• Tech layoffs surge even as US unemployment remains stable

    Although the US unemployment rate held steady at 4.2% in May with 139,000 jobs added to the US workforce, nearly 100,000 layoffs were also announced — up 47% from last year, according to new data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and others. Tech and federal cuts led the way in layoffs, driven by economic pressure, programmatic firings and AI-driven shifts in workforce needs, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

    Technology remains a top sector for cuts amid ongoing disruptions, according to the firm’s data. In May, tech companies announced 10,598 layoffs, bringing the 2025 total to 74,716; that’s up 35% from 55,207 at the same time last year.

    “Tariffs, funding cuts, consumer spending, and overall economic pessimism are putting intense pressure on companies’ workforces. Companies are spending less, slowing hiring, and sending layoff notices,” Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement.

    Uneasiness continues to weigh on tech hiring, according to CompTIA, a provider of IT training and certification products. The unemployment rate for tech jobs in May was 3.4%, roughly in line with April’s 3.5%, CompTIA data showed. The tech unemployment rate continues to sit below the national rate.

    CompTIA

    Tech sector companies added a modest 1,571 net new employees in May, analysis of the BLS jobs report by CompTIA showed. Job growth in cloud infrastructure and tech services was offset by reductions in the telecommunications sector.

    Tech employment across the broader economy declined by an estimated 131,000 positions. “With prior month employment gains, tech occupation employment remains in the positive for the year,” CompTIA said.

    “It is undoubtedly a challenging time for employers and job seekers facing uncertainty on multiple fronts,” said Tim Herbert, CompTIA’s chief research officer. “At the same time, it requires taking a measured approach given the data continues to hold up reasonably well.”

    One bright spot for tech hires in May was the finance and insurance industry, which collectively saw a 21% increase in new tech job postings; new tech job openings also rose by 16% in the retail sector, according to CompTIA.

    Even so, tech layoffs have continued as AI adoption soars and economic pressures drive a major shift toward new roles and skills in the workforce. “AI isn’t replacing jobs,” said Kye Mitchell, president of tech workforce staffing firm Experis US. “It’s fundamentally redefining how work gets done. We’re seeing AI augment skillsets and make professionals more capable, faster, and able to focus on higher-value work.”

    Technology only displaces jobs when about 80% of tasks can be automated — and AI isn’t close to doing that, said Mitchell. Right now, AI is enhancing skills, boosting productivity, and freeing up time for higher-value work.

    Hiring for AI positions and those requiring AI skills continues to grow rapidly, according to a CompTIA analysis of data from Lightcast and Stanford University study. CompTIA found that employer job postings related to AI are up 117% year-to-date year-over-year.

    Challenger, Gray & Christmas

    Skills-based hiring remains core to many employers’ recruiting strategies. About half of all tech job postings did not specify a need for a four-year academic degree, seeking instead a combination of work experience, training and industry-recognized certification, according to CompTIA’s and other data.

    Even so, employers are hesitant to hire. “Economic uncertainty is absolutely creating a cautious hiring environment, but it’s more complex than tariffs alone,” Mitchell said. “Our data shows employers adopting a ‘wait and watch’ stance as they monitor economic signals, with job openings down 11% year-over-year.”

    Still, the tech job market is adjusting as AI adoption grows. AI skill mentions in job postings fell 10% in May but are still up 10% for the year, showing steady demand, Mitchell said.

    The tech industry had been nearly bullet-proof from mass layoffs prior to 2022. After a hiring surge between 2020 and 2022 to meet digitization efforts as more people worked from home, the market shifted and began slashing jobs to readjust to the new reality.

    Tech companies such Google, Amazon, Meta  and others laid off tens of thousands of workers  as an adjustment to over-hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 alone, 1,186 tech companies laid off about 262,682 staff, compared to 164,969 layoffs in 2022.

    In January 2024, job cuts leaped 136% over December and hit a 10-month high, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

    While the labor market remained steady, there are signs that hiring across the board is softening. Open job postings fell 7% this year and new postings dropped 16% in the past month — the first full contraction of 2025. Year-to-date, new postings are flat compared to last year, according to Ger Doyle, ManpowerGroup’s regional president for North America. Doyle, however, was optimistic.

    “This is a chill, not a freeze,” he said. “Workers and employers are holding steady, awaiting clarity.”

    For example, he said, project management roles are up 483% year-over-year, and as the broader outlook improves, a rebound could follow, he added.

     Demand for data roles is surging as companies shift from AI experiments to execution. Database architect postings are up 2,140% year-over-year, with data scientist postings up 280% — clear signs of companies building the backbone for an AI-driven future, Experis’s data showed.

    “This shift is also reshaping how talent enters the industry. Entry-level opportunities are becoming more limited, making it harder for recent graduates to gain a foothold,” Mitchell said. “For those looking to break in, deep analytical and technical skills are no longer optional.”
    #tech #layoffs #surge #even #unemployment
    Tech layoffs surge even as US unemployment remains stable
    Although the US unemployment rate held steady at 4.2% in May with 139,000 jobs added to the US workforce, nearly 100,000 layoffs were also announced — up 47% from last year, according to new data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and others. Tech and federal cuts led the way in layoffs, driven by economic pressure, programmatic firings and AI-driven shifts in workforce needs, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Technology remains a top sector for cuts amid ongoing disruptions, according to the firm’s data. In May, tech companies announced 10,598 layoffs, bringing the 2025 total to 74,716; that’s up 35% from 55,207 at the same time last year. “Tariffs, funding cuts, consumer spending, and overall economic pessimism are putting intense pressure on companies’ workforces. Companies are spending less, slowing hiring, and sending layoff notices,” Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. Uneasiness continues to weigh on tech hiring, according to CompTIA, a provider of IT training and certification products. The unemployment rate for tech jobs in May was 3.4%, roughly in line with April’s 3.5%, CompTIA data showed. The tech unemployment rate continues to sit below the national rate. CompTIA Tech sector companies added a modest 1,571 net new employees in May, analysis of the BLS jobs report by CompTIA showed. Job growth in cloud infrastructure and tech services was offset by reductions in the telecommunications sector. Tech employment across the broader economy declined by an estimated 131,000 positions. “With prior month employment gains, tech occupation employment remains in the positive for the year,” CompTIA said. “It is undoubtedly a challenging time for employers and job seekers facing uncertainty on multiple fronts,” said Tim Herbert, CompTIA’s chief research officer. “At the same time, it requires taking a measured approach given the data continues to hold up reasonably well.” One bright spot for tech hires in May was the finance and insurance industry, which collectively saw a 21% increase in new tech job postings; new tech job openings also rose by 16% in the retail sector, according to CompTIA. Even so, tech layoffs have continued as AI adoption soars and economic pressures drive a major shift toward new roles and skills in the workforce. “AI isn’t replacing jobs,” said Kye Mitchell, president of tech workforce staffing firm Experis US. “It’s fundamentally redefining how work gets done. We’re seeing AI augment skillsets and make professionals more capable, faster, and able to focus on higher-value work.” Technology only displaces jobs when about 80% of tasks can be automated — and AI isn’t close to doing that, said Mitchell. Right now, AI is enhancing skills, boosting productivity, and freeing up time for higher-value work. Hiring for AI positions and those requiring AI skills continues to grow rapidly, according to a CompTIA analysis of data from Lightcast and Stanford University study. CompTIA found that employer job postings related to AI are up 117% year-to-date year-over-year. Challenger, Gray & Christmas Skills-based hiring remains core to many employers’ recruiting strategies. About half of all tech job postings did not specify a need for a four-year academic degree, seeking instead a combination of work experience, training and industry-recognized certification, according to CompTIA’s and other data. Even so, employers are hesitant to hire. “Economic uncertainty is absolutely creating a cautious hiring environment, but it’s more complex than tariffs alone,” Mitchell said. “Our data shows employers adopting a ‘wait and watch’ stance as they monitor economic signals, with job openings down 11% year-over-year.” Still, the tech job market is adjusting as AI adoption grows. AI skill mentions in job postings fell 10% in May but are still up 10% for the year, showing steady demand, Mitchell said. The tech industry had been nearly bullet-proof from mass layoffs prior to 2022. After a hiring surge between 2020 and 2022 to meet digitization efforts as more people worked from home, the market shifted and began slashing jobs to readjust to the new reality. Tech companies such Google, Amazon, Meta  and others laid off tens of thousands of workers  as an adjustment to over-hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 alone, 1,186 tech companies laid off about 262,682 staff, compared to 164,969 layoffs in 2022. In January 2024, job cuts leaped 136% over December and hit a 10-month high, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. While the labor market remained steady, there are signs that hiring across the board is softening. Open job postings fell 7% this year and new postings dropped 16% in the past month — the first full contraction of 2025. Year-to-date, new postings are flat compared to last year, according to Ger Doyle, ManpowerGroup’s regional president for North America. Doyle, however, was optimistic. “This is a chill, not a freeze,” he said. “Workers and employers are holding steady, awaiting clarity.” For example, he said, project management roles are up 483% year-over-year, and as the broader outlook improves, a rebound could follow, he added.  Demand for data roles is surging as companies shift from AI experiments to execution. Database architect postings are up 2,140% year-over-year, with data scientist postings up 280% — clear signs of companies building the backbone for an AI-driven future, Experis’s data showed. “This shift is also reshaping how talent enters the industry. Entry-level opportunities are becoming more limited, making it harder for recent graduates to gain a foothold,” Mitchell said. “For those looking to break in, deep analytical and technical skills are no longer optional.” #tech #layoffs #surge #even #unemployment
    WWW.COMPUTERWORLD.COM
    Tech layoffs surge even as US unemployment remains stable
    Although the US unemployment rate held steady at 4.2% in May with 139,000 jobs added to the US workforce, nearly 100,000 layoffs were also announced — up 47% from last year, according to new data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and others. Tech and federal cuts led the way in layoffs, driven by economic pressure, programmatic firings and AI-driven shifts in workforce needs, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Technology remains a top sector for cuts amid ongoing disruptions, according to the firm’s data. In May, tech companies announced 10,598 layoffs, bringing the 2025 total to 74,716; that’s up 35% from 55,207 at the same time last year. “Tariffs, funding cuts, consumer spending, and overall economic pessimism are putting intense pressure on companies’ workforces. Companies are spending less, slowing hiring, and sending layoff notices,” Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. Uneasiness continues to weigh on tech hiring, according to CompTIA, a provider of IT training and certification products. The unemployment rate for tech jobs in May was 3.4%, roughly in line with April’s 3.5%, CompTIA data showed. The tech unemployment rate continues to sit below the national rate. CompTIA Tech sector companies added a modest 1,571 net new employees in May, analysis of the BLS jobs report by CompTIA showed. Job growth in cloud infrastructure and tech services was offset by reductions in the telecommunications sector. Tech employment across the broader economy declined by an estimated 131,000 positions. “With prior month employment gains, tech occupation employment remains in the positive for the year,” CompTIA said. “It is undoubtedly a challenging time for employers and job seekers facing uncertainty on multiple fronts,” said Tim Herbert, CompTIA’s chief research officer. “At the same time, it requires taking a measured approach given the data continues to hold up reasonably well.” One bright spot for tech hires in May was the finance and insurance industry, which collectively saw a 21% increase in new tech job postings; new tech job openings also rose by 16% in the retail sector, according to CompTIA. Even so, tech layoffs have continued as AI adoption soars and economic pressures drive a major shift toward new roles and skills in the workforce. “AI isn’t replacing jobs,” said Kye Mitchell, president of tech workforce staffing firm Experis US. “It’s fundamentally redefining how work gets done. We’re seeing AI augment skillsets and make professionals more capable, faster, and able to focus on higher-value work.” Technology only displaces jobs when about 80% of tasks can be automated — and AI isn’t close to doing that, said Mitchell. Right now, AI is enhancing skills, boosting productivity, and freeing up time for higher-value work. Hiring for AI positions and those requiring AI skills continues to grow rapidly, according to a CompTIA analysis of data from Lightcast and Stanford University study. CompTIA found that employer job postings related to AI are up 117% year-to-date year-over-year. Challenger, Gray & Christmas Skills-based hiring remains core to many employers’ recruiting strategies. About half of all tech job postings did not specify a need for a four-year academic degree, seeking instead a combination of work experience, training and industry-recognized certification, according to CompTIA’s and other data. Even so, employers are hesitant to hire. “Economic uncertainty is absolutely creating a cautious hiring environment, but it’s more complex than tariffs alone,” Mitchell said. “Our data shows employers adopting a ‘wait and watch’ stance as they monitor economic signals, with job openings down 11% year-over-year.” Still, the tech job market is adjusting as AI adoption grows. AI skill mentions in job postings fell 10% in May but are still up 10% for the year, showing steady demand, Mitchell said. The tech industry had been nearly bullet-proof from mass layoffs prior to 2022. After a hiring surge between 2020 and 2022 to meet digitization efforts as more people worked from home, the market shifted and began slashing jobs to readjust to the new reality. Tech companies such Google, Amazon, Meta (Facebook) and others laid off tens of thousands of workers  as an adjustment to over-hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 alone, 1,186 tech companies laid off about 262,682 staff, compared to 164,969 layoffs in 2022. In January 2024, job cuts leaped 136% over December and hit a 10-month high, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. While the labor market remained steady, there are signs that hiring across the board is softening. Open job postings fell 7% this year and new postings dropped 16% in the past month — the first full contraction of 2025. Year-to-date, new postings are flat compared to last year, according to Ger Doyle, ManpowerGroup’s regional president for North America. Doyle, however, was optimistic. “This is a chill, not a freeze,” he said. “Workers and employers are holding steady, awaiting clarity.” For example, he said, project management roles are up 483% year-over-year, and as the broader outlook improves, a rebound could follow, he added.  Demand for data roles is surging as companies shift from AI experiments to execution. Database architect postings are up 2,140% year-over-year, with data scientist postings up 280% — clear signs of companies building the backbone for an AI-driven future, Experis’s data showed. “This shift is also reshaping how talent enters the industry. Entry-level opportunities are becoming more limited, making it harder for recent graduates to gain a foothold,” Mitchell said. “For those looking to break in, deep analytical and technical skills are no longer optional.”
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  • There's doom and gloom about the economy, but million-dollar Hamptons home sales are booming

