Workers are feeling stuck. Gallup reported in March that most count themselves as struggling and are looking for an exit to greener pastures, but doubt there’s one to be found. It’s the result of what some term a “low-hire, low-fire” labor market.

The effect of artificial intelligence on employment in the long term isn’t yet known. But take the bombastic predictions of some industry insiders, recent mass layoffs in Big Tech, and a multiyear AI media cycle (from which this newsletter is not immune), and it’s no surprise that workers are casting a worried glance over their shoulders. 

Meanwhile, for young people looking to enter the workforce, the slowdown in hiring has made a first job increasingly hard to come by. Those currently in the workforce are contending with employers that no longer see themselves as competing for workers, instead using their newfound upper hand to cut labor costs — at the expense of the benefits that employees prize most.

This is the first in a two-part series on economic anxiety, artificial intelligence, and the future of work. We open this month with a dispatch from Silicon Valley about AI leaders’ visions for our economic future. In Fortune, learn about the impact that the growth of AI has had on the market for entry-level jobs. And in Business Insider, learn how the tight labor market has shifted the balance of power towards management — and what that means for workers’ benefits.

Stay tuned for the next edition of Resource Roundup, where we’ll explore some of the innovative proposals for prioritizing workers’ needs in our new age of work. 

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The New York Times

Silicon Valley Is Bracing for a Permanent Underclass

When automation and industrial relocation began reshaping the geography of American manufacturing, a new term emerged to describe the factory workers thrown out of the workforce: “the underclass.”

Today’s AI industry insiders are predicting another wave of dislocation, this time encompassing a wide swath of blue- and white-collar workers, writes tech journalist Jasmine Sun. Some industry leaders of an ethical bent have laid out policy manifestos for adapting to the consequences of their companies’ own models.

As it stands, the socially-minded rhetoric of leading AI labs is a step in the right direction, and the voices of concerned workers are likely to only grow in strength, but a new social contract for the AI age has yet to materialize.

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Fortune

AI won’t kill your job — it will kill the path to your first one

Entry-level jobs are getting harder to come by. AI might be the reason.

The technology isn’t replacing established workers en masse, at least not yet, writes a team from the Yale School of Management. Research shows varied effects. One study found that AI hasn’t affected employment or productivity at most companies, while a different report found that AI is costing thousands of jobs a month. And still another analysis found that some employees, like software engineers, see AI tools as beneficial to their roles.

The dynamic that is instead emerging during this period of flux is one in which workers’ roles are shifting at firms that have embraced AI, allowing companies to do more with less, and leading to slowdowns in hiring. It’s not so much mass layoffs as it is vacancies left unfilled. Those looking for a first job are left knocking at the door.

Businesses should be wary of inadvertently closing off their talent pipeline through aggressively eliminating entry-level positions, the Yale team argues. And it’ll take a new approach to education to ensure workers are prepared for an age where they will increasingly work alongside AI.

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Business Insider

PTO, parental leave, pensions: Even the most prized benefits are on the chopping block

The first years of the post-pandemic economy were defined by footloose workers. Those dissatisfied with their jobs were quick to find a new employer offering better pay, benefits, and working conditions.

Times have changed, reports Business Insider’s Sarah Needleman. The labor market has weakened, meaning that workers have fewer alternatives to their current employers, and employers are taking advantage of their increased power. Major US companies have cut benefits like paid parental leave, a legal guarantee in most other countries. Additional benefits may be next on the chopping block.

Absent a pick-up in the job market or a stroke of managerial enlightenment, it’ll take an intervention by policymakers, or labor organizing, to shift the balance in favor of workers’ livelihoods.