A LinkedIn report shows that while the rate of people starting new jobs in Ireland is falling, the decline is softer than other European markets.

Workplace social media platform LinkedIn has released new data exploring Ireland’s current hiring market. What was discovered is that Irish hiring rates stalled during the month of January and recorded a “moderate” 7.2pc year-on-year decline. 

In Ireland, the rate of decline was shown, however, to be less harsh than that of European counterparts, with the wider EMEA-LATAM grouping experiencing a year-on-year average decline of 12.2pc. Worse still, Italy and the Netherlands reported a decline of more than 16pc and France a decline of more than 17pc year-on-year. 

Commenting on the data, LinkedIn Ireland’s country manager Cara O’Leary said: “Despite the stall in hiring, Ireland remains more resilient than many of our European peers. While some sectors might be seeing a lull in new hires, there are other industries that are on the front foot like financial services and healthcare, where opportunity abounds despite the broader cautious jobs market.”

Financial services (up 5.9pc), and hospitals and healthcare (up 5.4pc) are examples of what the report noted as numerous industries displaying ‘green shoots’ evident throughout Ireland. 

Mobility and AI

The demand for flexible working opportunities was also shown to have increased, as Ireland saw the highest level of remote job postings offered (10.9pc), coming second in Europe for the proportion of hybrid positions advertised. The report said that despite accounting for 10.9pc of all job postings, applications for remote roles accounted for 18.5pc of all applications, highlighting the pulling power of flexibility for attracting talent.

O’Leary said: “Our latest data continues to show the magnetic power of flexible work to attract prospective talent. Ireland dominates the European ranks for remote job postings and coming a close second for hybrid roles. The volume of applications for remote positions underlines their desirability and sends a clear signal that flexibility is a key differentiator to hiring companies.”

LinkedIn’s data also highlighted a demand for specialised talent in a landscape where it found the ability to work with AI agents among the fastest growing AI engineering skills of 2025. This, the report stated, is reflective of a shift toward autonomous execution for certain tasks.

Similarly, a growth in AI strategy and large language model (LLM) operations was found by the platform to be underscoring organisations’ investments into specialised workflows, noting that the net result is that AI engineering talent now hold a mobility premium, and due to highly portable skills are eight times more likely to move across borders than the average LinkedIn member.

O’Leary said: “Employers are eying up specialist talent, particularly professionals with expertise in AI agents, AI strategy and LLM ops. Given that many of these roles did not exist five years ago, AI professionals are in a position to command a clear premium. 

“For example, AI engineering professionals are significantly more mobile than the wider workforce, with our previous data showing Ireland to be a net beneficiary of AI migration.”

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Hard coolers are easier to manage once you get where you’re going. It’s the getting there with those bulky, portable ice boxes that proves challenging. 

If you’ve ever packed a car or camper for a camping trip, you know that space is precious. Tents, clothing, snacks and other outdoor essentials take up the bulk of the room inside your vehicle before you and your companions even jump in your seats. Now throw your bulky coolers into the mix, and you’re left with even less space. 

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Soft coolers have always been better for keeping in your car since most can squish down to the size of a throw pillow, but that notion might be changing. 

With the release of its first-ever collapsible hard-cover cooler, Coleman is looking to flip the script on hard versus soft coolers. I got my hands on a test unit to see if this foldable hard cooler does what it’s meant to.

How it works

I knew the Snap ‘N Go was a heavy-duty cooler when I picked up the package from my front porch. It wasn’t a large package, but it was decently heavy, as the cooler weighs 20 pounds when empty. While cooler bags have been around for some time, and they’re lighter and easy to fold into a small square, the Snap ‘N Go is the first ever hard-shell cooler that can collapse to a smaller size — up to one-third its size.

It is available in three colors (light blue, black and dark blue) and in sizes 35-quart, 45-quart and 55-quart, which can hold up to 93 cans without ice. The 55-quart version is less than 5 inches tall when collapsed, making it easy to fit in tight spaces or store away when not in use. 

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Using the handles on the outside of the cooler, it takes about a second to pop the cooler into its upright position. When it’s in this position, it’s hard to tell it apart from other hard-shell coolers, and the 55-quart can keep the items inside cool for up to 64 hours, according to the company. The 35-quart keeps them cool for 48 hours, while the 45-quart keeps them cool for 55 hours.

To pop it back down to its more compact size, it takes only a couple of seconds to pull the strap up toward you, and it closes in on itself, accordion-style. The waterproof liner is also removable, making it easy to clean.

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To ensure the cooler was leakproof, I filled the bottom with water and left it for 30 minutes. It aced the test with not a single drop of water escaping.

When is the Snap ‘N Go available for purchase?

The Coleman Snap ‘N Go is available for purchase now. It’s priced between $200 and $240, depending on the size, and comes with a three-year limited warranty.