    A Bridgehampton home that Susan Breitenbach, a Hamptons real estate agent, sold for more than million in May 2025.

    Courtesy of Susan Breitenbach

    2025-06-05T08:07:01Z

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    Hamptons home sales are booming despite stock market volatility and recession fears.
    Home sales were up about 86% in the first quarter over the same time period in 2024.
    Prices and sales are soaring in the beach destination despite Wall Street volatility.

    As Wall Street reels with every twist and turn in President Donald Trump's trade war, there's little sign of economic uncertainty in Manhattan's favorite beach destination just 100 miles east.Demand for luxury real estate in the Hamptons is only growing. Sales and home prices have surged over the last year.Rising prices in the tony enclave are nothing new. The pandemic ushered in a surge of buyers looking to escape the city. The median sales price of homes in the Hamptons in the first quarter of 2025 was more than million, a 13% increase over the previous year and nearly double what it was five years ago, according to a recent Douglas Elliman report.Perhaps more notably, the pace of sales is also soaring this year. Sales were up about 86% in the first quarter over the same time period last year, according to the Douglas Elliman report. That's after home sales fell in the wake of the pandemic buying frenzy, and haven't returned to the highs of 2020."The tired story of the housing recovery coming out of the pandemic is high prices, low sales," Jonathan Miller, who leads the real estate appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel and authored the Douglas Elliman report, told Business Insider. "The Hamptons doesn't fit that pattern. It's high prices and high sales."Miller added that the sharp rise in sales is "unusual and counter to the prevailing trends."Susan Breitenbach, a top Hamptons real estate agent with the Corcoran Group, said she's closed more deals so far this year than in all of 2024. She's sold a slew of luxury homes, including a million oceanfront property in Bridgehampton, an Amagansett home for million, a Sag Harbor home on less than an acre for million, and a Southampton house for million.
    "It was really very surprising," Breitenbach, who's been selling property in the Hamptons for more than 30 years, told BI.

    A Southampton home Breitenbach sold for million in May 2025.

    Courtesy of Susan Breitenbach

    While some agents like Breitenbach are closing deals at the highest end of the market, the middle of the Hamptons market — homes between million and million — has driven the uptick in sales. These "meat and potatoes" sales, Miller said, are way up.So-called "tangible assets," like luxury real estate in very in-demand markets, can be particularly attractive to certain investors when markets are wobbly.Global stocks plummeted following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, and while they've mostly rebounded since the administration walked back some of their tariffs, markets are on edge. In early June, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development cut its forecast for the US economic growth rate in 2025 from 2.8% to 1.6%, citing Trump's trade policies."Hamptons real estate has a long history of appreciating over time," Andrew Saunders, president of the Hamptons real estate brokerage Saunders & Associates, told BI. Some more cautious buyers "might look at what's happening in the world at large and say, 'You know what, I'm going to wait a month or two and let the world take a few spins and see what happens.' But we're not seeing that occur en masse."Miller credited big Wall Street bonuses in 2024 for some of the spike in sales and agreed that market volatility could be pushing some to diversify their investments.The Hamptons rental market might be more sensitive to economic uncertainty. Breitenbach said rental interest was much higher than usual in January but has since fallen off. Miller, who doesn't track rentals in the Hamptons, added that an increase in sales would naturally lead to a drop in rental demand.Breitenbach recently listed a home on 2.5 acres of oceanfront property in Water Mill, which sits between Southampton and Bridgehampton, for million. "It's not about the house, it's about the land," she added. "And that's a deal."

    A Southampton home Breitenbach sold for nearly million in January.

