Indeed CEO Deko Idekoba says he thinks AI is a “bit too slow” to change the labor market.
That may sound counterintuitive amid warnings that AI is wiping out entry-level jobs and disrupting white-collar work. But Idekoba is concerned with how uneven AI’s impact is: While the new tech advances rapidly through office work, skilled tradespeople are retiring from jobs AI can’t do, and too few young workers are preparing to replace them.
“No parent is telling their kid, ‘You have to be a plumber. You have to be an electrician,’” he says. In the U.S., he adds, “there’s not a respect for those skills. In Japan or Germany, these people are really well respected.”
But how do hiring managers combat this prestige problem? It may require changing how young people, their parents, and educators define a promising career.
Maggie Hulce, Indeed’s chief revenue officer, sees it as an information problem. “When we help people see where there is demand and where there is salary, people make really good, rational decisions,” she says.
A job such as an AI data-center technician, she adds, may suddenly look more attractive than becoming a finance manager once someone understands the pay structure. Indeed’s data shows that data center jobs for blue-collar workers pay a hefty premium: the hourly pay rate is 42% higher for blue-collar roles in data centers than all other postings.
And blue-collar jobs continue to evolve in this AI boom: Indeed found that new, AI-related, hybrid job titles are cropping up outside of tech. For example, instead of traditional truck driver roles, they are seeing “AI autonomous truck test driver.” Instead of traditional operator roles, they are seeing “AI safety operator.”
But ensuring there is a skilled workforce to fill these roles quickly is something people leaders should be paying attention to, Hulce says.
“With an open role, sometimes [talent acquisition] people will think of it as a process problem,” she says. “But it’s not just a process problem. It’s a business cost problem. It’s a revenue at risk problem.”
Kristin Stoller
Editorial Director, Fortune Live Media
[email protected]
Fortune Office Hours
This week, Alana Brandes, chief people officer of education benefits platform Guild, answers your burning workplace questions. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: We’re a U.K.-based company, and last month one of our team members passed away suddenly. He was based in Australia—a country where we have no presence beyond him. We’re heartbroken and completely out of our depth. His family deserves sensitive, competent handling of everything that comes next, and we don’t even know what “everything” is: final pay, benefits, legal obligations in a country whose employment law we’ve never had to learn. No software we use has a screen for this.
Meanwhile the colleagues coordinating it all are grieving too. How do we do right by his family from 10,000 miles away and take care of our own people while we do it?
A: I’d start with those most impacted, his family and loved ones. The priority should be making sure they have as much comfort and clarity as you can provide. A critical part of providing that clarity is local expertise. I’d reach out to an Australian employer of record or another local expert to understand what’s legally required and common practice.
I’d assign a thoughtful HR partner to be the family’s point of contact to work through all questions. The family shouldn’t have to figure out who to call for what while they’re grieving. The goal is to absorb as much of the complexity as possible. Where you can, err on the side of generosity in how benefits are extended and employment is closed.
For colleagues, communicate openly and empathetically. Depending on company size and culture, tailor who you communicate with, and when possible provide access to resources like an Employee Assistance Program. Make sure support includes the people coordinating the response as those individuals are helping others through a loss they may be grieving themselves. I’ve historically set up a dedicated psychologist to do individual and group sessions. You could also extend this to the family.
Give colleagues non-invasive ways to support his family and loved ones, like collecting cards and memories, sharing a charity or GoFundMe identified by the family, or considering a company donation. Let the family’s preferences guide this.
There’s no perfect playbook. Focus less on getting every step right and more on making sure support is felt.
Have a workplace situation that you’re unsure how to navigate or a scenario worth unpacking? Send it our way via this form.
Watercooler
A round-up of the most important HR headlines from Fortune and beyond.
Pay gap. Women workers are driving nearly all of America’s job growth as men keep leaving the labor force. But their paychecks tell the opposite story. Fortune
Unusual degree. What do business executives and academics recommend the next generation major in? Anthropology. Wall Street Journal
Remote rage. An Australian plan to legally give employees the right to work from home is now facing big pushback. Bloomberg
