Workspan Daily News Bytes for July 31, 2026

U.S. Employers Plan to Increase Hiring in Second Half of 2026

Sixty-six percent of U.S. employers said they plan to increase permanent hiring during the second half of 2026, up from 60% in the first half of the year and 57% one year ago. This is according to research released Wednesday, July 29, by Robert Half.

The talent solutions and business consulting firm’s survey of more than 2,000 hiring managers also found that 56% expected to hire contract professionals to access specialized expertise, support priority initiatives and keep critical work moving.

Several specializations reported particularly strong demand:

Technology (78%)
Healthcare (75%)
Finance and accounting (74%)
Marketing and creative (65%)
Legal (58%)
HR (56%)
Administrative and customer support (52%)

Despite growing hiring demand, employers continued to struggle to find professionals with the specialized skills they need: 58% of survey respondents said finding qualified workers is more difficult than it was a year ago.

Skills shortages also are affecting business execution:

63% have experienced significant project delays.
48% have canceled projects because they lacked the staff with the necessary skills.

The skills employers said are hardest to find include:

Industry-specific knowledge (47%)
Software proficiency (42%)
Leadership abilities (40%)

AI Training Is Struggling to Keep Pace with Adoption

While 55% of workers regularly use artificial intelligence (AI), only 33% have participated in employer-provided AI training during the past six months, according to a recent study by The Conference Board.

Based on interviews with 35 enterprise leaders and a global survey of nearly 1,300 workers, the global nonprofit think tank found nearly 28% of respondents said their employer provides no AI training at all, while fewer than half believe their organizations provide sufficient time (48%) or tools, access and resources (48%) to develop AI skills.

Employees also noted a lack of time and support needed to develop AI skills. For example:

Only 48% of workers agreed that their organization provided sufficient time during work hours for AI skills development. The same percentage agreed they had sufficient tools, access and resources to build AI capabilities.
Leaders reported that developing critical AI skills requires more than training access. It required dedicated time, hands-on experience and managerial support.

“The organizations that navigate AI successfully will be the ones that treat workforce transformation as a leadership priority,” said Diana Scott, the U.S. human capital center leader at The Conference Board. “CHROs have an opportunity to bring together business leaders, technology teams and learning functions around a shared strategy for developing the capabilities the organization will need next.”

Employees Are Excited to Use AI, But Efficiency Is a Challenge

According to a survey report published July 22 by career development and outplacement company INTOO, 72% of U.S. employees said AI is being used for business purposes within their organization in some capacity, yet only 12% felt AI is being used consistently across their organization through formal company-approved tools and processes.

Additionally:

16% of the 1,085 survey respondents stated AI is not being used at all.
9% are not sure if or how AI is used within their organization.
3% said none of these scenarios apply.

When asked how they feel about using AI in their jobs:

34% said they are curious to learn more.
34% are excited about AI’s potential.
31% are confident using AI tools.

By contrast:

20% are worried AI could make their job obsolete.
20% want to advance their use of AI but don’t know where to start.
20% are concerned about making mistakes when using AI.
10% are intimidated by AI tools.

AI Is Forcing Companies to Restructure Entry-Level Roles

Forty-eight percent of U.S. hiring managers reported they would rather invest in AI tools than hire and train a recent college graduate, according to a Class of 2026 College Graduate Hiring Report by career website ResumeTemplates.com.

The survey, which had 1,000 respondents and focused on companies with 101 or more employees, found some of the work that once went to a team of entry-level hires is being consolidated into senior roles paired with AI. For example:

55% of surveyed hiring managers have shifted at least part of their entry-level hiring budget to AI, including 27% who have done so fully.
45% said their company has restructured so one senior worker plus AI does the work of multiple entry-level graduates.
At 20% of companies, that arrangement covers three or more entry-level roles.
Meanwhile, 50% said their company has not restructured this way.

Most companies will still hire from the Class of 2026, but a sizable share is stepping back. The report found:

23% of hiring managers will hire fewer 2026 college graduates than last year or none at all.
Another 12% have not decided how many to hire.
65% will hire 2026 graduates at the same or higher volume than the Class of 2025.

Alabama Recycler Pays $2.6 Million to Settle Discrimination Suit

Recycling company TCI of Alabama, LLC, will pay $2.6 million to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the company of a systematic, decades-long ban on hiring female laborers.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the settlement on July 22 following a lawsuit that it filed (EEOC v. TCI of Alabama, LLC) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

According to the EEOC complaint, TCI engaged in a continuous pattern of excluding women from laborer positions at its Pell City, Ala., recycling plant. The discriminatory practices began in 2006 when the company purchased the facility and lasted through late 2022. The federal investigation revealed TCI took explicit steps to enforce an all-male workforce, including:

Using exclusionary hiring. The company intentionally hired only male applicants for open laborer roles.
Making facility modifications. Management converted all on-site showers and locker rooms into male-only spaces.
Enforced staffing mandates. When TCI outsourced hiring to third-party staffing agencies, it explicitly ordered them to block female applicants, even when qualified women applied.

The discriminatory practices continued despite an active federal investigation. The inquiry began after a long-tenured employee blew the whistle on the company’s hiring policy. TCI terminated the employee for exposing the practices. The EEOC previously settled that specific retaliation claim for $90,000.

The exclusion of female workers violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans employment discrimination based on sex.

Under the three-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit, TCI will pay $2.6 million in monetary damages to compensate women who were denied employment. TCI also will hire a Title VII coordinator; provide mandatory anti-discrimination training to its managers and employees; notify all staffing agencies it works with not to comply with any discriminatory requests; and post a notice to employees about the settlement and how to report any future discrimination.

Figures and Facts of the Week

6.5 million: The number of American families who have signed up for Trump Accounts since the savings initiative officially launched on July 4, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Under a provision that was included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted last year, employers can contribute up to $2,500 annually, tax-free, to Trump Accounts. These savings accounts are available to any U.S. citizen under the age of 18.
81: The percentage of U.S. adults who would let an AI agent handle part of their job search, according to a new survey conducted by The Harris Poll in collaboration with Ruth AI, an AI career strategist built for women. The survey found 45% have used an AI platform such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for career or work-related advice.
50: The percentage of U.S. workers who have experienced some form of miscommunication with their manager, according to a Workplace Connection Report by career website FlexJobs. According to the report, miscommunication was most associated with in-person work (25%), compared with remote work (7%) or hybrid work (3%). The most common management frustrations among surveyed workers included inconsistent expectations (39%) and disrespectful communication (35%).
31: The percentage of American workers who were engaged at work during the first half of 2026, according to new data from research firm Gallup. The figure is unchanged from 2025. The data also found 18% of employees were actively disengaged.
22: The percentage of CHROs who reported that at least one business leader in their organization stopped hiring for entry-level roles due to AI automation, according to a new study from research firm Gartner.
16.8: The percentage of ChatGPT messages that were related to work, according to an OpenAI analysis of 800,000 messages from U.S. users. Additionally, 43.5% of occupation-specific messages are about tasks associated with another occupation.
7: The percentage of positions payments network Visa announced it was eliminating. According to an internal memo, the layoffs will impact roughly 2,600 positions, mostly in its technology and product operations. CNBC reported the layoffs come as companies across the financial and technology sectors increasingly use AI to automate technical work like software development.

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