    Courtesy of Susan Breitenbach

    Hamptons buyers are from all over. Breitenbach said she's seen an uptick in California buyers this year, and she still has foreign buyers. But a large share of her clients are still Manhattanites."A lot of it is the high-end New York — Manhattan — buyers, because there aren't many places they can go on the weekends," she said.Breitenbach said Memorial Day weekend this year felt more packed than ever out east, even with cooler-than-normal weather. "It looked like Fourth of July," she said.She doesn't expect market volatility and even threats of a recession to change that."It's going to be a busy summer in the Hamptons regardless," Breitenbach said. "People keep coming out here no matter what's going on."
    #there039s #doom #gloom #about #economy
    There's doom and gloom about the economy, but million-dollar Hamptons home sales are booming
    A Bridgehampton home that Susan Breitenbach, a Hamptons real estate agent, sold for more than million in May 2025. Courtesy of Susan Breitenbach 2025-06-05T08:07:01Z d Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Hamptons home sales are booming despite stock market volatility and recession fears. Home sales were up about 86% in the first quarter over the same time period in 2024. Prices and sales are soaring in the beach destination despite Wall Street volatility. As Wall Street reels with every twist and turn in President Donald Trump's trade war, there's little sign of economic uncertainty in Manhattan's favorite beach destination just 100 miles east.Demand for luxury real estate in the Hamptons is only growing. Sales and home prices have surged over the last year.Rising prices in the tony enclave are nothing new. The pandemic ushered in a surge of buyers looking to escape the city. The median sales price of homes in the Hamptons in the first quarter of 2025 was more than million, a 13% increase over the previous year and nearly double what it was five years ago, according to a recent Douglas Elliman report.Perhaps more notably, the pace of sales is also soaring this year. Sales were up about 86% in the first quarter over the same time period last year, according to the Douglas Elliman report. That's after home sales fell in the wake of the pandemic buying frenzy, and haven't returned to the highs of 2020."The tired story of the housing recovery coming out of the pandemic is high prices, low sales," Jonathan Miller, who leads the real estate appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel and authored the Douglas Elliman report, told Business Insider. "The Hamptons doesn't fit that pattern. It's high prices and high sales."Miller added that the sharp rise in sales is "unusual and counter to the prevailing trends."Susan Breitenbach, a top Hamptons real estate agent with the Corcoran Group, said she's closed more deals so far this year than in all of 2024. She's sold a slew of luxury homes, including a million oceanfront property in Bridgehampton, an Amagansett home for million, a Sag Harbor home on less than an acre for million, and a Southampton house for million. "It was really very surprising," Breitenbach, who's been selling property in the Hamptons for more than 30 years, told BI. A Southampton home Breitenbach sold for million in May 2025. Courtesy of Susan Breitenbach While some agents like Breitenbach are closing deals at the highest end of the market, the middle of the Hamptons market — homes between million and million — has driven the uptick in sales. These "meat and potatoes" sales, Miller said, are way up.So-called "tangible assets," like luxury real estate in very in-demand markets, can be particularly attractive to certain investors when markets are wobbly.Global stocks plummeted following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, and while they've mostly rebounded since the administration walked back some of their tariffs, markets are on edge. In early June, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development cut its forecast for the US economic growth rate in 2025 from 2.8% to 1.6%, citing Trump's trade policies."Hamptons real estate has a long history of appreciating over time," Andrew Saunders, president of the Hamptons real estate brokerage Saunders & Associates, told BI. Some more cautious buyers "might look at what's happening in the world at large and say, 'You know what, I'm going to wait a month or two and let the world take a few spins and see what happens.' But we're not seeing that occur en masse."Miller credited big Wall Street bonuses in 2024 for some of the spike in sales and agreed that market volatility could be pushing some to diversify their investments.The Hamptons rental market might be more sensitive to economic uncertainty. Breitenbach said rental interest was much higher than usual in January but has since fallen off. Miller, who doesn't track rentals in the Hamptons, added that an increase in sales would naturally lead to a drop in rental demand.Breitenbach recently listed a home on 2.5 acres of oceanfront property in Water Mill, which sits between Southampton and Bridgehampton, for million. "It's not about the house, it's about the land," she added. "And that's a deal." A Southampton home Breitenbach sold for nearly million in January. Courtesy of Susan Breitenbach Hamptons buyers are from all over. Breitenbach said she's seen an uptick in California buyers this year, and she still has foreign buyers. But a large share of her clients are still Manhattanites."A lot of it is the high-end New York — Manhattan — buyers, because there aren't many places they can go on the weekends," she said.Breitenbach said Memorial Day weekend this year felt more packed than ever out east, even with cooler-than-normal weather. "It looked like Fourth of July," she said.She doesn't expect market volatility and even threats of a recession to change that."It's going to be a busy summer in the Hamptons regardless," Breitenbach said. "People keep coming out here no matter what's going on." #there039s #doom #gloom #about #economy
    WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM
    There's doom and gloom about the economy, but million-dollar Hamptons home sales are booming
    A Bridgehampton home that Susan Breitenbach, a Hamptons real estate agent, sold for more than $14 million in May 2025. Courtesy of Susan Breitenbach 2025-06-05T08:07:01Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Hamptons home sales are booming despite stock market volatility and recession fears. Home sales were up about 86% in the first quarter over the same time period in 2024. Prices and sales are soaring in the beach destination despite Wall Street volatility. As Wall Street reels with every twist and turn in President Donald Trump's trade war, there's little sign of economic uncertainty in Manhattan's favorite beach destination just 100 miles east.Demand for luxury real estate in the Hamptons is only growing. Sales and home prices have surged over the last year.Rising prices in the tony enclave are nothing new. The pandemic ushered in a surge of buyers looking to escape the city. The median sales price of homes in the Hamptons in the first quarter of 2025 was more than $2 million, a 13% increase over the previous year and nearly double what it was five years ago, according to a recent Douglas Elliman report.Perhaps more notably, the pace of sales is also soaring this year. Sales were up about 86% in the first quarter over the same time period last year, according to the Douglas Elliman report. That's after home sales fell in the wake of the pandemic buying frenzy, and haven't returned to the highs of 2020."The tired story of the housing recovery coming out of the pandemic is high prices, low sales," Jonathan Miller, who leads the real estate appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel and authored the Douglas Elliman report, told Business Insider. "The Hamptons doesn't fit that pattern. It's high prices and high sales."Miller added that the sharp rise in sales is "unusual and counter to the prevailing trends."Susan Breitenbach, a top Hamptons real estate agent with the Corcoran Group, said she's closed more deals so far this year than in all of 2024. She's sold a slew of luxury homes, including a $17.5 million oceanfront property in Bridgehampton, an Amagansett home for $13 million, a Sag Harbor home on less than an acre for $21 million, and a Southampton house for $5.6 million. "It was really very surprising," Breitenbach, who's been selling property in the Hamptons for more than 30 years, told BI. A Southampton home Breitenbach sold for $5.6 million in May 2025. Courtesy of Susan Breitenbach While some agents like Breitenbach are closing deals at the highest end of the market, the middle of the Hamptons market — homes between $1 million and $5 million — has driven the uptick in sales. These "meat and potatoes" sales, Miller said, are way up.So-called "tangible assets," like luxury real estate in very in-demand markets, can be particularly attractive to certain investors when markets are wobbly.Global stocks plummeted following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, and while they've mostly rebounded since the administration walked back some of their tariffs, markets are on edge. In early June, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development cut its forecast for the US economic growth rate in 2025 from 2.8% to 1.6%, citing Trump's trade policies."Hamptons real estate has a long history of appreciating over time," Andrew Saunders, president of the Hamptons real estate brokerage Saunders & Associates, told BI. Some more cautious buyers "might look at what's happening in the world at large and say, 'You know what, I'm going to wait a month or two and let the world take a few spins and see what happens.' But we're not seeing that occur en masse."Miller credited big Wall Street bonuses in 2024 for some of the spike in sales and agreed that market volatility could be pushing some to diversify their investments.The Hamptons rental market might be more sensitive to economic uncertainty. Breitenbach said rental interest was much higher than usual in January but has since fallen off. Miller, who doesn't track rentals in the Hamptons, added that an increase in sales would naturally lead to a drop in rental demand.Breitenbach recently listed a home on 2.5 acres of oceanfront property in Water Mill, which sits between Southampton and Bridgehampton, for $44.5 million. "It's not about the house, it's about the land," she added. "And that's a deal." A Southampton home Breitenbach sold for nearly $12.7 million in January. Courtesy of Susan Breitenbach Hamptons buyers are from all over. Breitenbach said she's seen an uptick in California buyers this year, and she still has foreign buyers. But a large share of her clients are still Manhattanites."A lot of it is the high-end New York — Manhattan — buyers, because there aren't many places they can go on the weekends," she said.Breitenbach said Memorial Day weekend this year felt more packed than ever out east, even with cooler-than-normal weather. "It looked like Fourth of July," she said.She doesn't expect market volatility and even threats of a recession to change that."It's going to be a busy summer in the Hamptons regardless," Breitenbach said. "People keep coming out here no matter what's going on."
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  • Pay for Performance -- How Do You Measure It?

