Hiring lull

^Advertise

Read time: 2.5 minutes

Good Afternoon Party People! 🎉

PARTY PLAN 🎉

🏛️ Hiring at a 5-year low

🤨 Job interview red flags

✖️ Latest in layoffs

And, of course, MEMES!

MEME OF THE DAY

HIRING

The Great Hiring Lull

Hiring, job openings, and turnover decreased in December, with hiring reaching its lowest point in five years in the U.S. and globally, according to a new report from BambooHR.

Across industries, hiring decreased to 1.9% in the U.S. and 1.7% globally, the report found. Turnover dropped to 2020 levels. Based on BambooHR’s platform data, performance reviews spiked as the year ended, marking a 14% month-over-month increase and 11% year-over-year increase in the U.S.

In the U.S., hiring decreased by 12% month-over-month and 8% year-over-year, and globally, hiring decreased by 22% month-over-month and 10% year-over-year. Job openings decreased by 13% month-over-month and 21% year-over-year in the U.S. and declined 10% month-over-month and 22% year-over-year globally.

Economists still have hope for a “soft landing” for the job market in 2025, but say it could depend a lot on new policies enacted by the Trump administration.

INTERVIEWS

Job Interview Red Flags

“So many people simply don’t get the basics right,” according to an ex-Microsoft HR executive. Sabina Nawaz spent 15 years at Microsoft and looked at thousands of resumes per year. Nawaz spent time as the Director of Human Resources, where she was in charge of the company’s entire recruiting and hiring process. She sat down with CNBC to give job seekers some advice on what to avoid in interviews.

Here are her two biggest red flags:

1. Not getting the basics right:

• “Many jobseekers have a hard time adhering to the parameters of the job interview I cannot tell you the number of people who simply don’t get the basics right.” According to Nawaz, the basics include:

  • Being on time for the interview

  • Making sure your camera and audio are working correctly

  • Making sure you have researched the people and organization you’re interviewing with

  • Dressing appropriately

  • Following up with a “thank you” note

• “These mistakes can come off as inconsiderate or disrespectful of your prospective employer’s time. They can also give a negative impression of how you show up at work.”

2. Not highlighting your positives

• The job interview is a chance to show what you can do as a worker with in-depth examples. When Nawaz works with her clients, she tells them to find 20 to 30 anecdotes of projects or experiences that “they’re proud of the results and they enjoyed doing,” she says. These can be drawn from both personal and professional lives.

• Once they’ve identified those achievements, she has her clients look for patterns: What strengths do those anecdotes highlight? Pick out the ones most relevant to the job, she says, and reframe them within a story that’s half about the problem and then half about the resolution.

“If you can deliver these stories correctly in an interview, you end up looking like a hero.” -Sabina Nawaz.

LAYOFFS

The Latest in Layoffs

• Kohl's Corp. announces hundreds of layoffs at corporate headquarters in Menomonee Falls. 10% of the entire workforce will be eliminated.

• Legoland Florida guts entertainment department with 234 layoffs.

• Nissan To Cut Thousands of US Factory Jobs, Lower Production by 25%.

• LyondellBasell to lay off over 400 employees as Houston refinery prepares to shut down operation.

• Chanel will lay off roughly 3% of its workforce to better adapt to economic challenges.

• Adidas Plans Job Cuts Affecting 500 Corporate Employees Despite Record Profits.

• CNN, Stripe announce major layoffs (covered last week)

• Solar firm Sunrun laying off Colorado staff.

• Starbucks said Friday it plans an unspecified number of layoffs as it restructures its corporate staff.

• Amazon is laying off hundreds of employees in its North America stores unit.

• Citigroup is cutting more jobs this week to meet CEO Jane Fraser's expense goals.

• Spirit Airlines cuts several hundred jobs in bankruptcy cost-cutting scramble.

• Brown-Forman Corporation, the maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey, has announced it will lay off 12% of its workforce, amounting to almost 700 jobs.

• Meta Is Planning to Cut 5% of Low Performers. (covered two weeks ago)

• Zillow makes job cuts after reorganizing agent software and advertising teams.

**On pace for ~80,000 job cuts in January, which is down YoY.

**3-month moving average for job cuts is also ticking down.

GET IN FRONT OF 10,000+ HR LEADERS, FOUNDERS, AND RECRUITERS

Advertise with The Office Party and promote your company to decision-makers at top companies. Get in touch.

LET’S HEAR IT…