The Future of Work

As we look toward 2025, we’re reflecting on how much AI has made deep inroads into our future of work. From creating new opportunities for automation and entrepreneurship to its impact on how we hire new talent, AI will no doubt continue to stay at the forefront of our conversations. But we need to remember that there are actual humans coding the AI, responding to the outputs and implementing change. Where does the intersection of people and AI convene? Are we embarking on a new set of technical and people skills? To future-cast what this relationship might look like in 2025, we’re excited to welcome back esteemed guests Vaneese Johnson and Chalenge Masekera. Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/41InVKV

In this episode, we're going to shed light on a sensitive subject that many professionals encounter, but very few understand: performance improvement plans, or PIPs. It's time to bring PIPs out of the shadows and talk about them.  You may be a manager trying to guide your team to success and have a challenging employee who is struggling, and you face having to put them on a PIP. Maybe you are that employee, struggling to understand what is expected of you and frustrated by your lack of advancement and facing a PIP. Let's explore and break down the stigma of what a PIP really is, how it can be used to support growth—rather than be used as a disciplinary measure—and what both employees and managers can do to navigate this often tricky process.  To explore this growing trend, we’re delighted to talk with Sonya Sigler, founder of PractiGal Coaching and Consulting, an IP lawyer, and best-selling author of Welcome to the Next Level and What's Next for My Career?  Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/3O55nwr  

In this episode, we’re asking the question of, are side hustles the new normal? In recent surveys, nearly 50-percent of the population has a side hustle in addition to their full-time work.  What starts as a side hustle often begins with a spark of passion or a desire to explore an idea outside the confines of a regular job. It's a space for creativity, a chance to build something meaningful on your own terms. But as this small venture grows, it presents a unique opportunity: the chance to transform that side hustle into a full-fledged startup. To explore this growing trend, we’re delighted to talk with Chuck Temple and see if a startup might be part of your future of work. Read the transcript @https://bit.ly/4dNOTmL Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/4dKKgK1

In this episode, we’re helping to unlock access to coaching—both for your career and your personal life. Perhaps you have never thought about working with a career coach, or maybe you thought about it but hiring a coach was not financially viable. Some may feel an unfounded concern that coaching puts a spotlight on identifying your weaknesses. To unravel the mysteries of coaching and how this could be an avenue toward your own success, we’re delighted to welcome founder and CEO of the Timmermann Group and unhamster, Michael Timmermann.  Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/4gv5fTJ Read this episode's transcript @https://bit.ly/4guDef2

Social impact, change-making, entrepreneurship. Opportunities abound to affect positive impact and influence by leveraging your passions. Extraordinary things can happen when passion meets purpose. Sounds overwhelming? It doesn't need to be. You may already have a side hustle that spotlights your passion. You may already be thinking about that one project that you never seem to have enough time to put into motion.  Find out how you can get started on a path toward social entrepreneurship! Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/4fEEagB Read this episode's transcript @https://bit.ly/46JkLH8    

Millions of Americans entering the workforce don’t have a traditional four-year college degree. Earning a degree may not be realistic, attainable or appealing for everyone. Many folks are instead pursuing alternative educational paths—from on-the-job-training to certificates— to advance their careers. The traditional four-year degree is only one way to demonstrate needed work skills. But are prospective employers feeling the same way? We continue to see the bachelor's degree as a requirement for many job listings and so AI-enabled resume readers will screen out otherwise capable applicants. How can we tear down this paper ceiling and create more pathways for professional development and faster skills growth without the time and financial investment that college requires for workers who may already have equivalent work experience?    Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/3SkqBsO Read this episode's transcript @https://bit.ly/3zUrv8V

In this episode, we’re taking a very real look at how AI is changing the hiring landscape. Applicants are using ChatGPT to write job opening-specific resumes, which in turn is making applicants meld together and what this episode’s guest calls a sea of sameness. On the other side of the application, managers are turning to ChatGPT to help write job descriptions. This is creating job description templates that are not specific to the actual open position. So how do you cut through the AI “red tape” when it comes to job descriptions and applying? To discuss this important topic, we’re delighted to speak with Kat Kibben. Kat is an award-winning writer and renowned keynote speaker known for helping hiring teams write inclusive, unbiased job postings that help them hire the right person faster.    Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/3XB9bv9   Read this episode's transcript @https://bit.ly/3VxcHnO