    More enterprises have moved to pay-for-performance salary and promotion models that measure progress toward goals -- but how do you measure goals for a maintenance programmer who barrels through a request backlog but delivers marginal value for the business, or for a business analyst whose success is predicated on forging intangibles like trust and cooperation with users so things can get done? It’s an age-old question facing companies, now that 77% of them use some type of pay-for-performance model. What are some popular pay-for-performance use cases? A factory doing piece work that pays employees based upon the number of items they assemble. A call center that pays agents based on how many calls they complete per day. A bank teller who gets rewarded for how many customers they sign up for credit cards. An IT project team that gets a bonus for completing a major project ahead of schedule. The IT example differs from the others, because it depends on team and not individual execution, but there nevertheless is something tangible to measure. The other use cases are more clearcut -- although they don’t account for pieces in the plant that were poorly assembled in haste to make quota and had to be reworked, or a call center agent who pushes calls off to someone else so they can end their calls in six minutes or less, or the teller who signs up X number of customers for credit cards, although two-thirds of them never use the credit card they signed up for. Related:In short, there are flaws in pay-for-performance models just as there are in other types of compensation models that organizations use. So, what’s the best path for IT for CIOs who want to implement pay for performance? One approach is to measure pay for performance based upon four key elements: hard results, effort, skill, and communications. The mix of these elements will vary, depending on the type of position each IT staff member performs. Here are two examples of pay per performance by position: 1. Computer maintenance programmers and help desk specialists Historically, IT departments have used hard numbers like how many open requests a computer maintenance programmer has closed, or how many calls a help desk employee has solved. There is merit in using hard results, and hard results should be factored into performance reviews for these individuals -- but hard numbers don’t tell the whole story.  For example, how many times has a help desk agent gone the extra mile with a difficult user or software bug, taking the time to see the entire process through until it is thoroughly solved? lf the issue was of a global nature, did the Help Desk agent follow up by letting others who use the application know that a bug was fixed? For the maintenance programmer who has completed the most open requests, which of these requests really solved a major business pain point? For both help desk and maintenance programming employees, were the changes and fixes properly documented and communicated to everyone with a need to know? And did these employees demonstrate the skills needed to solve their issues? Related:It’s difficult to capture hard results on elements like effort, communication and skills, but one way to go about it is to survey user departments on individual levels of service and effectiveness. From there, it’s up to IT managers to determinate the “mix” of hard results, effort, communication and skills on which the employee will be evaluated, and to communicate upfront to the employee what the pay for performance assessment will be based on. 2. Business analysts and trainers Business analysts and trainers are difficult to quantify in pay for performance models because so much of their success depends upon other people. A business analyst can know everything there is to know about a particular business area and its systems, but if the analyst is working with unresponsive users, or lacks the soft skills needed to communicate with users, the pay for performance can’t be based upon the technology skillset alone.  Related:IT trainers face a somewhat different dilemma when it  comes to performance evaluation: they can produce the training that new staff members need before staff is deployed on key projects,  but if a project gets delayed and this causes trainees to lose the knowledge that they learned, there is little the trainer can do aside from offering a refresher course. Can pay for performance be used for positions like these? It’s a mixed answer. Yes, pay per performance can be used for trainers, based upon how many individuals the trainer trains and how many new courses the trainer obtains or develops. These are the hard results. However, since so much of training’s execution depends upon other people downstream, like project managers who must start projects on time so new skills aren’t lost,  managers of training should also consider pay for performance elements such as effort, skills and communication.  In sum, for both business analysts and trainers, there are hard results that can be factored into a pay for performance formula, but there is also a need to survey each position’s “customers” -- those individualswho utilized the business analyst’s or trainer’s skills and products to accomplish their respective objectives in projects and training. Were these user-customers satisfied?  Summary Remarks The value that IT employees contribute to overall IT and to the business at large is a combination of tangible and intangible results. Pay for performance models are well suited to gauge tangible outcomes, but they fall short when it comes to the intangibles that could be just as important. Many years ago, when Pat Riley was coaching the Los Angeles Lakers, an interviewer asked what type of metrics he used when he measured the effectiveness of individual players on the basketball court. Was it the number of points, rebounds, or assists? Riley said he used an “effort" index. For example, how many times did a player go up to get a rebound, even if he didn’t end up with the ball? Riley said the effort individual players exhibited mattered, because even if they didn’t get the rebound, they were creating situations so someone else on the team could. IT is similar. It’s why OKR International, a performance consultancy, stated “Intangibles often create or destroy value quietly -- until their impact is too big to ignore. In the long run, they are the unseen levers that determine whether strategy thrives or withers.”  What CIOs and IT leadership can do when they use pay for performance is to assure that hard results, effort, communications and skills are appropriately blended for each IT staff position, and its responsibilities and realities -- because you can’t attach a numerical measurement to everything -- but you can observe visible changes that begin to manifest when a business analyst turns around what has been a hostile relationship with a user department and you begin to get things done. 
    #pay #performance #how #you #measure
    Pay for Performance -- How Do You Measure It?
    More enterprises have moved to pay-for-performance salary and promotion models that measure progress toward goals -- but how do you measure goals for a maintenance programmer who barrels through a request backlog but delivers marginal value for the business, or for a business analyst whose success is predicated on forging intangibles like trust and cooperation with users so things can get done? It’s an age-old question facing companies, now that 77% of them use some type of pay-for-performance model. What are some popular pay-for-performance use cases? A factory doing piece work that pays employees based upon the number of items they assemble. A call center that pays agents based on how many calls they complete per day. A bank teller who gets rewarded for how many customers they sign up for credit cards. An IT project team that gets a bonus for completing a major project ahead of schedule. The IT example differs from the others, because it depends on team and not individual execution, but there nevertheless is something tangible to measure. The other use cases are more clearcut -- although they don’t account for pieces in the plant that were poorly assembled in haste to make quota and had to be reworked, or a call center agent who pushes calls off to someone else so they can end their calls in six minutes or less, or the teller who signs up X number of customers for credit cards, although two-thirds of them never use the credit card they signed up for. Related:In short, there are flaws in pay-for-performance models just as there are in other types of compensation models that organizations use. So, what’s the best path for IT for CIOs who want to implement pay for performance? One approach is to measure pay for performance based upon four key elements: hard results, effort, skill, and communications. The mix of these elements will vary, depending on the type of position each IT staff member performs. Here are two examples of pay per performance by position: 1. Computer maintenance programmers and help desk specialists Historically, IT departments have used hard numbers like how many open requests a computer maintenance programmer has closed, or how many calls a help desk employee has solved. There is merit in using hard results, and hard results should be factored into performance reviews for these individuals -- but hard numbers don’t tell the whole story.  For example, how many times has a help desk agent gone the extra mile with a difficult user or software bug, taking the time to see the entire process through until it is thoroughly solved? lf the issue was of a global nature, did the Help Desk agent follow up by letting others who use the application know that a bug was fixed? For the maintenance programmer who has completed the most open requests, which of these requests really solved a major business pain point? For both help desk and maintenance programming employees, were the changes and fixes properly documented and communicated to everyone with a need to know? And did these employees demonstrate the skills needed to solve their issues? Related:It’s difficult to capture hard results on elements like effort, communication and skills, but one way to go about it is to survey user departments on individual levels of service and effectiveness. From there, it’s up to IT managers to determinate the “mix” of hard results, effort, communication and skills on which the employee will be evaluated, and to communicate upfront to the employee what the pay for performance assessment will be based on. 2. Business analysts and trainers Business analysts and trainers are difficult to quantify in pay for performance models because so much of their success depends upon other people. A business analyst can know everything there is to know about a particular business area and its systems, but if the analyst is working with unresponsive users, or lacks the soft skills needed to communicate with users, the pay for performance can’t be based upon the technology skillset alone.  Related:IT trainers face a somewhat different dilemma when it  comes to performance evaluation: they can produce the training that new staff members need before staff is deployed on key projects,  but if a project gets delayed and this causes trainees to lose the knowledge that they learned, there is little the trainer can do aside from offering a refresher course. Can pay for performance be used for positions like these? It’s a mixed answer. Yes, pay per performance can be used for trainers, based upon how many individuals the trainer trains and how many new courses the trainer obtains or develops. These are the hard results. However, since so much of training’s execution depends upon other people downstream, like project managers who must start projects on time so new skills aren’t lost,  managers of training should also consider pay for performance elements such as effort, skills and communication.  In sum, for both business analysts and trainers, there are hard results that can be factored into a pay for performance formula, but there is also a need to survey each position’s “customers” -- those individualswho utilized the business analyst’s or trainer’s skills and products to accomplish their respective objectives in projects and training. Were these user-customers satisfied?  Summary Remarks The value that IT employees contribute to overall IT and to the business at large is a combination of tangible and intangible results. Pay for performance models are well suited to gauge tangible outcomes, but they fall short when it comes to the intangibles that could be just as important. Many years ago, when Pat Riley was coaching the Los Angeles Lakers, an interviewer asked what type of metrics he used when he measured the effectiveness of individual players on the basketball court. Was it the number of points, rebounds, or assists? Riley said he used an “effort" index. For example, how many times did a player go up to get a rebound, even if he didn’t end up with the ball? Riley said the effort individual players exhibited mattered, because even if they didn’t get the rebound, they were creating situations so someone else on the team could. IT is similar. It’s why OKR International, a performance consultancy, stated “Intangibles often create or destroy value quietly -- until their impact is too big to ignore. In the long run, they are the unseen levers that determine whether strategy thrives or withers.”  What CIOs and IT leadership can do when they use pay for performance is to assure that hard results, effort, communications and skills are appropriately blended for each IT staff position, and its responsibilities and realities -- because you can’t attach a numerical measurement to everything -- but you can observe visible changes that begin to manifest when a business analyst turns around what has been a hostile relationship with a user department and you begin to get things done.  #pay #performance #how #you #measure
    WWW.INFORMATIONWEEK.COM
    Pay for Performance -- How Do You Measure It?
    More enterprises have moved to pay-for-performance salary and promotion models that measure progress toward goals -- but how do you measure goals for a maintenance programmer who barrels through a request backlog but delivers marginal value for the business, or for a business analyst whose success is predicated on forging intangibles like trust and cooperation with users so things can get done? It’s an age-old question facing companies, now that 77% of them use some type of pay-for-performance model. What are some popular pay-for-performance use cases? A factory doing piece work that pays employees based upon the number of items they assemble. A call center that pays agents based on how many calls they complete per day. A bank teller who gets rewarded for how many customers they sign up for credit cards. An IT project team that gets a bonus for completing a major project ahead of schedule. The IT example differs from the others, because it depends on team and not individual execution, but there nevertheless is something tangible to measure. The other use cases are more clearcut -- although they don’t account for pieces in the plant that were poorly assembled in haste to make quota and had to be reworked, or a call center agent who pushes calls off to someone else so they can end their calls in six minutes or less, or the teller who signs up X number of customers for credit cards, although two-thirds of them never use the credit card they signed up for. Related:In short, there are flaws in pay-for-performance models just as there are in other types of compensation models that organizations use. So, what’s the best path for IT for CIOs who want to implement pay for performance? One approach is to measure pay for performance based upon four key elements: hard results, effort, skill, and communications. The mix of these elements will vary, depending on the type of position each IT staff member performs. Here are two examples of pay per performance by position: 1. Computer maintenance programmers and help desk specialists Historically, IT departments have used hard numbers like how many open requests a computer maintenance programmer has closed, or how many calls a help desk employee has solved. There is merit in using hard results, and hard results should be factored into performance reviews for these individuals -- but hard numbers don’t tell the whole story.  For example, how many times has a help desk agent gone the extra mile with a difficult user or software bug, taking the time to see the entire process through until it is thoroughly solved? lf the issue was of a global nature, did the Help Desk agent follow up by letting others who use the application know that a bug was fixed? For the maintenance programmer who has completed the most open requests, which of these requests really solved a major business pain point? For both help desk and maintenance programming employees, were the changes and fixes properly documented and communicated to everyone with a need to know? And did these employees demonstrate the skills needed to solve their issues? Related:It’s difficult to capture hard results on elements like effort, communication and skills, but one way to go about it is to survey user departments on individual levels of service and effectiveness. From there, it’s up to IT managers to determinate the “mix” of hard results, effort, communication and skills on which the employee will be evaluated, and to communicate upfront to the employee what the pay for performance assessment will be based on. 2. Business analysts and trainers Business analysts and trainers are difficult to quantify in pay for performance models because so much of their success depends upon other people. A business analyst can know everything there is to know about a particular business area and its systems, but if the analyst is working with unresponsive users, or lacks the soft skills needed to communicate with users, the pay for performance can’t be based upon the technology skillset alone.  Related:IT trainers face a somewhat different dilemma when it  comes to performance evaluation: they can produce the training that new staff members need before staff is deployed on key projects,  but if a project gets delayed and this causes trainees to lose the knowledge that they learned, there is little the trainer can do aside from offering a refresher course. Can pay for performance be used for positions like these? It’s a mixed answer. Yes, pay per performance can be used for trainers, based upon how many individuals the trainer trains and how many new courses the trainer obtains or develops. These are the hard results. However, since so much of training’s execution depends upon other people downstream, like project managers who must start projects on time so new skills aren’t lost,  managers of training should also consider pay for performance elements such as effort (has the trainer consistently gone the extra mile to make things work?), skills and communication.  In sum, for both business analysts and trainers, there are hard results that can be factored into a pay for performance formula, but there is also a need to survey each position’s “customers” -- those individuals (and their managers) who utilized the business analyst’s or trainer’s skills and products to accomplish their respective objectives in projects and training. Were these user-customers satisfied?  Summary Remarks The value that IT employees contribute to overall IT and to the business at large is a combination of tangible and intangible results. Pay for performance models are well suited to gauge tangible outcomes, but they fall short when it comes to the intangibles that could be just as important. Many years ago, when Pat Riley was coaching the Los Angeles Lakers, an interviewer asked what type of metrics he used when he measured the effectiveness of individual players on the basketball court. Was it the number of points, rebounds, or assists? Riley said he used an “effort" index. For example, how many times did a player go up to get a rebound, even if he didn’t end up with the ball? Riley said the effort individual players exhibited mattered, because even if they didn’t get the rebound, they were creating situations so someone else on the team could. IT is similar. It’s why OKR International, a performance consultancy, stated “Intangibles often create or destroy value quietly -- until their impact is too big to ignore. In the long run, they are the unseen levers that determine whether strategy thrives or withers.”  What CIOs and IT leadership can do when they use pay for performance is to assure that hard results, effort, communications and skills are appropriately blended for each IT staff position, and its responsibilities and realities -- because you can’t attach a numerical measurement to everything -- but you can observe visible changes that begin to manifest when a business analyst turns around what has been a hostile relationship with a user department and you begin to get things done. 
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  • How white-tailed deer came back from the brink of extinction

