Workforce Advantage Analysis

Not broken. Not difficult. Just different — and often brilliant. Neurodiverse individual bring ideas, insight and intensity. The question is whether we know how to listen? One of the privileges of working at Gallup is occasionally seeing the full depth and breadth of our work across different teams. Every so often, a report emerges that shifts the conversation in a way that matters. This one does exactly that. Gallup’s new study on neurodiversity in the workplace offers timely, evidence-based insight on a population often overlooked in organisational design and culture. The findings are compelling. Around 17% of respondents in our sample identified as neurodiverse. These individuals reported distinct but not disconnected experiences in the workplace. They face real challenges, but also bring differentiated thinking, problem-solving approaches, and creativity. What the data makes clear is this: when supported in the right environment, neurodiverse employees contribute in powerful and often undervalued ways. Neurodiverse individuals scored higher on strengths like Ideation and Strategic thinking. They often bring depth, focus, and novel perspectives. At the same time, they are less likely to feel their workplace recognises their wellbeing or gives them a fair opportunity to use their strengths. That is a design problem, not a talent one. Importantly, the environments that support neurodiverse individuals tend to improve work conditions for all employees. More clarity, more flexibility, and better-aligned strengths use are beneficial across the board. This guide outlines concrete steps organisations can take to create cultures where these individuals not only belong but thrive. It is not about special treatment. It is about intelligent design that unlocks human potential. If you work in hiring, people development, or leadership, this is worth reading. What are your experiences - how do these results resonate? Please feel free to share and tag others; it'd be marvelous to see a debate on this issue. The full report can be downloaded from the link in the comments below.

True diversity isn’t just visual—it’s intellectual. When we value different ways of thinking, we discover breakthrough ideas. I just witnessed something that completely reshaped my view on workplace talent. Imagine: A talented interviewer with Down syndrome redefining recruitment with keen perception and unique insights. Different minds driving innovation: 1) Microsoft’s bold move – Their neurodiversity hiring program started small but now includes hundreds of employees excelling in AI, cybersecurity, and software development.  One standout moment? A dyslexic coder identified a crucial flaw in an AI algorithm—one that had gone unnoticed by traditional teams. His unique pattern recognition skills led to a major breakthrough in efficiency.  2) The Interview that changed everything,: A recruiter with down syndrome conducted an interview that broke all conventional norms. Instead of following a script, they picked up on subtle cues, asked unconventional questions, and uncovered hidden strengths in the candidate that a traditional interviewer might have missed.  3) Why cognitive brain diversity wins– Research shows that teams with a mix of thinking styles solve problems 30% faster (Harvard Business Review backs this up! ). It’s not just about different backgrounds—it’s about fundamentally different ways of processing information.  Your next game-changer might be someone who doesn’t fit the standard mold. Did you know? SAP's Autism at Work initiative has created over 650 jobs worldwide, with neurodivergent employees excelling in software testing, data analysis, and cybersecurity. Their ability to recognize patterns and detect anomalies has significantly improved efficiency and innovation.  Are you still prioritizing "culture fit" over "culture add"? You might be missing out on your most innovative hire yet.  Who’s someone you know that shattered expectations? Follow Makarand Utpat for insights related to leadership, marketing and business. #hiringstrategy #hr #interviews #culturefit #candidates #diversity #inclusion #EQ

