Wall Street Journal Sees Unwelcome Era for Workers

A Wall Street Journal analysis on the state of the American workforce has an unwelcome announcement for wage-earners: "Welcome to the era of the mega-layoff," writes Chip Cutter. Companies from Snap to Block to Oracle are no longer trimming in cautious waves, but jettisoning thousands of workers at once and often getting rewarded on Wall Street for doing it. Snap's stock jumped after it unveiled plans to cut 16% of its staff, for example, and Block erased earlier share losses after dumping about 40% of its workforce. Tech companies in particular are being hit hard, but the trend goes beyond Silicon Valley.

"Others are going to follow suit," human resources exec Beth Steinberg tells the newspaper. Essentially, the thinking has flipped: Big teams are now seen as a drag, not a prize, and AI offers both some real efficiencies and convenient "air cover" for deep reductions. Venture capitalist Mo Koyfman argues many firms could cut up to half their staff without hurting performance, while younger college grads are learning their degrees no longer guarantee job security. Whether AI is actually driving the layoffs—or just justifying them—is still up for debate. The increase in mass layoffs, however, is very real. Read the full piece.