Employment Services NAICS 5613

Jul 28, 2025 - Big Companies Learn to Love Layoffs

• Major corporations are getting smaller and managers have learned to not shy away from layoffs and other staff reductions, and in some cases actually tout them as positives, as AI adoption slims down corporate staff. Big companies have looked to startups and their ability to earn millions in revenue as inspiration for treating large staffs as an impediment rather than a benefit. Companies including Wells Fargo, Amazon, Union Pacific, Verizon, and Bank of America have cut thousands of jobs this year and report improved profitability. In addition to layoffs and displacement from AI, other means used to cut staff have included hiring freezes, combining jobs into new roles, or even leaving positions unfilled after employees resign. Management roles have taken the biggest hit in this new dynamic with middle managers increasingly being let go in favor of flatter organizations.
• Recent college graduates are having a difficult time finding a job and are seeing the highest level of unemployment in more than a decade (excluding the pandemic), according to an analysis of Federal Reserve data. Recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree had a 6.1% unemployment rate for the 12 months ending in May 2025, compared to the national rate of 4.2%. Those workers account for only 5% of the total workforce, but they play a larger role in pushing the national unemployment rate higher. As a result, graduates who find an entry-level position tend to stay in that job longer to avoid being stuck in a bad market. According to Oxford Economics, this is especially true among those in professional, scientific, and technical services, who often do not change industries when switching jobs. The data underscores a trend of Gen Z looking more towards trade schools than college.

• US workers are increasingly putting in extra hours in the evening after their workday has ended as companies cut costs, slow new hiring, and ask existing employees to do more. According to data from Microsoft on the millions of workers who use its business applications, over the course of the last year meeting log-ins after 8 p.m. grew 16% and a third of workers returned to their inboxes after 10 p.m. Workers cite days filled with so many meetings, emails, and actual work that they don’t have enough time in the day to get everything done. Microsoft’s data showed the average worker gets 117 emails and 153 chats a day, and 30% of meetings cross time zones, all contributing to playing catch up after hours. The workloads have taken a toll with employee mentions of burnout on job site Glassdoor up 32% year over year in Q1, the highest level in 10 years.
• Employers in the US are increasingly hiring employees based on skills criteria and deemphasizing past job experience, according to global recruiting firm Hudson RPO. A survey of HR professionals in the US found that 60% of recruiters are placing more importance on transferable skills - capabilities that apply to different jobs and industries - than the historically standard educational and work experience qualifications. Workers who display transferable skills such as communications, leadership, and flexibility should have a leg up. The trend dovetails with data from consulting firm McKinsey & Company that says 90% of companies either currently have or will experience skills gaps in their workforce in the next five years. About 53% of employers told McKinsey they are tackling the problem by reskilling current employees, while the rest are relying more on skills-based hiring, shifting workers to different roles in an organization, and hiring more outside contractors.