    Given their abundance in American backyards, gardens and highway corridors these days, it may be surprising to learn that white-tailed deer were nearly extinct about a century ago. While they currently number somewhere in the range of 30 million to 35 million, at the turn of the 20th century, there were as few as 300,000 whitetails across the entire continent: just 1% of the current population.

    This near-disappearance of deer was much discussed at the time. In 1854, Henry David Thoreau had written that no deer had been hunted near Concord, Massachusetts, for a generation. In his famous “Walden,” he reported:

    “One man still preserves the horns of the last deer that was killed in this vicinity, and another has told me the particulars of the hunt in which his uncle was engaged. The hunters were formerly a numerous and merry crew here.”

    But what happened to white-tailed deer? What drove them nearly to extinction, and then what brought them back from the brink?

    As a historical ecologist and environmental archaeologist, I have made it my job to answer these questions. Over the past decade, I’ve studied white-tailed deer bones from archaeological sites across the eastern United States, as well as historical records and ecological data, to help piece together the story of this species.

    Precolonial rise of deer populations

    White-tailed deer have been hunted from the earliest migrations of people into North America, more than 15,000 years ago. The species was far from the most important food resource at that time, though.

    Archaeological evidence suggests that white-tailed deer abundance only began to increase after the extinction of megafauna species like mammoths and mastodons opened up ecological niches for deer to fill. Deer bones become very common in archaeological sites from about 6,000 years ago onward, reflecting the economic and cultural importance of the species for Indigenous peoples.

    Despite being so frequently hunted, deer populations do not seem to have appreciably declined due to Indigenous hunting prior to AD 1600. Unlike elk or sturgeon, whose numbers were reduced by Indigenous hunters and fishers, white-tailed deer seem to have been resilient to human predation. While archaeologists have found some evidence for human-caused declines in certain parts of North America, other cases are more ambiguous, and deer certainly remained abundant throughout the past several millennia.

    Human use of fire could partly explain why white-tailed deer may have been resilient to hunting. Indigenous peoples across North America have long used controlled burning to promote ecosystem health, disturbing old vegetation to promote new growth. Deer love this sort of successional vegetation for food and cover, and thus thrive in previously burned habitats. Indigenous people may have therefore facilitated deer population growth, counteracting any harmful hunting pressure.

    More research is needed, but even though some hunting pressure is evident, the general picture from the precolonial era is that deer seem to have been doing just fine for thousands of years. Ecologists estimate that there were roughly 30 million white-tailed deer in North America on the eve of European colonization—about the same number as today.

    A 16th-century engraving depicts Indigenous Floridians hunting deer while disguised in deerskins.Colonial-era fall of deer numbers

    To better understand how deer populations changed in the colonial era, I recently analyzed deer bones from two archaeological sites in what is now Connecticut. My analysis suggests that hunting pressure on white-tailed deer increased almost as soon as European colonists arrived.

    At one site dated to the 11th to 14th centuriesI found that only about 7% to 10% of the deer killed were juveniles.

    Hunters generally don’t take juvenile deer if they’re frequently encountering adults, since adult deer tend to be larger, offering more meat and bigger hides. Additionally, hunting increases mortality on a deer herd but doesn’t directly affect fertility, so deer populations experiencing hunting pressure end up with juvenile-skewed age structures. For these reasons, this low percentage of juvenile deer prior to European colonization indicates minimal hunting pressure on local herds.

    However, at a nearby site occupied during the 17th century—just after European colonization—between 22% and 31% of the deer hunted were juveniles, suggesting a substantial increase in hunting pressure.

    This elevated hunting pressure likely resulted from the transformation of deer into a commodity for the first time. Venison, antlers and deerskins may have long been exchanged within Indigenous trade networks, but things changed drastically in the 17th century. European colonists integrated North America into a trans-Atlantic mercantile capitalist economic system with no precedent in Indigenous society. This applied new pressures to the continent’s natural resources.

    Deer—particularly their skins—were commodified and sold in markets in the colonies initially and, by the 18th century, in Europe as well. Deer were now being exploited by traders, merchants and manufacturers desiring profit, not simply hunters desiring meat or leather. It was the resulting hunting pressure that drove the species toward its extinction.

    20th-century rebound of white-tailed deer

    Thanks to the rise of the conservation movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, white-tailed deer survived their brush with extinction.

    Concerned citizens and outdoorsmen feared for the fate of deer and other wildlife, and pushed for new legislative protections.

    The Lacey Act of 1900, for example, banned interstate transport of poached game and—in combination with state-level protections—helped end commercial deer hunting by effectively de-commodifying the species. Aided by conservation-oriented hunting practices and reintroductions of deer from surviving populations to areas where they had been extirpated, white-tailed deer rebounded.

    The story of white-tailed deer underscores an important fact: Humans are not inherently damaging to the environment. Hunting from the 17th through 19th centuries threatened the existence of white-tailed deer, but precolonial Indigenous hunting and environmental management appear to have been relatively sustainable, and modern regulatory governance in the 20th century forestalled and reversed their looming extinction.

