the country's smaller airports that aren't used by any commercial airlines, but are funded in part by the FAA, the 2023 report found.

Private jet usage is way up for 2 reasons

<ul class="summary-list"><li>If you've ever been frustrated that a customer service rep can't help, you may be a victim of an "accountability sink."</li><li>Economist Dan Davies uses the term to describe how companies avoid responsibility by deferring decisions to algorithms.</li></ul>It's one of every traveler's worst nightmares: You arrive at the boarding gate to be told your flight is overbooked and you've been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-to-do-if-airline-bumps-you-from-overbooked-flight-2023-8">bumped</a>.You complain at the counter — you have an important business meeting or you don't want to miss your friend's wedding. Can't they bump someone else?However, the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/things-people-should-never-do-on-airplanes-flight-attendant-2023">attendant</a> tells you there's nothing they can do to help. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-and-worst-airlines-us-canada-customer-satisfaction-delta-southwest-2024-5#:~:text=Southwest%20Airlines%20took%20top%20honors,three%20spots%20from%20last%20year.">Company</a> policy is final.While frustrating, the gate attendant is not at fault — and that's the whole point. Companies create algorithms to decide who is bumped from a flight, ensuring that the system's decision is final and no one employee is accountable.It's an example of what economist Dan Davies calls an "accountability sink" in his new book "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=b89b4850e05bd4939f2d9e7a8caa9cc0c31a3471114ff89757b06b527d0810cd&amp;postID=668d8a0b7d643e28300bcef5&amp;postSlug=flight-refunds-customer-service-accountability-sinks-dan-davies-2024-7&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FUnaccountability-Machine-Systems-Terrible-Decisions-ebook%2Fdp%2FB0CGFWBFD6">The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions — and How the World Lost its Mind.</a>"Corporations absolve their employees of responsibility by delegating decision-making to an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/forget-ai-algorithm-apocalypse-driving-humans-lives-data-stock-market-2024-4">algorithm</a> or deferring to company policy. No one person is empowered to make a judgment call, and the customer's frustrations are moot. It's not just at airlines; technology and an increased focus on streamlining processes to cut costs have allowed companies in all kinds of industries to create accountability sinks.Davies told Business Insider that once a decision like bumping someone from a flight is made, "then it's just natural to create an accountability sink.""You don't want any accountability there because you don't want to have pressure put on anyone to change the decision," Davies said.While technology can optimize decision-making processes, it can also prevent customers from reaching someone with the power to make a decision that strays from the corporate script.In the case of the sympathetic gate attendant telling the disgruntled customer, "'We've got a policy, there's nothing that can be done,'" Davies said, the customer's negative emotions are ignored and poured into a void — or an accountability sink."That's the situation that people find so incredibly frustrating," Davies said. "Because it's bad to have decisions go against you, but it's absolutely psychologically intolerable to feel like you're not being listened to."<h2 id="c8302fe0-a4b6-458a-b9d4-856b4b4c93cb">Sorry, it's company policy</h2>According to Davies, accountability sinks emerged over the past decades of privatization and technological innovation.In the 1980s, he said, free-market capitalism and profit maximization became the norm, spearheaded by economist Milton Friedman and championed by Ronald Reagan in the US and Margaret Thatcher in the UK. Since then, companies have focused on profits, growth, and maximizing shareholder value, according to Davies, which in turn has created accountability sinks.Following the technology boom of the 1990s, Davies said companies developed computer systems to make decisions for them because of the volume and complexity of information.In addition, middle management and customer service jobs were cut or outsourced as corporations prioritized profits, optimizing costs, and delivering strong quarterly earnings."The big problem with cutting the feedback link is that you're cutting off all of your own sources of information," Davies said. "And so your customers can be getting steadily more and more annoyed with you, and you won't really know that."In the case of the person at the airport, Davies said ideally, any customer bumped from a flight should be able to talk directly with an employee with some level of decision-making power."The answer is usually there are no more flights going, and there's nothing that can be done, but just simply having that experience of someone listening to you, in my view, is just really, really important," he said.Of course, accountability sinks aren't just at the boarding gate. You may have experienced similar frustrations when calling your internet or cellphone provider, bank, or credit card company. It often looks like a customer service representative working within a system with limited options to help.Accountability sinks can range from customer service to decision-making at major corporations. According to Davies, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-to-plead-guilty-isnt-out-woods-yet-government-contracts-2024-7">Boeing</a> is a company rife with accountability sinks. The airline manufacturer is at the center of legal troubles stemming from two deadly <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-crashes-groundings-timeline-737-max-777-air-force-tanker-2024-1#737-max-crashes-2">crashes</a> in 2018 and 2019, and an incident in January when a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-tells-boeing-737-blowout-passengers-may-be-victims-crime-2024-3">Boeing 