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Final thoughts

Name-brand coolers don’t typically come cheap, so I’m not sticker-shocked by this one’s price, especially since it’s a hard-shell option. I was impressed by how quick and easy it is to pop up, and I especially like that it isn’t bulky to store. Although we haven’t put this brand-new Coleman cooler through our rigorous lab testing, my initial experience with the Snap ‘N Go was promising.

If you’re an avid outdoor enthusiast or camper, this quality cooler could be a great addition to your summertime activities. 

The grand opening of Polymarket’s “Situation Room” bar—a three-day pop-up experience billed as the world’s first brick-and-mortar destination for monitoring global prediction markets—should have had its own betting market on whether or not it would be a disaster. Someone could have walked away with a decent chunk of change.

“Welcome to the Situation Room, everyone. We view this as our real coming-out party in DC,” Neil Kumar, Polymarket’s chief legal officer and former Commodity Futures Trading Commission counsel, said at the event. “We’ve proven that the concept of prediction markets exists, and we’ve proven that the concept is here to stay, and we want to be a part of the conversations in DC. And where best to have a conversation than in a bar?”

Despite Kumar’s vision, Polymarket’s coming-out party was delayed. The pop-up started late due to technical issues, and for an hour and a half, bartenders came outside to take drink orders from reporters and happy hour guests as they grumpily tried to stay dry. Joshua Tucker, who joined Polymarket as head of growth in November, built the event from the same playbook he used leading viral marketing for MrBeast, the YouTuber famous for orchestrating elaborate, and often dystopian stunts. This event was billed similarly: At the pop-up bar, geopolitical crises like the US war on Iran were now a spectator sport attendees could casually bet on in real time with their drinking buddies.

Eventually, Tucker announced that the event’s main attraction—dozens of TVs displaying Bloomberg terminals, X feeds, and cable news—would not be online that night.

Inside the pop-up, members of the media mixed with Hill staffers and curious onlookers who had never used Polymarket’s product. Hours into opening night, rumors spread that ex-members of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would arrive later in the evening. Nick O’Neill, a crypto-focused content creator who goes by @chooserich on X, flew in from Miami with his media company to cover the event. His plan was to shoot a video with a colleague, “competing against each other to see who ends up making more money,” he said, and placing bets based on the information that was supposed to be blasting from monitors behind the bars.

The TVs never came on, and O’Neill and his team had nothing to film. The dozens of monitors Polymarket put up for the event remained off, except for an interactive betting game that didn’t allow attendees to place real bets. An orb, fashioned like a miniature version of the Sphere in Las Vegas, spun with a world map and live bets Polymarket users were making on the platform, like “Russia x Ukraine ceasefire by end of April?” and “Will the US confirm that aliens exist before 2027?” O’Neill said he’d return the following day to try again.

Promptly at 9:00 pm, Tucker announced that the bar would be shutting down for the evening, hours earlier than anticipated, so event staff could work to fix the technical issues plaguing the venue. If they didn’t leave before doors opened, most guests stuck around for free drinks and to gawk at the chaos.

Most of the people WIRED talked to at the pop-up weren’t really Polymarket users. But the event wasn’t just about marketing: For three years, Polymarket was barred from operating in the US after the CFTC fined the company $1.4 million for “offering off-exchange event-based binary options and failure to obtain designation as a designated contract market (DCM) or registration as a swap execution facility (SEF).” US-based users were blocked from using the platform up until July of last year, when Polymarket acquired a holding company for an already regulated trading platform called QCEX. The event was meant to signal the company’s stature as one of the premiere prediction market services, in the nation’s capital, blocks away from the CFTC and other agencies, and with full government support. Other outlets, including The Washington Post, reported that administration officials were in attendance.

If you have spent some time in the World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery, you already know how everything ties back to how much gold you have in your bags. Your entire experience-the ability to learn new skills, gear upgrades, and consumables, and keeping up with the rapidly ramping game economy- all depend on the amount of gold you have. The good news is, a few smart moves and simple practices can make earning gold a part of your gameplay, without making you choose between affording your next gear upgrade and actually enjoying the game.

Gold Matters More Than Ever in the Season of Discovery

The Season of Discovery has introduced new game mechanics and class changes to increase player engagement and content lifecycle through more experimentation and exploration. However, the importance of gold remains largely unchanged since Mount training, profession leveling, and preparing for endgame activities all require significant gold resources. Because of this, players are naturally seeking reliable strategies to earn gold parallel to their gameplay. We’ll help you cut through the noise to focus on simple, smart practices that can make earning gold a part of your gameplay while you are discovering everything this season has to offer.

The first step to having more gold isn’t farming more- it is to stop wasting it and understand where it disappears. The biggest drains are vendor gear upgrades, excessive auction house purchases, and poorly planned profession leveling. Focus on maximizing the benefits of quest rewards and drops. Donʼt squander your gold on random items when leveling. If you manage your gold properly at the beginning, it is much simpler when it comes to the necessities of the game.

