Hello, dear readers!

Remember when next-day (or same-day) packages felt like magic, and were completely free? Amazon Prime trained us to expect it, and we loved every second saved. Now retailers are pulling back: charging more for speed, dangling discounts for “no rush,” and watching most of us happily wait a few extra days to save cash. Why the sudden patience? Find out below. 

Also, Anthropic just released a sobering report using real Claude usage data to track how AI is already automating work, not just what it could do in theory. The big red flags: women are way more likely to be in exposed jobs, job growth projections are tanking in AI-heavy fields, and entry-level workers are already seeing a sharp and sudden hiring drop. Find out more about who will bear the brunt, below.

This issue features the usual bunch of AI Insights and recommendations for the week's podcasts, books, shows, charts, and tweets, followed by a final chuckle.

Let’s get going.

Industry Highlights: Fast Delivery? Great. Paying for It? Not So Much

We've all grown accustomed to the magic of modern e-commerce: order something online in the evening, and it appears on your doorstep the next day, or even on the same day. Amazon Prime and its competitors conditioned us to expect this near instant gratification, making "fast and free" feel like the standard rather than a luxury. 

But that era of effortless speed is shifting. Retailers are quietly dialing back free rapid delivery, introducing fees for expedited options or "no rush" discounts for slower ones, and it turns out that many shoppers are fine with waiting an extra day or two if it means saving money.

Why Shoppers Are Suddenly Patient

This change is unsurprising amid the ongoing cost-of-living pressures. With inflation still biting and household budgets stretched thin, priorities have flipped. A 2024 McKinsey survey showed that shipping cost now ranks as the top factor in online purchases, far ahead of delivery speed, which dropped to fifth place from its previous top spot. More than 95% of respondents preferred free standard delivery (typically four to seven days) over paying extra for faster service. Shoppers are increasingly willing to trade immediacy for affordability, especially for non-urgent items like clothing, books, or household goods.

Extended Delivery Discounts

Retailers are responding accordingly. Amazon offers a 7% discount if customers select a later arrival date for "no rush" shipping, sometimes framing it as an eco-friendly choice by reducing packaging waste through consolidated shipments. Gap, Patagonia, and smaller brands provide extended windows, up to nine or ten business days, as the cheapest or free option. BirdieBall Golf even offers economy shipping that can take as long as two weeks. Companies like IKEA encourage click and collect or delayed home delivery to cut costs. Shipping giants like UPS and FedEx have raised base rates by 4.9% to 6.9% annually since 2020, with added fees for residential deliveries and surcharges, pushing retailers toward cheaper, slower methods like USPS Ground Advantage (starting at $5.09 for businesses).

Good for Wallets and the Planet

This slowdown aligns with elements of the Slow Movement, which promotes deliberate, less frantic lifestyles to benefit both people and the planet. 

Delaying delivery by even a day or two can reduce emissions substantially, as carriers consolidate packages and avoid energy-intensive rushed trips. Retailers shipped 87% of domestic e-commerce packages on a 5+ days schedule in January, up from 60% two years earlier, according to Shipium data. Shoppers opting for slower options contribute to less pollution and packaging overuse, echoing slow living's focus on sustainability.

An MIT study (2024) found that when environmental information is presented in a way that is relatable, consumers are much more likely to choose a deferred delivery option. This effect is particularly strong when the information is framed in terms of the number of trees that will be preserved.

What Speed Demanded from Delivery Drivers

The push for speed had a hidden human cost. Rushed delivery schedules often pressure drivers to meet tight quotas, leading to fatigue, risky behaviors like speeding, and higher accident rates. Time pressure in last-mile delivery contributes to stress, burnout, and safety incidents, with drivers facing long hours, repetitive heavy lifting, and road hazards. Easing those demands through more flexible timelines could improve worker well-being and safety for every road user.