What are the top states for manufacturing in the US? Well, based on recent rankings and industry analysis, the top states for manufacturing businesses in 2025 are: • North Carolina • South Carolina • Tennessee • Indiana • Kentucky These states have consistently ranked highly due to several key factors that make them attractive for manufacturing investment: 1\ Strategic Advantages States like North Carolina and South Carolina benefit from growing populations and labor forces well-suited for manufacturing, logistics, and engineering roles. Many top manufacturing states are strategically located, providing easy access to major consumer and industrial markets. For example, North Carolina's position on the East Coast allows for rapid delivery times to domestic and international markets. 2\ Infrastructure  These states typically feature well-developed transportation networks, including interstate highways, ports, rail systems, and airports. North Carolina, for instance, has two deepwater ports and major airports that facilitate efficient logistics. 3\ Economic Factors States like Indiana offer lower operating costs compared to other manufacturing hubs. This includes affordable real estate, low utility rates, and a lower overall cost of living. 4\ Tax Incentives Many top manufacturing states maintain attractive tax climates. North Carolina, for example, has one of the lowest corporate income tax rates in the U.S. at 2.5%. 5\ Pro-Business Policies State and local governments in these areas often provide economic incentives, grants, and tax breaks to attract new investments. 6\ Skilled Labor Top manufacturing states often have a strong presence of educational institutions that collaborate with industries to provide relevant training. North Carolina excels in workforce development, particularly in advanced manufacturing and technology. 7\ Competitive Labor Costs Many of these states offer lower labor costs compared to other regions while maintaining a high-quality workforce. 8\ Established Manufacturing Base States like Indiana have diverse manufacturing sectors, including automotive, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and food processing. 10\ Advanced Manufacturing Top manufacturing states have embraced high-tech manufacturing, supported by innovation centers and R&D partnerships. North Carolina, for example, has seen growth in advanced materials, electronics, and biotechnology manufacturing. These factors collectively create an environment conducive to manufacturing success and continued growth in the sector. Any other States you think should be on the list?

My new rep was running 25 discovery calls a week. 1 deal closed. And nobody thought that was a problem. High activity looks like effort. Effort looks like progress. So the feedback loop stays quiet and the conversion numbers keep getting explained away. I went to the field instead of explaining it away. Sat in. Listened to her make calls. Took about 10 minutes. She was booking meetings with anyone who picked up the phone. No qualification. Just volume. Which meant she was spending her time in front of non-decision makers with no authority, no budget, and no urgency. Three qualifying questions fixed the first problem. Then we went on sales calls together. Second gap, right there in real time. She didn't know how to coach her champion. Couldn't multi-thread. Couldn't lock in next steps that actually held. Coached her on that too. Next week: 12 appointments. Half the volume. Closed 3 deals. Week after: 5 deals. She held 3 to 6 every single week from that point forward. Rookie of the year. President's Club. First year. Most managers never stop to ask the one question that would've changed everything: Is this a “more” problem or a “better” problem? More activity wasn't Lisa's answer. She was already doing double what everyone else was doing. The answer was better. Better qualification. Better deal control. Better next steps. You can't see that from your office. You can't coach it from a dashboard. You have to get out and see exactly what's happening where the rubber meets the road. Then prescribe to the actual constraint, not the symptom. If your rep is running high activity and low conversion, that's not a hustle problem. Go find out what's actually breaking down. P.S. If this pattern shows up across multiple reps, it's almost never a rep issue. It's a system gap. The Revenue Leak Diagnostic playbook will show you exactly where: https://lnkd.in/gu4y6K3T

Your organization is paying a massive, invisible tax on its payroll every single month. 🔥  We often treat employee engagement as a "soft" cultural metric, measured once a year through a survey. But new research from Gallup highlights when your talent fundamentally checks out of their roles, when they "quiet quit" and become actively disengaged while remaining physically present, it ceases to be a cultural issue. ☝️ It becomes a massive financial liability. You can't optimize your way out of a disengaged workforce. You can buy all the AI licenses in the world to increase operational capacity, but technology requires human intentionality to generate value. If your employees are cognitively absent, your tech ROI flatlines. It is time to stop looking at engagement as a feeling, and start treating it as a financial leak. 📊 Introducing 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 (𝗗𝗗𝗜). This metric mathematically calculates exactly how much of your total payroll is evaporating into the void of poor management and broken culture: DDI = Total Cost of Actively Disengaged Talent/ Total Workforce Payroll x 100 ➡️ We noticed that Gallup traditionally estimates the cost of an actively disengaged employee at 34% of their annual salary. If your DDI is 15%, it means 15 cents of every single payroll dollar your company spends is actively funding friction. Are you treating engagement as a core financial metric, or just a bullet point on an HR slide? Are you maximizing your payroll, or just subsidizing disengagement? Dave Ulrich #FutureOfWork #EmployeeEngagement #QuietQuitting

