Human Times

North American Edition

30th September 2026

THE HOT STORY

AI 'may force 11m workers in the U.S. into new jobs'

A report from consulting firm McKinsey & Co. suggests that around 11m workers in the U.S. may need to change jobs by 2035 because of AI-related displacement, and six of every seven workers will face substantial retraining and loss of income. The firm's research found that the full-time workers most likely to have to switch jobs are concentrated in three groups: office and administrative support, retail and sales, and transportation and logistics. Workers are not “interchangeable units,” the report’s authors observe. “Job opportunities can be abundant and yet leave millions of workers without work if those positions require different skills, credentials, locations or pay structures than current jobs.”

Bloomberg

LEADERSHIP

JPMorgan appoints Mark O'Donovan as human resources head

Mark O'Donovan has been appointed as head of human resources at JPMorgan Chase, effective January next year. He succeeds Robin ‌Leopold. Leopold had led human resources at the bank since 2018. CEO Jamie Dimon credited him with helping the company navigate the pandemic, geopolitical changes, and the rapid adoption of AI.

Reuters

STRATEGY

Disney is laying off around 300 employees

Disney is laying off approximately 300 employees, primarily in human resources and technology roles, as part of ongoing job cuts since CEO Josh D'Amaro took over earlier this year. The layoffs follow previous reductions, including plans to eliminate up to 1,000 roles in April and further cuts in July affecting various corporate functions, particularly at Pixar and National Geographic. In its August earnings report, Disney indicated it was "evaluating ways to reduce costs" and had begun offering early-retirement buyout packages to long-serving executives. "We remain highly focused on reducing costs across the enterprise to create incremental capacity to invest for growth," Disney said.

CNBC

LEGAL

Lawsuit seeks answers on Hyundai's alleged refusal to hire non-Koreans

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is pursuing legal action against Hyundai for failing to comply with requests for information related to an investigation into alleged discriminatory hiring practices in Alabama and Georgia. The EEOC claims that Hyundai has missed two deadlines to provide data on current and former employees from January 1, 2020, to the present. The investigation focuses on whether Hyundai's ENG America division has been discriminatory against non-Korean workers since 2023, potentially violating Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The EEOC said: "Hyundai did not provide any data for hire dates, termination reasons, nationality and certain pay information." Hyundai has not yet commented on the situation.

Al.com

WORKFORCE

Job openings fall to five-month low as labor market remains subdued

U.S. job openings declined to a five-month low in August, the Labor Department reported on Tuesday, indicating that employers are becoming more cautious about expanding their workforces even as layoffs remain limited. Available positions fell to 7.1m from 7.3m in July, with vacancies declining across professional and business services, healthcare and social assistance, state and local government, manufacturing, and construction. Layoffs, however, dropped to their lowest level since March 2025, while hiring edged higher, and the quits rate remained at 1.9%, matching its lowest level since 2020. The figures reinforce signs of a “low-hire, low-fire” labor market in which employers are reluctant to either add or cut workers, limiting opportunities for job seekers and employees looking to move. There was approximately one vacancy for every unemployed worker in August, compared with two openings per unemployed worker at the labor market’s 2022 peak.

Bloomberg

CNBC

Reuters

US News and World Report

TECHNOLOGY

Trump calls for ‘tremendous self-regulation’ of AI

President Trump has called for “tremendous self-regulation” of artificial intelligence at a White House summit with tech leaders including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, XAI’s Elon Musk and Google’s Sundar Pichai, who agreed to a “morally binding” set of principles for the technology. “We automatically have regulation with the Department of Justice, the FBI, all of that. But the self-regulation is very important,” Trump said. Six of the CEOs signed a one-page document titled the “White House Accord on Super Intelligence: Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities.” Trump told reporters: “It’s almost like a constitution in a way,” adding: “The biggest people in the world signed that, and I signed it as president, and it really is a form of protection . . . I think it’s morally binding.” Meta's Zuckerberg described the document as “a set of principles and commitments around building robust internal controls and detecting if there are any issues with the technology, coupled with multiple layers of auditing and controls, starting with internal risk review, external auditors and evaluators.”

Companies slow AI adoption amid trust concerns

Businesses are becoming more cautious about adopting artificial intelligence amid concerns over cybersecurity, regulation and trust. An FTI survey of 1,600 senior executives in the U.S. and Europe found 60% had slowed, paused or withdrawn an AI deployment during the past year. Cybersecurity emerged as the biggest concern, with 54% worried about employees using unapproved AI tools. Regulatory uncertainty was also significant, with 81% reporting material problems caused by unclear rules. Companies are increasingly shifting investment from experimenting with new technology towards cybersecurity, staff training and AI governance as they focus on managing existing deployments responsibly.

