The United States of America nevertheless has a robust job market. The unemployment rate is currently at 3.6 percent, and many firms are keeping up their pace of worker recruitment in spite of this. However, it seems that some of the larger firms are starting to grow a bit anxious.
It has been reported that Apple (AAPL) is reducing the rate at which it is adding new jobs. According to reports, Microsoft (MSFT), the parent company of Facebook (Meta), and Alphabet (GOOGL), the owner of Google, are all adopting employment curbs.
The massive investment banking firm Goldman Sachs (GS) has announced that it will scale back its recruitment efforts for the second half of this year. There are rumours going around that Ford (F) may be announcing job layoffs very shortly. This has previously been accomplished by Tesla (TSLA). Earlier last month, both Victoria’s Secret and Twitter conducted mass layoffs of employees. The ubiquitous video game retailer GameStop (GME) is also considering worker reductions.
At a time when there are mounting concerns about the slowing economy, it is evident that businesses across a diverse variety of industries are attempting to determine just how many employees they require. After the Federal Reserve raises interest rates again the following week in its ongoing battle to drive down inflation, there is a chance that fears of an economic recession may intensify.
On Wednesday, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon stated to CNN’s Poppy Harlow that the corporation will “not fall to zero” in terms of employing new employees. However, he would not rule out the possibility of revisions to the employment plans of the investment banking giant if the market and economic conditions deteriorate.
“I am unable to forecast what the state of the planet will be in the next half a year. In the event that the external environment seems to become more challenging, we will modify accordingly. We make it a point to keep our ways of thinking about these things as flexible as possible at all times “Solomon remarked.
In the most recent weeks, there has been a consistent growth in the number of persons who are currently jobless. On Thursday, the government said that the number of individuals who filed for initial unemployment benefits over the previous week reached 251,000. Although this number is still somewhat low when compared to historical norms, it is the highest level of initial weekly claims for unemployment benefits in the last eight months.
Despite this, there are many who maintain that there won’t be a significant number of people losing their jobs. To begin, many businesses are still reporting a lack of available workers, which is especially concerning in light of the phenomena known as the “Great Resignation.” It is possible that the economic damage caused by a recession will be mitigated if the job market continues to show resilience.
“It’s possible the economy may experience a lull or possibly a mild recession that won’t last long. On the other hand, we are not witnessing a prolonged recession that would cause a great deal of suffering “Earlier this week, after the company had reported its earnings, Bruce Van Saun, CEO of regional banking giant Citizens Financial Group (CFG), gave an interview to CNN Business. In the interview, he said the following:
According to Van Saun, certain categories of businesses may be more inclined than others to reduce the number of positions they are hiring for or eliminate altogether.
As a result of the recent decline in the stock market, he observed that large financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs are experiencing a “subdued” volume of deal activity. After years of operating in a “grow expand grow mode” in which talent was acquired from wherever it could be found, he noted that many technology companies could need to reduce the number of employees they are employing.
There are some economists who do not appear to be excessively concerned at this time.
According to Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank, who was quoted in a report that was released on Thursday, “The labour market is slowing, but the change so far has been moderate.” He made the observation that the retail, financial services, and technology industries are the most likely to maintain their hiring freezes. However, other aspects of the economy continue to show strength.
“The number of available jobs is still very high. Although it’s possible that some companies have begun to take longer to make hiring decisions, others that are more optimistic about the future of their company are still eager to fill available positions “The author is Adams.
