Breaking Job News: "Godfather of AI" Says Half of White-Collar Jobs Will Vanish & Hiring Hits New Lows

The job market is shifting faster than anyone expected, and most people have no idea what’s coming. Hiring is slowing, mobility is freezing, and new AI warnings are targeting the exact white-collar jobs millions rely on. In today’s Breaking Job News, host Pete Newsome reveals the data, the signals, and the hidden risks shaping your career right now.

He starts with the truth behind the “low-hire, low-fire” job market that’s trapping workers in place. Fewer openings mean tougher competition, stalled promotions, and a harder path for new grads and mid-career pros trying to level up. Retention looks strong on paper, but within companies, movement is slowing to a crawl, reshaping the path to advancement.

Then Pete turned to Georgetown University, where AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton delivered his most direct warning yet: AI isn’t just changing work… It’s designed to replace it. From software development and financial analysis to marketing, customer support, legal research, and even middle management, white-collar roles are in the crosshairs. Students in the audience overwhelmingly believed AI would damage their career prospects, not boost them, and the data backs up their fear.

But this episode isn’t just alarm bells. Pete breaks down a real, actionable playbook for staying competitive in an AI-first economy: mastering domain depth, building AI-powered workflows, validating outputs, and turning tools into results employers can measure. For leaders, we outline what effective AI adoption actually looks like, from upskilling programs to oversight standards that prevent risk and accelerate ROI.

💬What do you think: Do you feel it’s harder to move up or switch roles this year? 

News Articles:
1. AI Warning From Geoffrey Hinton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz3gvM7Oj3g
2. Low-Hire, Low-Fire Job Market for Who? https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/low-hire-low-fire-job-market/
3. ADP's Employee Motivation and Commitment Index (EMCI): https://www.adpresearch.com/employee-sentiment-weakened-in-november/

Don’t miss out! Subscribe for weekly updates on the latest job news. 

🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/

👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/
Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog

Episode Transcript

Pete Newsome (00:00):
Today's job market headlines include a warning
from the godfather of AI duringa talk at Georgetown and
employers hiring fewer people.
But first, if you want to knowwhat workers really feel right
now, it can be summed up in oneword.
Worse.
ADP's latest employeemotivation and commitment index,
which they call the EMCI, fellagain in November.

(00:21):
It's now at 145, which marksthe third straight monthly
decline.
Five of the ten sectors theymeasure lost ground.
Real estate took the biggesthit, dropping 16 points, and
professional, scientific, andtechnical services fell nine
points.
Now, surprisingly, it wasn'tall bad news.
Transportation and warehousinghit an all-time high at 166, and

(00:42):
construction climbed, which hasbeen a steady rise since uh the
summer.
Sentiment generally follows howthe job market is going, so
these numbers didn't surprise meat all.
When hiring picks up, the EMCIscores will too.
The question is, how long willwe have to wait until that
begins?
The next headline tells ushiring is cooled, but layoffs

(01:03):
haven't spiked.
So what's going on?
According to Glassdoor's chiefeconomist Daniel Zow, we're in a
low hire, low fire environmentright now.
And I agree with him, all thedata that I've seen supports
that.
Hiring is stalled, but layoffsare still below pre-COVID
levels.
We just haven't seen aggressivecuts at scale, at least not
yet.
But there's consequences tothis situation.

(01:25):
And what I mean by that is whenthings don't move, those who
have been laid off or have lefttheir jobs for any reason makes
it harder to get another one.
And there's more competition asa result, specifically at
injury level, because new gradsthey're trying to enter the
workforce.
People with more experience aregoing after those same jobs
right now.
So that's creating a mess.

(01:45):
And then on top of all that, ifyou are currently employed and
you'd like to move, there's justnowhere to go.
And you're having a difficulttime moving up in your
organization because peoplearen't leaving.
So this is a bad cycle thatwe're in, no question about it.
And if you're an employer, allof this should tell you that
it's a bad idea to assume thatyour team has stayed because

(02:06):
they're happy.
They might be happy, but inmany cases they're staying
because they just don't haveanother job to go to.
So don't take your employeesfor granted.
Train them, prepare them forthe future.
And if you've listened to me atall, you'll know that that
means getting them ready for AI.
And a recent survey that we didbacked that up.
78% of employees who took oursurvey said that they would

