Curated Intel from the Talent Tech Industry
July 11-17, 2022:
• Ruling a new idea is in order: AI21 Labs uses Ruth Bader Ginsberg to demo AI language skills;
• Melding consulting and technology: FutureSolve & QJumpers form joint venture to leverage AI;
• Getting paid in convenience: Study finds employees are accepting lower pay to work remotely;
• Slamming on the brakes: Tech companies see a business slowdown and cut recruitment;
• Championing EMEA talent tech companies: The TAtech Business Accelerator in London Nov 23.
PLUS
• Early Bird Discounts are about to end for the TAtech Leadership Summit on Technology & the Candidate Experience. To be held at the Harvard Club in NYC on September 28, this unique event is specifically designed to promote information exchange, learning and networking among corporate and industry innovators and thought leaders.
AI21 Labs uses Ruth Bader Ginsburg to demo AI language skills
Last month, the Tel Aviv-based AI21 Labs, whose cutting-edge work in natural language pro
cessing have led many to compare it to San Francisco’s OpenAI, made mainstream headlines [subscription required] with its release of Ask Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The AI model, which predicts how Ginsburg would respond to questions, is based on 27 years of Ginsburg’s legal writings on the Supreme Court, along with news interviews and public speeches. But while Ask Ruth Bader Ginsburg allowed anyone to play with an AI demo, AI21 Labs, which was founded in 2017, has far more in mind. It is working methodically towards its stated goal of fundamentally changing the way people read and write by pushing the frontier of language-based AI beyond pattern recognition and “by making the machine a thought partner to humans.” Today, the company announced it has completed a $64 million series B funding round, bringing the company’s valuation to $664 million.
Futuresolve and QJumpers form joint venture with new A.I. Talent Sourcing Solution
FutureSolve, one of the leading future of work companies in the US has entered into a joint venture with QJumpers and their innovative new A.I. Talent Sourcing Solution. The new company is called QJumpers USA LLC. This collaboration is the best of both worlds. On one hand, you have tailored CHRO advisory services. On the other, you have an AI system that works incredibly well in finding talent where traditional methods fail: Talent Pipelines. Rather than the more transactional approach of ‘acquiring talent’ through traditional methods, the AI Talent Sourcing solution builds deep pools of active and passive quality candidates for each organization. With skills and leadership shortages continuing to be one of the leading business concerns, the new joint venture provides an innovative answer to this major global problem of not having ready access to quality talent.
Lean Out: Employees Are Accepting Lower Pay In Order To Work Remotely
While some companies have been plotting and scheming to get their employees' butts back into company-owned chairs, others have spotted an opportunity. These companies recognize remote work has tremendous appeal: a big, delicious cookie they can use to lure and retain workers. It's so scrumptious that offering it to workers can be as good as cold, hard cash. And the best part for business executives: this cookie is cheap! In a new study, economists Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, Steven J. Davis, Brent H. Meyer, and Emil Mihaylov surveyed more than 500 American companies, asking them how they are using remote work. They find that many companies are capitalizing on remote work by using it as a substitute for giving workers raises, so much so that it's helping to moderate inflation.
Tech companies see a business slowdown and cut recruitment
Google has told employees that it’ll be “slowing down the pace of hiring for the rest of the year,” according to an internal memo Tuesday by CEO Sundar Pichai obtained by The Verge. Pichai says the company will have to “be more entrepreneurial” and work with “greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days.” You can read the full memo below. According to the memo, the company isn’t freezing hiring entirely; it’ll still hire for “engineering, technical and other critical roles.” But Pichai says that the pullback will mean “pausing development and re-deploying resources to higher priority areas.” Insider first reported Tuesday that Google had slowed its hiring plans. Google isn’t the only company that’s had to recently pump the brakes on hiring people: Uber has said it’ll have to be “hardcore about costs,” Meta sent a memo to employees warning of “serious times” and fierce headwinds after implementing hiring freezes for some teams, and Spotify and Snap have also announced plans to slow hiring. Other companies, like Twitter, Netflix, and GameStop, have recently decided to lay off employees.
TAtech promotes talent tech company success with its Business Accelerator
Following up on the success of TAtech North America & The World Job Board Forum, TAtech will hold the TAtech Business Accelerator, a B2B Leadership Summit, in conjunction with the National Online Recruitment Awards (NORAS) in London on November 23, 2022. The TAtech Business Accelerator is the place to make contacts, explore potential partnerships and alliances, meet with new solution providers and keep an eye on the competition. It is a time-efficient, cost-effective summit for the movers and shakers in talent technology, including job boards, agencies, ATS companies, programmatic ad buying platforms, conversational AI and chatbot providers, CRM platforms, assessment and interviewing solutions, recruitment marketing providers and talent technology consultancies.
Early Bird Discounts to End for Technology & the Candidate Experience Summit
Early Bird Discounts are about to end for the TAtech Leadership Summit on Technology & the Candidate Experience. To be held at the Harvard Club in NYC on September 28, this unique event is specifically designed to promote information exchange, learning and networking among corporate and industry innovators and thought leaders. The program includes stand-alone presentations, panels, fireside chats, case studies and a Product Palooza to showcase some of the most exciting solutions in the market. Speaking slots and sponsorships are going fast, so contact TAtech CEO Peter Weddle right away if you’re interested (peterweddle@tatech.org).