Business Headlines for Monday: Job Interview Practices, Housing Market Trends, Microsoft AI Privacy Concerns, Orange Juice Industry Changes, Return to Paper Menus in Restaurants

Job applicants are reporting strange interview practices as they navigate the competitive job market. According to Bloomberg, some job seekers are experiencing unconventional application processes, such as being invited to a happy hour by a tech startup only to realize they were not the only applicant present. Additionally, some companies are implementing endless application processes that include cognitive, personality, and skills assessments, as well as using AI chatbots to screen video submissions instead of conducting in-person interviews.

In the U.S. housing market, there has been an increase in house listings but a decrease in buyers. High prices and mortgage rates are turning off potential buyers, leading to owners cutting asking prices more than ever before. Contracts to purchase existing homes have dropped to the lowest level in four years, according to Redfin.

Privacy experts are expressing concerns over Microsoft’s AI technology that screenshots users’ screens every five seconds to learn their habits and provide personalized AI information. While Microsoft assures users that the information is stored on their computers, privacy experts worry about potential exploitation of this data.

As global prices for orange juice have increased by 210% since 2021 due to factors like declining output in Florida and disease in Brazil, orange juice producers are considering using alternative fruits like mandarins. In response to privacy concerns and complaints about the inconvenience of scanning digital menus, many restaurants are reverting back to paper menus. One restaurant in Seattle even found that using QR codes lowered check averages and reduced tips.