Disabled talent is already leading the AI revolution, 55% of Disabled talent already use AI for problem-solving at work, compared to just 39% of non-disabled employees, And 57% of Disabled workers actively seek AI training independently, However: 29% of Disabled workers would leave their current roles if employers fail to provide AI upskilling opportunities, a retention risk significantly higher than the 18% of non-disabled employees who feel the same, This data is from Randstad's understanding talent scarcity: AI and equity report. Providing accessible, equitable AI training is a strategic necessity for addressing global talent shortages and fostering a more innovative, inclusive workforce, This is why Making Space partnered with Indeed to create an accessible, industry-relevant prompt engineering course to equip Disabled talent with the skills needed to excel in competitive industries - https://lnkd.in/eab7PMBu #DisabilityRights #AI #MakingSpace Image description: Graphic with a purple background and a network pattern of connected dots in lighter purple. White bold text in the center reads: 'Disabled Talent Leading the AI Workforce Revolution.' At the bottom, the logos for 'Making Space' and 'Indeed' are displayed side by side, with a plus sign between them.

Synthetic workforce models let organizations simulate roles and skills without exposing personal data, opening a controlled space for strategic decisions. From here, hiring, reskilling, and mobility can be planned with measurable impact, aligned with automation and demographic shifts. Key operational implications emerging from this approach: Workforce planning shifts from static forecasts to scenario testing with measurable outcomes Skill gaps become quantifiable early, reducing reactive hiring under time pressure Reskilling turns into a scheduled investment with defined timelines and costs HR decisions align more tightly with automation initiatives, improving execution capacity Role evolution is identified sooner, limiting disruption during organizational changes Execution depends on data quality and the ability to translate simulations into concrete decisions. #SyntheticData #FutureOfWork

Your company might be leaking money every single day without realising it. And it’s not coming from the places you’re looking at. It’s not compensation. It’s not headcount. It’s not strategy. It’s the unglamorous work people do around the edges of their actual job. The tasks that aren’t in anyone’s role description but somehow take up hours of their week. Approvals, admin, navigating messy workflows, searching for information that should be easy to find, repeating steps because tools don’t talk to each other. Every company has this. Very few measure the cost of it. The latest research paints a fairly stark picture: Around $1.7 trillion disappears annually because of this kind of work • People lose seven hours a week before they even reach the work they’re meant to be doing • 47% say it pushes them toward burnout • 58% say it takes them away from meaningful work • Half say it lowers their job satisfaction • 72% point to fragmented tools and processes • Just 7% feel supported by the tech they have The simple truth is: companies fail because the structure around them makes productive work unnecessarily hard. It’s easier to blame motivation, culture, or “ownership.” It’s harder to admit that the systems are the real culprit. Shadow work has become so normalised that leaders barely register it anymore. But it shapes everything: execution, morale, retention, collaboration, innovation. And it creates a slow leak that compounds over time. The organisations that are getting this right aren’t the ones shouting about productivity. They’re the ones quietly fixing the plumbing. Reducing complexity. Removing duplicate tools. Streamlining approvals. Automating the parts of work no one should be doing manually. Making it easier for people to get from idea to output without fighting the process. When you clear that path, people don’t need motivation workshops. They simply have the space to do their job properly. PS: Stats by Perk & Forrester. The cost of ignoring it is already landing on your P&L, just not in a line item anyone tracks yet.