737 Max's</a> door plug came off mid-flight.Davies said decision-makers at Boeing have been too focused on share buybacks and optimizing costs in recent years while accountability sinks developed around <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-disaster-american-businesses-greedy-broken-stock-market-wall-street-2024-2">manufacturing</a> quality.In March, when Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced his <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-dave-calhoun-failed-to-turn-boeing-around-737-max-2024-3">resignation</a>, he told CNBC that Boeing had a "bad habit" of focusing too much on delivery time, which might have given the message that "the movement of the airplane is more important than the first-time quality of the product."Nonetheless, Davies said accountability sinks will eventually catch up with companies."Over time, it degrades the brand, and the resentment builds up," he said. "At some point, there's just going to be this huge bump where you get back to reality, and all of the accountability you've been pouring into this sink for the last 10 years comes back and hits you in one massive lump."Do you see accountability sinks elsewhere in life? This reporter wants to hear from you. Please reach out at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:jtowfighi@businessinsider.com">jtowfighi@businessinsider.com</a>.

Finally, an explanation for why it's so frustrating to deal with customer service

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Trump's win could provide a much-needed boost to the consulting industry.</li><li>Trump's proposed tariffs, tax cuts, and deregulation could drive demand for consulting services.</li></ul>President Donald Trump's election victory could spell good news for the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/consulting-firms-mckinsey-bcg-accenture-workers-leaving-2024-9">consulting industry</a>, which has recently faced declines in demand and hiring.Trump campaigned on several proposed policies — including global tariffs on imported goods and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tax-cuts-social-security-boomers-benefit-fund-depletion-2024-11">sweeping tax cuts</a> — that could <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-presidency-affect-big-tech-2024-11">impact American businesses</a> and, in turn, demand for consulting services.Industry experts told Business Insider they expect <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-white-house-staff-cabinet-picks-list-2024-11">Trump's election</a> to increase demand for consulting, including strategy, management, reorganizational, and technical advisory services."I think the election of Trump is very favorable for the consulting industry," Michael Mische, a management consultant, former partner at KPMG, and professor at USC's Marshall School, told BI.Mische said the primary factors that drive consulting are typically macroeconomic health, government spending, CEO sentiment, free cash flows, and client need. He said there has been client need over the past couple of years, but some CEOs have been hesitant to act on it due to a tough macroeconomic environment, noting that the industry is highly vulnerable and elastic depending on what's going on in the world."Our entire consulting industry — it's predicated on the fact that it's the discretionary item. It literally is the luxury item of the CEO," Mische said.Unlike accounting or legal services, consultants are not a must-have, and they are quick to go when CEO sentiment is down or economic outlooks are uncertain. But Mische said Trump's election will likely boost CEO sentiment, noting that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-invest-trump-win-election-stock-market-outlook-strategy-2024-11">the stock market reacted</a> positively to Trump's win.Trump's proposal to cut the corporate tax rate could leave more money for companies to put toward discretionary spending like consultants. The unrealized capital gains tax floated by Vice President Kamala Harris is also unlikely to happen now, another potential morale boost for companies.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-election-win-high-inflation-risk-tariffs-deportations-taxes-2024-11">Tariffs</a> might also favor the consulting industry, as responding to them could require "quite of bit of intellectual horsepower" and specialized skillsets that companies may turn to consultants for.Two days after the election, Mische said he was already seeing clients warm up to hiring more consulting services.<h2 id="0172b540-ba65-42fa-b2bd-4c6e3f78d704">Potentially a short-term bump</h2>Tom Rodenhauser, managing partner at the consulting market research firm Kennedy Intelligence, agreed that the industry could see increased demand following Trump's election, but he thinks it could be a "short-term bump."Rodenhauser said Trump comes with uncertainty, along with his promises of tax cuts and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-could-help-deregulate-tech-amid-a-trump-victory-2024-11">deregulation</a> — all of which, including the unpredictability, can be good for consultants."But the bad part is you're borrowing against the future. You're kind of having this very short-term outlook," he said.For instance, in recent years, there has been a push toward renewables as the energy of the future, but Trump's focus on oil and gas could lead to more focus and expenditures on those sectors, a move Rodenhauser said may not be ideal in the long term.He compared the situation to what happened during the pandemic: surging <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-consulting-business-demand-is-rough-right-now-2024-3">demand for consulting services</a> led to over-hiring, which led to layoffs and delayed start dates at some major firms, including <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/big-four-consultancies-deloitte-ey-cut-staff-pwc-accenture-2024-10">Deloitte</a>, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ey-graduate-hires-start-dates-delayed-slowdown-strategy-consulting-2024-10">EY</a>, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/layoffs-sweeping-us-these-are-companies-making-cuts-2024#:~:text=PwC%20is%20cutting%201%2C800%20employees.