WO Digest: Skilled trades poised for steady job growth through 2035; Nobody’s hiring but employers are still fighting over talent; Salary structures aren't keeping pace with AI roles

The WO Digest: Tuesday, October 6, 2026

• Skilled trade workers are already in high demand, and a new report findsthat 1.7 million jobs will open each year through 2035, including more than 600,000 net new positions. Electricians, plumbers, maintenance workers and carpenters are among the hardest roles to fill.

• A low-hire, low-fire market may look stuck, but workers are still walking out the door to rivals. Littler found that 92% of employers lost employees to competitors in the past year, and more than half reported violations of non-competes or confidentiality agreements. A new Workforce Observer blog post examines why companies are getting tougher about protecting both their people and their secrets.

• A new Payscale study finds nearly half of employers say their salary structures haven't kept pacewith AI integration. 48% say current market benchmarks don't adequately capture AI-driven roles, while 23% expect AI fluency without additional pay — a trend Payscale calls “free fluency.”

• AI-substitutable work in the U.S. has grown 3.3 percentage points slower annually since 2021, while AI-complemented work has grown 3.3 points faster. The shift is showing up more in hiring than layoffs, with workers ages 22–25 taking the biggest hit.

• New unemployment claims fell to 197,000 near a 57-year low, a sign that employers are holding onto workers but largely not adding them. Hiring plans sit 23% below last year, entry-level demand has fallen 2.4%, and the usual September seasonal surge never appeared.

• A new IBM study finds 60% of workers surveyed worry AI is weakening critical workplace skills,underscoring a growing challenge for employers: how to adopt AI without allowing core human capabilities to erode.

• LinkedIn is rolling out new tools to combat fake accounts and fraudulent work histories, as AI makes it easier to create convincing professional identities. The move aims to give recruiters and employers greater confidence in candidate profiles. Explore our full newsfeed at workforceobserver.com and share with your team! It's fact-filled, focused and free! WO Digest is a free, weekly newsletter, delivering a round up of top stories and covering important insights into the world of work.