The immediate ban on nearly all Palestinian workers to enter Israel following the Hamas-led terror attack of Oct. 7 has dealt a shock to the Israeli economy, the country’s central bank chief said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“We’re working in a very uncertain environment, as you can tell, and I would say there are two types of shocks: there is a supply shock,” Bank of Israel governor Amir Yaron told CNBC’s Dan Murphy. “And it’s primarily in the construction industry where … a third of that industry is Palestinians from the West Bank, and now they’re not coming in to work.”

“It’s also affecting agriculture, where they are in, and there are other foreign workers,” Yaron said. “So that will take a little bit, that’s a negative supply shock, and it could affect prices going up towards the second half of the year.”

He said that the bank must monitor these price developments, adding, “On the other hand, we’ve seen negative demand shock, obviously in a war. And so far that negative demand shock has been the most dominant one. And we will have to monitor that as well, as we go forward with how we are thinking about continuing with monetary policy.”

Before Oct. 7, more than 150,000 Palestinian workers from the occupied West Bank entered Israel daily for work in a range of sectors, predominantly in construction and agriculture.

The ban on most of these workers returning to their employment in Israel has dramatically hurt the economy of the West Bank. It has also contributed to anger and rising unrest over Israel’s decades-long occupation and its relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which Palestinian health authorities say has killed more than 24,000 people. The Israeli offensive began after Hamas militants from Gaza launched a surprise attack on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and took another 240 hostage, of which 136 people remain in captivity.

In late December, Israel’s finance ministry warned that the ban on Palestinian workers could cost Israel’s economy billions of shekels per month.

“We calculated what the economic damage would be if Palestinians do not go to work…and it is estimated at approximately NIS 3 billion ($830 million) per month,” a representative of the finance ministry told Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, at the time, according to local media.

Business and factory owners in December pressured lawmakers to allow between 8,000 and 10,000 Palestinian workers to return to their jobs in Israeli settlements and businesses in the West Bank.

In comments reported by the Times of Israel, Raul Sargo, president of the Israel Builders Association, had told the Knesset: “We are in very dire straits … The industry is at a complete standstill and is only 30% productive. Fifty percent of the sites are closed and there is an impact on Israel’s economy and the housing market.”

Israel’s agriculture sector is also heavily dependent on foreign labor, in particular workers from Thailand — at least 10,000 of whom have left the country after the October attack, during which many Thai farm workers were killed and taken hostage.

Asked about what tools the bank has at its disposal to respond to a potential expansion of the war to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, Yaron stressed the focus on preventing financial instability.

“We all hope it doesn’t happen. In case it does, then your mindset becomes financial stability,” the banker said. “That means the whole view on interest rate process … expansionary monetary policy probably stops, and you use the types of tools we’ve used so far, like the FX or things like that, and we hope we don’t need to go there.”

Yaron added that he was optimistic about his country’s ability to deal with shocks, given its familiarity with wars over the decades.

“I think we still have to remember, Israel is a dynamic economy,” he said. “It’s resilient, it has shown it can bounce back … pretty much over every military event, it has shown that it can come back and grow fast. I would say, actually, Homeland Security, economics has demand for that has grown. And hopefully, if there is a day after in which there’s a better environment with moderate states, those will bring in also new opportunities.”

Stellantis said Saturday that its most recent proposal to the United Auto Workers includes raises of nearly 21% over the course of the contract, including an immediate 10% pay increase, and the end of wage tiers for some workers, the latest development in a historic showdown between the big three Detroit automakers and the union.

The Jeep maker’s proposal, which is in line with proposals from Ford and General Motors, would also continue to offer profit sharing to workers, according to new details on the offer released by the company Saturday.

“The teams have been very, very careful to listen, very careful for us to come up with best offers that we can do that also protect … the company,” COO Mark Stewart said on a Saturday call with reporters.

The standoff between the UAW and major automakers Stellantis, Ford and General Motors reached a fever pitch Friday, with the union starting work stoppages after an agreement wasn’t met by a Thursday night deadline. The so-called stand-up strike started with walkouts at three key plants — one for each automaker — with the possibility that the UAW can call on more of its members to join the strike if needed.

The union has been seeking 40% hourly pay increases, a reduced 32-hour workweek, a move back to traditional pensions, the elimination of compensation tiers and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments, among other items. The UAW didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the proposal.

Meanwhile, Ford and GM resumed negotiations Saturday after no talks occurred between the union any of the automakers the previous day. Stellantis said it planned to pick up talks again Monday.

UAW President Shawn Fain said earlier this week that Stellantis had previously offered a 17.5% increase.

Under the new proposal, starting pay for supplemental employees would increase by $4.22, or nearly 27%, to $20 an hour.

The company also said it would cut the timeline for ascending the hourly wage scale in half to four years, meaning all full-time hourly employees would reach the top before the contract expires. Under the offer, the wage-tier system would be eliminated entirely for its Mopar division, which is known for service, parts and customer interfacing.