Waiting Isn't a Sacrifice Anymore

To me, this seems like a recalibration of expectations. As costs rise and awareness grows, consumers are rediscovering that waiting a little longer isn't such a hardship. The era of "too good to be true" delivery may be fading, but in its place comes something more balanced.

The Future of Work: Three Warnings from Anthropic's Labor Market Impact Report

It's interesting to watch Anthropic, a leading AI company whose technologies could very well accelerate widespread job displacement, produce a meticulous, data-driven analysis of precisely that risk. Their March 5, 2026 report, “Labor Market Impacts of AI: A New Measure and Early Evidence,” uses real-world usage data from their Claude models to create a new metric called “observed exposure.” This tracks how AI is actually automating tasks today, not just what it could theoretically do. 

The findings are concerning: AI penetration is still limited but growing quickly, and it’s already affecting certain groups and occupations more than others. 

Here are (IMO) the three most important takeaways.

Takeaway 1: Women Are Disproportionately Exposed to AI Disruption

The report shows that workers in occupations with the highest observed AI exposure are far more likely to be women. Compared with workers facing zero exposure, those in the top exposure quartile are 16 percentage points more likely to be female. They are also more likely to be highly educated (graduate degree holders make up 17.4% of the high-exposure group versus only 4.5% of the zero-exposure group) and earn 47% more on average.

High-exposure occupations include computer programming (75% coverage), customer service representatives, and data entry keyers (67% coverage). In contrast, roughly 30% of all workers remain in roles with zero observed AI exposure, often hands-on jobs such as cooks, mechanics, and construction trades. This pattern confirms AI is targeting white-collar, female-dominated office and professional roles more heavily than many manual, male-dominated fields, raising serious questions about AI compounding gender and educational inequalities.

Takeaway 2: Higher AI Exposure Predicts Weaker Future Job Growth

Anthropic’s analysis links observed exposure to Bureau of Labor Statistics projections for 2024–2034. For every 10 percentage point increase in observed coverage, projected employment growth declines by 0.6 percentage points. This relationship holds strongly for the usage-based measure but not for purely theoretical estimates of AI capability.

Occupations like financial analysts, office and administrative support roles, and certain computer and math positions show slower expected growth where AI use is already measurable. The gap between theoretical potential (often 90%+) and actual observed use remains large in many fields, but even partial automation appears to be influencing long-term hiring forecasts. 

Takeaway 3: Early Signs of Hiring Challenges for Young Workers

The report finds no clear overall rise in unemployment rates among highly exposed workers since late 2022 (rates remain around 3% in both high- and low-exposure groups). However, it identifies a troubling pattern among younger entrants. Job-finding rates for 22–25-year-olds in high-exposure occupations have fallen about 14% relative to 2022 levels, dropping to roughly 1.5% per month, while rates in low-exposure fields have held steady near 2%.

This divergence began to appear in 2024 and is consistent with other recent studies showing employment declines of 6–16% for young workers in AI-vulnerable roles. The effect is not yet visible for workers over 25. Possible explanations include young people delaying entry, switching fields, or returning to education rather than immediate unemployment, but the trend signals that AI may already be making it harder for the next generation to break into affected careers.

By the way, if you’d like to read more about the alarming and sudden disappearance of entry-level jobs, I wrote about this back in Issue #88.

AI Insights

• Microsoft launches enterprise AI agent Copilot Cowork: The new agent integrates Claude Cowork’s multi-step task execution into Microsoft 365, enhancing enterprise security and compliance. The tool transforms user requests into action plans across Outlook, Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, leveraging Microsoft’s Work IQ layer, and is currently available in a limited research preview.

• Anthropic sues Trump administration: Anthropic has filed two lawsuits (federal) after the Pentagon’s decision to label it a “supply chain risk”, claiming it could cost it billions. The supply chain risk designation is usually only employed for foreign adversaries. 

• Influential leaders sign Pro-Human AI Declaration: The declaration lays out a broad set of principles, including “keeping humans in charge” and “avoiding concentration of power”. What’s interesting is the bipartisan list of leaders who have signed it, from Steve Bannon to Richard Branson and Susan Rice.

