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100%, I joined a US based firm that doesn't have office presence in Canada this year. We're expanding pretty rapidly North of the US border.

I get your point about the record low unemployment. I have limited economics background so it's hard for me to understand how low unemployment pairs with high inflation. Something I have to look at.

3rd point, the job cuts in the tech sector is a bit concerning though I'm not concerned for my job stability. I'm on the younger side of things and do have transferable skills to pivot. More cuts announced today (Wealthsimple most likely because of crypto and Spotify slowing recruiting)

 
The STar covering the fallout of mass tech job layoffs in Toronto


Just for clarity here, and not to demean the impact for those newly looking for work; but unemployment this sector, in Toronto remains very, very low, with a very tight labour market. Most should be able to land on their feet just fine.

PS, hiring announcements in this sector are likely in the near term, in Toronto.
 
With every sympathy for those affected, I strongly suspect most will land on their feet in short order.

There are a lot of unfilled tech jobs in Toronto now; and more coming.
This one is interesting. The chatbot/virtual assistant space has been booming because the point of the product is to automate customer service solutions. Automate repeatable tasks and use the human capital for most complex tasks. Clients who buy the product usually will look at the bottom line and for them it's about reducing the costs of their contact center. So seeing a company like Ada reduce their workforce is interesting. I applied to a couple of roles there last year. No luck. I'm in the same space different company.
 
This one is interesting. The chatbot/virtual assistant space has been booming because the point of the product is to automate customer service solutions. Automate repeatable tasks and use the human capital for most complex tasks. Clients who buy the product usually will look at the bottom line and for them it's about reducing the costs of their contact center. So seeing a company like Ada reduce their workforce is interesting. I applied to a couple of roles there last year. No luck. I'm in the same space different company.

As an aside - I absolutely HATE dealing with chatbots as a customer. It's typically useless, provides generic info that I can look up myself and wastes my time when I needed specific, context-dependent questions answered - with the chatbot standing in the way to gatekeep access. It's the e-commerce equivalent of the MS Office Clippy.

AoD
 
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As an aside - I absolutely HATE dealing with chatbots as a customer. It's typically useless, provides generic info that I can look up myself and wastes my time when I needed specific, context-dependent questions answered - with the chatbot standing in the way to gatekeep access. It's the e-commerce equivalent of the MS Office Clippy.

AoD
Good experiences are hard to come by. A lot of times it'll be client driven and that requires a lot of education.
Really the motto should be:
If a problem is better solved by a human, user should be directed to a human.
But what tends to happen is the client thinks a bot will automagically solve a user's problem. That's not the case.
 
Good experiences are hard to come by. A lot of times it'll be client driven and that requires a lot of education.
Really the motto should be:
If a problem is better solved by a human, user should be directed to a human.
But what tends to happen is the client thinks a bot will automagically solve a user's problem. That's not the case.

I think one of the first things to understand in customer service (while not always true) is that the customer is always right.

In saying as much, that should mean, in general, that you can encourage a customer to avail themselves of certain options, but by and large, you shouldn't 'force' it.

This isn't just important to avoid backlash; its important because it allows you to test an idea/tech/product with people who are willing adopters, and probably better suited to it on average than those who will avoid it, given a choice.

This, in turn allows you to refine the product w/those who are interested in it; while avoid needless complaints from those that may be hard to please.

****

Bots as gatekeepers are the same problem in many ways as the infernal 22 options when you phone customer service at some company or another and get :

Press one for Bill Payment
Press two for Account Balance
Press three to change your password
Press four for store locations/hours
Press five for bad hold musak that never stops
Press six for ......
Press nine to hear this useless menu that didn't include the option you needed all over again.

Which then also omits press Zero to bypass this garbage and talk to a human.

There is a great value in AI and quick-answer tech via desktop/phone/text etc. But it must be properly deployed, which it rarely is.....
 
Don't forget the intentionally bad hold music, also highly compressed so it comes out with a lot of distortion. Also with the requisite 2 second pause before a voice recording tells you how important your call is every 30s.


If it wasn't likely just incompetence, I wouldn't be surprised if it was an intentional strategy to reduce phone customer contact by making it so incredibly hostile to use.
 
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Don't forget the intentionally bad hold music, also highly compressed so it comes out with a lot of distortion.


If it wasn't likely just incompetence, I wouldn't be surprised if it was an intentional strategy to reduce phone customer contact by making it so incredibly hostile to use.

You have a variant of that - telephone menu options that doesn't give you any options that you'd want, that go through-each-word-as-slowly-as-it -could, don't let you skip by dialing the number you want right away and disabled zero for operator option.

AoD
 


Intuit Opens New Canadian Headquarters in Toronto as Part of Global Growth Plan


TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU), the global financial technology platform behind TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, today announced the official opening of its new Canadian headquarters in Toronto’s downtown core. Located in ‘The Well’ at Front Street West and Spadina Avenue, the new space is Intuit's first global site that has implemented the company’s workplace of the future design.

“We’ve identified the city of Toronto as a global talent hub and a top growth site for Intuit globally. We’re thrilled to officially open the doors of this dynamic, new, hybrid space to serve our employees, customers and community,” said David Marquis, vice president and Canada country manager at Intuit. “With this newly designed workplace, we’re making a meaningful investment in our growth in Canada, while creating more opportunities for technologists to do the best work of their lives at Intuit.”

The modern, 116,000 square foot office was designed to optimize Intuit’s hybrid and diverse culture, while creating the ideal environment to co-create, make connections, and innovate.
 

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