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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jobs data: Why this expert expects a weakening labor market
The labor market is in focus as investors are set to get fresh jobs data throughout the week. The Burning Glass Institute director of economic research, Guy Berger, joins Market Domination Overtime to discuss how several policies coming out of the Trump administration are putting pressure on the labor market, including immigration changes and tariffs. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here.
Forbes
26-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
10 Stackable Credentials To Stand Out In Today's AI-Driven Job Market
UCLA Corridor In today's career landscape, where AI is transforming industries at lightning speed, education is no longer a one-and-done proposition. The traditional four-year degree still has value, but for many workers, it's no longer the only pathway to career advancement. Enter stackable credentials; short, skills-based learning experiences that build on one another. When chosen strategically, these opportunities unlock real economic mobility. But here's the catch: we're swimming in options—more than 1.1 million credentials are currently on offer in the U.S., according to the American Enterprise Institute, spanning everything from bootcamps to badges. So how do you know which ones are actually worth your time and money? A new report from the Burning Glass Institute and American Enterprise Institute offers one of the clearest answers we've seen. Drawing on the career histories of 65 million U.S. workers, the researchers evaluated over 23,000 non-degree credentials to see which ones truly move the needle on wages, job changes, and upward mobility. Their conclusion is sobering: only about 12% of credentials make a measurable difference in a learner's first-year income. But there's good news in the details. For those top-performing programs—the ones in the top decile—the average wage gain was nearly $5,000 in just the first year. And for credentials aligned with tech and AI-driven fields, that gain can climb well into five figures. So, let's talk about the credentials that are doing the most work in today's economy. What follows are ten stackable credential pathways that show strong return on investment, practical skill-building, and clear momentum for career mobility. Each of these offers a foundation you can build on—and fast. Serverless On AWS To Microservices on AWS The Serverless pathway is tailor-made for developers. Starting with the basics of AWS Lambda and event-driven functions, you'll progress into designing full-fledged microservices architectures—a key backend skill in AI and real-time applications. ROI: An impressive $13,700 in first-year wage growth Cybersecurity Foundations To Palo Alto Cortex XSOAR As AI accelerates threat detection, automation in security operations is the next frontier. This pathway starts with core cybersecurity and leads to specialized training in Cortex XSOAR, a security orchestration tool used by leading enterprises. ROI: Estimated $12,600 Google Kubernetes Engine To Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) Containerization is the new normal for scalable AI systems. This pathway starts with Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) fundamentals and advances to the Certified Kubernetes Administrator, one of the most in-demand credentials for DevOps professionals. ROI: Around $12,400 first-year ROI Google Data Analytics To Professional Data Engineer Data is the foundation of AI—and Google offers one of the most accessible entry points for aspiring data professionals. The Data Analytics Professional Certificate, designed for beginners, takes about 6 months and covers cleaning, analyzing, and visualizing data using tools like SQL and Tableau. From there, learners can move into the Professional Data Engineer certification, which focuses on managing scalable data infrastructure and machine learning models. ROI: Estimated $12,200 wage increase in the first year SAS Programming To Advanced SAS Data Science SAS may not be flashy, but it's a powerhouse in regulated industries like healthcare, pharma, and finance. These certifications validate high-stakes analytical skills and meet strict compliance requirements—making them highly trusted by employers. ROI: Estimated $11,800 for the full stack IBM Data Science Certificate To AI Engineering IBM's stackable credentials offer a clear path from data foundations to AI deployment. The Data Science certificate introduces Python, stats, and open-source tools like Jupyter Notebooks. Advancing to AI Engineering brings machine learning and deep learning into focus, with real-world applications built into the curriculum. ROI: Around $11,400 in first-year gains Tableau Desktop Specialist To Tableau Data Analyst Data is only as powerful as the story it tells. Tableau certs train you to transform raw data into dashboards that decision-makers can actually use. The Desktop Specialist is a fast entry point; the Data Analyst certification builds on it with more robust tools for visual analytics. ROI: Approximately $9,200 in first-year wage bump CompTIA A+ to Network+ to Security+ This is a classic IT pathway that continues to yield dividends. The A+ certification gets you in the door with skills in computer hardware and troubleshooting. Add Network+ to demonstrate networking expertise, and Security+ for essential cybersecurity knowledge. Together, these three certifications form a stack that's not only employer-recognized but also credit-eligible at many community colleges. ROI: Approximately $7,800 combined wage increase Azure Fundamentals To Azure AI Engineer Associate Microsoft's answer to AWS is growing fast—especially in large enterprise environments. Start with Azure Fundamentals, which introduces basic cloud concepts, then level up to the AI Engineer Associate credential, which focuses on integrating machine learning and cognitive services into enterprise apps. ROI: About $7,100 in first-year wage gains AWS Cloud Practitioner To Solutions Architect Associate As companies race to modernize their infrastructure, cloud skills are in high demand. Amazon Web Services dominates the market, and these two credentials are considered essential building blocks for anyone entering the field. The Cloud Practitioner certification requires a basic understanding of cloud concepts and about 20 hours of prep. The Solutions Architect Associate, a step up, dives deeper into designing scalable, secure systems and typically demands 80–100 hours of study. ROI: Approximately $5,000 to $6,300 in first-year wage gain For students, early-career professionals, and career changers, these ten credential pathways offer something highly valuable: immediate labor market value with clear, buildable steps. And for policymakers debating initiatives like Workforce Pell, the data is clear. We should fund what works. Credentials that show measurable gains—on wages, job mobility, and advancement—deserve public investment. Those that don't should be reconsidered. Stackable credentials are future of learning in the AI era—modular, data-driven, and outcome-anchored. Choose well, stack wisely, and you'll be prepared not just to survive AI's disruption, but to lead through it.
Business Insider
05-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Offices are about to get very, very grouchy
In 2023, Kathleen, a sales manager at a software company, was given terrible news at work: She had to lay off her entire team. Her own job was spared, but surviving the bloodbath didn't leave her feeling relieved. "I felt like a traitor," she recalls. "I kept thinking, Oh, God, am I next?" After living in dread for months, she started looking for a new job. A year and a half later, she's still looking. Virtually no one has been hiring across tech, and the few jobs she's found were offering salaries far below what she's looking to earn. And now, as Donald Trump's tariffs have thrown the economy into turmoil and uncertainty, she fears it will take even longer to move on from her employer. That means she has to keep going to work, day after day, to a job she no longer wants to do. She feels herself getting more and more bitter — and she admits she's become pretty checked out on the job. "I'm just over it," she says. Much attention has been paid to the fear that Trump's trade war will stoke inflation. But his on-again, off-again tariffs are already having another, more immediate effect: They're discouraging employers from hiring. White-collar professionals like Kathleen are finding themselves stuck in jobs they've been trying to leave for years, creating a simmering brew of pent-up frustration and low morale. Last year, employee engagement dropped to its lowest level in a decade — and the chaos created by Trump's tariffs could soon make the mounting dissatisfaction even worse. "People are increasingly grumpy because they can't change jobs," says Guy Berger, the director of economic research at the Burning Glass Institute. "Even in a relatively optimistic case, this could go on for a while." An unmotivated workforce isn't just bad for workers — it's bad for their employers. Studies have shown that employee disengagement results in lower sales, higher customer dissatisfaction, and smaller profits. Gallup estimates that low engagement is already costing businesses trillions of dollars worldwide — a bill that's likely to climb as more and more employees sour on jobs they're unable to leave. What's more, an extended