&amp;text=Big%20Four%20accounting%20firm%20PwC,will%20be%20informed%20in%20October.">PwC</a>."I think the danger for the big consulting firms is you don't want to seize upon an opportunity that's going to give you a short-term fix," he said.Doree Keating, a public sector industry leader at Ernst &amp; Young, had a more optimistic outlook on Trump's impact. "We're seeing tremendous opportunity for the government to leverage cloud technology, responsible AI, and data to drive efficiency and effectiveness across all agencies. Ultimately, our focus will be on helping modernizing government operations to deliver better results for the American people," she told BI by email.<h2 id="728a89b9-e57f-453a-b804-6c5d72e45ff6">'Business as usual'</h2>Two consultants both told Business Insider by direct message on Reddit that their firms are preparing for "business as usual" in Trump's second term. Both requested anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their careers but their employment was confirmed by Business Insider.One consultant who works at Deloitte said there would likely be a shift from federal to state-level work. "The prediction for more state government contracts comes across some of the policy ideas we've heard from the Trump administration; if there's certain federal social services that change or end, states have a lot of work to do to implement those changes but also address gaps it creates for the respective citizens of the state," they wrote.They added that Deloitte's leadership predicts a hiring surge next year to support staffing changes across agencies, new grant work, and implementing policy decisions Trump makes in his first year as president.Deloitte did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.<h2 id="c6c80825-8c85-4b55-8f64-35597771189a">Three phases of preparing for Trump 2.0</h2>Mische said he expects three phases in how consulting firms respond to the new presidency. First, they'll need more confidence about what they think will happen in 2025. Next, they'll need to work through the backlog of extended but deferred job offers to see who is still interested in working for the firm. And once they have clarity in those regards, firms can start amping up their recruiting efforts.He expects much demand in the energy sectors, from fossil fuels to renewables, and an increased focus on more efficient government spending.The federal government spends billions annually on consulting services, and he said there may be increased demand from agencies Trump has suggested making major changes to, including the Department of Education, the Justice Department, and the Department of Defense.

What Trump's win means for the consulting industry

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President Joe Biden's key plans for broad student-debt relief are blocked in court.</li><li>Neither former President Trump nor VP Kamala Harris would be able to act on them imminently.</li></ul>Millions of federal student-loan borrowers remain in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-blocked-biden-debt-cancellation-education-department-relief-2024-10">a debt-relief limbo</a> that the election won't immediately solve.That's because President Joe Biden's latest attempt to grant broad relief is blocked in court by a lawsuit from GOP-led states. Vice President Kamala Harris has said she supports Biden's efforts, but if she wins she won't have the option to move it forward until the court reaches a decision. Former President Donald Trump has opposed forgiveness altogether and has called for abolishing the Education Department.Despite its inability to provide broad cancellation, Biden's Education Department has issued targeted relief that has given nearly 5 million borrowers debt cancellation to date.Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal has been working on these efforts since 2021, trying to improve a higher education system that heavily relies on<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-repayment-issues-debt-relief-broken-industry-2023-9"> student loans</a>.He told Business Insider that shifting to a new administration's priorities will be "a baton race." He hopes the next president continues his work of thinking beyond just relief."We need to make sure that we run the student loan programs in a way that protects students from being left with unaffordable debts," he said. "But we also need to invest in making those programs affordable on the front end and then making sure that those programs reliably lead to graduation and a job."The issue has hardly been mentioned by the presidential candidates — drowned out by concerns about the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-expensive-goods-price-impact-presidential-election-scenarios-trump-harris-2024-10">economy</a>, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-harris-immigration-jobs-arizona-economy-mass-deportation-employment-wages-2024-10">immigration</a>, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tax-cut-tariff-plan-outlook-presidential-election-scenarios-harris-trump-2024-10">taxes</a>. It's a big turnaround from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-forgiveness-biden-campaign-promises-education-department-2021-6">2020 election</a> when candidates made ambitious campaign promises. That's likely because polling shows it's not a top issue for voters. Just 18% of respondents said student-debt relief would impact their vote in a May Bankrate<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bankrate.com/loans/student-loans/student-loans-presidential-elections-survey/#struggling"> survey</a>, and a separate May <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-cancellation-forgiveness-college-debt-e5ad2748058cfd037e0323321f532836">survey</a> by the AP-NORC found just three in 10 adults approved of Biden's actions on the issue.While over 40 million Americans still hold student loan balances of about $38,000 on average, and it's keeping them from buying homes, starting a family, or saving for retirement, any future president has limited motivations — or options — for broad relief.