jobs
Latest
The Engadget Podcast Ep 29: Re-Offender
Managing editor Dana Wollman and senior editor Nathan Ingraham join host Terrence O'Brien to talk about the biggest tech stories of the week. Of course, that means Uber and the growing controversy around its corporate culture -- including allegations of rampant sexism. They'll also address Samsung's plans to sell refurbished Note 7s, Bill Gate's endorsement of a robot tax and PewDiePie's most recent controversy. Then it's time to unwind a bit, and the group has some reading and listening suggestions. Plus, Dana wants your recipes.
New York City expands program linking students to tech jobs
If you ask New York City, the Tech Talent Pipeline is a shining star in its technology education efforts. The program helps students find internships and training that get them cushier tech jobs when they graduate, and it appears to be paying off -- the average starting salary among participants has gone up 34 percent, and 96 percent of first-wave graduates landed jobs. Accordingly, the city is expanding the partnerships for the Pipeline to give more students a chance. The wider participation includes new schools, companies and charitable donations.
Bill Gates wants a robot tax to compensate for job losses
How would you deal with the likelihood that robots and automation will likely lead to many people losing their jobs? For Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the answer is straightforward: tax the robots. In an interview with Quartz, Gates argues that taxing worker robots would offset job losses by funding training for positions where humans are still needed, such as child and senior care. It could even slow automation to a more manageable rate, if necessary.
Facebook now lets companies post job listings
You might not have to visit LinkedIn or a dedicated job site to climb up the career ladder. Facebook has started rolling out support for job listings on company pages, starting with the US and Canada in the next few weeks. It not only puts jobs in front of more eyeballs (namely the world's largest social network), but promises to streamline many of the usual headaches for both job seekers and recruiters. It can automatically fill in a form with details from your Facebook profile, and you can hear back from your potential employer through Messenger.
Intel finally plans to finish its Fab 42 factory in Arizona
Intel plans to complete Fab 42, a semiconductor factory in Chandler, Arizona, with an investment of more than $7 billion over the next three to four years. At its peak, the factory will employ about 3,000 process engineers, equipment technicians, and facilities-support engineers and technicians. Fab 42 will produce 7 nanometer chips and is "expected to be the most advanced semiconductor factory in the world" -- whatever that means.
Study shows Uber created some new taxi jobs, but hurt wages
One of the taxi industry's biggest complaints against its competition at ridesharing companies like Uber in Lyft is the idea that these newcomers have been siphoning away jobs from regularly employed taxi drivers. According to a new study of data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, that was not actually the case.
Amazon will help train veterans for tech jobs
Last week, Amazon said it would bring 100,000 full-time jobs to the US by 2018. This week, the online retailer announced a registered apprenticeship program with the US Department of Labor that will offer training to veterans. The initiative follows CEO Jeff Bezos' pledge to hire 25,000 veterans and their spouses over the course of five years. That goal was announced back in May.
Oracle faces Labor Department lawsuit over job discrimination
Google isn't the only Silicon Valley staple facing a lawsuit over the fairness of its hiring practices. The US Department of Labor has sued Oracle for allegedly conducting discriminatory employment practices. The enterprise tech giant is accused of paying white male workers more than minorities and women in similar positions, and of favoring Asian people for "technical roles." The lawsuit isn't coming out of the blue, though -- it's really the culmination of a battle that started when an investigation began in 2014.
Amazon bringing 100,000 full-time jobs to the US by 2018
Amazon is about to go on a huge hiring spree, adding over 100,000 "full time, full-benefit" US jobs. They'll be available to people with "all types of experience, education and skill levels," the company wrote, ranging from engineers and software developers to entry-level fulfillment center positions. "Innovation is one of our guiding principles at Amazon, and it's created hundreds of thousands of American jobs," CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement.
Pinterest lowers its goal for female engineer hires
Pinterest aimed to make itself a role model for diversity in tech in 2016, but the year didn't quite work out that way... and the company is setting its sights lower as a result. The social site reports that it increased the number of women in its workforce to 26 percent in 2016, but it only increased the ratio of engineers to 22 percent -- far short of the 30 percent it wanted. It's now aiming for 25 percent in 2017. While the team still wants to get to 30 percent, it says it's "likely going to take more than 12 months" to reach that goal.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 17: Mansion on the Hill
Executive editor Christopher Trout and reviews editor Cherlynn Low join host Terrence O'Brien to talk about the week's biggest news, including: Pandora Premium, Fitbit's purchase of Pebble and the gaming industry's nostalgia overload. Then Chris will tell the panel about his investigation into a failed gaming accessory that's found a second life as a sex toy -- clearly things get a little NSFW. Then all three will talk about what Amazon Go and other advancements in automation and mean for low-skill and low-wage jobs.