Smart Ways to Save and Earn Gold

A smart way to save gold is by stopping the buying of gear too often. Quest rewards and dungeon drops can easily handle most of your needs while leveling. These rewards are usually enough to keep you going. Instead of spending gold on upgrades, save it for things that really matter, like mounts and abilities. Smart and experienced players spend their quest rewards and dungeon drops, saving up for their mount purchases. This simple habit can help you save more while still progressing well.

If you want a simple way to earn gold, start with the right professions. Herbalism, Mining, and Skinning allow you to collect items as you explore the world. These items are always in demand. You can then sell these materials in the market and make a steady amount of gold without extra effort. If you use the auction house well, you can get yourself some gold with little effort.

Furthermore, a smart way to earn more gold is by focusing on the timing. The value of many materials changes depending on what players are doing in the game. For example, when raids become popular or players prepare for group activities, demand increases, and prices go up. The same material that gathered dust after buying at the auction house will suddenly triple in price as you near the endgame activities- basic economics, good profits. If you keep an eye on these changes and sell when demand is high, you can earn more gold from the same items. 

Another way of earning gold is by focusing on dungeons and valuable mobs. This is an easy way of earning gold. This strategy will work for you if you remain consistent. Collect all you can and sell all the extra things you collect. Focus on finding valuable things that you can sell for more. Some mobs also have good drops. This strategy may take some of your time, but it is good for earning gold.

Earning gold is not all about collecting things and selling them. The right time for selling also plays an important role. For example, some things may be more valuable before raids. Some things, especially those in demand, will always give you more value. If you keep an eye on these things, you will be able to earn more gold without doing more work.

Trading is another good way to get gold without farming all day long. Trading is all about prices. Buy items when they are low in price, then sell them later when their price increases. It takes a little time to get used to this, but when you do, it is another great way to get extra gold. 

Final Thoughts

Despite Season of Discovery encouraging the users to experiment with new activities while balancing earning gold at the same time, not everyone wants to dedicate hours to farming resources when they could be exploring the game more. There are some player communities that discuss alternative ways, such as options related to sod gold. Platforms like Eldorado and similar platforms can help users purchase gold to be used in the gameplay when they feel stuck between limited playtime and the gold requirements.

Ultimately, the ones who understand smart gold-management habits can unlock the true potential that the season has to offer. Users must refine their strategies to adapt to the in-game economy and enjoy the gameplay without unnecessary limitations. Other than buying gear, consumables, mounts, and abilities, in this season, gold also enables something more valuable- the freedom to discover and experiment.

Samsung’s Music Studio 5 speaker supports a range of streaming services through Spotify Connect and similar platforms, but it does not include support for Spotify’s lossless audio tier, which affects its overall playback quality range.

The Music Studio 5 forms part of Samsung’s recent push into standalone wireless speakers, positioning it against competitors such as Sonos that already support higher-quality streaming options across multiple services and devices.

Reports from user discussions show that the lossless setting does not appear when adjusting Spotify streaming quality through Spotify Connect, meaning playback is limited to lower tiers even when higher-quality audio is available.

This absence stands out as Spotify continues expanding its lossless tier across supported hardware, with the feature delivering audio at up to 24-bit/44.1kHz for listeners seeking playback closer to original studio recordings.

Spinder Dhaliwal of the Westminster Business School at the University of Westminster explores how graduates can get ahead in a tough landscape.

For entrepreneurs, something that starts out as a simple idea can transform into a thriving business that brings financial rewards, confidence and personal growth. These days, graduates may look at forecasts for a tightening jobs market and decide their future is as an entrepreneur rather than an employee.

The business world is brimming with opportunity. I have researched entrepreneurship for years, and have found that rapid technological evolution, shifting consumer preferences and a growing focus on sustainability are creating an exciting landscape for bold graduates.

However, success is never guaranteed – like anyone else they’ll need to understand their market, and know their competitors, target audience and growth potential. This is where graduates should put the research skills they honed as a student to good use. This can help them to avoid costly mistakes – things like overestimating demand for their business idea or underestimating the level of competition, for example.

My book, The Millennial Millionaire, demonstrates that successful young entrepreneurs tend to share certain traits: resilience, calculated risk-taking and a willingness to learn from failure. These characteristics remain essential in 2026, particularly as markets become more volatile with persistent inflation, shifting interest rate expectations and growing geopolitical tensions.

Graduate entrepreneurship has evolved over the years, and the traditional linear career where someone stayed with one employer, moving up through the ranks through their working life, is a thing of the past. My book highlights how younger entrepreneurs increasingly pursue business ownership not only for financial independence but also for autonomy, creativity and social impact.

