Jobs Really Are Hard to Find

Welcome to The Shift, a weekly newsletter where I provide thought-provoking ideas to help you think differently about your career and money.

White-Collar Recession

Anyone looking for a job, especially if you have some work experience under your belt, knows it ain’t easy out there.

The struggle is real. It’s not just you, or the stories you hear from friends…

There really are less job openings. And hiring is slowing.

Middle- and high-income earners are especially feeling the pain. Some media outlets have called it a white-collar recession.

It can feel uncomfortable, scary, and depressing.

But people are reacting differently to this lack of opportunity than they have in the past (I’ve written about how this feels like the 90s).

Employees are realizing they have more options than just looking for the same gig at a different employer. Or staying stuck in a dead-end job. And they are starting to get creative about how to work.

But getting creative takes courage.

You’re Not Imagining It

I looked it up. The industries that are typically considered high paying have experienced a major slowdown in hiring.

In the past 10 months¹:

• Tech has lost 30k jobs

• Finance has gained just 32k jobs

• Business services gained only 59k jobs

Together, those three industries account for 2.7% of the jobs gained in the past 10 months. Less than 3%!

Vanguard actually dug into their data on 401(k)s and also confirmed our suspicion:

Hiring for middle- and high-income groups has slowed drastically since peaking in the summer of 2022² (see chart). Plus, the number of $100,000 job openings has reached its lowest level since 2014³ .

But the unemployment rates for the higher income groups – the professional and business service, finance and tech employees – don’t look bad. Despite some high-profile layoffs. 

How could that be?

No Great Options

Economist types say the low unemployment rates are signs that the people getting laid off are easily finding their way back to employment.

Which is possible since quit rates in high paying industries have fallen¹ . That makes for less competition in the (shrinking) job pool.

However, if people aren’t quitting their jobs, it’s either because of fear of weak economic times or there aren’t great options out there.

Both might be true in this case.  

The economy has been strong, but we’ve been anticipating a recession for almost a year and a half now…

But on top of that, companies are admittedly paying less. Almost half of the companies surveyed by ZipRecruiter said they reset pay lower for some roles in 2023 (I didn’t find detail on the specific industries or positions).

So maybe it’s possible that people in these high paying jobs are taking pay cuts. Either by:

• not getting raises or making concessions in their current jobs,  

• by taking a new, but similar, jobs with a lower salary,

• by working for themselves as a consultant  

Thus, the unemployment rate remains low. Because they are still employed.

Adversity Forcing Change

These are sobering times.

Especially for those that worked hard and paid their dues to get to the heights they reached.

That said, it’s challenging times like these that force us to open our eyes and see the world differently. To perhaps see opportunities that we didn’t notice before.

I wonder if the situation the middle- to high-income earners find themselves in is supporting trends like:

• The self-employment and small business creation boom

• Part-time work rising for the prime working age (25-54), while full-time work declines

• Gravitation to independent work (contractors, fractional workers, etc.)

I recently came across a quote that couldn’t be more appropriate for anyone considering getting more creative with the way they work:

Let’s make The Shift!

YouTube: Catch more of my thoughts on embracing creativity in your career in this conversation I had recently with my pal Matt Zeigler over at Just Press Record.

P.S. If you enjoyed this consider sharing it with 1 other person who might also enjoy it. 🙏

P.P.S. There will be NO NEWSLETTER next week, as I’ll be on vacation with my family. Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Lindsey

Sources:

1. Bureau of Labor Statistics, data from July 2023 through April 2024.

2. Vanguard.

3. iCIMS.