MICHAEL SNYDER
Can you feel it too? Over the past few weeks, I have heard from so many readers that are deeply troubled about economic conditions where they live. In some cases, sales are way down. In other cases, it seems almost impossible to find a decent job.
It is almost as if a tremendous chill descended upon the U.S. economy as the second quarter of 2024 began. Yes, economic conditions have certainly not been good for a few years, but it appears that an absolutely enormous economic shift of historic proportions is now taking place right in front of our eyes. Other than the early stages of the pandemic, we haven't seen anything like this since 2008 and 2009.
Let me give you an example that will illustrate what I am talking about. A reader that lives near Seattle recently wrote me about the horrible downturn that she is witnessing in the tech industry, and she said that I could share this information with all of you...
I live in the tech corridor outside of Seattle and practically no one can find a job in tech. Apparently the costs of AI processors and servers are so expensive that large tech companies are laying off workers to accommodate for the increased infrastructure costs.
I would estimate that 50 percent of the people I know in tech are unemployed including myself and my spouse. In addition they are laying off both FTEs and contractors and not backfilling the positions. The problem is exacerbated if you're over 40 because they don't want to compensate for experience.
In fact experience seems to be working against people. Not to mention AI taking over roles like technical writing and marketing communications. It's getting really bad out there and the large companies play along with the media. I've met with several ex colleagues who have had their entire teams laid off and former FTEs who have had to take major pay cuts as contractors.
I've also heard of more rounds of layoffs coming up. I went over to Microsoft the other morning to have coffee with an ex colleague and it's a ghost town. No one in conference rooms or offices. Maybe people are working from home but it sure felt very different.
That email resonated with me so strongly, because she is right
Vast hordes of tech workers have already been laid off, and more will be hitting the bricks soon.
But the tech industry is supposed to be one of our economic bright spots.
If things are this bad for the tech industry, what does this say about the economy as a whole?
Most of the jobs that are still available at this point pay very little. Jobs that actually pay enough to support a middle class lifestyle have been disappearing, and millions of white collar workers find themselves on the outside looking in. The following comes from a Business Insider article entitled "Welcome to the white-collar recession"...
Over the past year or so, pretty much everyone who's looked for a job has told me the same thing: The job market is brutal right now. They've applied to dozens if not hundreds of openings, only to get one or two callbacks. No one's hiring, they tell me. I've never seen it this bad.
Yes.
I have heard the same things over and over again too.
And it is getting worse with each passing day.
On Wednesday, we learned about even more layoffs at Google...
Google fired approximately 200 employees and relocated some of the jobs overseas - the latest sign of a long-running effort by the Big Tech firm to cut costs and restructure itself.
The job cuts -- announced internally on the eve of Google's blowout first-quarter earnings report -- targeted members of Google's "core" team, which works on the "technical foundation behind the company's flagship products" as well as the online safety of users and its global IT infrastructure, according to its website.
Millions of small businesses are really struggling right now too.
During the month of April, 43 percent of all small business renters in the United States were not able to pay their rent in full. The last time we witnessed anything like this was during the lockdowns that were instituted during the early stages of the pandemic...
A significant number of small businesses across the nation are struggling to pay rent due to skyrocketing costs, a recent study by business networking platform Alignable found.
The company's latest Small Business Rent report, published on Friday, found that 43 percent of small business renters in the U.S. were unable to pay their rent in full and on time in the month of April. Such a high delinquency rate hasn't been reported in the U.S. since March 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it reached 49 percent.
The delinquency rate was also four percentage points higher than in March, making it the largest month-over-month surge in over a year, according to data analyzed by Alignable.
We don't have a disease to blame this time around.
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