A major new analysis by PwC finds that AI is fundamentally reshaping what employers expect from junior workers, with entry-level roles in AI-exposed fields now requiring skills that were previously expected only of senior employees.
Highlights from PwC's 2026 AI Jobs Barometer, including analysis of over 1 billion job advertisements globally and 2.4 million entry-level roles in the U.S.:
PwC’s analysis found that AI-exposed entry-level roles are seven times more likely to list "traditionally senior" skills than they were in 2019.
Skills now expected of less experienced workers include motivational leadership, team building, stakeholder management, mentorship, and data-driven decision-making.
AI-exposed entry-level jobs that had been "seniorized" (meaning they added more than 10 traditionally senior skills) grew 35% between 2019 and 2025, while comparable roles that had not been seniorized fell 10%.
Globally, entry-level roles highly exposed to AI have flatlined.
PwC U.S. has reduced the number of office locations where entry-level consultants can work from 72 to 13, citing the need to rebuild learning and development culture eroded by the pandemic and AI-driven changes to the nature of work.
Read more via Business Insider
Lower gasoline prices lifted consumer sentiment in early June, though the index remains near historic lows. The University of Michigan's preliminary sentiment index rose to 48.9 in June from a record low of 44.8 in May, still the second-lowest reading in data going back to the 1970s.
Consumers expect prices to rise at an annual rate of 4.6% over the next year, down from 4.8% in May.
The five-to-ten year inflation expectation fell to 3.4%, reversing the prior month's jump.
Improvement was most pronounced among lower-income consumers, who typically spend a larger share of their budgets on fuel.
Nearly half of respondents expect interest rates to rise in the year ahead, up from 25% before the war with Iran.
Separate data showed consumer prices rose 4.2% in May from a year earlier, the most in more than three years.
Despite the mild reprieve, elevated gas prices remain highly salient to consumers. Thus, the current level of gas prices continues to be broadly unacceptable to consumers and dampens their views of the economy."
Read more via Bloomberg
Software engineers, once among the most sought-after workers in the U.S. economy, are confronting a sharp reversal: job openings for software developers through late May are down about 70% from their 2022 peak, and AI is increasingly capable of doing the work that defined the profession.
Employment in the information sector, which includes many tech jobs, has declined by 332,000, or 11%, between its November 2022 peak and May 2026, according to the Labor Department.
Entry-level candidates are having a particularly difficult time. Undergraduate enrollment in four-year computer and information science degrees fell 8.1% last fall from the prior year, a sharp reversal from 10.4% growth in 2022.
Experienced developers who can steer and debug the outputs of AI coding platforms are finding opportunities, but many workers with decades-long careers are seeing their options narrow.
Some software workers are hoarding cash, paying down mortgages early, or switching careers in anticipation of layoffs they consider likely. Others are scaling back spending dramatically to build financial cushion.
Read more via The Wall Street Journal
The euro area's job vacancy rate dipped slightly in the first quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
The euro area vacancy rate fell to 2.3% in Q1 2026, down from 2.4% a year earlier but up from 2.2% in Q4 2025.
The EU-wide rate held at 2.1%, unchanged from Q4 2025 and down from 2.2% in Q1 2025.
The Netherlands (4.0%) and Belgium (3.4%) posted the highest vacancy rates among member states, while Romania (0.6%) and Poland (0.8%) posted the lowest.
Vacancy rates increased in three member states, held steady in eight, and declined in 16.
In the euro area, services posted a higher vacancy rate (2.4%) than industry and construction (2.0%); administrative and support services and accommodation and food service activities tied for the highest sector rates at 3.2%.
Separately, hourly labor costs in the euro area rose 3.2% year over year in Q1 2026, with wages and salaries up 3.4% and non-wage costs up 2.9%.
Read more via Staffing Industry Analysts
A new analysis by Bloomberg Economics finds little evidence that artificial intelligence has meaningfully displaced workers in the United Kingdom, despite widespread concern that the technology has suppressed demand for white-collar jobs.
Job vacancies in roles most exposed to AI were already declining before ChatGPT launched in late 2022 and fell further immediately after, but have increased since the summer of 2024.