    Elic Weitzel, Peter Buck Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Smithsonian Institution

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
    #how #whitetaileddeer #came #back #brink
    How white-tailed deer came back from the brink of extinction
    Given their abundance in American backyards, gardens and highway corridors these days, it may be surprising to learn that white-tailed deer were nearly extinct about a century ago. While they currently number somewhere in the range of 30 million to 35 million, at the turn of the 20th century, there were as few as 300,000 whitetails across the entire continent: just 1% of the current population. This near-disappearance of deer was much discussed at the time. In 1854, Henry David Thoreau had written that no deer had been hunted near Concord, Massachusetts, for a generation. In his famous “Walden,” he reported: “One man still preserves the horns of the last deer that was killed in this vicinity, and another has told me the particulars of the hunt in which his uncle was engaged. The hunters were formerly a numerous and merry crew here.” But what happened to white-tailed deer? What drove them nearly to extinction, and then what brought them back from the brink? As a historical ecologist and environmental archaeologist, I have made it my job to answer these questions. Over the past decade, I’ve studied white-tailed deer bones from archaeological sites across the eastern United States, as well as historical records and ecological data, to help piece together the story of this species. Precolonial rise of deer populations White-tailed deer have been hunted from the earliest migrations of people into North America, more than 15,000 years ago. The species was far from the most important food resource at that time, though. Archaeological evidence suggests that white-tailed deer abundance only began to increase after the extinction of megafauna species like mammoths and mastodons opened up ecological niches for deer to fill. Deer bones become very common in archaeological sites from about 6,000 years ago onward, reflecting the economic and cultural importance of the species for Indigenous peoples. Despite being so frequently hunted, deer populations do not seem to have appreciably declined due to Indigenous hunting prior to AD 1600. Unlike elk or sturgeon, whose numbers were reduced by Indigenous hunters and fishers, white-tailed deer seem to have been resilient to human predation. While archaeologists have found some evidence for human-caused declines in certain parts of North America, other cases are more ambiguous, and deer certainly remained abundant throughout the past several millennia. Human use of fire could partly explain why white-tailed deer may have been resilient to hunting. Indigenous peoples across North America have long used controlled burning to promote ecosystem health, disturbing old vegetation to promote new growth. Deer love this sort of successional vegetation for food and cover, and thus thrive in previously burned habitats. Indigenous people may have therefore facilitated deer population growth, counteracting any harmful hunting pressure. More research is needed, but even though some hunting pressure is evident, the general picture from the precolonial era is that deer seem to have been doing just fine for thousands of years. Ecologists estimate that there were roughly 30 million white-tailed deer in North America on the eve of European colonization—about the same number as today. A 16th-century engraving depicts Indigenous Floridians hunting deer while disguised in deerskins.Colonial-era fall of deer numbers To better understand how deer populations changed in the colonial era, I recently analyzed deer bones from two archaeological sites in what is now Connecticut. My analysis suggests that hunting pressure on white-tailed deer increased almost as soon as European colonists arrived. At one site dated to the 11th to 14th centuriesI found that only about 7% to 10% of the deer killed were juveniles. Hunters generally don’t take juvenile deer if they’re frequently encountering adults, since adult deer tend to be larger, offering more meat and bigger hides. Additionally, hunting increases mortality on a deer herd but doesn’t directly affect fertility, so deer populations experiencing hunting pressure end up with juvenile-skewed age structures. For these reasons, this low percentage of juvenile deer prior to European colonization indicates minimal hunting pressure on local herds. However, at a nearby site occupied during the 17th century—just after European colonization—between 22% and 31% of the deer hunted were juveniles, suggesting a substantial increase in hunting pressure. This elevated hunting pressure likely resulted from the transformation of deer into a commodity for the first time. Venison, antlers and deerskins may have long been exchanged within Indigenous trade networks, but things changed drastically in the 17th century. European colonists integrated North America into a trans-Atlantic mercantile capitalist economic system with no precedent in Indigenous society. This applied new pressures to the continent’s natural resources. Deer—particularly their skins—were commodified and sold in markets in the colonies initially and, by the 18th century, in Europe as well. Deer were now being exploited by traders, merchants and manufacturers desiring profit, not simply hunters desiring meat or leather. It was the resulting hunting pressure that drove the species toward its extinction. 20th-century rebound of white-tailed deer Thanks to the rise of the conservation movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, white-tailed deer survived their brush with extinction. Concerned citizens and outdoorsmen feared for the fate of deer and other wildlife, and pushed for new legislative protections. The Lacey Act of 1900, for example, banned interstate transport of poached game and—in combination with state-level protections—helped end commercial deer hunting by effectively de-commodifying the species. Aided by conservation-oriented hunting practices and reintroductions of deer from surviving populations to areas where they had been extirpated, white-tailed deer rebounded. The story of white-tailed deer underscores an important fact: Humans are not inherently damaging to the environment. Hunting from the 17th through 19th centuries threatened the existence of white-tailed deer, but precolonial Indigenous hunting and environmental management appear to have been relatively sustainable, and modern regulatory governance in the 20th century forestalled and reversed their looming extinction. Elic Weitzel, Peter Buck Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Smithsonian Institution This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. #how #whitetaileddeer #came #back #brink
    WWW.FASTCOMPANY.COM
    How white-tailed deer came back from the brink of extinction
    Given their abundance in American backyards, gardens and highway corridors these days, it may be surprising to learn that white-tailed deer were nearly extinct about a century ago. While they currently number somewhere in the range of 30 million to 35 million, at the turn of the 20th century, there were as few as 300,000 whitetails across the entire continent: just 1% of the current population. This near-disappearance of deer was much discussed at the time. In 1854, Henry David Thoreau had written that no deer had been hunted near Concord, Massachusetts, for a generation. In his famous “Walden,” he reported: “One man still preserves the horns of the last deer that was killed in this vicinity, and another has told me the particulars of the hunt in which his uncle was engaged. The hunters were formerly a numerous and merry crew here.” But what happened to white-tailed deer? What drove them nearly to extinction, and then what brought them back from the brink? As a historical ecologist and environmental archaeologist, I have made it my job to answer these questions. Over the past decade, I’ve studied white-tailed deer bones from archaeological sites across the eastern United States, as well as historical records and ecological data, to help piece together the story of this species. Precolonial rise of deer populations White-tailed deer have been hunted from the earliest migrations of people into North America, more than 15,000 years ago. The species was far from the most important food resource at that time, though. Archaeological evidence suggests that white-tailed deer abundance only began to increase after the extinction of megafauna species like mammoths and mastodons opened up ecological niches for deer to fill. Deer bones become very common in archaeological sites from about 6,000 years ago onward, reflecting the economic and cultural importance of the species for Indigenous peoples. Despite being so frequently hunted, deer populations do not seem to have appreciably declined due to Indigenous hunting prior to AD 1600. Unlike elk or sturgeon, whose numbers were reduced by Indigenous hunters and fishers, white-tailed deer seem to have been resilient to human predation. While archaeologists have found some evidence for human-caused declines in certain parts of North America, other cases are more ambiguous, and deer certainly remained abundant throughout the past several millennia. Human use of fire could partly explain why white-tailed deer may have been resilient to hunting. Indigenous peoples across North America have long used controlled burning to promote ecosystem health, disturbing old vegetation to promote new growth. Deer love this sort of successional vegetation for food and cover, and thus thrive in previously burned habitats. Indigenous people may have therefore facilitated deer population growth, counteracting any harmful hunting pressure. More research is needed, but even though some hunting pressure is evident, the general picture from the precolonial era is that deer seem to have been doing just fine for thousands of years. Ecologists estimate that there were roughly 30 million white-tailed deer in North America on the eve of European colonization—about the same number as today. A 16th-century engraving depicts Indigenous Floridians hunting deer while disguised in deerskins. [Photo: Theodor de Bry/DEA Picture Library/De Agostini/Getty Images] Colonial-era fall of deer numbers To better understand how deer populations changed in the colonial era, I recently analyzed deer bones from two archaeological sites in what is now Connecticut. My analysis suggests that hunting pressure on white-tailed deer increased almost as soon as European colonists arrived. At one site dated to the 11th to 14th centuries (before European colonization) I found that only about 7% to 10% of the deer killed were juveniles. Hunters generally don’t take juvenile deer if they’re frequently encountering adults, since adult deer tend to be larger, offering more meat and bigger hides. Additionally, hunting increases mortality on a deer herd but doesn’t directly affect fertility, so deer populations experiencing hunting pressure end up with juvenile-skewed age structures. For these reasons, this low percentage of juvenile deer prior to European colonization indicates minimal hunting pressure on local herds. However, at a nearby site occupied during the 17th century—just after European colonization—between 22% and 31% of the deer hunted were juveniles, suggesting a substantial increase in hunting pressure. This elevated hunting pressure likely resulted from the transformation of deer into a commodity for the first time. Venison, antlers and deerskins may have long been exchanged within Indigenous trade networks, but things changed drastically in the 17th century. European colonists integrated North America into a trans-Atlantic mercantile capitalist economic system with no precedent in Indigenous society. This applied new pressures to the continent’s natural resources. Deer—particularly their skins—were commodified and sold in markets in the colonies initially and, by the 18th century, in Europe as well. Deer were now being exploited by traders, merchants and manufacturers desiring profit, not simply hunters desiring meat or leather. It was the resulting hunting pressure that drove the species toward its extinction. 20th-century rebound of white-tailed deer Thanks to the rise of the conservation movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, white-tailed deer survived their brush with extinction. Concerned citizens and outdoorsmen feared for the fate of deer and other wildlife, and pushed for new legislative protections. The Lacey Act of 1900, for example, banned interstate transport of poached game and—in combination with state-level protections—helped end commercial deer hunting by effectively de-commodifying the species. Aided by conservation-oriented hunting practices and reintroductions of deer from surviving populations to areas where they had been extirpated, white-tailed deer rebounded. The story of white-tailed deer underscores an important fact: Humans are not inherently damaging to the environment. Hunting from the 17th through 19th centuries threatened the existence of white-tailed deer, but precolonial Indigenous hunting and environmental management appear to have been relatively sustainable, and modern regulatory governance in the 20th century forestalled and reversed their looming extinction. Elic Weitzel, Peter Buck Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Smithsonian Institution This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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  • Tesla faces collapsing sales in Canada's Québec province, with new registrations tumbling 85%

    Elon Musk's Tesla registrations suffered a drop in Québec.

