Many economists call it a cooling down after a period of phenomenal job growth.
It began last winter with Peloton. The pandemic caused a quadruple increase in stock prices for the home fitness company, and it announced that it would be cutting 2,800 jobs.
There have been many layoff announcements since then from high-flyers like Coinbase, Netflix and Tesla.
AnnElizabeth Konkel is an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab. “I think it’s a useful way to think about the current labor market is that we are seeing some of this frothiness abate.”
It is little comfort for those whose jobs are lost.
Tanisha Bates decided to make her home more attractive last October, just a week before she started a new job. She ripped out the carpet, installed new flooring, painted the walls and set up a coffee shop.
Bates recalls thinking that time, “I’m going be working from home so it needs to be my happy zone, my Zen area.”
Before that, she worked in retail and had held a few administrative positions in schools. She had always wanted to work in the corporate world because she knew that the money and the work would be more rewarding.
Stitch Fix has a fantastic opportunity for 2021. To diversify its stylist team, the online personal styling company needed to recruit coordinators.
She got everything she hoped for. She was able to help Stitch Fix build a diverse workforce through an initiative she believed in. She could also work remotely due to the great pay.
Bates says, “I felt like I had finally achieved the perfect work-life balance.”
All of it came to an abrupt halt on June 9. Bates was one of the 330 people Stitch Fix fired, citing a decline in membership and uncertain economic conditions.
This was not surprising. Stitch Fix’s leadership had made it clear to its employees a few months prior that things were not going well. Bates was aware of the layoffs at Peloton, and other places.
Bates says, “I knew it had got to happen.” “It just felt super defeating.”
Konkel pointed out that although job postings in areas such as software development and human resources have fallen in recent months, they still remain high, much higher than they were prior to the pandemic.
Konkel says, “My hope for these individuals who were laid off… hopefully that they can capitalize upon the strength of the labor marketplace.”
According to the Labor Department, there were 11.3million job openings in the U.S. as of May 31, down from the record 11.9 million set in March.
AndrA(c), Crucetta in Chicago hopes the strong labor market will prove fruitful again.
Crucetta was just finishing his master’s in computer science in Chicago, and was about to leave for San Francisco to start a job at a tech startup. He received an email from the head engineer.
Crucetta saw the word “update”, and immediately knew that something was up.
It’s almost as if you receive a text about a breakup, and you’re like “Oh, here we are.” He says she wants to go on a walk.
Crucetta accepted the job about a month ago. However, this economy is volatile and things can change very quickly. He was told five days before he was due to start that the company had placed a hiring freeze.
After a brief cry, he got back to work and reversed his plans. He was due to cancel his plane ticket and his sublease in San Francisco. While he was on the job hunt, he had to find temporary housing in Chicago.
Crucetta is an international student from Venezuela and has 90 days to find something.
He said, “I am very optimistic.” “It’s just a matter if you go through the process again.”
Bates is also on the job search and says that things are different than last fall. The engagement of hiring managers seems lower. She says that finding talent seems to be on hold.
She’s submitted more than 70 applications for jobs and believes she might have to consider in-person opportunities. This would leave her home office and perfect work-life balance behind.
Remote jobs are very competitive because everyone from the U.S. applies for them. She says it’s like competing against the masses.