This episode, we’re turning our attention to the deskless worker—those who work in manufacturing, front-line support, health care and so many other areas. Their job does not require them to be at a desk or in a traditional office setting. They're on the go, in the field, working in environments that demand mobility and flexibility. How do we accelerate the learning and upskilling of the deskless worker? Is it through AI, advanced communications, introduction to new opportunities? How do we incorporate more inclusion for this majority group of workers? Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/458bo3e Read this episode's transcript @https://bit.ly/454D4pn

Demand for mental health benefits has grown. In a 2023 NPR article, psychologists say they can't meet the growing demand for mental health care—whether it’s not having enough open positions or three-month-long waitlists. There is a growing market for apps to fill the gaps, as well as platforms that connect people with licensed therapists or a number of AI-powered solutions that emulate a therapist. All this has an impact on workers and the workplace. And as we heard from Daniel Zhao at GlassDoor in our earlier episode, newer generations of employees are expecting employers to address these needs with benefits. Let’s talk about what employees are seeking from companies and how companies are responding. Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/43HKoXj Read this episode's transcript @https://bit.ly/3U0uaVX

Job listings mentioning AI have doubled on LinkedIn, and demand for AI skills is appearing across a wide range of industries and sectors. Job seekers are jumping on the bandwagon and adding AI skills to their resumes. But what does this mean? What are employers looking for, where can you learn these skills, and how do you talk about (and use!) AI in meaningful ways.  We turn to Dr.Michael Wu, who is a leading authority on artificial intelligence and behavioral economics. He’s currently the Chief AI Strategist at PROS, an AI-powered software solution provider, and was recently appointed as Senior Data Science Research Fellow at the Ecole des Ponts Business School. A popular adviser and lecturer for UC Berkeley Extension’s AI programs, Michael has triple undergraduate majors in Applied Math, Physics, and Molecular and Cell Biology, and earned his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley’s Biophysics program. He will be presenting his “Demystifying AI: What Business Leaders Need to Know About AI” course at the upcoming Outperform With PROS conference. Learn more about this event @https://bit.ly/3uO78YH Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/42TyCJ4 Read this episode's transcript @https://bit.ly/3OY6P4A

Are you making any career or professional development resolutions? To help you envision the future, let’s explore trends and new directions for career growth. To shed light on the jobs that are in demand and growing sectors, we need to dive into data from employees and employers. Fortunately for us, we are going to get a peek behind the glass door. We're excited to have Daniel Zhao, lead economist and senior manager data science at Glassdoor, who has been doing research on trends in the job market and workplace.  Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/3Uw9BRY Read the transcript @https://bit.ly/3w4UkgV

As we look toward 2024, we'd like to take this time to remind each of our listeners that it's important to invest in your future of work goals. So let's call this episode the Future of Work Gift Guide. What can you give yourself to upskill? How can you help someone achieve their career goals? To unpack and highlight insights from this past year, we've brought back Michelle Hector from our first episode on overcoming barriers and Barry O'Reilly from our third episode on unlearning.  Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/3RsFPL3 Read the transcript @https://bit.ly/3RpOvBR

With the advent of generative AI and large language models and chatbots, we need to take a look at the skills you will need, the jobs that are impacted and the opportunity to increase productivity—not only for yourself, but for an organization as a whole. With AI evolving at lightning speed, are we quickly entering the age of adopt or perish? To take a deeper dive, we have invited Chalenge Masekera to join us. Chalenge is a data scientist currently working at Faros AI, a company dedicated to enabling enterprises to get invaluable insights into their engineering operations.  Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/49gI9gg Read the transcript @https://bit.ly/47bv3ip  