    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    2025-05-30T11:35:36Z

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    Tesla sales in Québec plunged 85% in the first quarter, mirroring sharp declines seen in Europe.
    Canada has frozen million in Tesla EV rebates due to Trump's tariffs and fraud concerns.
    Musk's DOGE work sparked backlash, boycotts, and dealership vandalism across the US and Europe.

    Tesla's sales woes have reached Canada.Data from the vehicle registration authority in the province of Québec shows a dramatic decline in Tesla registrations in the first quarter of 2025.Only 524 new Tesla vehicles were registered in Québec between January and March 2025, down over 85% from the 5,097 units logged in the final months of 2024.The company's top-selling Model Y saw the steepest drop in terms of pure numbers, falling from 3,274 units in the final quarter of 2024 to 360 in the first quarter of 2025. The Model 3, Tesla's cheapest car, plunged from 1,786 to just 96 units over the same period, a fall of 94%.While the drop is precipitous, it should be noted that auto sales are generally lower in the first quarter of the year than later in the year.Though confined to one region of Canada, the collapse mirrors similar issues in Europe, where Tesla sales fell by nearly 50% in April despite overall EV demand continuing to grow.In Québec, as in Europe, demand for electric vehicles remains strong, suggesting that Tesla's slump is less about market conditions and more about the brand itself.Rebate freeze and trade tensionsSeveral factors appear to be converging.Tesla has been excluded from Canada's federal EV rebate program, with million in rebates frozen and each individual claim now under review.Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland ordered the freeze in March following a last-minute surge in Tesla rebate applications — from 300 a day to nearly 5,800 — which triggered a probe into possible abuse.Freeland also said that Tesla would remain ineligible for future incentives as long as President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on Canadian goods are in place.In parallel, provinces, including British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba, have removed Tesla from their rebate programs.Political backlashTesla's registration drop in Québec also comes amid a broader global backlash, especially in Europe, against CEO Elon Musk, who has endorsed a number of European political parties, including Germany's far-right AfD party and Britain's populist Reform UK party.
    In North America, Musk's role leading the Department of Government Efficiency has led to protests, boycotts, and vandalism of Tesla dealerships across at least a dozen states.Musk said this week he was stepping away from DOGE after months of involvement as a "special government employee." Federal law stipulates that those with this title cannot serve for more than 130 days in a 365-day period.Tesla's shares, which had come under pressure during Musk's DOGE stint, began rebounding in April after he announced he would step back from government work and "spend 24/7 at work" on his companies.In a Q&A published by Ars Technica on Tuesday, he said he'd been too involved in politics since wading into the 2024 presidential race last year — a campaign he heavily financed to the tune of nearly million.In a sit-down with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum last week, he said he's no longer going to be spending big on politics, like he did in the 2024 election.Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
    #tesla #faces #collapsing #sales #canada039s
    Tesla faces collapsing sales in Canada's Québec province, with new registrations tumbling 85%
    Elon Musk's Tesla registrations suffered a drop in Québec. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 2025-05-30T11:35:36Z d Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Tesla sales in Québec plunged 85% in the first quarter, mirroring sharp declines seen in Europe. Canada has frozen million in Tesla EV rebates due to Trump's tariffs and fraud concerns. Musk's DOGE work sparked backlash, boycotts, and dealership vandalism across the US and Europe. Tesla's sales woes have reached Canada.Data from the vehicle registration authority in the province of Québec shows a dramatic decline in Tesla registrations in the first quarter of 2025.Only 524 new Tesla vehicles were registered in Québec between January and March 2025, down over 85% from the 5,097 units logged in the final months of 2024.The company's top-selling Model Y saw the steepest drop in terms of pure numbers, falling from 3,274 units in the final quarter of 2024 to 360 in the first quarter of 2025. The Model 3, Tesla's cheapest car, plunged from 1,786 to just 96 units over the same period, a fall of 94%.While the drop is precipitous, it should be noted that auto sales are generally lower in the first quarter of the year than later in the year.Though confined to one region of Canada, the collapse mirrors similar issues in Europe, where Tesla sales fell by nearly 50% in April despite overall EV demand continuing to grow.In Québec, as in Europe, demand for electric vehicles remains strong, suggesting that Tesla's slump is less about market conditions and more about the brand itself.Rebate freeze and trade tensionsSeveral factors appear to be converging.Tesla has been excluded from Canada's federal EV rebate program, with million in rebates frozen and each individual claim now under review.Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland ordered the freeze in March following a last-minute surge in Tesla rebate applications — from 300 a day to nearly 5,800 — which triggered a probe into possible abuse.Freeland also said that Tesla would remain ineligible for future incentives as long as President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on Canadian goods are in place.In parallel, provinces, including British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba, have removed Tesla from their rebate programs.Political backlashTesla's registration drop in Québec also comes amid a broader global backlash, especially in Europe, against CEO Elon Musk, who has endorsed a number of European political parties, including Germany's far-right AfD party and Britain's populist Reform UK party. In North America, Musk's role leading the Department of Government Efficiency has led to protests, boycotts, and vandalism of Tesla dealerships across at least a dozen states.Musk said this week he was stepping away from DOGE after months of involvement as a "special government employee." Federal law stipulates that those with this title cannot serve for more than 130 days in a 365-day period.Tesla's shares, which had come under pressure during Musk's DOGE stint, began rebounding in April after he announced he would step back from government work and "spend 24/7 at work" on his companies.In a Q&A published by Ars Technica on Tuesday, he said he'd been too involved in politics since wading into the 2024 presidential race last year — a campaign he heavily financed to the tune of nearly million.In a sit-down with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum last week, he said he's no longer going to be spending big on politics, like he did in the 2024 election.Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. #tesla #faces #collapsing #sales #canada039s
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    Tesla faces collapsing sales in Canada's Québec province, with new registrations tumbling 85%
    Elon Musk's Tesla registrations suffered a drop in Québec. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 2025-05-30T11:35:36Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Tesla sales in Québec plunged 85% in the first quarter, mirroring sharp declines seen in Europe. Canada has frozen $43 million in Tesla EV rebates due to Trump's tariffs and fraud concerns. Musk's DOGE work sparked backlash, boycotts, and dealership vandalism across the US and Europe. Tesla's sales woes have reached Canada.Data from the vehicle registration authority in the province of Québec shows a dramatic decline in Tesla registrations in the first quarter of 2025.Only 524 new Tesla vehicles were registered in Québec between January and March 2025, down over 85% from the 5,097 units logged in the final months of 2024.The company's top-selling Model Y saw the steepest drop in terms of pure numbers, falling from 3,274 units in the final quarter of 2024 to 360 in the first quarter of 2025. The Model 3, Tesla's cheapest car, plunged from 1,786 to just 96 units over the same period, a fall of 94%.While the drop is precipitous, it should be noted that auto sales are generally lower in the first quarter of the year than later in the year.Though confined to one region of Canada, the collapse mirrors similar issues in Europe, where Tesla sales fell by nearly 50% in April despite overall EV demand continuing to grow.In Québec, as in Europe, demand for electric vehicles remains strong, suggesting that Tesla's slump is less about market conditions and more about the brand itself.Rebate freeze and trade tensionsSeveral factors appear to be converging.Tesla has been excluded from Canada's federal EV rebate program, with $43 million in rebates frozen and each individual claim now under review.Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland ordered the freeze in March following a last-minute surge in Tesla rebate applications — from 300 a day to nearly 5,800 — which triggered a probe into possible abuse.Freeland also said that Tesla would remain ineligible for future incentives as long as President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on Canadian goods are in place.In parallel, provinces, including British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba, have removed Tesla from their rebate programs.Political backlashTesla's registration drop in Québec also comes amid a broader global backlash, especially in Europe, against CEO Elon Musk, who has endorsed a number of European political parties, including Germany's far-right AfD party and Britain's populist Reform UK party. In North America, Musk's role leading the Department of Government Efficiency has led to protests, boycotts, and vandalism of Tesla dealerships across at least a dozen states.Musk said this week he was stepping away from DOGE after months of involvement as a "special government employee." Federal law stipulates that those with this title cannot serve for more than 130 days in a 365-day period.Tesla's shares, which had come under pressure during Musk's DOGE stint, began rebounding in April after he announced he would step back from government work and "spend 24/7 at work" on his companies.In a Q&A published by Ars Technica on Tuesday, he said he'd been too involved in politics since wading into the 2024 presidential race last year — a campaign he heavily financed to the tune of nearly $300 million.In a sit-down with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum last week, he said he's no longer going to be spending big on politics, like he did in the 2024 election.Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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  • Maturing UK fintechs increase tech and cyber security hiring

    ipopba - stock.adobe.com

    News

    Maturing UK fintechs increase tech and cyber security hiring
    Increased hiring reflects that fintechs are maturing and now require more cyber security and compliance experts

