Hire Calling

Breaking Job News: Mass Govt Layoffs, Walmart CEO Says AI Will Change Every Job, & 72-Hour Workweek

• Pete Newsome

Share episode

In today's episode, host President Pete Newsome explores the potential repercussions of a looming government shutdown, including mass layoffs as instructed by the White House.

He also discusses Walmart CEO Doug McMillon's bold statements about AI revolutionizing every job, with insights from other industry leaders like Accenture and Ford.

Lastly, Pete addresses the resurgence of extreme work schedules in Silicon Valley, reminiscent of the 996 schedule from China's tech sector.

All these stories highlight the rapidly changing landscape of the job market and the urgent need for workers to adapt. Plus, a fun fact about the demand for remote and hybrid jobs rounds out the discussion.

News Articles:
1. Federal Workers Brace for Possible Shutdown: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/us/politics/federal-government-shutdown-trump.html 
2. Walmart CEO Issues Wake-Up Call: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon-ai-job-losses-dbaca3aa?mod=careers_news_article_pos3
3. The Hustle Culture Trend Is Taking Hold in Silicon Valley: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/business/996-hustle-culture-tech.html

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

SPEAKER_00:

Today's job market headlines include a warning about AI from the CEO of America's largest private employer and 72-hour work weeks becoming a trend. But first, a government shutdown will take place at 12.01 a.m. on Wednesday if Congress hasn't reached a budget deal by then. Fox News reports the White House ordered federal agencies to prepare mass layoff plans in case it occurs. The message was delivered in a memo from OMB, which is the Office of Management and Budget. It instructed agencies to draft reduction enforced proposals for programs that lack mandatory funding. So here's the deal a looming government shutdown isn't out of the ordinary these days. And we all know that one side is going to blame the other for a shutdown potentially happening. So the White House is blaming the Democrats, Democrats are blaming Republicans. That's our normal these days, no surprise. But what's very different is this is a significant departure from how the traditional shutdown plans go that it rely on furloughs being a way of handling the lack of budget. This is calling for permanent downsizing. And the White House is either being opportunistic about it and looking as it is a way to reduce the federal workforce, which they are doing already and have talked about doing more of, or they're using it as a threat and trying to hold Congress accountable and using this as motivation. But the federal workers are the ones losing out here. They're wondering, are they going to be employed and is their job really dependent on this budget being passed, which is Congress's obligation to do? So let's hope for many reasons Congress gets your act together and they get this bill across the finish line. And moving from Washington to Bentonville, Walmart CEO Doug McMillan made headlines in the Wall Street Journal by saying AI is going to change literally every job. That is an unambiguous statement from the chief executive of America's largest employer. He also said maybe there's a job in the world that AI won't change, but I haven't thought of it. He indicated that every high-level planning meeting at Walmart now includes a discussion of AI's impact on jobs, and those changes are already underway. They've introduced automation into the warehouses, and they've recently added new jobs like an agent builder where someone will build AI tools to help merchants. So lots of changes taking place at Walmart right now, supporting what he's saying. And this is one of the clearest acknowledgements we've seen so far from a Fortune 500 CEO about the disruption that is coming from AI, but he's far from alone. The article also states Accenture CEO Julie Sweet told investors Thursday the firm is exiting employees who can't be retrained for the AI age. Meanwhile, it will continue to hire people who are generative AI fluent and retrain existing workers to serve clients in consulting and other divisions. Artificial intelligence is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the U.S., Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley said this summer. So these are really large companies, the leaders of really large companies, making statements that are profound to say the least. And the broader message to me is that these employers aren't waiting to see how AI shakes out. They are acting. They are making these changes right now. And that is what everyone in the workforce needs to do for themselves. Don't wait for this impact from AI to affect your livelihood. Pay attention to what's coming, pay attention to what your employer is doing, and don't be caught off guard. Make the changes that you need to make for your own career security. Finally, let's talk about hustle culture that seems to be making a comeback. The New York Times reports that the 996 schedule is gaining traction in Silicon Valley. What's the 996 schedule? It's exactly what it sounds like. Working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week. Sound fun? Probably not. It's a concept that comes from China's technology sector where it was so extreme that the high court banned mandatory 72-hour work weeks back in 2021. But now here in the U.S., it's resurfacing as a badge of honor among some AI-driven companies. Job postings are starting to reference 70-hour weeks, and executives at some companies are asking candidates directly if they're willing to commit to that kind of schedule. This isn't new. Silicon Valley has long had an intense workaholic culture, but the outside image looked like something different. They looked laid back. It looked fun. We'd hear constantly 10 years ago, be more like Google. Well, at the time that meant try to do more fun things at work, have games and toys and ball pits and in nap rooms. But Google and others knew what they were doing. These are the most successful companies on the planet, and they were giving employees a reason to not want to leave the office or not feel like they needed to go home. But in reality, they were working crazy hours. So that's never really changed. But what's different right now is that there's so much investment going on in AI and that there's a lot of job insecurity right now. The job market's not going well. So when I hear stories like this, I think employers know they have the power right now. They didn't just a few short years ago. Post-COVID, it was such an employees' market. You were seeing employers making concessions the other way, being very flexible with work. And now the pendulum is swinging back. It looks to me like employers are trying to take advantage of that. Keep seeing stories along these lines where employees are employers are just wielding power. And unfortunately, right now, a lot of employees just have to take it. So we'll see where this ultimately shakes out. As I always say, be very careful about being too extreme when you know that things are going to change. They will shift. I mean, that change is really the only concept. That's proven to be true over and over through all of my years being in staffing. And so if you go too far in one direction, you're probably going to end up regretting it. So we'll see how this plays out over time. So there we are for today, three stories but one theme. And that work is changing fast, whether it's government instability, corporate adoption of AI, or cultural pressure that's happening right now inside some of these AI firms out in Silicon Valley, the landscape for workers is shifting constantly. So good luck to everyone out there. But before we go today, here's your fun fact Remote and hybrid jobs receive 60% of all job applications, but they only make up 20% of job postings. So there's a big imbalance. And what does that tell you? Well, very obviously, candidates want to work remote. They want to be hybrid, but there's fewer jobs in that space. Significantly fewer, in fact. So that is also a number that will be interesting to see how it changed over time because we're seeing that remote work is becoming less frequent, and there's return to office stories almost every day. Didn't have one today, but we almost always do. So if you're a candidate, a job seeker, you're wondering why your applications aren't getting a response. Well, if you're only replying to remote jobs, this is a pretty good reason as to why. So again, good luck to everyone out there. Thank you for listening. Please like, subscribe, share with anyone who you think might be interested. And I'll look forward to talking to you tomorrow.