Be Prepared For Hiring Freezes And Layoffs

After Covid-19 restrictions were lifted and the economy reopened, the job market became hot. Businesses couldn’t find—and continue to not be able to find—enough talent to meet their needs. If you’re searching for a new job, you have an abundance of choices. However, the United States is starting to experience events that may cause the job market to slow down. Sadly, the good times cannot—and will not—last forever.

What Is Spooking The Job Market?

Within the past year, the labor market has seen a robust recovery. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that 428,000 jobs were added in April, with the unemployment rate remaining steady at 3.6%.

Last month, the New York Times reported, “The economy has recovered more than 90% of the 22 million jobs lost at the peak of the pandemic’s lockdowns in the spring of 2020—a far swifter rebound than forecasters initially expected.”

The stock market was also soaring and setting record highs regularly. However, in the last few weeks, stocks have plummeted. The reasons behind the sudden and swift decline include inflation driving up costs, fear of the U.S. getting involved with the Russia and Ukraine war, domestic political tensions and concerns over a recession on the horizon. Consequently, there have been several companies that have either paused hiring or commenced layoffs.

Why Companies Are Looking To Layoff Workers

Corporate executives crave certainty. They want to know that the future looks bright. If management feels that the economy and events align so that their business will make money and prosper, they’ll aggressively invest in hiring more staff. When there is a high demand for their products and services, smart leaders will add headcount to keep stoking the growth.

Conversely, when the C-suite is concerned about the future and worried that things may take a turn for the worse, they’ll reign in expenditures. This includes cutting back on hiring and culling the workforce to cut costs. Executives will say that once the situation improves, they’ll start hiring again. Until then, management will hunker down, conserve resources and wait out the bad times.

The Companies Putting On Hiring Freezes And Laying Off Workers

Layoffs.fyi Tracker, as the name suggests, is a site that compiles a list of downsizings in the tech and startup space. It began during the early days of the pandemic when companies were aggressively firing and furloughing workers. Once the economy reopened, the number of pink slips subsided. Now, there is a concerningly large number of businesses in the tech sector laying off personnel.

Over the weekend, Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, informed employees through email that the ridesharing app company would start to treat hiring like “a privilege.” The chief executive said Uber’s decision to pump the breaks on hiring is due to the “seismic shift” in the market.

Last week, Meta stated that it would reduce hiring for most mid-level and senior roles at the company. A spokesperson said in an email to CNBC, “We regularly re-evaluate our talent pipeline according to our business needs and in light of the expense guidance given for this earnings period, we are slowing its growth accordingly.”

Mortgage startup Better.com, best known for the CEO who fired people via a oneway Zoom video and called employees “dumb dolphins,” laid off approximately 4,000 people.

At the end of April, in a blog post, online trading platform Robinhood announced it would be trimming 9% of its workforce, citing “duplicate roles and job functions.” The company previously grew its headcount from around 700 employees in 2019 to 3,800 by the end of 2021. CEO Vlad Tenev wrote, “While the decision to undertake this action wasn’t easy, it is a deliberate step to ensure we are able to continue delivering on our strategic goals and furthering our mission to democratize finance.”

On April 28, Netflix laid off staff from its Tudum fan-focused site, which launched in December. The layoffs took place after the streaming giant lost $54.4 billion in market capitalization overnight. It was the “largest, single-day decline in its history.” The stock began plummeting after it lost 200,000 subscribers last quarter.

Peloton, Cameo, Wells Fargo, Noom, On Deck, Workrise and others have also announced layoffs or temporary freezes.

What You Need To Do To Stay Relevant

In a faltering job market, you don’t want to be the one fired. It will be hard to find a new job when a large number of companies in your industry are also laying off people. You must ensure that you are not replaceable. To do this, you have to prove to your bosses that they need you more than anyone else on the team.

The first thing is to show up at the office, even if you’re a remote worker. There is a known proximity bias. If you show face time, it curries favor with the managers, compared to the folks at home who can become out of sight and out of mind.

Volunteer for assignments. Take on tasks no one else wants. Find out what you can do to help your boss look good. Then, take action. Make sure that important people know that you are working hard and delivering every day. Keep track of your accomplishments and share the data with your supervisor.

Have a good positive attitude. Don’t complain, gossip or criticize. It’s called playing the game. The object is to win by keeping your job or at least hanging on until you can find something else outside of the company.