Jobs, Counties & AI Data Centers: 1 million electricians, journeymen, pipefitters & growing. For the first time in decades, working-class payrolls are supplying the entire job growth story... some thoughts with data on the boom times for N. America 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱. 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻. 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗮𝘀/𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀, 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘄𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 By 2030, skilled trades will need of 74,000 to 140,000 new positions, of which 20k to 40k would be electricians & 12k to 25k HVAC pipefitters. 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 : 1. By the numbers 2. Case Study: Town of Quincy 3. Case Study: Richland Parish 𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀: • 30% of current union electricians are coming up for retirement • Regardless, of the boom, we need to incentivize the next generation to join trades. And the wage growth from AI data centers helps that story • 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝗮𝘀, 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 $𝟮𝟬𝟬 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗺. 𝗜𝗻 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗻, 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 $𝟲𝟬 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 $𝟭𝟭𝟬/𝗵𝗿 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝘀 $𝟭𝟮𝟱 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗺 • This month, construction added 22,000. Specialty trade contractors added 18,000. Nonresidential building construction rose to 953,000 • 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 $𝟮𝟱𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝘁𝗼 $𝟮𝟴𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 • Central Moloney has invested almost a million dollars in the welding programs of local high schools 𝟮. 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆: 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘆 • Population has gone from 5,300 when Microsoft opened its first campus to ~8k • The town has a new high school, a medical center, a library, police and fire stations, paved sidewalks, and a wastewater plant • 𝗣𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆, 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮𝟵% 𝗶𝗻 ���𝟬𝟭𝟮 𝘁𝗼 𝟲% 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰. 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝟯𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝟱𝟱 % 𝗼𝗳 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝟯. 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 • Meta Hyperion campus, a $27 billion, 5 GW project in a parish of about 20k people • 𝗮 𝟭% 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 $𝟱𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀.... 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 $𝟭𝟬k • 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟵 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 $𝟰𝟮m 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝘅, 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 $𝟮𝟮m 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘆 • Six of the top 12 employers are data-center operators in the region and growing This is a great time to be in trades and the new gold rush for counties that needed a lifeline... Now, lets get back to building on this continent. 

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬 If the 2010s focused on highways, ports, and power, and the 2020s on digital platforms and AI, then the 2030s will be about human adaptability. 𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨, 𝐞-𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬, 𝐠𝐢𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲. 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. Robotics technicians, EV maintenance professionals, battery technology specialists, warehouse automation managers and drone operators are no longer emerging roles - they have become core components of India’s industrial and logistics ecosystems. This shift demands a fundamental reimagining of how we prepare and skill our youth for the economy of the future. India’s economy is transitioning quickly from degree-based jobs to skill-based professions. Jobs are no longer confined to offices or fixed time schedules. The future workforce won’t be measured by what it trained on years ago, but how well it can deal with technology today. Meanwhile, completely new hands-on positions are appearing as mainstream careers. It is technology fluency accompanied with hands-on training that job-friendliness now means. This is workforce that classrooms alone cannot build. This entails practical exposure, industry-linked skill centres and ongoing upskilling to underpin employability. The advantage for India is its youth. But such an edge will be only realized if learning does not lag the economy. The future is going to belong to people who are able, to adapt, reskill, and apply knowledge in real time and that will require systems designed to scale up that transition. Large number of workers these days are no longer looking for set hours instead, they want flexibility, portability. But our education and hiring systems are still predicated on degrees created for a slower, industrial world. This incongruity can be seen on a global scale. Let me site the examples of foreign countries. It is in the process of retraining engineers for AI-assisted manufacturing. China is realigning technical institutes to meet real-time industry needs. European countries are retiring out-of-date syllabi and putting skills-first hiring frameworks in place. 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬. Degrees alone cannot signal capability in a world where skills evolve every 2–3 years. That’s where the Skills Passports come in handy. For a gig-heavy economy that is driven by platform innovation, this may not be reform, but human capital infrastructure. #gigeconomy #skilledmanpower #workforce #jobmarket #handsonexperience #highereducation #reskill #artificialintelligence