The Tribune

THE following is based on a conversation with a senior executive recruiter and her comments about the overall state of the job market were so on point – and in some respects, so alarming that much of what follows is her assessment and most of it in her words. So if you are among those who think something changed that is not likely to change back after the pandemic, brace yourself.

Perhaps we thought we changed by having power over our own destiny, that we could work remotely if we wanted or not at all if we could afford it or chose the job we wanted. The reality is that we did not gain more control, we lost it.

Large companies suddenly laid off more people than they hired. Laid them off in huge chunks without explanation. There’s more … read on in the words of someone who has been in human resources for 20+ years.

“As we watch people showing up on vacations, shopping in the markets, considering large purchases; spending as if endless income was guaranteed, and as I spend considerable time discussing company objectives and looking at financials I cannot help but wonder where the downfall started in the job market.

The pandemic was one of the greatest losses we have seen in decades, between the death, disparity and just plain not knowing what the future would hold. Amazingly, we made it. It is not over – we know this, and ‘normal’ will never be the ‘normal’ we knew. But we, around the world, we did it!

Jobs were on the rise again, businesses were opening doors, we found ourselves celebrating as a society in person and starting to take the next step in life one more time and feeling like the worst was behind us.

Let’s go back to the part where I mentioned jobs on the rise … this was fabulous. I mean, personally, I was excited to go to the grocery store and, let’s be honest, the liquor store. But with jobs increasing and unemployment decreasing, people feeling good about the future, that was an exceptional sense of satisfaction and security we thought would be gone forever. And to find we still had ‘it’ was invigorating in every way.

Fast forward to year-end 2022, what happened? How were we all feeling so good, so happy, ready to take a new direction on life only to watch all the kingdoms crashing down? By this I refer to some of our largest tech giants – best if I do not mention names – but if these companies that we are spending billions with, helping to increase market share - EVEN MORE SO DURING THE PANDEMIC, supporting in every way with our actions as humans; how are they now laying people off in the tens of thousands? And what we thought would be a once off as the year ended continued as we entered 2023.

Was laying 10,000 off not enough? Apparently not, let’s make it another 10,000! And let’s add 100 more companies to this doing the same. And now let’s add a major bank crash to that as well.

Can someone explain how an entire boardroom of highly intelligent, fiscally responsible executives can make such bad investment decisions?

Add to the equation, with every one person laid off an entire household is affected; it is not just one person.

This has been deemed the season of ‘Loud Layoffs’. Loud is an understatement.

Was this corporate’s response to ‘Quietly Quitting’? Hmmm, something worth pondering.

We have seen so much change, survived so much and now we want to have so much more to look forward to. How do we stay strong? Keep looking for the positive? how many deep breaths do we keep taking?

How do we get companies to not embrace the human in human resources? How do we get corporations to do more than pay lip service to the line people are our most important asset?

I stand firm on doing my best to not take a day for granted - this, of course, does not always work, but looking around I recognize how important it is to see people for exactly that … they are people, with lives, with good times and bad. Is the cashier at the store having a bad day when she has an attitude? Or the customer support person struggling because they had someone in their household get laid off? If all of us take a step back and embrace the human factor, maybe, just maybe we can build a united front to strengthen the HUMAN in HUMAN RESOURCES. We are not a number. We are the bread and butter; we are the reason and we are grateful.”

The post-pandemic change has flooded key markets still connected with the episode – health and medical field positions are offered with huge signing bonuses. On the other end, lower paying jobs continue to go begging and it’s no longer surprising to see a signing bonus for a job at Taco Bell. Stores in malls close at different times depending on the staffing they can get.

Based on this recruiter’s observations – and I have no reason to question them – my feeling is that the long-term change will be that jobseekers will be more discerning and selective about who they work for and not just gravitate toward the latest sexy tech start-up. We want the security we once had more than ever and there will be a new dimension to the line ‘judged by the company you keep’ so long as the company you choose keeps you when you are the asset.