    By

    Karl Flinders,
    Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

    Published: 27 May 2025 16:23

    The UK’s financial technology sector, or fintech as it is widely known, will see a 32% increase in professional hiring this year, with cyber security and technology roles the most in demand.
    As the fintech sector matures, and companies underpinned by tech seek to expand product ranges, increased demand for tech-related roles is inevitable.
    According to a report from recruitment services firm Morgan McKinley and labour market data company Vacancysoft, the increase comes as many UK fintechs move beyond the startup phase, add products and scale their operations.
    Technology-related hiring will see the fastest growth at 39%, driven by the need for engineering, cyber security, and IT management and development professionals.
    “London continues to dominate hiring in this space, buoyed by the upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. As fintechs replace legacy systems and meet rising compliance expectations, system resilience and threat mitigation skills are in high demand,” said the report.
    Risk and compliance professionals are also in increasing demand. Hiring in this area is projected to rise by 29% in 2025, according to Morgan McKinley and Vacancysoft, with financial crime professionals and fraud-related roles most in demand.
    This increase is due to growing regulatory scrutiny and operational complexity. “As regulatory expectations shift from minimum standards to active governance, fintechs are investing accordingly, seeking experienced professionals to strengthen internal control frameworks and support future authorisations or licensing requirements,” said the report.
    Fintechs are prioritising strategic hiring, investment in high-impact roles in compliance, product engineering and IT security, according to the report. Meanwhile, hiring for generalist functions remains flat or subject to cost review, it said.
    Mark Astbury, director at Morgan McKinley in the UK, said despite the uncertain economic climate, the UK fintech sector will see “one of its strongest hiring outlooks in recent years”.
    He said the rise in professional vacancies is led by London, but is echoed nationwide.
    “The data tells a clear story: despite subdued venture capital flows, demand for specialist talent remains robust. This isn’t a hype-driven rebound, it’s a grounded response to real-world pressures. Fintech firms are hiring to meet rising regulatory expectations as they grow, to counter increasingly sophisticated financial threats, and to build more resilient digital infrastructure,” added Astbury.
    “The surge in fraud risk and compliance roles, alongside double-digit growth in IT security and engineering, reflects an industry maturing in response to both opportunity and obligation,” he said.
    The increased recruitment of professionals comes with the backdrop of sector investment falling by over a quarter to bn, down 27% from bn in 2023, according to KPMG’s Pulse of fintech report. In the report, KPMG said geopolitical uncertainty, high levels of inflation and higher interest rates all contributed to “more subdued levels of UK fintech investment”.
    KPMG’s figures mirror those published by Innovative Finance last month, which reported a 37% fall in investment in 2024 compared with 2023.
    Innovate Finance, the industry body for fintech in the UK, blamed tough market conditions that included “rising interest rates, geopolitical instability, as well as a recalibration in venture capital fundraising”.
    The UK’s fintech sector attracted bn investment last year, which was only bettered by the US.

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    Maturing UK fintechs increase tech and cyber security hiring
    ipopba - stock.adobe.com News Maturing UK fintechs increase tech and cyber security hiring Increased hiring reflects that fintechs are maturing and now require more cyber security and compliance experts By Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA Published: 27 May 2025 16:23 The UK’s financial technology sector, or fintech as it is widely known, will see a 32% increase in professional hiring this year, with cyber security and technology roles the most in demand. As the fintech sector matures, and companies underpinned by tech seek to expand product ranges, increased demand for tech-related roles is inevitable. According to a report from recruitment services firm Morgan McKinley and labour market data company Vacancysoft, the increase comes as many UK fintechs move beyond the startup phase, add products and scale their operations. Technology-related hiring will see the fastest growth at 39%, driven by the need for engineering, cyber security, and IT management and development professionals. “London continues to dominate hiring in this space, buoyed by the upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. As fintechs replace legacy systems and meet rising compliance expectations, system resilience and threat mitigation skills are in high demand,” said the report. Risk and compliance professionals are also in increasing demand. Hiring in this area is projected to rise by 29% in 2025, according to Morgan McKinley and Vacancysoft, with financial crime professionals and fraud-related roles most in demand. This increase is due to growing regulatory scrutiny and operational complexity. “As regulatory expectations shift from minimum standards to active governance, fintechs are investing accordingly, seeking experienced professionals to strengthen internal control frameworks and support future authorisations or licensing requirements,” said the report. Fintechs are prioritising strategic hiring, investment in high-impact roles in compliance, product engineering and IT security, according to the report. Meanwhile, hiring for generalist functions remains flat or subject to cost review, it said. Mark Astbury, director at Morgan McKinley in the UK, said despite the uncertain economic climate, the UK fintech sector will see “one of its strongest hiring outlooks in recent years”. He said the rise in professional vacancies is led by London, but is echoed nationwide. “The data tells a clear story: despite subdued venture capital flows, demand for specialist talent remains robust. This isn’t a hype-driven rebound, it’s a grounded response to real-world pressures. Fintech firms are hiring to meet rising regulatory expectations as they grow, to counter increasingly sophisticated financial threats, and to build more resilient digital infrastructure,” added Astbury. “The surge in fraud risk and compliance roles, alongside double-digit growth in IT security and engineering, reflects an industry maturing in response to both opportunity and obligation,” he said. The increased recruitment of professionals comes with the backdrop of sector investment falling by over a quarter to bn, down 27% from bn in 2023, according to KPMG’s Pulse of fintech report. In the report, KPMG said geopolitical uncertainty, high levels of inflation and higher interest rates all contributed to “more subdued levels of UK fintech investment”. KPMG’s figures mirror those published by Innovative Finance last month, which reported a 37% fall in investment in 2024 compared with 2023. Innovate Finance, the industry body for fintech in the UK, blamed tough market conditions that included “rising interest rates, geopolitical instability, as well as a recalibration in venture capital fundraising”. The UK’s fintech sector attracted bn investment last year, which was only bettered by the US. about fintech In The Current Issue: UK government outlines plan to surveil migrants with eVisa data Why we must reform the Computer Misuse Act: A cyber pro speaks out Download Current Issue SAP Sapphire 2025: Developers take centre stage as AI integration deepens – CW Developer Network Microsoft entices developers to build more Windows AI apps – Cliff Saran's Enterprise blog View All Blogs #maturing #fintechs #increase #tech #cyber
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    Maturing UK fintechs increase tech and cyber security hiring
    ipopba - stock.adobe.com News Maturing UK fintechs increase tech and cyber security hiring Increased hiring reflects that fintechs are maturing and now require more cyber security and compliance experts By Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA Published: 27 May 2025 16:23 The UK’s financial technology sector, or fintech as it is widely known, will see a 32% increase in professional hiring this year, with cyber security and technology roles the most in demand. As the fintech sector matures, and companies underpinned by tech seek to expand product ranges, increased demand for tech-related roles is inevitable. According to a report from recruitment services firm Morgan McKinley and labour market data company Vacancysoft, the increase comes as many UK fintechs move beyond the startup phase, add products and scale their operations. Technology-related hiring will see the fastest growth at 39%, driven by the need for engineering, cyber security, and IT management and development professionals. “London continues to dominate hiring in this space, buoyed by the upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. As fintechs replace legacy systems and meet rising compliance expectations, system resilience and threat mitigation skills are in high demand,” said the report. Risk and compliance professionals are also in increasing demand. Hiring in this area is projected to rise by 29% in 2025, according to Morgan McKinley and Vacancysoft, with financial crime professionals and fraud-related roles most in demand. This increase is due to growing regulatory scrutiny and operational complexity. “As regulatory expectations shift from minimum standards to active governance, fintechs are investing accordingly, seeking experienced professionals to strengthen internal control frameworks and support future authorisations or licensing requirements,” said the report. Fintechs are prioritising strategic hiring, investment in high-impact roles in compliance, product engineering and IT security, according to the report. Meanwhile, hiring for generalist functions remains flat or subject to cost review, it said. Mark Astbury, director at Morgan McKinley in the UK, said despite the uncertain economic climate, the UK fintech sector will see “one of its strongest hiring outlooks in recent years”. He said the rise in professional vacancies is led by London, but is echoed nationwide. “The data tells a clear story: despite subdued venture capital flows, demand for specialist talent remains robust. This isn’t a hype-driven rebound, it’s a grounded response to real-world pressures. Fintech firms are hiring to meet rising regulatory expectations as they grow, to counter increasingly sophisticated financial threats, and to build more resilient digital infrastructure,” added Astbury. “The surge in fraud risk and compliance roles, alongside double-digit growth in IT security and engineering, reflects an industry maturing in response to both opportunity and obligation,” he said. The increased recruitment of professionals comes with the backdrop of sector investment falling by over a quarter to $9.9bn, down 27% from $13.6bn in 2023, according to KPMG’s Pulse of fintech report. In the report, KPMG said geopolitical uncertainty, high levels of inflation and higher interest rates all contributed to “more subdued levels of UK fintech investment”. KPMG’s figures mirror those published by Innovative Finance last month, which reported a 37% fall in investment in 2024 compared with 2023. Innovate Finance, the industry body for fintech in the UK, blamed tough market conditions that included “rising interest rates, geopolitical instability, as well as a recalibration in venture capital fundraising”. The UK’s fintech sector attracted $3.6bn investment last year, which was only bettered by the US. Read more about fintech In The Current Issue: UK government outlines plan to surveil migrants with eVisa data Why we must reform the Computer Misuse Act: A cyber pro speaks out Download Current Issue SAP Sapphire 2025: Developers take centre stage as AI integration deepens – CW Developer Network Microsoft entices developers to build more Windows AI apps – Cliff Saran's Enterprise blog View All Blogs
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