Recent layoffs may signal a recalibration of the U.S. labor market.
Microsoft confirmed Wednesday it would lay off 10,000 workers, which it said in an SEC filing were “in response to macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.”
E-commerce giant Amazon also started slashing its headcount by 18,000 on Wednesday. In a Jan. 4 blog post about the layoffs, CEO Andy Jassy pointed to the “uncertain economy” as well as the company having “hired rapidly over the last several years.”
Workforce solutions company ManpowerGroup recently found in its latest Employment Outlook Survey that the industries with the strongest hiring outlooks in the U.S. for the first quarter of 2023 were information technology, finance and real estate.
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For the first quarter, the IT industry in the U.S. had the “strongest Outlook for this industry worldwide,” coming in at +52%, according to the survey. Finance and real estate industry employers expressed a +34% outlook regarding growing their headcounts.
Meanwhile, the three industries in the U.S. with the “weakest outlooks” for hiring were: communication services; consumer goods and services; and transport, logistics and automotive, according to ManpowerGroup’s survey.
U.S. communication services employers expressed a first-quarter hiring outlook of +18%, while consumer goods and services came in three points lower, at +15%, the survey found. A net +5% of transport, logistics and automotive organizations indicated they planned to hire.
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Overall, the survey found 45% of U.S. employers conveyed intentions to boost their staffing levels, and 16% anticipated reducing them, resulting in a net employment outlook of +29%.
Last quarter, the U.S. net employment outlook was +33%. This quarter’s also marked a 12% drop from the first quarter of 2022, when it was +41%, according to ManpowerGroup.
FOX Business’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.