"Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a "no-hire, no fire" standstill. That's caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the same time, some sizeable layoffs have continued to pile up - raising worker anxieties across sectors."
"Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from President Donald Trump's barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more broadly - or, as seen with big names like Amazon, are redirecting money to investments like artificial intelligence."
"'it's not so much AI directly taking jobs, but AI's appetite for cash that might be taking jobs,' said Jason Schloetzer, professor business administration at Georgetown University's McDonough School. He pointed to wider 'trade offs' from employment to infrastructure investment seen across companies today. Federal employees have encountered additional doses of uncertainty, impacting worker sentiment around the job market overall. Shortly after Trump returned to office at the start of the year, federal jobs were cut by the thousands. And many workers are now going without pay as the U.S. government shutdown nears its fourth week."
Businesses are largely at a no-hire, no-fire standstill, with many limiting new work to a few specific roles or pausing openings entirely. Significant layoffs continue across sectors, increasing worker anxiety. Companies attribute cuts to rising operational costs from tariffs and shifts in consumer spending, broader corporate restructuring, and reallocation of funds toward technologies such as artificial intelligence. AI investments lead companies to prioritize infrastructure spending over employment. Federal employees faced thousands of cuts and many are unpaid as the government shutdown continues. Payroll data showed a private-sector loss of 32,000 jobs in September, and Amazon announced cuts of about 14,000 corporate roles.
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