UAW Strikes Against The Big Three, The Coming Child Care Cliff And GE’s Culp Speaks

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As I write this Friday morning, the United Auto Workers is officially striking against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis after failing to secure a last-minute deal before a midnight deadline. The unprecedented stoppage, which initially targets one plant at each of the automakers, is the first to hit the Big Three all at once.

The move comes amid headcount reductions at all three of the companies, which have offered employees buyouts over the past year. They’re hardly alone: From automakers to venture capital-backed unicorns (Airtable cut 27% of its headcount Thursday) to tech giants like Google (which shed hundreds of recruiting jobs, according to media reports), the layoffs continue. Some are wondering what all the job cuts could mean for tech’s culture.

It’s not all dire news on the job front: Even if the market is cooling, it’s been resilient nonetheless, and demographic trends still mean employers are likely to face what contributor Roberta Matuson calls the “forever labor shortage,” as labor force participation is expected to continue falling over the next decade with Baby Boomers retiring and the number of Gen Z workers getting smaller. It’s going to be an interesting ride, for sure.

That’s all from me until Sept. 29—we’ll be taking a one-week hiatus from this newsletter for a short break. For now, hope it’s a great weekend.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Tech billionaires Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates met with lawmakers Wednesday in a closed-door AI forum to discuss broad regulatory frameworks for AI. They warned of the existential dangers that could come with the uncontrolled advancement of the booming technology, reports Forbes’ Antonio Pequeño IV.

Contributor Allison Dulin Salisbury argues that AI demands a new kind of on-the-job learning, and that employers will “need to step up their strategy and skilling investments in a big way to account for how AI is going to exacerbate an already turbulent talent market.”

POLICY + PRACTICE

The IRS announced an immediate moratorium on processing new Employee Retention Credit claims, a Covid-era relief program meant to prevent layoffs in the early months of the pandemic, citing rampant fraud. The agency says the pause, which will run through at least the end of the year, is meant to protect honest small business owners from scams, reports Forbes’ Kelly Phillips Erb.

Contributor Allison Robinson argues that employers need to care more about the coming childcare cliff, as this month marks the end of childcare funding via the American Rescue Plan. The act’s expiration means the withdrawal of $24 billion in federal funding for childcare; without those, more than 3 million American children may lose access to care.

WHAT’S NEXT: SALESFORCE INTERIM CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER NATHALIE SCARDINO

Contributor Jack Kelley spoke with Salesforce’s interim chief people officer, Nathalie Scardino, about its use of AI in recruiting, its internal talent marketplace and its summer internships that offer AI training. Read more from their interview here.

FACTS AND COMMENT

The Forbes Power Women’s Summit took place Thursday, with high-profile names from business, sports, entertainment and government taking the stage to share their career lessons learned and views on leadership. In a panel discussion about pay transparency, CEO and founder of the nonprofit Moms First Reshma Saujani spoke with Forbes’ Kristin Stoller and UKG Chief People Officer Pat Wadors about the issue.

6%: Percentage pay raise men receive for every child they have, according to Reshma Saujani, citing research that was done by sociologist Michelle Budig. Meanwhile, she said, every time a woman has a child, her pay goes down 4%.

40%: Percentage of parents who said they have gone into debt because of child care expenses, according to Saujani. The data appears to come from a 2021 survey of 2,000 parents by personal finance site The Penny Hoarder.

“For so long we’ve talked about pay equity as a women’s problem,” Saujani said. “We’re not the problem. They are. We have to start talking about it differently.”

STRATEGIES + ADVICE

Sometimes, it really does help to use “weak language.”

It’s a myth that inclusive teams hinder innovation. Here’s why.

How to stop overthinking, overworking and overgiving at your job.

VIDEO

Inside The New GE With CEO Larry Culp

Watch

QUIZ

We might focus on the future of work in this newsletter, but many talent leaders—and certainly the people who work for them—dream of what comes after all those years of work are over. Forbes just published its list of the best places to retire. Which one of these cities made the list?