Stellantis also offered an inflation protection measure within compensation. The company said it has committed more than $1 billion for improvements in the pension and retirement savings plans for current employees and retirees.

Stellantis leadership also pushed back against the union’s descriptions of the automaker’s plans to close or sell 18 facilities. The company has said it aims to run parts distribution centers more efficiently and continue shifting resources toward electric vehicles. Jobs in these plants would be persevered, the company said.

The automaker also stressed its commitment to bargaining and reaching an agreement that is financially feasible, echoing concerns raised by Ford and GM leadership. Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a CNBC interview Friday that the UAW demands would force the company to “choose bankruptcy over supporting our workers.” Stellantis’ leadership noted that the company needs to stay competitive with automakers that don’t have unionized employees.

“It’s not about warfare, it’s about win-win,” Stewart said. “It’s about us finding something that is great for our folks today, able to keep a future for tomorrow … for our company to be able to continue the investment path we have for electrification, and for our U.S. operations to be strong so we can compete against the transplants and we can compete against the new entrants.”

President Joe Biden said Friday that the companies should improve their current offers to ensure a strong contract is agreed on amid a period of record profits.

— CNBC’s Michael Wayland contributed to this report.

Disney has abandoned plans to open up a new employee campus in Lake Nona, Florida, amid rising tensions with the state’s governor.

Citing “changing business conditions” and the return of CEO Bob Iger, Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney’s parks, experiences and products division, penned a memo to employees Thursday, announcing that the company will not move forward with construction of the campus and will no longer be asking more than 2,000 California-based employees to relocate to Florida.

“This was not an easy decision to make, but I believe it is the right one,” D’Amaro told employees.

Many Disney employees balked at the company’s relocation plans when they were first announced in July 2021 by former CEO Bob Chapek. While some left the company, or transitioned to other posts within Disney that would not require a move to Florida, others held out hope that the plan would fizzle out after a postponement. The campus was originally slated to open in 2022-2023, but was later delayed to 2026.

Disney is headquartered in Burbank, California, but operates a number of satellite offices across the country and the world.

D’Amaro said employees who have already moved to Florida may be able to relocate back to California.

“It is clear to me that the power of this brand comes from our incredible people, and we are committed to handling this change with care and compassion,” he said.

Disney’s announcement comes amid a bitter feud between the company and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The company filed a lawsuit accusing DeSantis and the new board members of its special district of carrying out a campaign of political retribution against the entertainment giant.

DeSantis targeted Disney’s special district, formerly called the Reedy Creek Improvement District, after the company publicly criticized a controversial Florida bill — dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics — that limits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms.

The special district has allowed the entertainment giant to effectively self-govern its Orlando parks’ operations for decades. The district was ultimately left intact, but its five-member board was replaced with DeSantis picks and renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Disney filed its suit in late April after the new board voted to undo development contracts that the company said it struck to secure its investments. The company has since updated that lawsuit to include newly passed legislation targeting its monorail system as further evidence of retaliation by the governor.

Iger has publicly lambasted DeSantis and the Florida government, noting that Disney has created thousands of indirect jobs, brings around 50 million visitors to Florida every year and is the state’s largest taxpayer.

In a statement later Thursday, representatives for DeSantis called the decision to nix the Lake Nona campus “unsurprising.”

“Disney announced the possibility of a Lake Nona campus nearly two years ago. Nothing ever came of the project, and the state was unsure whether it would come to fruition,” DeSantis’ office said in the statement.

D’Amaro reiterated in his memo that the company still plans to invest $17 billion in Florida over the next 10 years, including the addition of around 13,000 jobs. The company currently employs more than 75,000 people in the state.

Disney declined to provide specific updates on that investment, but has previously announced plans to update park attractions, expand existing parks and add more cruise ships to its fleet in Florida.

“I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business,” D’Amaro told employees.

The United States is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee paid time off. 

“You have entire cultures like France … where pretty much everybody takes August off, and it’s just part of the culture there,” said Shawn Fremstad, director of law and political economy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “You don’t really see that here in the United States.”

The European Union Working Time Directive, which was passed in the early 1990s, requires at least 20 working days of paid vacation in all EU countries.

France provides a minimum of 30 paid vacation days per year. What’s more, many European countries have paid holidays as well, giving workers there even more paid days off.

“When I came to France, I noticed that vacation is a way of life,” said Fatima Cadet-Diaby, an American who has been living in Paris for nearly seven years. “People are constantly talking about their vacations.”

More vacation time could also equate to overall economic gains in the U.S.

“I think people have a stereotype of France in their mind as this kind of lazy culture,” Fremstad said. “But if you look at the employment rate there for prime age workers, so basically 25 through 54, it’s higher than in the U.S. So, they have more people working and they’re much more productive per hour.”

Even though a majority of Americans do have some kind of paid time off, nearly half of workers report not using all of those days. About half worry they might fall behind on their work if they take time off, with close to 20% thinking it could hurt their career growth and 16% saying they fear losing their job, according to data from the Pew Research Center.

