Layoffs and Job Market Impacts: Experience with RIFs Preferred with Real Job Talk (2/2)

For job seekers out there, are you getting ghosted by potential employers even after asking for a status update? Is it possible that the impact of tech industry layoffs on the current job market might explain some of this, or are we observing a lack of leadership and communication?

This week in episode 291, we continue a focused discussion on layoffs with Liz Bronson and Kat Nelson Troyer from Real Job Talk. Liz and Kat will share perspectives on the current job market, thoughts on the connection between employee experience and job candidate experience, how we can all be better stewards of the collective community, and advice for leaders during challenging times like reductions in force (RIFs) / layoffs. Check out the show notes for a number of resources to help you navigate.

And if you missed part 1 of our discussion with Liz and Kat, check out Episode 290.

Original Recording Date: 08-13-2024

Topics – Current State of the Job Market, Employee Experience and Responsiveness, Advice for Executive Leaders, Encouragement for Leaders Executing Layoffs, Closing Thoughts and Real Job Talk Resources

2:59 – Current State of the Job Market

• Do we think the job market will calm itself even if the rightsizing exercises continue?
  • Liz is consistently speaking with a lot of job seekers, recruiters, and many others.
  • There are many disgruntled employees and a lot of people looking for jobs.
  • Jobs are being opened across different platforms and getting thousands of applicants. Many of the applicants are not qualified.
  • If there were 3000 applicants for a job, no one has time to go through them. There is a lot of ghosting happening right now.
    • Liz spoke to someone who had done 3 rounds of interviews. One of the rounds was in-person, 7 hours, and they never heard back.
    • This kind of thing is not an anomaly and seems to be happening all over the place.
  • In Liz’s opinion in times of recession / leading up to them you start to see recruiters get cut because hiring has stopped.
    • When many recruiters are out of work, it floods the market. If companies are hiring, the teams doing it are very lean and short staffed.
    • Different tools popped up that post jobs in many different places, and openings are circulated amongst networking groups as well.
    • With thousands of applicants, recruiters end up overworked and unable to get back to people.
    • There might be AI tools in use, but they may not be tuned / refined to actually be effective.
    • In recruiting programs that are well run, Liz says a recruiter would not have more than about 10 jobs on their plate. Liz is hearing about recruiters who have 50 jobs on their plate, which they cannot do well. Recruiters are doing the best they can right now.
    • Hiring managers are also overwhelmed and may be unable to get back to candidates, especially those who might only get one new job requisition for an already short-staffed team. They might not have time to hire effectively.
    • “We’re just in this weird spot…. The process has just gotten out of control, and job seekers are feeling it and getting more frustrated. Our tools and our people and our processes haven’t kept up with the times.” – Liz Bronson, on the job market and hiring processes
    • There were a lot of openings for recruiters at the end of 2023, which is usually a good sign that the economy is coming back. Any recruiter who was hired near the end of 2023 is still ramping up as of this recording.
  • Right now the best way to get a job is through a referral.
  • Liz shares a story about someone who contacted a hiring manager who said there were 3000 applicants for an open position and 600 direct mess