Lightcast

Lightcast Ascent convening. It was an incredible few days with leaders from around the nation. They said we want to have a "discussion" and they meant it. I am honored to get the opportunity to represent not only the work Mississippi is doing, but my viewpoints as a workforce development professional thinking about systems, incentives, and outcomes.

Communities are in an all-out competition to retain and attract talent. And that competition is only going to intensify as talent gets scarcer in the years to come. I'm excited to delve into the forces influencing the battle for talent and how communities can stand out to skilled workers (and businesses) at the DCI Marketing Summit on Sept. 25 in Denver. If you work in economic development and/or talent attraction marketing and research, this event will be well worth your time. Registration closes Friday. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/d5wij8dV. Many thanks to Patience Fairbrother Wallace for the invite! Thanks as well to Julie Curtin, Robyn Domber, and the full Development Counsellors International team that we've been partnering with to help communities and states develop strategies to attract and retain talent. Thanks also to Collin P., Chris Compton, Carrie Cole, and all my colleagues at Lightcast who support our talent migration work for cities. For a preview of my talk at the summit, check out the conversation Patience and I had on her Talent Wars podcast earlier this summer about our latest Fault Lines research: https://lnkd.in/dMwgxKNV.

The organizations with the best strategy don't just collect more data. They connect the right signals. Company structure. || Technology investments. || Hiring strategies. || Market movement. Our latest Organizational Intelligence release expands the breadth and depth of these signals, helping teams better understand how organizations evolve and where opportunities are emerging. Explore what's new: https://lnkd.in/e5qpyD3X

Our data on founders is showing something strange. In 2008 and 2020, the share of people becoming founders rose. Today, we’re seeing something similar—but without a recession. Out of all the job transitions we see in our data, the share of founder moves is rising while the number is falling. When the economy is uncertain, workers change their behavior, and one place that shows up is entrepreneurship. Part of making better workforce decisions is understanding the economic context, so when new patterns appear, they unlock a new level of understanding in the labor market.

Lightcast data in partnership with the Bipartisan Policy Center, as well as insights from our Principal Economist Ron Hetrick, are cited in Inc. Magazine's new article "Finance Jobs Just Hit a 4-Year Low—but Banks Posted Nearly 49,000 Roles Seeking New Tech Skills". Discussion centers around Ai as a disruptor. Read the story here: https://lnkd.in/euiJNJ8k

I found this piece from OpenAI genuinely helpful for understanding AI's actual impact on work. The article looks at AI usage across different career areas, and finds that: 1. Nearly half of non-generic ChatGPT use happens outside a person's own occupation 2. This is especially the case in fields like customer success, design and HR 3. The cross-occupation use cases traveling farther are engineering and marketing. Why I find this particularly useful: • This is about use, not potential • It suggests AI is broadening the scope of many existing roles (something we've also starting seeing in the skills data at Lightcast) • Most importantly, it shows which workers are using AI for which tasks This is level of practical detail organisations need to shape decisions. If I were an AI company, I would lead with and expand on this type of evidence - the real value, not other predictions. Link in comments.

The best business decisions start with better visibility. Organizational Intelligence connects workforce data, company intelligence, and market signals to help teams: Understand company characteristics Benchmark against competitors Track workforce stability See what's possible: https://lnkd.in/e5qpyD3X

We've put together a SXSW Panel we think you'll find valuable. Vote for our group so that we can share our collective insights on data and skills at this year's conference. Voting is open now through Aug 23. >> https://lnkd.in/gmDhdwKg Click the link → Log in or create a free account → Click the heart ❤️ → Share with your network We appreciate your support. Vote to bring these conversations to life! “Make the Data Do It: Skills-First Hiring, Built In" Skills-first hiring scales when built into employer systems. Learn to spot degree screens, read skills-based signals, and redesign job requisitions to screen people in. Moderator: Layla O'Kane (OpportunityWork) Panelists: Mari Kent (Tallo), Matt Walsh (Lightcast), Elissa Salas (SkillUp Coalition).

We finally got the drop in payrolls I have been expecting all this year. With the labor force plunging yet again as retirements surge, and no one to offset these declines, the LFPR drops yet again. This is happening about on schedule with the native population inversion in 2030. It should continue but there may be periods where it halts. There was even a drop in those not in labor force who want a job as the not in labor force keeps jumping.

Fortune's new article "As AI creates more entrepreneurs and a skills mismatch, Gen Z faces the choice of being a specialist or a ‘general-purpose nerd’" references our labor shortages data and our 2024 prediction of what was to come --- which is now a reality many young people are facing. https://lnkd.in/enFMNdaE