standstill can choke off economic growth. A healthy job market needs a certain amount of churn to move workers into jobs that make better use of their talents. Otherwise people get stuck in jobs they've outgrown, earning lower wages than their experience and skills merit. A job market that's frozen in place can slow economic growth for years to come. Ever since the pandemic, when layoffs hit the fastest pace since the Great Depression, companies have struggled to stabilize their staffing levels. Economists have been calling the current hiring standstill the Big Stay. Late last year, that appeared to be coming to an end as a growing share of employers reported that they were preparing to hire more workers. But ever since Trump took office, it has started to look like the Big Stay could become the Endless Stay. "Firms that were planning on expanding are putting those expansion plans on ice," says Berger. "Some baseline level of uncertainty is now semipermanently in the mix. A lot of things that people thought were previously outside the realm of reality have suddenly become big risks." A customer support manager I'll call Dean started looking for a new job seven months ago. He realized that he'd hit a ceiling at the tech company he works for, and he was eager for a new challenge. "I know I'm being underutilized," he says. "I don't want my skills to get rusty." Late last year, he was starting to feel optimistic he would land something soon. But now he's worried his search could stretch out a lot longer — perhaps through Trump's entire presidency. "How do I make it through this storm?" he says. "Do I sit still, or do I go back on the hunt? I can't just wait it out for this to pass. This is the new world we're in." The economic uncertainty also means that employees who are fed up at work can't afford to quit their jobs without having another lined up. Laurie, an auditor at an energy company, has been so miserable that she has saved up what she calls a "fuck you fund" — enough money to rage-quit her job if things got really bad. The fund is big enough to tide her over for up to a year, which she thought would give her more than enough time to find a new job. But not anymore. "I'm afraid the economy is turning to shit right now," she says. "Realistically, if you leave now, you could very possibly be unemployed for more than a year." All this prolonged unhappiness doesn't just affect the employees who feel stuck in their jobs — it makes the office unpleasant for everyone. People can't acknowledge they're fed up with work, but their unspoken frustration comes out in other ways. "My tolerance level for bullshit is so low now," Laurie says. "My patience is wearing thin." Kathleen, who used to pride herself on her positivity, worries that her resentment is starting to seep through. "I just have a shorter fuse," she says. "I used to be happy to put in the extra mile. And I'm just not willing to do that anymore." It's like the office version of being in an unhappy marriage. If your coworkers feel trapped, it's hard for anyone to enjoy themselves. Companies, of course, aren't powerless in a frozen job market. As the Big Stay threatens to turn into the Endless Stay, some employers can opt to shake things up — effectively forcing some churn into the labor market by firing old employees to make room to hire new ones. Companies like Meta and Microsoft appear to be doing exactly that, pushing out those they deem to be " low performers" while simultaneously going on a hiring blitz for AI engineers. Dissatisfaction at work, after all, can come from above as well as below. But the new round of layoffs has left employees who are ready to move on feeling even more trapped. Having no job, they know, is way worse than being stuck in a mediocre one. Kathleen, the sales manager, has seen what it's like for her friends who are unemployed. She knows she's lucky to be earning enough money to pay her mortgage and send her kids to summer camp, even if she doesn't love doing the job that earns her that money. Some people might be fine with that — treating a job as just a job — but Kathleen has always been an overachiever. She loves putting everything she has into work. She misses feeling that drive, and she knows she'll feel it again once she's in the right job. And that, in a nutshell, is the ultimate price we're paying for the Endless Stay. With everyone stuck in place, we're unable to tap into the kind of enthusiasm that inspires everyone to bring their best selves to their jobs, and to give it their all. Maybe a lot of low performers are just performers who are feeling low. "I want to put the work in," Kathleen says. "I want to do all the stuff. It's been a long time since I've felt that kind of fire. I'm starting to wonder if it will ever get better."