(02:29):
consider switching jobs or havealready done so for better
training and opportunities withAI.
And 62% said they've alreadybeen thinking about it,
especially younger workers.
Gen Z in particular is ready tomove if there's better
opportunity, specifically in theAI space.
So if you act now and youprepare, you're going to have a
much better chance of retainingyour team when the pendulum

(02:52):
swings back the other way.
And the last big headline todaythe godfather of AI says it
will replace more jobs than itcreates, and it's going to
happen soon.
Now, this is from a talkyesterday at Georgetown.
It was Bernie Sanders on stagewith Jeffrey Hinton.
He's a literal Nobel PrizeAward winner for his work with
machine learning.
So he really is an expert inthe truest sense in this space.

(03:16):
And it was a really interestingconversation.
It's on YouTube.
I recommend listening to it.
It was called AI The Promiseand Peril.

And here's the spoiler (03:23):
they spent most of the time that they
were on stage talking about theperil side, especially when it
comes to jobs.
Hinton was brutally direct.
He said the whole business modelof the biggest AI companies
boils down to one thing, andthat's replacing human labor so
they can sell the same or betteroutput for a fraction of the
payroll cost.

(03:43):
And Bernie, who's veryconcerned about what AI is going
to mean to job displacement,and I'm with him about that.
He asked about techbillionaires like Elon and Jeff
Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, LarryEllison, whether Hinton thinks
that they're worried aboutputting millions of people out
of work.
And Hinton came back to thatand said they should be worried,

(04:06):
but I don't think they are.
And many of them haven't reallyabsorbed that if the workers
don't get paid, there's nobodyleft to buy their products.
They haven't thought throughthe massive social disruption
we'll get with very highunemployment.
Bernie shared some commentsfrom some other technology
leaders.
Bill Gates said that we'reheading into a world where
humans won't be needed for mostthings.

(04:26):
And the CEO of Anthropic, andthey're the company behind
Claude, recently told Congressthat AI could eliminate roughly
half of all entry-levelwhite-collar jobs in the next
three to five years.
And when hearing Bernie makethose statements, Hinton didn't
push back on any of it.
In fact, he nodded along andsaid those forecasts are
probably about right.

(04:47):
They both agreed the disruptionwon't just be coming for a
truck driver and factory workerjobs.
We've heard that for years thatrobots are coming to take
those.
But instead, it's comingfastest for the roles that
college students are trainingfor right now.
Software development, legalresearch, financial analysis,
marketing, you know, even thingslike radiology if you're going

(05:08):
to med school and middlemanagement.
So that is a huge concern withthis, according to these guys.
Bernie polled the audience atone point and he asked the
Georgetown students that uh toraise their hand if they thought
AI was going to help theirfuture career, and almost nobody
did.
And then he asked them to raisetheir hands if they think it's

(05:29):
going to hurt their career.
And almost every hand went up.
And that supports our recentsurvey data.
This shows 34% of Gen Zemployees are highly concerned
about AI posing a threat totheir jobs within the next three
years.
And while nobody knows exactlywhat's coming, I believe those
who are paying attention are theones who are going to fare

(05:50):
better.
The market has already changedand it's only going to pick up
speed.
And pretending otherwise justwon't help.
So pay close attention.
Don't rely on your employer,your school, your professors.
Educate yourself.
Embrace the tools.
Use them.
Figure out how to apply them tomake you better at whatever it
is you're doing.
That will increase yourpotential to stay ahead of the

(06:12):
curve.
Because right now, the futureisn't predetermined, but it's
definitely accelerating.
And here's a fun fact before weclose, or maybe a not so fun
fact.
I probably should reconsider howI phrase this each day.
But here it is.
The lowest paying jobs in theUS are food prep and serving.
No surprise, they also have thehighest turnover.

(06:34):
So if you're a restaurateur, ifyou're in that space, maybe you
should shift how you pay yourteam.
I don't know how manyorganizations are doing that out
there, but I know that highturnover replacing employees
comes at such a cost.
Maybe you should just pay thembetter, happier employees,
better customer service,probably better food as a
result, too.
Everyone wins.

(06:54):
So there is our show for today.
Thanks for listening.
Please like, subscribe, andshare with anyone you think
might be interested.
And as always, I welcome yourfeedback.
Talk to you soon.