The Great Resignation is coming to an end, and we won’t have any Great Firing either!

The pandemic encouraged a lot of people to resign and try to find new jobs for themselves. That was great, but it was also a bit challenging for many that were unable to find better jobs within the same industry. However, as more and more people started leaving their jobs and these times of recession began, companies started being desperate when it came to finding and keeping talent.

Right now, there are fewer job openings than normal, and that means many companies have been hiring quite a bit in recent months. The number of job openings was very high at the beginning of the year when most of the pandemic restrictions were lifted. Now there are 1.1 million fewer job openings when compared to last year. Aside from hiring a lot of talent, companies are also working hard to keep their employees as well. That means there are way fewer layoffs, even if we are living in times of recession and economic struggle worldwide.

The Fed aims for a proper balance between employers and workers

According to Jerome Powell, the unemployed workers to job openings ratio shows that at this time the labor market is very tight. However, there are also potential worries here since a thigh labor market will increase wages and prices and, in the end, will bring in price hikes. Powell mentioned that to keep inflation levels lower, it’s essential to soften the job market. That means there will be slower wage growth and a higher unemployment rate. Yet the fact that we now have a job opening drop means we might be heading toward market normalization anyway.

Fewer to no ghost openings: a very good thing for employees

The sense of urgency fades a little, and that means companies are not hiring as much. However, there’s also the benefit that workers are not dealing with ghost job openings anymore. For quite some time, many companies were sharing a plethora of job openings, but they were not stating if or when those will be filled. Needless to say, most of these ghost openings were designed either to try and test the talent pool or also identify any candidate skills based on their resumes.

However, this is a challenge for people that try to find a job. They are looking for a quick response since they don’t have a job, so ghost openings are wasting both their time and resources. The good thing is that we see fewer and fewer ghost openings since companies already filled many of their important positions.

Then there’s also the phenomenon that many companies are not letting go of their talent. They saw what the Great Resignation brought to the table, and now they are way more attentive and careful when it comes to their talent. This is a good thing because it shows employees have more options on the market and can also maintain job security more than a few years ago.