<h2 id="de4b5f8c-f342-470c-b137-e8b952968ece">Without broad cancellation, Biden has been chipping away at relief for targeted groups of borrowers</h2>Despite getting stuck on broad relief, Biden's Education Department has spent the last four years making a slew of changes to relief programs like<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-pslf-borrowers-getting-debt-cancellation-biden-relief-2024-7"> Public Service Loan Forgiveness</a>,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-art-institutes-borrower-defense-debt-cancellation-biden-2024-5"> borrower defense to repayment</a> for defrauded borrowers, and the<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-new-gainful-employment-rule-student-loan-debt-relief-2023-9"> gainful employment rule</a>, which ensures a borrower's debt doesn't pile up after they graduate.The department also implemented a new income-driven repayment plan, SAVE, intended to lower monthly payments and provide a shorter timeline for forgiveness. The plan has been blocked in court since July following challenges from GOP-led states, and 8 million enrolled borrowers won't have to make payments for at least six more months as the Education Department works to reprogram its systems and adjust repayment plans for impacted borrowers.Some borrowers have lost hope. Constance, 65, has nearly $200,000 in student debt, an amount that's ballooned since she graduated from law school in 1994. Constance — who requested to go by her first name for privacy — went through periods during which her kids' expenses took up most of her salary. She placed her student loans on deferment, meaning she didn't make payments but interest accrued."It's just out of control at this point, and there's no way I'm going to be able to pay it off," Constance said.She's disappointed because she would likely qualify for Biden's<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-announces-new-student-loan-forgiveness-plan-who-qualifies-relief-2024-4"> second attempt at broader student-debt relief</a>, which has been blocked in court.Specifically, the plan would cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for borrowers whose balances have grown because of unpaid interest and provide relief for borrowers who first entered repayment at least 20 years ago.On October 25, the Education Department unveiled a separate proposal to provide relief to borrowers<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-plan-borrowers-facing-financial-hardship-education-department-2024-10"> experiencing long-term financial hardship</a> that prevents them from repaying their loans, including challenges with high childcare or healthcare costs. The department expects to finalize the plan in 2025, and it did not comment on how a future administration could impact the relief.Sara Partridge, associate director for higher education policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund, told BI that it's hard to predict what relief will come for student-loan borrowers as legal challenges remain ongoing."We will likely need to see how the current case against the Plan B rule plays out to have a better understanding of what exactly is possible in the future," Partridge said.Kvaal said that moving forward, he wants to focus on the way the country finances higher education. He also said that borrowers should expect more action on student-loan industry regulation, pointing to the Education Department's restructuring of servicers' contracts over the past year. Those changes have enabled the department to process debt relief applications quicker and implement more safeguards for borrowers to ensure their servicers are fulfilling their contractual obligations.<h2 id="a6faf6f8-07ba-4a7e-9d8c-539861222c09">Harris vs. Trump on student loans</h2>Even though both Harris and Trump provided minimal detail on how they would address student debt, Partridge said it's helpful to look back on their previous actions."I would expect continued improvements and limited expansions of debt relief where legally possible under a Harris-Walz administration," Partridge said.She said the Trump administration "didn't take any major steps" to fix long-standing issues, like backlogs with Public Service Loan Forgiveness and borrower defense applications. Borrowers should not expect expanded relief or reform should Trump win the election. He also lauded the Supreme Court decision striking down Biden's debt relief.The composition of Congress will also impact what's in store for student-loan borrowers — Republican control would mean that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-bill-overhaul-student-loan-repayment-stop-debt-relief-foxx-2024-1">previously introduced legislation</a> to prevent relief could be signed into law."Where is the forgiveness for the guy who didn't go to college but is working to pay off the loan on the truck he takes to work? What about the woman who paid off her student loans, but is now struggling to afford her mortgage? Is the administration providing them relief? Of course not," Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate Education Committee, said in a recent statement.Regardless of who wins the election, legal challenges to debt relief will keep borrowers in limbo. Kvaal said the fight isn't over, and the Biden administration will work to provide relief under its authority as long as it can."It has gone to the full extent of its authority to offer relief to borrowers," Kvaal said. "We are fighting currently in court to offer more debt relief, but we also are taking dozens of actions that are not contested in court that have helped millions of borrowers."