The Supply Aside

📕 Read - Runnin' Down a Dream: How to Thrive in a Career You Actually Love

Why do so many people feel career regret and wish they had made different choices? Bill Gurley tackles this question in Runnin’ Down a Dream, sharing six principles to help us steer clear of that trap.

Gurley started at a top tech company, only to end up bored and unfulfilled. His leap into venture capital launched a successful career that shows the importance of passion over prestige.

The relentless push for the next step on the path to success leaves little room for self-reflection. Almost 60% of people wish they could rewrite their paths. 

Gurley’s insights serve as a guide for finding purpose in work. Through engaging stories from leaders like Lorrie Bartlett and Danny Meyer, this book proves that hustle and happiness can go hand in hand.

What Else I’m Reading

• If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em: OpenAI and Anthropic are partnering with their biggest human competitors: consulting firms like McKinsey and Deloitte. The stated aim of alliances like Frontier is to help businesses make the most of AI, as many are still struggling to fully adopt it. These partnerships will bring more engineers into the consulting team mix.

• New wave of AI in healthcare: Silicon Valley is reigniting its efforts to transform the U.S. healthcare system, which has a growing appetite for innovation due to patient dissatisfaction and soaring prices. With digital health startups attracting significant venture capital, there’s a renewed push for tech that can enhance patient experiences and reshape healthcare delivery.

• Demoralization after mass layoffs at Amazon: What’s it like to keep your job after yet another round of mass layoffs? Amazon has cut more than 30,000 workers since October, leaving those remaining with ‘survivor’s guilt’ and a mandate to do more with a leaner team. Meanwhile, Amazon is plowing the money saved from workforce cuts into AI.

📺 Watch - The Dinosaurs on Netflix

Upon release, The Dinosaurs quickly shot to the #1 spot in the Netflix charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. It’s easy to see why. The series features incredible special effects and brilliant storytelling (narrated by Morgan Freeman), overseen by executive producer Steven Spielberg. The dinosaurs themselves aren’t portrayed as the usual roaring monsters crashing mindlessly through the jungle, but as complex beings, as parents desperately trying to navigate a harsh and dangerous existence. 

That being said, the dino fights are fun. Who do you think would win in a battle between a T. Rex and an Ankylosaurus? What about a Spinosaurus versus a shark?

👂 Listen - Ray Dalio: Our system is in jeopardy (All In Podcast)

A fascinating chat with billionaire Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater, who draws alarming parallels between the current U.S. debt situation and the fall of Ancient Rome. Dalio dives into the five major forces shaping the global scene, explains the limits that hamstrung DOGE, discusses why gold is hitting record highs while Bitcoin struggles, unpacks the real issues behind tariffs and trade deficits, and shares his thoughts on why the U.S. might be heading toward a collapse - something he’s referred to elsewhere as a “debt crisis heart attack”.

🧠 Think: The Strait Squeeze

Think the supply chain is stable? Think again.

Right now, the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed due to the escalating conflict in the Middle East. We are watching 20% of the world's oil supply hit a massive bottleneck, and Brent crude just blew past $100 a barrel.

This is a fundamental production shock. With tankers sitting idle and storage filling up, major producers in the Gulf are being forced to shut down wells. Asian economies, which rely heavily on Gulf oil imports, face increased energy costs and potential supply disruptions. The ripple effect will hit Asia the hardest, but the US is not immune to the inflationary blowback.

When millions of barrels go offline, demand destruction becomes the only mechanism for rebalancing. If your logistics budget isn't braced for severe energy volatility, you need to rewrite it today. Because hoping for a quick diplomatic fix is not a supply chain strategy.

Charts of the Week

Quote of the Week

Tweet of the Week

The Final Chuckle

Thanks so much for reading. I’d love to know what you think about this issue and how I can make it more useful to you. If you have suggestions or topics you want to see me address, email me at [email protected]!

-- Naseem