🎉 Labor crisis INCOMING

^Advertise

Read time: 1.5 minutes

Good Afternoon Party People! 🎉

Back with another PARTY in your inbox. The weekend is almost here. The sun is out. Summer is around the corner. Vibes are good. Let’s party.

PARTY PLAN 🎉

😨 Impending labor crisis?

📈 Jobless claims

🌿 The grass ain’t always greener

And, of course, MEMES!

MEME OF THE DAY

TOGETHER WITH…

MaxAI.me - Outsmart Most People with 1-Click AI

Discover MaxAI.me, one of the top 50 GenAI apps of 2024!

Best features:

• Chat with the latest AI like GPT-4, Claude 3, and Gemini 1.5, all in one place.

• Perfect your writing anywhere with 1-click AI without copy-pasting.

• Save 90% of your reading & watching time with AI summaries.

• Reply 10x faster with AI on email, social media, and messaging web apps.

• Rapidly turn your visions into stunning images with AI art generators.

Join 1M+ users on MaxAI.me to get more done in less time!

LABOR MARKET

Labor Crisis INCOMING…

Buckle up, folks, the labor market is about to get even more rocky.

Over the last 8 months, the US native-born population has decreased by 2.6 million. During the same time period, the foreign-born population has risen by 2.7 million.

Many foreign-born individuals don’t have permits to work in the United States, which leaves them vulnerable to unfair working conditions and/or wages.

💡 Combined with an unprecedented number of people retiring early due to the pandemic, experts are predicting MASSIVE labor shortages in the coming months/years.

(Not if AI has anything to do about it).

Experts disagree on what this means for the future of the labor market.

One potential outcome is that companies hold on for dear life to the talent that they have.

💡 This would be great news for job seekers as there would be a huge demand for talent and a small supply.

Another theory is that a rocky labor market combined with high interest rates and inflation could start a domino effect that leads to a recession.

Ruh roh.

BUT - given how tough the job market has been, maybe this is actually a positive sign for job seekers?

JOB SEEKER’S CORNER 🎉

LABOR MARKET PT 2

Jobless Claims Are Sky High

Ok, so there may be a labor crisis. But what do jobless claims look like right now?

Initial filings for unemployment benefits just hit their highest level since August of last year.

The Labor Department reported 231,000 new jobless claims for the week wending May 4th, up 22k from the week prior. Continuing claims, which lag one week behind, increased by 17k up to 1.78 million.

The increase in jobless claims was forecasted after hiring in April was lighter than expected. There has also been a decline in job openings across several industries over the last couple of months.

💡 Experts say that the labor market is likely to slow down throughout the rest of the year.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 175k in April, which was well below Wall Street’s estimate of 240k. It was the smallest gain since October of 2023.

💡 Despite the all around shaky numbers, the unemployment rate remained at 3.9%, continuing to hold below 4% since February of 2022.

WORKFORCE

The Grass Ain’t Greener?

In Tuesday’s post, we asked our readers if they had ever quit a job…and then regretted it.

53% of readers said that they have never regretted quitting a job. But the other 47%? They had some regrets.

Below are some of the responses from the poll:

“I left for a "grass is greener" opportunity, which turned out to be a cultural disaster. The CEO was incredibly controlling and she treated many of her employees terribly. I should have never left my previous employer. Lesson learned! ”

“Almost immediately- kinda like buyers remorse. It was an internal transfer and the new manager was a 'tough guy.' I told myself I needed to give it 6 months and by the end of the 6 months I had a different manager, loved the role and stayed in the department for nearly 5 years.”

“The new position I left for was terrible and toxic.”

💡 Lesson: When switching jobs, it’s important to do your homework. Companies love to make false promises to candidates, lure them away with pay, titles, etc. 

If you’re in a good situation, it may make sense to stay put. Especially in times where the job market is tough…

TWEET OF THE WEEK

GET IN FRONT OF 12,500+ 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…