Hiring shortage is a bigger hurdle for Gen Z than AI

 TikTok says it is "exploring a reorganization," which could mean cutting around 300 roles at its European trust and safety hub in Dublin, according to a company email viewed by Bloomberg. The report comes after a raft of tech layoffs in the Irish capital, with Meta's recent job cuts affecting 20% of its Dublin workforce. In a statement to Bloomberg, a TikTok spokesperson said some affected staffers would be offered other roles.

A shortage of job openings in the U.S. is a bigger factor in unemployment among Gen Z than their level of proficiency with artificial intelligence, a new study says. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the unemployment rate among 18-24-year-olds rose 2.9% due to job scarcity, compared to the 1.1% increase attributed to employers pivoting to more AI-focused jobs. The study found that a lack of openings still had a greater effect among recent college graduates than AI-related job demand.

It’s not just adults struggling in today’s job market. Teens and college students are feeling it too. Good Morning America even covered this last week: teen summer jobs are at historic lows, and kids are applying everywhere with little response.

I’ve been watching my own son and his friends try to find summer work, and it’s been surprisingly tough. These are good kids with solid experience, and even though they’re running into long hiring delays, fewer openings, and companies that never follow up.

It’s a strange shift from when summer jobs were almost a given. Now it feels like students need full résumés, multiple interviews, and a lot of patience just to land something part‑time. Even mall stores and fast food restaurants want you to find and apply to openings on Indeed.

It’s made me realize how much the entry‑level landscape has changed and how important it is to support young people who are trying to get their foot in the door.

If you’re seeing the same thing with your teens, students, or in your community, I’d love to hear your perspective.

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said price pressures have moderated recently, while reiterating the central bank's commitment to achieving its 2% inflation target. Speaking Wednesday at the European Central Bank's annual Forum in Sintra, Portugal, Warsh dismissed concerns about political influence over the Fed, saying, "We're going to be an independent central bank at this moment, and you're going to see no changes on that." Warsh also maintained that he would not provide "forward guidance" on the future path of interest rates.

🎢 Connecting the Dots: U.S. Rejects CUSMA Renewal, Triggering Annual Review and Heightened Trilateral Uncertainty 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 🇲🇽

Canadian executives continue to hit the pause button in the face of the resulting economic headwinds and tariff uncertainty.

It's bad for the Canadian economy, which only grew by a feeble 1.1% annualized rate by the end of April 2026.

"The trilateral trade deal between Canada, the United States, and Mexico, known as CUSMA, will enter an annual review process, as U.S. officials opt not to extend the agreement.

Any of the three countries is also able to pull out of the deal entirely with six months’ notice.

Amid talks around the future of CUSMA, Canada and the U.S. remain in a trade war that’s nearly at the 18-month mark, after Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports last February. While the vast majority of Canadian goods are exempt from the levies because they’re covered under CUSMA, a slate of sectoral tariffs remains in place."

SOURCE: BNN Bloomberg

Clearly, a resolution of the USMCA/CUSMA crisis is nowhere in sight.

Canadian executives must diversify to take action in the areas over which they have control.

Waiting for a resolution will only reduce corporate performance and increase Canada's economic woes.

What steps are you taking to deal with the economic uncertainty unleashed by the failure to renew CUSMA?

• Meta Platforms Inc. is developing plans for a cloud infrastructure business to sell access to AI computing power and models, competing with industry leaders like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.
• The company is considering selling access to various AI models hosted on its existing AI infrastructure, as well as "raw" computing capacity, as part of its Meta Compute initiative.
• Meta's plans to generate revenue from excess computing power could help return its investment in AI infrastructure, which includes hundreds of billions of dollars spent on data centers and expensive chips.

As a large swath of the U.S. braces for a scorching Independence Day weekend, utilities are preparing for a surge in energy consumption. The nation's largest grid operator, PJM, said it's expecting record-setting demand as temperatures soar over 100 degrees in parts of the East Coast and Midwest, with growing consumption from data centers adding to the strain. Meanwhile, transportation giants like Delta Airlines and Amtrak have flagged the potential for heat-related disruptions, with Delta waiving change fees for flights out of New York's LaGuardia Airport.

Apple's new product lineup for next year could include a new iPad Pro model and a new-look MacBook Pro, according to an anonymously-sourced Bloomberg report, which notes 2027 is looking likely to be "one of Apple’s busiest hardware years to date." The products would come alongside new releases pegged to the 20th anniversary of the iPhone. But the shortage of memory and storage chips continues to pose hurdles, with unnamed sources telling both Bloomberg and the Financial Times that Apple is seeking approval to buy memory chips from China.

State workers in California will now be required to return to the office four days a week, up from two, a move ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom after years of delays. The decision, affecting at least 90,000 workers, faces opposition from unions citing the environmental and financial benefits of remote work, as well as employees raising cost and quality-of-life concerns. A lawsuit challenging the mandate has argued for an environmental review due to expected increases in traffic and emissions from state employees' commutes.

Meta on Wednesday named Alex Schultz as its new chief data officer. Schultz has been with the Facebook parent for nearly two decades, according to his LinkedIn profile — most recently as its chief marketing officer. Consumer marketing chief Denise Moreno, herself a 17-year Meta veteran, will take over the CMO role. The moves "reflect how critical analytics and data infrastructure are to Meta's AI ambitions," Axios notes. In his new role, Schultz will oversee not just Meta's infrastructure analytics teams, but also user research and competitive intelligence.

French shipping group CMA CGM has announced its acquisition of FedEx Supply Chain, the company's third-party logistics business, for $1.4 billion. The deal includes a partnership in which CMA CGM will serve as FedEx's preferred ocean carrier and collaborate on air cargo initiatives. The strategic move reflects CMA CGM's commitment to expanding its logistics capabilities and enhancing its market presence in North America, where its subsidiary CEVA Logistics will have about 150 warehouses and 20,000 employees once the deal closes, likely by the end of the year.

Ravi Thanawala is stepping down as CFO of Papa John's to assume the same role at another company. Senior VP of Corporate Finance and Principal Accounting Officer Christopher Collins will assume the position on an interim basis as the pizza chain searches for a permanent replacement. Thanawala, meanwhile, will remain at the company in an advisory capacity through the end of July. The shakeup comes as Papa John's struggles to stem same-store sales declines, which have dogged the company for seven of the last eight quarters.