Seems many of the companies laying off are on the same page.

13% used to be the magical number. Now, it’s somewhere between 5 and 7%.

That’s the number of people getting laid off from companies, and it’s a disturbingly similar figure from company to company.

As HR Brew recently rounded up, here are a handful of companies who’ve laid off in this range in the last few months: PayPal, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Spotify, Vox, DotDash and HarperCollins are just a few. In the mix: tech, fintech, media and good old-fashioned publishing. They all have one thing in common: they’re trimming the workforce to cut corners.

Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius observed in a recent client note “ We find that three characteristics are common to many of these companies. First, many are in the tech sector. Second, many hired aggressively during the pandemic – on average headcount grew 41% – due to over extrapolation of pandemic related trends. Third, they have seen sharper decline in stock prices which have fallen 43% from their peaks on average, and in some cases seem to be in response to investor demand to cut costs by shrinking workforces rather than to a worsening in the demand outlook.”

Dan Kaplan of Korn Ferry calls this “a surgical approach” to layoffs, and it reflects a particular trend: companies may be angling to get leaner (or bolster stock prices) but not so lean that they struggle to staff back up when the market inevitably requires it.

As a recruiter for 25+ years, I have seen a number of layoff trends come and go. This cycle too, shall pass.

#layofftrends #warfortalent #hiringnow #laidoff