During my work as a career counselor, I have seen periods when hiring is very strong across the economy, making it far easier to land a new job, and periods when hiring slows down dramatically, leading to frustration in even finding a job opening to apply for.
At any moment in time, even when jobs are plentiful, I’ve found that there are usually groups with more difficulties than others in landing a new job due to factors such as what career stage they are in, their industry, or location. When jobs become scarce nationwide, these groups face far greater challenges in their job hunts.
One group I’ve noticed that struggles with landing a job in good or bad economies is mature workers. Professionals over 55, especially those who have been hard hit with layoffs, often report little to apply for and a lot of competition. Most say their age is a problem hampering them from finding a job. Those over 60 have a real struggle to find new employment.
Industries like technology, often cycle between times of limited hiring and layoffs and times when a job seeker can rapidly receive multiple high-paying offers.
New college grads face a tough search during periods when entry-level roles become harder to find. Some grads can look for a year, getting very little employer attention, only rejections. Lacking an internship can be a real deficit for many grads, as employers want that experience.
Much to the disappointment of people insisting they want remote work; the tides have changed in the years following COVID, when employers have been in the driver’s seat, increasingly insisting on hybrid in-office work.
Job Market Factors
From my view of the world, those of us in the trenches dealing with hiring and job search, at any period of time I see these key factors that can interact together to adversely impact the job market:
1. National Elections. Employers often pause and wait to see which way the country will go in advance of presidential and congressional elections. As a result, many companies want to know the answer before they invest in new employees or promote existing employees.
2. Holidays. From mid-November through early January, hiring will be very slow as employers deal with holiday vacations, reassess their staffing needs, and try to do more with fewer people.
3. Technology impacts. When disruptive technologies emerge, such as generative AI starting in about 2023, organizations can slow down hiring to consider the impacts on their company and employee productivity. They question how using a new technology, like AI, in their office may change who they need to hire and the type of skills that a person needs to have.
4. Layoffs. During slowdowns across the economy or just within specific sectors, layoffs can continue for extended periods. No one is immune. Many different roles can disappear across the entire work spectrum.
5. Stay-put Employees. When layoffs are widespread, people get nervous and hold onto their positions. They worry about stability and don’t move on, which reduces the opportunities for someone else to take over their job.
6. Employers are cherry-picking. During slowdowns employers are in no hurry to find — or hire — new staff. Even when a candidate’s background completely matches the job description, some report that they may be interviewing but aren’t getting a job offer.
7. Hybrid work. Nothing has reduced job opportunities as much as the post-COVID transition from online positions to hybrid or 100% onsite work. Job seekers must look for positions where they live, and most employers will not pay to relocate them.
8. Fewer recruiters. When the job market changes for the worse, recruiters are usually hard-hit, with heavy layoffs as employers respond to the new job market conditions. This means fewer HR recruiters scouring LinkedIn looking for talent. People who often get “hit up” on LinkedIn to consider a new job during good markets will find that this happens much less frequently or stop altogether.
Search Tactics for Slow Job Markets
Hannah Morgan, one of the country’s top job search strategists, points out that in any economy, there are always good jobs to be found and landed. When job opportunities weaken for you due to one or more of the factors above, Morgan offers some tactical ways to manage your search process.
- Change your perspective. It will take more time and effort and won’t be as easy to land a job as it was during strong hiring periods. You can no longer just throw resumes out there. Networking is essential to success. Find an insider who can serve as an informant to get some insider information on what is happening inside the company and what kind of people they hire. Look for an advocate to help pass your resume on to a hiring manager.
- Target industries that are doing well. Government positions in general are traditionally very stable. State, local, and federal governments hire for a wide range of jobs across the spectrum, such as social services, IT, operations, finance, HR, engineering, science, administration, facilities, legal, medical, communications, etc. In the tech industry AI positions have been growing following the emergence of new generative AI technologies.
- Expand your search. It’s a mistake to only use LinkedIn for job openings. Always check a company’s website for the most complete listings. Employers typically advertise on one search engine, so look on Indeed and Glassdoor. Builtin.com will have job listings for the entire tech industry only found on their search engine. Look at your professional association for a list of job openings. Perform a “Google search” for a very targeted way to find job listings. In the search bar, type in your desired job title and location. For example, search: Project Manager jobs in Seattle, click, and some relevant job openings will appear.
- Consider a temp or gig job. During times when job searches take longer, your unemployment money may run out, or it isn’t enough to cover your bills. Go out and get a temporary job. Retailers are usually hiring. Utilize a staffing agency that places people in temporary contract roles. Think about instant money doing DoorDash, Uber, Instacart, or Amazon delivery.
A version of this article was originally published in Forbes.