This month, we’re taking a look at collaborative intelligence. Collaboration is essential but often times invisible. It can either contribute to the success or lead to the downfall of a project. We collaborate in a number ways, using a number of different tools and in different places, but do we really understand how to collaborate effectively? What is the difference between collaboration and coordination? How does can collaboration inspire innovation? When does collaboration become overkill and lead to employee fatigue? What can individuals and leaders do to cultivate a collaboration community? To answer these many questions, we turn to Rebecca Hinds. Rebecca is the Head of The Work Innovation Lab by Asana, a first-of-its-kind think tank that conducts actionable research to assist businesses in adapting to the ever-changing challenges of work, both today and in the future. Read the transcript from this interview @https://bit.ly/3LEmTH3 Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/48rMqgm

This month, we’re taking a look at the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that essentially struck down four-and-a-half decades of legal precedent that allowed higher-education institutions to consider race as one of the many factors in their admissions evaluations. While California has been grappling with this challenge since Prop 209 passed in 1996, now across the nation universities are seeking new ways to define college admissions that will help level an uneven playing field. Beyond admissions, we have questions about the domino effect this ruling will have not only on the makeup of incoming university students, but also the pipeline of college graduates entering  the workforce, the ripple effects on DEI in hiring and the makeup of that workforce.  We turn to Dr. Monica Cox to help us unravel what this ruling means for our Future of Work. Read the transcript from this interview @https://bit.ly/45z1ze5 Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/3snBZd9    

This month, we continue our conversation on Artificial Intelligence and how it might change your job and create wholly new jobs. ChatGPT, a generative AI chat bot from OpenAI, and Bard from Google are changing how we see AI's role in how we do our jobs. From drafting speeches to writing and debugging code, AI can remove some of the grunt work. But as Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, said to Congress, "AI is a tool. It's not a creature." AI can help with tasks, but not jobs. So if AI could replace many tasks but could also lead to much better jobs, how should we be thinking about AI in our own careers? What do we need to be wary of? And what should we embrace to leverage the power of AI?   Read the transcript @https://bit.ly/43DscfY   Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/3KaJMku

This month, we’re taking a look at Artificial Intelligence and how it is changing the way we educate and the way we work. When we first started hearing about AI, there was a lot of conversation about automation, job displacement and up-skilling. Then this year, ChatGPT set the record for the fastest-growing user base with more than 100 million users as of February 2023. AI is changing how we think about teaching, what we are teaching and how we assess learning. Governments are asking how we maximize the good that can come of artificial intelligence, but minimize the bad. From a full embracing of the technology to having a healthy level of skepticism, how will you adapt to the power of AI?    Read the transcript @https://bit.ly/3JRkvMh   Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/3qXkn7h

We’re taking an inside look at employee resource groups, better known as ERGs. ERGs provide a safe space for employees to meet with others like themselves, and develop community around those shared traits and needs. Normally employee-led, ERGs also provide inherent value to organizations small and large—from increasing employee retention, providing opportunity for professional development or boosting recruitment efforts. They are a win-win for both the employee and the employer. So to find out why every organization should cultivate and encourage ERG creation in their own workplaces, we turn to Anisha Nandi. Anisha is the CEO and co-founder of Verbate, a startup focused on helping companies build best-in-class employee communities.   Read the transcript @https://bit.ly/3pE0YrH   Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @http://bit.ly/41iXuYT  

Who is steering the ship? Today’s workforce is more empowered than ever with many finding that maintaining a work-life balance is an important part of how we work. The pandemic opened the door to enabling greater flexibility around when and where we work. Job-seekers are prioritizing company mission, values and participation in DEI when they evaluate a potential role. Employees have shown that work can be done and done well remotely. So why the call back to the office? Why are products like an automatic mouse mover hitting the market? Where and why did the trust go? To kick off the new year, let’s talk about going forward, not backward. Let’s help managers and leaders of all types shift from driving productivity through force and move toward inspiring and motivating this empowered workforce.   Read the transcript @https://bit.ly/3JS9qKR   Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/45x5NTA

This month, we chat with former guests Barry O'Reilly and Vaneese Johnson to future-cast what's in store for 2023!  They look back on 2022: Did we learn anything new? Did any of our systems or practices change? They look forward to 2023: Will there be new ripples or upsets in the work place? What should leaders and employees do to prepare and succeed in 2023?   Read the transcript @https://bit.ly/3pP53sZ   Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/43fNOji