The recent layoff announcements at Google, Amazon, and Microsoft impacting a total of 40,000 employees have many worried about the job market. Ever since April of last year, I’ve seen an explosion in headlines about layoffs and warnings about the labor market being weaker than it appears. One recent headline asked “Are we on the verge of a tsunami of layoffs?” But these headlines don’t align with what I, as a recruiter, am experiencing on-the-ground or even official labor market statistics.
Despite Layoffs, It’s Still a Workers’ Labor Market
Recruiting isn’t going to get much easier in 2023.
January 30, 2023
HBR Staff/Pexels/Unsplash
Summary.
Despite a wave of headlines covering layoffs, primarily at tech companies, the U.S. labor market remains tight and hiring remains difficult. Layoffs are actually at a relatively low rate by historical standards, largely because of Covid deaths and the effects of long Covid. As long as workers remain scarce, it will remain a workers’ market and recruitment will be a challenge.