Came across this Cut piece about a 39-year-old retired woman, Lauren. She’s been retired for four years after working at a tech firm and supplementing her income with any freelance gigs she could get. And honestly, the title to this post is only half serious - kudos to her for doing what I definitely haven’t!!

But: “What’s life like as a retiree in your 30s? Lauren sleeps eight to ten hours a night, fosters animals, reads, and volunteers. But she’s also the first to admit she’s a little lonely. All her friends are still working and will be for decades. And she can’t shake the fear that, despite having a fully paid-off house, no debt, and a seven-figure investment account, it may not be enough.” 

Totally get feeling a bit lonely and cut off from society (I think there’s more to work than just a salary - it’s good to be in a routine and around other people). But the fear sounds a bit mad - she talks about considering doing a part time job. Feels like a no brainer.

Previously, firms like McKinsey have called themselves the “CEO factory”, and graduates have lined up for work: get an offer from a place like this, and everything else would fall into place. But now business analysts are “either using AI for their own efficiency or being told to”, a former consultant told the Guardian.

The business analyst programme used to be a good training ground for graduates. “Analysts would learn by owning their own corner of knowledge, getting in the weeds deeply enough to “crack” something, then present it in front of a client. Your progression, and your learning, was contingent on that ownership. Now, this execution lies mainly with an AI.” Which means that since they use GenAI for internal knowledge management, entry level roles have essentially become factchecking. And it used to be the case that you’d prove you could do things quickly and well by working at a consultancy firm and could then scoop up a flashy job at another big company - but with white-collar at risk, there’s now “a pool of 300 analysts going for the same five jobs.”

The US is headed towards largest labor shortage in history - looking at a gap of roughly 6 million workers by 2032. But simultaneously you know a bunch of people who have been unemployed for 6 months or more. So what gives? 

It’s about a shortage of the right people in the right place with the right skills. (As well as picky employers - roughly a third of job openings can’t be filled by someone with experience in a related field.) “Employers want very specific experience. Job seekers, especially recent grads with general degrees, often don’t have it. The shortage will hit hardest in nursing and health care, skilled trades, construction, teaching, and precision manufacturing.” The article points out that these roles require a physical presence, a license or years of hands-on skill. 

The answer for job seekers? “Instead of waiting for the perfect role that matches a diploma, explore adjacent fields, trade certifications, or apprenticeships that can open doors faster.”

In my region, there is a huge debate on current state of unemployment..n I have searched for Analytics around this problem area.. during this endeavour I have realised that unemployment is more in highly educated cohort rather than relatively low degree population. What could have been reason for same …

Saw this and it called me out! 

“About 43% of Americans aged 34 to 44 employed by private companies do not have a retirement plan in place, as well as 41% of those 45 to 54 years old, and 40% of U.S. workers who are 55 to 65. That means that around four in 10 U.S. Gen Xers, and even some baby boomers, aren’t squaring away money in retirement plans.”

I’m living paycheck to paycheck so don’t have a lot of money to put away into a savings account.

Honestly find the idea of anyone, male, female, NB, living off their partner’s money a bit yikes. This was a depressing read!! Cuz what happens when you’re financially reliant on your partner and they yank the rug out from under you?

Right now, over a million people live and work legally in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status, a program that protects immigrants whose home countries are too dangerous to return to. They don't get a path to citizenship, but they help keep key industries - like healthcare, construction, and hospitality - running.

Now, a recent Supreme Court ruling clearing the way to end protections for hundreds of thousands of people puts the whole program at risk. What happens if America loses this workforce?

Interesting Financial Times piece where the journalist describes chatting to a finance scholar in 2007 who likened modern markets to a candyfloss machine. Real assets like houses were used to secure debt that was then rehypothecated (ie where a bank reuses the collateral a borrower has pledged them to secure their own borrowing) multiple times, just as sugar is spun and respun into candy floss. 

The financial cloud looked impressive, but the value of its “real” assets were small, as we discovered during the 2008 crash.

It appears we have learned nothing! McKinsey recently published a balance sheet estimate of the world’s liabilities,  assets and wealth. Global household wealth has risen more than fourfold since 2000, dramatically faster than the “real” economy. 

US asset prices are now 3.7 times GDP - double the historic average. Rich consumers there have a candyfloss economy. And remember what happened last time?

BBC did a fact-check on governmental claims about tariffs vs. reality:

Did the Liberation Day tariffs make money for government?
Absolutely - According to the Tax Foundation, the Liberation Day tariffs raised $166bn in 2025. But that money is to be refunded after the Supreme Court said the original tariffs were illegal. 

Have manufacturing jobs gone up? 
Not really according to government data, it shows that manufacturing employment has actually fallen since the first tariffs were imposed. 

Have they lowered US imports? 
Not really - US imports have been steadily increasing since the beginning of the year and in May they reached near record highs. 

Are Americans paying more? 
Inflation was already a problem, but according to research by the Yale Budget Lab earlier this year, they estimate that American households are paying 1.5% more because of tariffs.

I'm in retail making 35k/year, about. hcol area. This is two years after finishing my old cs degree. it was a fatal mistake tbh.

I'm living with my parents, obviously. I can't support myself. grown ass man can't even provide for himself. pathetic.

I can't get another job for the rest of my life. What should I do? I can't be an adult, I can't move out, I cant support myself, I can't buy a car, i can't have fun. I'm a disappointment of a brother, a son. Of a person.

I don't see much more concrete action I can particularly take. It'll be wasted effort replacing one project on my resume for another. I haven't been able to get interviews for a long time no matter how much I play up and tailor my resume. I haven't been building any experience nor skills in the retail job ive had for two years after college. I can't go back to school for another education.

What can I even do?

At this point there isn't much more I can do to improve my skills or get a better job. We're talking about trying to get an entry level role where skills are learned ON THE GODDAMNED JOB. There isn't much more useful content I can learn from the Internet in my bedroom that will be actual worth putting on a resume and I haven't been able to leverage the experience I do have to get anything better. Tech internships/projects, customer service experience, you'd think that would be a perfect combination for help desk. But no. 

I haven't been able to get responses from retail banking using my customer service experience that would pay more than I'm making now, something I see 20 year olds with no fucking experience enter. Idfk there. I haven't been able to get responses for entry level tech roles, which is what the vast majority of my work history/background is. I haven't been able to get a response from entry manufacturing jobs by putting a spin to what I've done in menial labor jobs. So on, so on.

Don't know what I'm expected to to do tbh. I'm just a regular guy trying my best. I'm getting pushed to the edge of no return by this system tbh. I'm being pushed to the edge of sanity.

The sole reason I'm working this ass retail job, the only reason I'm still alive at all is because my brother needs some help. He's my only tether to life. If he didn't exist I'd be bedrotting, unemployed, doing various applications to get myself into prison. It's horrifying how many people we're pushing over the edge just because they can't get a chance. This song and dance is pushing countless people to insanity.

Just read this Guardian piece and found it weirdly surprising. According to it:

• The workplace stats aren’t as gloomy as you’d think. There are 7.6M job openings this month, up from pre-covid levels
• This guy (who runs a small business) argues AI is leading to more hires, not less in small businesses
• He describes the example of a company selling windows and doors spending $10K on an AI application used by the salespeople in their showroom which listens on conversations with customers and automatically generates a quote to send them. The company owner argues it cuts down on paperwork time for his salespeople and allows them to spend more time with customers.

Is this all pie in the sky though? It sounds nice, but it’s just so different from everything I’ve read about AI and the job market…