Future of Work Roundup - Week of January 9

Welcome to the Future of Work Roundup. Each week, we bring you five top stories—drawing from the latest academic research and industry trends—to give you an easily-digestible snapshot of how work is changing—and why it matters.

Americans can’t stop pampering their pets

The Wall Street Journal reports that companies are catering to humans' continued desire to pamper their pets even amid challenging economic times. Spending money on pets is one of a few areas of the economy managing to defy inflation and avoid a post-lockdown pullback.

First quiet quitting, now quiet hiring

CNBC reports that whether we need a new buzz phrase or not (probably not!), the phrase "quiet hiring" has now entered our vocabulary. CNBC says that it will dominate the US in 2023, and you’ll need to prepare for it.

ChatGPT - soon to be one of the most valuable U.S. startups?

Wall Street Journal reports that on the heels of much hype, fanfare, and promise, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is considering a tender offer valuing the company at $29B. Under CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI created a for-profit arm so it could more easily raise money to fund the development of tools such as ChatGPT.

The next era of work will be about skills–not pedigree

Fortune reports that employers are now shifting the way that they value talent, according to new research from LinkedIn. Roughly one in four job postings (24%) in the U.S. no longer require degrees, which is up from 15% in 2020.

Silicon Valley + pizza robots = the perfect match

Bloomberg reports that Silicon Valley's obsession with pizza robots continues with SpaceX engineers and other rocket makers turning their attention to a daunting experiment in food automation.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for next week’s Future of Work roundup.