New York Times
29-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
New Data Provide a Pre-Tariff Snapshot of a Stable but Slowing Labor Market
The labor market remained sound in March, with job openings declining but layoffs remaining near record lows, while rates of new hiring were slow but steady, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday. The numbers from last month are a snapshot of the state of the U.S. economy and labor market before the start of the global trade volatility brought on by President Trump's tariff campaign. 'It reflects a labor market that 'could have been,' given the damage tariffs will do,' argued Guy Berger, the director of economic research at the Burning Glass Institute, which studies the labor market. 'We have the foundations of a labor market stabilization,' he added, 'but trade policy has other ideas.' The prevailing environment before April of subdued hiring and few firings was not an easy one for active job seekers, especially in certain sectors like tech and manufacturing. But the stability of the overall job market was undeniable — so much so that some labor economists started to worry that the conditions bordered on stagnant. Now, the economy is facing a radically different set of challenges. Consumer sentiment has plunged since January, when the import taxes were announced by the White House, as fears of both job loss and higher inflation have surged among households and top business leaders. The effects of the tariffs on shipping have not yet been fully felt. But experts in global freight logistics, such as Craig Fuller, the founder of FreightWaves, expect that to change in the coming days and weeks as companies face tariffs ranging from 10 percent to well over 120 percent on many Chinese goods. Federal job openings declined by 36,000 in March, a result of the Trump administration's steep cutbacks to the federal civil service. And in the overall labor market, job openings fell by 288,000. Some financial analysts are focused on a broader, monthslong pre-tariff slowdown. 'The main story is that job openings are down,' said Neil Dutta, the head of economics at the research firm Renaissance Macro. 'We are at the point where opening declines push up unemployment.' The jobs report for April will help fill out some of the economic picture. Economists expect unemployment to have been largely unchanged and for moderate job growth to have continued. But forecasters are bracing for surprises because of the uncertainty surrounding the tariffs. The employment picture and consumer spending remain bright for now — a point that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emphasized in his public remarks. But many analysts, including Daniel Altman, the chief economist at Instawork, a job search and recruitment site, are in wait-and-see mode. 'I think the jobs report will be more revealing,' Mr. Altman said.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Workers without college degrees make progress in slowing a grim trend, new report shows
Workers without college degrees have, for some time, faced declining opportunities in the workforce. However, new data signals that this may be changing, a sign that hiring managers are less focused on educational attainment and more focused on skills than they were in years past. The Dow Jones Industrial Average set a startling record that shows just how flawed it truly is Venus, Saturn planet parade will make a rare smiley face with the crescent moon: Best time to see April 2025 triple conjunction Can these tiny house villages bring new life to small towns? That's according to new research from Opportunity@Work, a nonprofit focused on increasing career opportunities for people who lack college degrees but are 'skilled through alternative routes' (STARs). The research, which analyzed trends in so-called paper ceilings, finds that from 2000 to 2020, 70% of newly created jobs often required a college degree. However, over the past five years, STARs, or people who have attained a skill set without earning a college degree (for instance, via an apprenticeship or another route), started to regain up to 10% of those jobs, the research found. In other words, while workers without degrees continue to see their share of good-paying jobs decline, the downward trend has at least slowed, which the report attributes to shifting habits in hiring. 'This report shows what is possible when awareness and behavior change together: Job postings are measurably more open to STARs than in the early 2000s,' Opportunity@Work CEO Byron Auguste said in a statement. 'If we want our country to grow together—not apart—amid transformative technological and economic change, the starting point is to value all skills. And if we value all skills, STARs will rise.' This may be good news for job seekers who don't have a college degree or aren't especially keen on earning one, perhaps due to up-front costs. The average cost of a four-year academic degree in the U.S. has more than doubled since 2000, increasing roughly 4% per year. Meanwhile, additional research has shown an uptick in skills-based hiring and a decline in degree requirements. From 2014 to 2023, there was a near-fourfold increase in the number of roles from which degree requirements were dropped, according to researchers from Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute. 'For the last 20 years, many employers' practices appear to assume that having no college degree means you don't have skills,' Erica L. Groshen, senior economic adviser at Cornell University's ILR School, said in a statement. Groshen, a former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner and current chair of the STARs Insights Advisory Panel, added, 'Today, Opportunity@Work provides further evidence to refute that narrative.' This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter: Sign in to access your portfolio