GoPro cuts jobs and closes its entertainment division
GoPro has been facing tough times lately, and that's unfortunately translating to layoffs. The action camera maker is cutting 15 percent of its workforce as part of a restructuring move, including both 200 existing positions and the cancellation of yet-to-be-filled job openings. The reorganization will also lead to the closure of GoPro's entertainment division -- the company's dreams of becoming a media empire will have to wait.
Volkswagen will reinvent itself as an EV maker
There may be something of a silver lining to Volkswagen's corrupt attempts to cheat emissions tests with its diesel and gas vehicles. The company, reeling from the fines it'll pay for its misdeeds, has announced a radical plan to overhaul itself. It's called "Pact for the Future," and sees the carmaker making a huge commitment to build more electric vehicles, reshape its business and clean up its working practices. Change, however, comes at a price, and in this case it's that the company will shed up to 30,000 jobs.
Facebook wants a piece of LinkedIn's job recruiting features
After seeing businesses and employers post ad hoc job openings on their Facebook pages, the massive social network is finally experimenting with job recruitment tools in earnest. As TechCrunch reports today, Facebook is testing out a new "Jobs" tab for business pages alongside an "Apply Now" button for applicants that will start filling out a job application with information from the user's Facebook profile.
HP will cut up to 4,000 jobs over the next 3 years
HP is no stranger to large-scale job cuts, and it's unfortunately gearing up for another round. A filing from the PC maker (not the split-off enterprise company) has revealed that it plans to cut 3,000 to 4,000 jobs over the next three years, ending sometime in fiscal 2019. HP doesn't say what's prompting the cuts, but it just set its profit expectations for fiscal 2017 (which ends in October) below what financial analysts had been expecting -- it could be a matter of recovering some profitability. HP's computer shipments have been largely flat lately, so it can't count on a surge in demand to boost its bottom line.
Apple will build an R&D center in China's Silicon Valley
Apple needs China a little more than China needs Apple, which is why the company is bending over backwards to show some love to the Middle Kingdom. VentureBeat is reporting that the iPhone maker will open a research and development center in Shenzen, the Silicon Valley of Hardware. The site quotes Apple spokesperson Josh Rosenstock saying that the facility will help Apple's engineers work "even more closely and collaboratively with our manufacturing partners." Given that Shenzen is home to Foxconn City, the site where several Apple products are assembled, it makes sense that Apple would push for an official presence in the region.
LinkedIn can quietly tell headhunters you want a new job
Let's say you're not happy with the way you've been treated at work, but your objections have fallen on deaf ears. If you start hunting around for another job, it's all too easy for that information to leak back to your current employer. That's why LinkedIn has launched Open Candidates, a service that enables would-be job-switchers to signal recruiters that they're looking for an escape route.
AI can help you find a programming job
Artificial intelligence isn't just helping you work more effectively... it can help you find work, too. Source{d} is running a job service that matches programmers with employers by using a "deep neural network" to scan open source code for relevant qualities. And it's not just about understanding whether or not you can write well in a given language, either. The AI can even look for coding styles that match the methods of a given company, so you may land a position simply by fitting in more gracefully than anyone else.
Microsoft is laying off 2,850 more workers
Microsoft is cutting an additional 2,850 jobs on top of 1,850 announced in May 2016, meaning it has laid off over 10 percent of its workforce in the last two years. Most are ex-Nokia employees from its mobile hardware division, it said in its annual SEC filing. That means Microsoft has almost nothing left of its $7.2 billion Nokia acquisition, originally intended to make it a smartphone hardware player. The software giant has already notified 900 of the employees and will complete the remaining layoffs by mid-2017.
Microsoft buys LinkedIn for $26.2 billion
You probably didn't expect your week to start this way: Microsoft has acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. The company plans to integrate the career-oriented social network into many of its apps and services, including Office, Skype and Cortana. You'd get the details of the person you're meeting for a business deal, for example, or get help from an expert when you're working on an Office 365 project. Microsoft is vowing to maintain LinkedIn's overall independence, including the role of CEO Jeff Weiner, and hopes to close the deal sometime in 2016.