“There’s a certain fear we don’t have any legal protections and people have been fired for taking vacation time,” said John de Graaf, author of the book “Take Back Your Time.” 

Watch the video above to learn more about why American’s aren’t going on vacation even though they have the days off and what we can learn from our counterparts in France.

As if there weren’t already enough layoff fears in the tech industry, add ChatGPT to the list of things workers are worrying about, reflecting the advancement of this artificial intelligence-based chatbot trickling its way into the workplace.

So far this year, the tech industry already has cut 5% more jobs than it did in all of 2022, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The rate of layoffs is on track to pass the job loss numbers of 2001, the worst year for tech layoffs due to the dot-com bust.

As layoffs continue to mount, workers are not only scared of being laid off, they’re scared of being replaced all together. A recent Goldman Sachs report found 300 million jobs around the world stand to be impacted by AI and automation.

But ChatGPT and AI shouldn’t ignite fear among employees because these tools will help people and companies work more efficiently, according to Sultan Saidov, co-founder and president of Beamery, a global human capital management software-as-a-service company, which has its own GPT, or generative pretrained transformer, called TalentGPT.

“It’s already being estimated that 300 million jobs are going to be impacted by AI and automation,” Saidov said. “The question is: Does that mean that those people will change jobs or lose their jobs? I think, in many cases, it’s going to be changed rather than lose.”

ChatGPT is one type of GPT tool that uses learning models to generate human-like responses, and Saidov says GPT technology can help workers do more than just have conversations. Especially in the tech industry, specific jobs stand to be impacted more than others.

Saidov points to creatives in the tech industry, like designers, video game creators, photographers, and those who create digital images, as those whose jobs will likely not be completely eradicated. It will help these roles create more and do their jobs quicker, he said.

“If you look back to the industrial revolution, when you suddenly had automation in farming, did it mean fewer people were going to be doing certain jobs in farming?” Saidov said. “Definitely, because you’re not going to need as many people in that area, but it just means the same number of people are going to different jobs.”

Just like similar trends in history, creative jobs will be in demand after the widespread inclusion of generative AI and other AI tech in the workplace.

“With video game creators, if the number of games made globally doesn’t change year over year, you’ll probably need fewer game designers,” Saidov said. “But if you can create more as a company, then this technology will just increase the number of games you’ll be able to get made.”

Due to ChatGPT buzz, many software developers and engineers are apprehensive about their job security, causing some to seek new skills and learn how to engineer generative AI and add these skills to their resume.

“It’s unfair to say that GPT will completely eliminate jobs, like developers and engineers,” says Sameer Penakalapati, chief executive officer at Ceipal, an AI-driven talent acquisition platform.

But even though these jobs will still exist, their tasks and responsibilities could likely be diminished by GPT and generative AI.

There’s an important distinction to be made between GPT specifically and generative AI more broadly when it comes to the job market, according to Penakalapati. GPT is a mathematical or statistical model designed to learn patterns and provide outcomes. But other forms of generative AI can go further, reconstructing different outcomes based on patterns and learnings, and almost mirroring a human brain, he said.

As an example, Penakalapati says if you look at software developers, engineers, and testers, GPT can generate code in a matter of seconds, giving software users and customers exactly what they need without the back and forth of relaying needs, adaptations, and fixes to the development team. GPT can do the job of a coder or tester instantly, rather than the days or weeks it may take a human to generate the same thing, he said.

Generative AI can more broadly impact software engineers, and specifically devops (development and operations) engineers, Penakalapati said, from the development of code to deployment, conducting maintenance, and making updates in software development. In this broader set of tasks, generative AI can mimic what an engineer would do through the development cycle.

While development and engineering roles are quickly adapting to these tools in the workplace, Penakalapati said it’ll be impossible for the tools to totally replace humans. More likely we’ll see a decrease in the number of developers and engineers needed to create a piece of software.

“Whether it’s a piece of code you’re writing, whether you’re testing how users interact with your software, or whether you’re designing software and choosing certain colors from a color palette, you’ll always need somebody, a human, to help in the process,” Penakalapati said.

While GPT and AI will heavily impact more roles than others, the incorporation of these tools will impact every knowledge worker, commonly referred to as anyone who uses or handles information in their job, according to Michael Chui, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute.

“These technologies enable the ability to create first drafts very quickly, of all kinds of different things, whether it’s writing, generating computer code, creating images, video, and music,” Chui said. “You can imagine almost any knowledge worker being able to benefit from this technology and certainly the technology provides speed with these types of capabilities.”

A recent study by OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, found that roughly 80% of the U.S. workforce could have at least 10% of their work tasks affected by the introduction of learning models in GPT tech, while roughly 19% of workers might see 50% of their tasks impacted.

Chui said workers today can’t remember a time when they didn’t have tools like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word, so, in some ways, we can predict that workers in the future won’t be able to imagine a world of work without AI and GPT tools.

“Even technologies that greatly increased productivity, in the past, didn’t necessarily lead to having fewer people doing work,” Chui said. “Bottom line is the world will always need more software.”