Welcome to the Career Economy!I can’t believe it’s already May! Another month of data is in, and it’s time to fill you in on some interesting insights and my observations on what’s happening in the job market. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a prediction about the market, and there are glimpses that it’s coming to fruition. I get the sense that the dust is beginning to settle after 3+ months of active transition and transformation. I believe the light at the tunnel is starting to peek through, and over the next 4 – 6 weeks, we’ll understand what the new normal will look like, especially in the tech sector. The hiring tear we’ve seen in tech for the last – 15? – years (and for sure the last three years) is coming to an end, and while it feels like hiring in this market will be awful, it is not all doomsday. It’s just different. Different takes some getting used to. Let’s see how the numbers will prove my crystal ball accurate! According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy added 253,000 jobs in April, which considerably outperformed projections (180k). This is an uptick from March, which landed at 236k but has since been adjusted down from that number. The hiring rate has been holding steady at 4%, and job separations (remember that new report I told you about last month?) also held steady at 3.8%, with the ratio of quits, layoffs, and other discharges remaining pretty consistent month over month.
Get ready. Wait for it. We’re sitting just below – below! – average for the number of layoffs per month. In April of last year, 2.84 million professionals lost jobs; it was 2.64 million last month. → That puts things in perspective, eh? I still attest that layoffs at big companies make big headlines, but if you do your due diligence and dig deeper, you’ll find that activity isn’t as widespread or trickling down as much as it may seem. I hope this newsletter will support your due diligence! What’s interesting about these numbers is that they reflect a positive movement in activity I noticed starting around the first of May. Sometimes I think I see things until I have data to back up my observations. I’m pretty glad it’s all jiving right now because it means things are moving in a good direction, and that transformation “bubble” I mentioned earlier could be on the brink of bursting. Since our last newsletter, we’ve had some wins worth sharing. We have a winning group of clients starting new roles as Vice President of Engineering, Engineering Team Lead, Technical Project Manager, Content Marketing Manager, Chief of Staff to the CISO, National Sales Manager for Cybersecurity, Customer Success Manager, Account Exec, Director of PR, and Account Manager. Except for one company – all of these roles are in…drumroll, please.
The outlier is the PR position with an Architecture firm, but it’s still STEM. I’m so proud of these clients because they pushed through a tough market to land some pretty incredible roles. You can do the same! The key to job searching right now is threefold:
You’ve heard me say it a million times: lack of clarity in a job search is more detrimental than a bad resume, and that couldn’t ring truer now.
The types of roles most of you (knowing my audience) are vying for are competitive and seeing higher volume than we did 6+ months ago, so humans are your best bet.
Particularly for those of you seeking roles at tech or tech-enabled companies, shoot for mid-tier organizations with established products. They seem to be the most insulated from layoffs or the negative impacts of layoffs at bigger companies. And a bonus recommendation: be patient and methodical. While I’ve had a client land a new job in 22 days, from start to finish, I am thinking that will not be the norm for awhile longer, so settle in, do the work, and trust your process. Results will come! If you get frustrated, you know what to do. Reach out to me, and we’ll chat about how to get that train moving in the right direction! Happy Spring! Your Friend and Coach, Angie |
I looked back at some historical numbers to get a feel for how this market is performing compared to previous months. 
Tech companies! 
Get crystal clear on your job search goals and positioning.