The Times

CYBERSECURITY

North Korean hacking group steals millions in crypto hack

North Korean hacking group WaterPlum is exploiting job advertisements to gather sensitive information from applicants worldwide. Authorities from the U.S., Japan, Germany, and Australia reported that the group has infiltrated over 30,000 devices, stealing $US10.71m in cryptocurrency. WaterPlum posed as employers, targeting IT professionals and using AI face-swapping software during fake interviews. Dr Andrew Cullen from the University of Melbourne said it was difficult to understand the scale of the problem, especially as it related to workers infiltrating companies, because that information was rarely disclosed. "It's really hard for governments and cybersecurity organizations to try and collect this large-scale data to show how much of a problem it is across the economy," he said.

ABC Online

ECONOMY

U.S. consumer confidence falls to lowest level since 2014

U.S. consumer confidence fell sharply in September to its lowest level since 2014 as concerns about the economy, labor market, inflation, and rising energy costs intensified. The Conference Board’s confidence index declined 6.7 points to 81.9, while its measure of current conditions fell nearly eight points to the lowest level since 2021, and expectations for the next six months reached a more than one-year low. Consumers also reported weaker plans to purchase homes, vehicles, and major appliances, while expectations for inflation and interest rates increased. Labor market sentiment deteriorated, with fewer respondents saying jobs were plentiful and more saying they were difficult to find. Income expectations also weakened, although consumer spending and the labor market have remained resilient despite elevated inflation.

Bloomberg

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

INTERNATIONAL

Chinese workers demand a proper break

As China approaches a week-long holiday, workers are voicing their frustrations on social media about being required to work weekends before and after the break. The backlash highlights ongoing issues of low pay and inadequate labor protections. Suzy Li, a tourism worker, described the practice of requiring workers to maintain output as "inhumane" and she called for consumer boycotts against companies that enforce such demands. Meanwhile, a Supreme People's Court report indicates that in the first nine months of 2025 (the latest statistics available), courts in China accepted 648,000 labor disputes against employers, a 37.5% increase year-on-year. “This is a highly significant shift,” that reflects “deep-seated changes in the Chinese economy,” observed Mingwei Liu, director at the Centre for Global Work and Employment at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “For workers, the previously implicit effort-reward contract is breaking down. Today, promotions, wage growth, and employment are all much more uncertain, yet excessive overtime persists. The sacrifices demanded by companies have not decreased, but the rewards they are able to offer are shrinking.”

Business Times SG

Eiffel Tower chief to step down over removal of female staff

Eiffel Tower chief Patrick Branco Ruivo will resign at the end of the year following the controversy over the removal of female staff during a visit by a Hindu sect. The landmark's operating company, SETE, said that an internal investigation had revealed "operational flaws and shortcomings" that led to the "unacceptable" incident, which precipitated a staff walkout on September 8 and widespread outrage in France, where politicians condemned what they said was an attack on fundamental liberties. Ariel Weil, chair of SETE, said she had requested measures and training programs promoting gender equality to be implemented.

France 24

OTHER

America’s ultrawealthy pull further ahead as stock market gains widen wealth gap

The wealthiest 0.1% of Americans have more than doubled their combined wealth since the end of 2019, reaching about $28tn, or roughly 15% of total U.S. household wealth, according to Federal Reserve data. The approximately 137,000 households in this group now have average wealth exceeding $200m, with about $10tn of their $14.5tn in gains since 2019 coming from stocks and mutual funds. By comparison, the bottom 50% of Americans collectively hold about $4tn, or 2.3% of national wealth, averaging roughly $63,000 per household. While wealth has increased across income groups, rising stock prices have disproportionately benefited the ultrawealthy because they hold significantly larger investment portfolios, widening the gap between the richest Americans, other wealthy households, and the rest of the population.

Wall Street Journal

The Human Times is designed to help you stay ahead, spark ideas and support innovation, learning and development in your organisation.

The links under articles indicate original news sources. Some links lead directly to the source material. Others lead to paywalls where you may need a subscription. A third category are restricted by copyright rules.

For reaction and insights on any stories covered in the Human Times, join the discussion by becoming a member of our LinkedIn Group or Business Page, or follow us on X.

Online

Advertise

This e-mail has been sent to [[EMAIL_TO]]

Click here to unsubscribe