However, it can still be tricky for graduates to make a mark. And entrepreneurship is not a level playing field, either. Rising costs for utilities and essential overheads, competitive markets and unequal access to capital disproportionately affect certain groups. Women generally have less access to capital compared to men, and this is more pronounced for some ethnic minority women. Young people may not have enough personal savings.

Entrepreneurship cannot be separated from questions of diversity and inclusion. Graduate entrepreneurs can face both opportunity and inequality when starting a venture. In this context, migrant communities often have a wealth of valuable “rags to riches” stories that they can share.

According to some of my other research, many Asian entrepreneurs in the UK started with virtually no money but used determination and family resources to build multimillion-pound businesses.

For example, the billionaire owner of a string of airport hotels Surinder Arora came from the Punjab as a child. He worked for British Airways and dreamed of being a pilot – but instead invested in a B&B to serve airline crews.

These lessons remain highly relevant: entrepreneurship does not occur in isolation – it is shaped by relationships, identity and experience.

A unique time to go it alone

AI is clearly a game-changer, making this a unique time to launch a business that can be built with AI in mind rather than struggling to keep up. Today’s market is more connected, tech-driven and socially conscious than ever, and tech-savvy graduates are well-positioned to seize these opportunities. Sustainability is no longer optional – consumers expect brands to align with their values and demonstrate social responsibility.

Budding entrepreneurs should use technology to their advantage. This could be for crowdfunding, market research or accessing support networks. My research suggests that entrepreneurs who want to give back to the community and who care about how their business affects the environment are more likely to build long-term trust with their customers.

For graduates, this means aligning business goals with broader societal needs such as poverty reduction or environmental challenges. The resulting venture could take the form of a social enterprise, ethical startup or inclusive business. But these enterprises will still need to generate money and be profitable – you can only give if you have.

Networking is a secret weapon. A strong network is essential, and graduates already have a foundation – they just need to build on it. They should attend industry events, stay informed about economic trends and learn from professionals. A supportive community can help to overcome challenges and accelerate growth.

Securing funding is often the biggest hurdle for new entrepreneurs. What’s key is the ability to start lean – “bootstrapping” (that is, having to start with the bare minimum of capital) is a challenge entrepreneurs are often forced to overcome. Many businesses begin with personal savings or family support. But graduates can also explore competitions and grants. Then eventually, a compelling pitch may attract investors.

Starting a business offers graduates unparalleled opportunities, from harnessing technology to tackling global challenges such as climate change. Success lies in identifying a passion, using resources well and building a strong support network. The future belongs to those who innovate, adapt and take calculated risks. With determination and the right mindset, graduates can turn a vision into a thriving venture.

Spinder Dhaliwal

Spinder Dhaliwal is a reader in entrepreneurship and the director of PhDs for the Westminster Business School at the University of Westminster. Her main area of interest is in ethnic minority businesses, women in business and young entrepreneurs. She has written about entrepreneurship and the business community, compiled information on Britain’s Richest Asians reflecting a long held interest in the field and her previous book, Making a Fortune, Learning from the Asian Phenomenon, explored the journey of Asian entrepreneurs in the UK, the challenges they faced, and how they were overcome.

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When the Uber Black isn’t premium enough, New Yorkers now have the option to call for a Wheely instead. Whimsical name aside, the London-based company is breaking into the US market by offering its chauffeur-hailing services to residents of New York City first, as first reported by Bloomberg. Think of it like Uber, but for business executives and VIPs who prefer better service and riding in Cadillacs and Mercedes.

“New York has long been requested by our customers, whether that be New Yorkers who have traveled with us in Europe and the Middle East, or our international clients who regularly visit the city,” Anton Chirkunov, founder and CEO of Wheely, said in a press release.

Besides its black car Business SUV service, New Yorkers can opt for Wheely First that offers a Mercedes-Benz S-Class W223 filled with amenities like Fiji water and towels. For a more dedicated service, Wheely has its Perfect Airport Pickup where drivers will track flights to line up a pickup, and the Chauffeur for a Day option that lets users reserve a chauffeur that will also pick up friends and family or run errands for you. For interested drivers in New York City, Wheely will port over its in-house “Chauffeur Academy,” which is expected to grow to a network of 5,000 qualified drivers over the next five years.

While Wheely currently operates in London, Paris and Dubai, the company plans to expand to five major US cities within the next three years. According to Bloomberg, Wheely is considering markets in Texas, Miami and Palm Beach, Fla. as well as Washington, D.C. Wheely’s entry into the US market comes about a week after the announcement of the Uber Elite program, which targets a similar demographic. However, Uber Elite is only available in Los Angeles and San Francisco currently, with plans to expand to New York soon. However, Uber may have Wheely beat when it comes to hailing a helicopter, thanks to its upcoming Uber Air option.