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Patchogue, N.Y.: A "Help Wanted" sign hangs in the window of Gino's Pizza on Main Street in Patchogue, New York on August 24, 2021. (Photo by Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Newsday via Getty ImagesIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” So begins Charles Dickens’ A Tale Of Two Cities, and it might also be a way to describe the current job market. You could even call it the “split-screen” job market, as we did in this recent Forbes story.
On the one hand, data, like Friday’s better-than-expected jobs number, shows a labor market where unemployment remains low and the economy continues adding jobs, even beating economists’ forecasts. Also last week, the Labor Department reported that job openings slipped but hiring demand remained strong, while the turnover rate stayed high.
Yet on the other hand, the news cycle seems to bring near-daily stories of hiring freezes and layoffs, particularly in the technology sector and among startups. Tesla’s Elon Musk, Reuters reported Friday, wants to cut jobs and pause hiring amid what he reportedly called a “super bad feeling” about the economy. Other big tech companies, like Meta and Microsoft, have said they will slow hiring in certain parts of their business. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in early May it would treat hiring “as a privilege.”
What gives? While there is clearly a lot of concern about the economy, the headlines about job cuts are “not really showing up yet in the data as a wave of layoffs that would be comparable to past perceptions or downturns,” Glassdoor economist Daniel Zhao told me. Or as Gartner’s Brian Kropp described it: “The labor market for places that aren't impacted by concerns about interest rates or concerns about stock equity—that labor market? It’s still red-hot, going a thousand miles an hour.”
It’s a reminder that while reports of layoffs are becoming more common, what’s happening at some companies doesn’t mean that’s the story of the economy as a whole—yet. We’ll have to wait to see what the next few months hold.
FEATURED STORY
An Unexpected Perk Of Remote Work: It’s Easier To Job Hunt
More and more job seekers are experiencing not only the freedom to interview for remote-based jobs—but the ease of doing so outside the view of their manager’s watchful eye. According to the latest update from WFH Research, a project started in May 2020 by an economist and professors at Stanford University and ITAM in Mexico to track working arrangements and attitudes, nearly half of the 2,000 U.S. workers surveyed say working from home has made it easier to interview for prospective jobs. Read more here.
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ON OUR AGENDA
Musk calls remote work “pretend”: Lost in the kerfuffle over Elon Musk’s memos about Tesla executives’ return to work—knocking “some remote pseudo office” and tweeting that those who prefer remote work should “pretend to work” elsewhere—was that the missives weren’t just about where work should take place. They also mandated how much time work should consume. My look at how Musk is the “poster boy of overwork” is here; Forbes contributors weighed in with what Musk got right—and wrong—about remote work, how it might be dangerous, and why he understands little about hybrid work.
…while other billionaires saw a remote-work opening: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s ultimatum for employees to return to the office launched a Twitter spat with Scott Farquhar, Atlassian’s billionaire CEO, who said Tesla’s directive was “like something out of the 1950s” and suggested he would be happy for Tesla employees to apply to his remote-friendly company, writes Forbes’ Anna Kaplan.
Looking for a hot job market? Try a small city... Forbes contributor Ashley Stahl takes a look at an analysis by the Wall Street Journal, which partnered with Moody’s Analytics to assess 300 metro areas for factors like the unemployment rate or job growth and finds Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee and Raleigh, North Carolina at the top.
…but ADP says hiring is starting to slow. Other data may still be strong, but interest rate hikes are fueling uncertainty, and U.S. employers posted their worst monthly job growth in more than two years last Thursday, according to payroll processor ADP. Private employment increased by 128,000 jobs from April to May, according to the ADP’s National Employment Report, the slowest pace since Covid lockdowns led to widespread unemployment in April 2020, reports Forbes’ Jonathan Ponciano.
Life lessons at 70: Wired magazine co-founder Kevin Kelly published this list in April, but after a tweet this week from author Daniel Pink, I couldn’t help but share it, especially amid graduation season. A collection of 103 bits of advice he’s jotted down over the years, he shares the list on the occasion of his 70th birthday, and it includes a few about careers and work. They include the “best work ethic requires a good rest ethic,” “you cannot get smart people to work extremely hard just for money” and “don’t ever work for someone you don’t want to become.”