New Year’s Headlines Impacting Employment – What Actions To Take

By Tricia Dolkas | January 19, 2023

New Year’s Headlines Affecting Employment and Job Search

Tech Industry Getting Hammered

Headlines everywhere about tech stock prices dropping and layoffs or companies slowing growth. What can you do to minimize the impact on your career?

If You’re Employed –> Prepare for a Layoff:

Identify your references. Get their personal contact information in advance of a layoff.
Meet with your manager. Review your recent projects. Ask for feedback on your performance and suggestions on how to improve. Make a plan to get monthly feedback from your manager and peers.
Volunteer for cross-functional projects with visibility across the organization. Highly performing employees known outside their department are less like to be laid off.

If You Lost Your Job –> Stay Calm and Focused:

You have lots of company. This isn’t all bad. Why? Because you can help others. Mutual support will reduce emotional stress, broaden your network, and may result in an opportunity. Ask people about their job search. Ask yourself: who in your network is a helpful contact for them to meet? While your contact may not be hiring, the power of broadening a network and learning about different career directions can unexpectedly open doors.
Look at more resilient industry sectors outside the software tech industry. With the government infrastructure spending, the war in Ukraine, and household focusing their spending on staples, look for positions at companies in manufacturing, industrial, consumer staples, automotive, large retail, and military equipment developers. All these industries have invested in technology to advance their corporate goals.

Good News for a Change – New Employment/Hiring Laws & Trends

As of January 1, 2023, companies hiring in California must disclose the salary range on job postings AND give the salary range to their current employees. Pay range disclosure is also required in Colorado, Washington, Nevada, Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island, and New York City. Wage transparency will help to reduce wage discrimination. This is excellent news!
The Federal Trade Commission is proposing the elimination of noncompete clauses in employment contracts. Noncompete agreements restrict workers’ ability to work in their industry for a certain amount of time or in a specific geographic location. The FTC says these agreements exploit employees and violate the Federal Trade Competition Act. I recently heard about one company’s contract that restricted former employees from contacting their former clients for TEN years! You can submit a comment to the FTC on this proposal: https://www.regulations.gov/document/FTC-2023-0007-0001. The last day for submitting a comment is March 10, 2023.

Posted in Career Advice, Career Management, Job Search and tagged companies hiring, economic downturn, employment, finding jobs, job search, unemployment

Wealth of Knowledge

Tricia brought her wealth of knowledge and experience in recruiting, and a calm, structured, well thought out approach that developed a toolbox my daughter will be able to use for the rest of her professional life. Skills such as customizing resume for each application, leveraging LinkedIn tools, organizing a job search, preparing for interviews, post-interview follow-ups, offer negotiation, etc.

Barb M.

University of Michigan Parent

Measurable Goals

I went from feeling hopeless to feeling confident and motivated in my ability to find a job. Tricia worked with me to set achievable and measurable weekly goals for my job search that turned it from a daunting task to a manageable one.

Lisa M.

Tufts University Graduate

Incredible Career Coach

Tricia provides constructive feedback, is very knowledgeable about the recruiting process, and is responsive and flexible.

Adriana T-M.

University of Michigan Student