Monster Seasonal Hiring Report & New AI Job Titles Emerge

Additional Resources

• Monster Seasonal Hiring Index 2025: Who’s Hiring for the Holidays
• Gen AI Fast-Tracks Into the Enterprise 2025 Report
• New Jobs AI Has Created

Transcript

Pete Newsome: 0:00

Happy Halloween and Happy Friday, everyone. Today’s job market stories include new careers driven by AI and who’s hiring for seasonal work. But first, it’s official AI in the workplace has transitioned from pilot programs to becoming a daily practice. And not only that, companies are seeing a positive return on their investments. This is according to the Wharton School’s third annual report on how companies are using generative AI. The survey of U.S. enterprise leaders found that 82% use Gen AI at least weekly, which is up from 72% a year ago, and nearly half, 46%, use it every day. The data shows companies aren’t just experimenting anymore, but instead they’re measuring real returns.

0:42

72% say they’re now tracking ROI, and about three in four already see positive results. Think about that. What a stark difference from the widely quoted MIT study that showed only 5% of companies have seen a positive ROI from AI. So you have to wonder, is this just evolution and improvement that we’re seeing rapidly happening right before our eyes? Or is it just inconsistent data depending on who was surveyed? It’s impossible to know for sure, but I have no doubt that we’re going to see many, many studies of this nature in the months ahead, and ultimately it will play out. But to me, this is more consistent with what I’ve witnessed firsthand, what I’ve heard from other leaders, is that they are seeing benefits.

1:27

So I believe this data for now it makes a lot of sense. But also, 88% of the company surveyed said that they’re planning to increase their AI budgets next year. So this is not a trend, this is not something that’s going to fade away, it’s only picking up speed. And almost a third of the money that’s going to be spent will go towards internal RD. And the leadership commitment is also on the rise. Chief AI officer roles now exist in 60% of enterprises. That was a surprise to me. I haven’t heard that phrase too often yet, but 60%, I mean, that is a telling number for sure. So if you’re someone still on the side that believes AI is not here to stay, I don’t know what to tell you at this point. All the signs that I see indicate that the AI momentum is just gaining speed and traction, and it’s all happening in a way that we’ve never experienced before. Now, if you’re wondering what all the recent enterprise AI investment means for workers, the good news is it’s not just about job loss.

2:28

The Washington Post published a story giving an entirely different answer. They have a list of new job titles that have been created. So we’re talking about roles like AI conversation designer, knowledge architect, human AI collaboration lead. We know there’s a big need for that, and orchestration engineer. And big names like Walmart, Salesforce, Workday, KPMG, they’re the ones leading the charge, posting positions that didn’t even exist two years ago. And LinkedIn’s data backs that up. 20% of professionals now have job titles that didn’t exist in 2000. Think about that for a second.

3:05

There’s so much change that happens. And yes, it’s scary, but in the not too distant past, 25 years ago, I guess that’s relative, doesn’t seem as distant for me. 20% of the job titles that people are in now didn’t even exist. And look, I’ve seen that in my own career too, where the people I went to school with, my closest group of friends from college, almost all of them are in roles that didn’t even exist as a vision or a possibility when we were coming out of school. So there is hope out there, even though we’re surrounded by a lot of gloom right now. And what’s new here is the rapidity of the AI evolution. And that’s what is definitely something that we have to deal with right now. So look, there’s real cause for concern over job displacement, no question about that. But it’s just a matter of time before a lot of new opportunities are being created too, and that’s only going to increase

3:58

So if you are early in your career, the best thing you can do is embrace AI. Understand how it can be used in your profession or organization if you’re an employee, and make sure that you stay ahead of the curve. If you want to see the full list of uh the titles in this article, check it out. Uh, there’s 16 of them, and they list those along with job descriptions. Pretty interesting. And finally, for today, I talk a lot about the future of work, but here’s something for the immediate present. The holiday hiring rush has started, and according to Monster’s 2025 Seasonal Hiring Index, job searches for seasonal roles have tripled from September to October. Employers are aggressively hiring right now across retail, logistics, customer service, and accounting. The top jobs are tax accountant, customer service representative, beauty consultant. 

4:45

I had to stop and think about that one for a second, but then I realized that’s very popular at department stores, delivery driver, warehouse worker, and retail sales associate. The top companies hiring include Intuit, Macy’s, UPS, Walgreens, Ulta, Beauty, FedEx, Walmart, and Burlington. And Monster points out that seasonal jobs aren’t just about making quick cash, they’re often a gateway to permanent work. And as a staffing company owner, I can attest to that. Many employers use these seasonal roles to acquire long-term talent. And I see it generally happen two ways. One is planned attrition, where companies know that they’re going to need permanent employees on the other side of the seasonal hiring, and they will actively focus on finding the best employees during that seasonal job.

5:31

And if you are in that position, the best thing you could do is try to be the person who’s gonna stand out. Because the other way that I see hiring happen is when employees, even though they’re intended to uh only say for a short-term contract, if you’re good enough, the company will find a job for you. I have hundreds of stories that we’ve witnessed firsthand over the years of people we’ve placed in a contract role, a temporary role, a short-term role, a seasonal one, whatever you want to call it, where they stand out and our client, the employer, says we have to figure out how to uh retain this person somehow.

6:10

So they won’t necessarily tell you that’s a possibility going in because they don’t want to set you know unrealistic expectations, but employers will do that and it happens more than most people probably realize. So for job seekers, this is your moment to make a great impression, take advantage of it, and by January, it’s a very good chance you may find yourself in a full-time role. So those are the headlines today. But before you go out trick-or-treating, here’s your fun fact along the lines of seasonal employment.

6:37

Did you know that Americans spend more than $12 billion on Halloween each year? And that Halloween retail hiring spikes nearly 20% higher than average seasonal job growth. According to NRF data, costume stores, candy companies, and logistics firms all add thousands of temporary jobs in October just to keep up with the frightful demand. On that note, I’ll see myself out. Thanks again for listening. Please like, subscribe, share with anyone who might be interested. And as always, I welcome your feedback. Have a happy Halloween.