#1. Why inexperienced workers can’t get entry-level jobs.

College graduates are leaving university and applying to jobs, only to find something new – and alarming – happening: entry level jobs have now disappeared. According to an analysis of so-called entry level jobs on LinkedIn, 35% of postings for “entry-level” positions asked for years of prior relevant work experience. In certain industries, that requirement is even more common, especially in IT, where more than 60% of listings for software and IT services required three or more years of experience. How do workers go about getting that all-important first job? Internships, connections, to start. Read more at the BBC.

#2. Jab or job?

In France, healthcare workers face a choice: they get vaccinated, or they lose their job. The deadline to get the vaccine (Sept. 15) has since passed, and approximately 3,000 people have already been suspended from their positions. Government data, however, has showed that the policy has already worked. By Sept. 14, 89% of employees at state hospitals and care homes had already been vaccinated. By that same date, 95% of private healthcare professionals already received the vaccine. Some, however, still have reservations.

“It makes me ill, really ill, just thinking about having to take the vaccine,” 56-year-old Guylain Richard said, adding that many of her friends and colleagues have already been suspended from work automatically. She’s waiting to find out if she is allergic to the vaccine. “They are depressed. They phone me every day crying,” she added. “It’s a human catastrophe.” Read more at the Financial Times.

#3. How the pandemic has created a new breed of tech worker.

Before the pandemic, many people spent countless hours trying to optimize their lives. Eighteen months into the pandemic, things have changed for Silicon Valley workers: they’ve realized the old way of working won’t work anymore. Instead, workers want that flexibility. In fact, 6 out of 10 workers state they can do their work in less than 40 hours a week, and over 40% have or are considering moving to jobs with more flexible options.

What’s emerged out of the pandemic? A more resilient tech worker, more in touch with their personal capacity and more mindful of how technology integrates with their lives. Work isn’t the center of their worlds anymore, either. Read more at Fast Company.

#4. Big tech companies have invested billions in their office real estate. Is that a sign that workers will be asked to return to their offices?

Search giant Google is buying new real estate in Manhattan for $2.1 billion. They’re not the only tech company to invest in real estate during the pandemic: other big companies have also done the same. Is that a sign that workers will be asked to return to the office more and more? It’s a move that challenges the flexible working trend, where some companies are allowing workers to work from home some days of the week. In a blog post, Ruth Porat, Google CFO, wrote that the new office is meant to be a more flexible, hybrid approach to work – with places to come together and collaborate.

“Our decision to exercise our option to purchase St. John’s Terminal further builds upon our existing plans to invest more than $250 million this year in our New York campus presence. It is also an important part of meeting our previously announced racial equity commitments, which include continuing to grow our workforce in diverse communities like New York,” the CFO wrote. Read more at Forbes.  

#5. British government announces national strategy to level up AI.

The U.K. government has announced a national AI strategy, the first-such dedicated package specifically aimed to boost the nation’s ability around machine learning tech in the long term. The government has said it hopes the strategy leads to a growing number of different types of AI being developed and commercialized in the U.K. The long-term goal? Become a global AI superpower. Read more at Yahoo.