The 10 Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week

Tech layoffs made headlines in 2022 and the issue has unfortunately carried over into the new year. Just this week, Salesforce and Amazon announced plans to cut their workforces — Salesforce will lay off roughly 7,900 employees (10% of its workforce), while Amazon plans to eliminate 18,000 corporate and technology jobs, as Fast Company details in the top story in our list below of must-reads for talent professionals.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, in a message to staff, cited an “uncertain economy,” while Salesforce CEO Marc Beniofff acknowledged “we hired too many people” during the pandemic. Smaller tech-focused companies, such as Stitch Fix and Vimeo, also announced layoffs this week. 

Further down our list (and on a less somber note), check in on the latest momentum behind the four-day workweek; learn about “quiet hiring” (the new workplace phenomenon companies should prepare for); and discover why an e-commerce giant is doing away with all previously scheduled recurring meetings involving three or more people. 

Now that’s one way to kick off the new year with a clean slate — or at least an emptier calendar.

Here are the must-read articles from this week:

1. Big Tech’s Brutal January Continues as Amazon Begins Largest Layoffs in Its History (Fast Company)

2. Wave of Job-Switching Has Employers on a Training Treadmill (The New York Times)

3. Get Ready For a ‘Slowcession’ in 2023, Moody’s Says (CNN)

4. Why the 4-Day Workweek is Gathering New Momentum (LinkedIn Talent Blog)

5. Shopify Is Axing All Meetings Involving More than Two People in a Remote Work ‘Calendar Purge’ (Fortune)

6. ‘Quiet Hiring’ Will Dominate the U.S. in 2023, Says HR Expert — and You Need to Prepare For It (CNBC)

7. Uber, DoorDash, and Lyft Could See Hundreds of Thousands of New Gig Workers Because of Recession (MarketWatch)

8. Congress Expands Protections for Pregnant and Nursing Workers (Washington Post)

9. Employers’ Unused PTO Problem May Be Getting Even Worse (HR Dive)

10. Gen Z Is the Most Pro-Union Generation (Marketplace)

Here is the must-listen podcast:

Best of IdeaCast 2022 (HBR IdeaCast)

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