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👋 Welcome, Jobseekers

AI is inhaling electricity ⚡️, Baidu is bleeding headcount, warehouses are erupting while retail sleeps, and agents are slipping into every corner of tech work. This week we decode the chaos: why AI’s power addiction is quietly building new career lanes, where the real hiring is hiding, and how to dodge the layoff shrapnel. Plus, two tools to sharpen your interviews and spin up AI apps before your coffee cools.

• 📡 Career Radar: AI’s Energy Binge Is Creating Entirely New Career Lanes

• Stop Being Agent Food. Turn The Bots Into Your Personal Intern Squad

• 📉 Layoff Report: Baidu in Turmoil: Tech Giant Slashes Workforce Amid AI Competition and Financial Loss

• 📈 Trends & Data: Why Warehouses Are Booming While Retail Barely Blinks (+153% vs. +1%)

• 🔧 Jobseeker Tools: Practalk, Opal

AI’s Energy Binge Is Creating Entirely New Career Lanes

"Tech giants want to double A.I. electricity consumption in 5 years by enough to power more than 30 million homes. America can do it."

AI is about to eat a terrifying amount of electricity. But there’s also a strong signal jobseekers can’t ignore.

Tech giants are on track to spend around $2.5 trillion by 2030 to more than double their compute and power, and data centers could use over 10% of all U.S. electricity by then.

Everyone is arguing about whether the grid can handle it. Here is the more useful question for you:

This is not just about OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and friends. It is about a whole ecosystem that now has a multi year tailwind.

What this means for tech workers

1.Massive, boring sounding companies just became “AI companies”.

• Utilities, grid operators, turbine makers, oil and gas giants, nuclear operators, battery and solar developers, fuel cell companies, data center REITs, infra PE funds, even local power co-ops are now in the AI game.

2.There will be more “AI adjacent” roles than “AI core” roles.

For every person training a model, there are many more building:

• Capacity planning tools

• Grid and dispatch software

• Monitoring, billing and forecasting systems

• Safety, compliance and reporting dashboards

3.Risk is shifting, not disappearing.

Natural gas, nuclear, coal extensions, behind the meter generation, federal loan guarantees, and huge capex cycles all create regulatory, financial, and reputational risk. That means jobs in risk, policy, ESG, climate, and ops too.

How to Turn This Into Job Search Moves

Over the next week:

1.Expand your mental “target company” list

In LinkedIn, try searches like:

• “data center” + product manager / designer / SRE

• “grid software” or “energy trading”

• “nuclear” or “battery storage” + “platform” or “data”

2.Align your story with the AI power crunch

In your headline, portfolio, or intro pitch, experiment with language like:

• “I help infrastructure teams scale safely and predictably.”

• “I design systems that make complex, high stakes operations legible.”

3.Track one subsector you actually find interesting

Pick one: nuclear, batteries, grid software, or data center tooling. Spend 30 minutes this week:

• Follow 5 companies on LinkedIn

• Save 3 roles, even if you are not ready to apply

• Note the skills and language that keep repeating

4.Use this framing in interviews

When they ask “Why here?”, connect it directly:

The grid is getting stress tested. Your job search strategy should ride that stress, not just read about it.

Baidu in Turmoil: Tech Giant Slashes Workforce Amid AI Competition and Financial Loss

China's internet giant Baidu has initiated sweeping, large-scale layoffs across multiple business units following a third-quarter financial loss and intensifying competition in the artificial intelligence sector.

• Aqua Security lays off staff weeks after management shake-up 

• TCS Pink-Slips 365 Employees 

• Inside Inbound Health's sudden shutdown 

• China's Baidu starts layoffs after reporting third-quarter loss 

• Haomo.AI collapses as company reports abrupt staff layoff 

• Staff at Irish Meta client firm told 400 jobs at risk just weeks ahead of Christmas 

• Thunderful to cut up to 60 jobs at Coatsink as part of major restructuring effort 

• Amazon to begin Luxembourg redundancy talks with staff reps on 1 December 

Why Warehouses Are Booming While Retail Barely Blinks (+153% vs. +1%)

Overview

Seasonal jobs are finally beating last year’s weak numbers, but full-time hiring is still cooling, according to Indeed Hiring Lab’s seasonal hiring report by Cory Stahle, published November 25, 2025.

The big winners: delivery and warehouse roles, not traditional store jobs.

The Details

• Seasonal postings are 11% higher than 2024 levels as of November 14, after a slow start in October.

• But 2025 seasonal demand is still about 13% below stronger years like 2021 and 2022.

• Seasonal retail postings are basically flat, up just 1% from last year.

• Seasonal sales roles are actually down 10% compared with mid-November 2024.

• Seasonal driving jobs are up 153%, while loading & stocking roles are up 49% versus last year.

• Overall job postings index: driving is down 4.3%, retail down 12.1%, loading & stocking up just 0.3% year over year.

• The share of driving postings marked seasonal jumped from about 1% last November to 2.6% this year.

Nerd Note: “Index” here means how postings change over time, not the raw number of jobs.

Why It Matters

Companies are betting that holiday demand will be decent, but they do not want to commit to long-term headcount going into 2026. That usually means more temp, contract, and seasonal work, and slower growth in full-time roles.

• Tech & product folks: E-commerce and logistics ops are still investing in fulfillment, routing, and warehouse efficiency, even as broader hiring cools.

• Ops, CX, and support: The action has shifted from store floors to warehouses, call centers, and delivery networks. That is where the openings and budgets are.

• Early-career & career-switchers: Seasonal logistics work can be a fast path into “operations” experience you can later translate into tech, supply chain, or analytics roles.

Practalk

Beat interview nerves with AI Mock Interviews

Realistic mock interviews powered by AI, curated by seasoned industry interviewers, to help you practice with confidence and land your dream job.

Opal by Google

Build, edit, and share AI mini-apps using natural language

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