Millions of student-loan borrowers are waiting for broad debt cancellation. The next president won't have any immediate answers.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>More than 750 job seekers shared their frustrations trying to find work recently.</li><li>They said long stretches of unemployment are draining their finances and forcing them to make sacrifices.</li></ul>More than 750 Americans between the ages of 18 and 76 who have recently <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/unemployment-cant-find-job-applications-six-figures-retirement-degree-remote-2024-10">struggled to find work</a> shared their experiences with Business Insider. Those insights illustrate some universal frustrations with the job hunt, despite different locations, ages, and experience levels.Through emails and an online form, readers shared stories of fierce competition for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/white-collar-jobs-remote-office-workers-cant-get-hired-2024-9">white-collar roles</a> and lower-paying gigs alike. Many older respondents said they couldn't secure a decently paying job after layoffs, and some Gen Zers and young millennials said they couldn't land a job in their field, despite <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-xer-cant-find-job-unemployment-degree-useless-hiring-remote-2024-9">advanced degrees</a>.Nearly all respondents were worried about their finances, from single parents who had to skip bills and enroll in SNAP to put food on the table to those who drained their retirement accounts, were forced to downsize their homes, or moved in with their relatives.In September, job openings fell to the lowest level in over three years. The unemployment rate has been low, but the number of people who were long-term unemployed — people out of jobs and looking for work for at least 27 weeks — has grown this year.Kory Kantenga, LinkedIn's head of economics for Americas, told BI finding work is tougher amid a slowing jobs market. He said companies "didn't nitpick about whether you were over or underqualified for a job" a few years ago.Scott Fite, 60, is based in Pennsylvania and has been looking for IT roles since he was laid off in April.To save money, his family has dined out less often and dropped a few streaming services. If he doesn't find a job soon, he said he'll have to draw upon savings that would have gone toward his daughters' college tuition.BI combed through over 600 reader responses to the survey and over 150 emails to discern four main frustrations.<h2 id="d7db38df-e97e-4bc5-a2b4-44851ec00610">Older Americans are struggling to find work</h2>Fritz Boyle, 55, has been looking for roles as a user experience strategist in AI and software development since he was laid off last year. He said he's landed several interviews and made it to the final round twice, but he hasn't received an offer."I believe I am suffering from ageism, and much younger, cheaper candidates are getting the positions I have been applying to," said Boyle, who lives in Portland, Oregon.About half of the total respondents were over the age of 50. Over a dozen respondents also said they couldn't find roles that paid the same as previous positions and, therefore, settled for lower-paying jobs, which delayed their retirement plans.For many who still haven't found work, their finances are taking a hit. Over three dozen respondents said they pulled from their 401(k) or IRAs to stay afloat. A few dozen baby boomer and Gen X respondents who were recently laid off said they went into debt for the first time or relocated to a lower-cost area. A few said they have declared or are considering declaring bankruptcy.To be sure, while many older job seekers said their age is a challenge, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows the <a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU04000095#0">unemployment rate</a> for those between 55 and 64 has persistently been lower than the <a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATENSA">national rate</a>. One explanation for this is that older workers drop in and out of job searches — and thus the pool of unemployed workers as defined by BLS — taking the time to network or find the right opportunity, said economist Aaron Terrazas.