Payroll data showed "little evidence" that AI is affecting employment decisions. The number of private-sector workers in sectors most vulnerable to AI has actually risen since ChatGPT's release.
Bloomberg Economics reviewed online vacancy data for 400 job types since ChatGPT's launch.
Taken at face value, the results push against the idea of rapid, large-scale job displacement, as is often portrayed in the media and which underpins the most bullish market bets on AI. AI may yet prove as transformative as investors believe — but so far, the evidence suggests economy-wide change is still some way off."
Chief human resource officer confidence held near a series high in Q2 2026, even as hiring expectations moderated and workforce growth became more targeted, according to a new survey from The Conference Board.
The CHRO Confidence Index edged down one point to 58 in Q2, from a series high of 59 in Q1. (A reading above 50 reflects more positive than negative responses.)
Highlights from the survey of 111 CHROs:
54% expect to increase hiring over the next six months, down from 59% in Q1. 17% of respondents said they expect to decrease hiring, unchanged from Q1.
Among organizations planning to add headcount, 75% said hiring is concentrated in specific roles or functions rather than broad-based.
65% said hiring increases are focused on frontline or operational roles, while only 15% cited senior leadership and 3% cited executive roles.
71% said specialized or technical roles are the hardest positions to fill.
Among organizations planning to reduce hiring, 53% cited financial challenges or anticipated business risk. Only 21% pointed to role elimination due to automation or AI.
Companies still recognize that their talent is a key competitive advantage, but they're being much more intentional about where they add headcount.”
Read more via The Conference Board
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, joined by 20 other state attorneys general, filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Trump administration executive order that bars federal contractors from engaging in what the order defines as "racially discriminatory DEI activities."
The executive order, signed March 26, prohibits DEI programs defined as disparate treatment based on race or ethnicity in recruitment, hiring, promotions, contracting, and resource allocation.
The lawsuit argues the order's contract terms are too vague to comply with, and that implementing agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act by skipping public notice and comment.
Federal agencies began inserting the new contract terms in April and have been directed to modify existing contracts by July 24.
The federal government estimates the order could affect as many as 640,000 contracts and subcontracts nationwide.
The states are asking a federal court in Maryland to block enforcement and declare the rule unlawful.
Read more via Michigan Advance
The International Labour Organization (ILO) voted last week to adopt the first binding international employment standards for platform-based gig workers, covering pay, safety, social protections, and algorithmic management. The standards still require ratification by individual governments before they take effect.
406 ILO members voted in favor, including China, Japan, Germany, France, and South Africa. Eight voted against, including the United States and New Zealand. 36 member countries abstained.
The convention establishes baseline protections regardless of whether a worker is classified as an employee or independent contractor, including occupational safety, minimum remuneration, and protection against unjustified termination or deactivation.
For the first time, the convention sets international rules on algorithmic management, requiring platforms to disclose how and when automated systems are used to manage pay and access to work.
The World Bank estimates the global gig workforce at between 154 million and 435 million workers.
A 2025 Human Rights Watch report found U.S. platform workers surveyed earned a median of $5.12 per hour after expenses, roughly 30% below the federal minimum wage.
The ILO has no direct enforcement power and enforcement depends on national ratification and implementation.
Read more via Reuters
China: Chinese retail sales fell 0.6% year over year in May, the first decline since the end of pandemic-era lockdowns in December 2022, as domestic demand weakened and investment contracted. Exports, meanwhile, surged nearly 20% in dollar terms, deepening what some economists are calling "two-speed" growth. (The Wall Street Journal)
Germany: German investor confidence jumped unexpectedly in June, with the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment rising to 10.5 from minus 10.2 in May, driven by hopes that the Middle East conflict is nearing an end and that energy prices will ease. The reading beat consensus expectations but remains well below the 58.3 it reached in February, before the war broke out. (The Wall Street Journal)
United Kingdom: More than half of British manufacturers surveyed by industry group Make UK reported no benefit from a government program designed to reduce energy costs, and a quarter said they had moved production abroad or were considering doing so. Make UK and the Trades Union Congress are calling on the government to expand the relief program, which they say could protect 2.5 million jobs at a cost of £3 billion ($4 billion) a year. (Reuters)
