The layoff monster is rearing its ugly head

Amazon yesterday announced that it’s laying off hundreds of employees across its Prime Video and MGM Studios divisions, in addition to cutting 500 jobs at Twitch, its livestreaming platform.

It’s not the only company to announce job cuts over the past week and a half:

• Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, is laying off 600 people, or 3% of its workforce.
• Videogame software provider Unity announced layoffs affecting 1,800 employees, or 25% of its workforce.
• Xerox is cutting ~3,000 jobs, or 15% of its workforce, this quarter.
• Rent the Runway is saying goodbye to 37 employees, or 10% of its corporate roles.
• Duolingo is laying off 10% of its contractor workforce as it leans more into AI.

And all this news of layoffs appears to have workers spooked. A recently released survey indicates that 85% of people are worried they’ll lose their jobs in 2024.

But despite this most recent round of layoffs, data shows the overall jobs market is like the cattle on Zuck’s compound – in a pretty good place. The labor market ended 2023 on a high note, unemployment is at a healthy 3.7%, and wage growth is once again outpacing inflation. Some experts are predicting a “quiet,” if not “boring,” year for labor markets in 2024.

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