<h2 id="d6a060cb-09d7-49e7-8eed-0a98875ed0cb">Increased competition and AI are fueling frustrations</h2>Dozens of respondents across all generations said they were frustrated by the number of people who applied for the roles they wanted on platforms like LinkedIn, which shows whether jobs are popular among applicants.A LinkedIn analysis of August data for eight countries, including the US, showed that competition for roles across eight industries is higher than two years ago — including professional services, financial services, and accommodation and food services.Over three dozen respondents, predominantly in their 30s and 40s, said they're confused about how to stand out amid the crowded fields, especially as many companies use AI to screen candidate's applications. Some paid to have their résumés and cover letters curated and optimized, while a few described the search process as a "full-time job."A few respondents think postings of ghost or fake jobs are a reason they're struggling to get a job. Chris Jorgensen, 37, lives in Utah and has been looking for a writing, editing, or copywriting job since last year. He said he's encountered <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-scam-victim-how-i-knew-what-i-did-2023-5">hiring scams</a> where someone is trying to obtain his personal information and received rejection notices soon after applying for a job, which he believes were sent by a company's AI. Alternatively, the advertisement turns out to be a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tell-youre-applying-to-ghost-job-not-hiring-2023-4">ghost job</a> or his application will be ignored."The vast majority of jobs I apply to just never respond," he said.<h2 id="44a7ad9f-5698-4a8a-9abd-afd4684daf33">Every generation feels shut out from white-collar jobs</h2>Over a hundred respondents across all generations said it's increasingly difficult to secure employment in the white-collar labor market. Over a dozen recent college graduates said they can't find a tech role, despite relevant internships and bachelor's degrees from top schools. Meanwhile, some executives with 30 years of experience said their credentials may have prevented them from getting interviews for lower-paying white-collar roles.Employment in professional and business services, which includes industries like legal and advertising, has cooled down in recent months, per data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The information sector, which includes many tech roles, has also seen weak employment changes this year.To try to regain an edge in the competitive market, a few dozen respondents, predominantly in their 30s and 40s, returned to school for an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/college-worth-it-genx-six-figure-salary-paid-student-debt-2024-8">advanced degree</a>. While some said they valued those degrees, others cautioned that getting an MBA or a master's from higher-ranked universities didn't have noticeable results for them.Stephanie Allen, 53, has been seeking writing and customer service jobs since March 2023. She said her education has sometimes hindered her search."I believe having a master's degree in English turns off prospective employers because they don't believe that I'll stay at the position and will want something more challenging and higher paying," said the Maryland resident.Younger respondents also said they're struggling to secure roles in the corporate world after graduating. Over a dozen respondents in their 20s said that, even with degrees from top universities in computer science or business management, they couldn't break into those industries and are instead exploring more entrepreneurial paths.<h2 id="e8e3f92d-22c8-49e3-ba77-c9f795ee678f">It's also harder to get lower-paying jobs</h2>Over 200 respondents, predominantly in their 40s and 50s, said they can't land positions that pay considerably less than their previous roles. At least two dozen said they've noticed fewer openings for managerial roles or believe the pay for certain positions doesn't match the necessary qualifications.A few respondents in their 40s and 50s said they took over $50,000 pay cuts after holding C-suite or managerial positions just to have some income. Others said that getting a job in retail after years in the corporate world was tough as hiring managers perceived them to be overqualified.Sean Tetpon, 55, held jobs as a communications manager at large companies, including IBM, where he often made six-figure salaries. After a series of layoffs, he's been unemployed for the last year. Despite submitting over 1,000 applications, he said he hasn't secured anything at or below his past salaries. Tetpon, who has a bachelor's degree from the University of Idaho, said getting any white-collar role is "like playing the lottery.""It's scary because I've been preparing for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retirement-savings-medical-costs-baby-boomers-paying-for-cancer-treatment-2024-9">retirement</a> for a long time, but now that I've basically wiped out my savings because of my layoff, I'm now wondering if I will be able to retire," Tetpon <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/unemployment-cant-find-job-applications-six-figures-retirement-degree-remote-2024-10">said</a>.We want to hear from you. Are you struggling to get a job? Have you previously struggled but have a job now? Please fill out this <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFzdjKgPDxVF9uICRF5rBCcY2jVkJbj1DX_H3oclJOQDQp5A/viewform">quick form</a>.

You Searched For "service industry" and got 13 results

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