Federal lawyers face a very different job market

Business Insider

6 days ago

Hello. Search and rescue operations continue in central Texas, where severe flooding has killed more than 80 people. Dozens are still missing.
During a Sunday press conference, officials made what has become a familiar request during recent natural disasters: Don't fly your personal drones over the disaster area.
struggling to find the exit.
What's on deck
Markets: Tesla stock falls after Trump calls Musk a " train wreck" and dismisses the idea of a third political party.
Tech: These startups and investors are bringing AI to Hollywood.
Business: Are you celebrating "Summerween"? Retailers are.
But first, where's the way out?
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The big story
The revolving door is jammed
They want to leave, but they can't find the exit.
When President Donald Trump took office for the second time, he wiped the slate clean. It wasn't just Biden's appointees who needed to go — thousands of federal workers whom the administration saw as roadblocks to its agenda were also at risk.
The impact is still being felt.
In the past, federal lawyers looking to pivot to the private sector had a well-trodden path to follow, often into white-collar criminal defense practices.
But this time round, things are different. The administration has de-emphasized financial regulation and corporate crime prosecution. That means there's a large supply of job seekers for this type of work and comparatively low demand.
Recruiters and lawyers in and outside government told BI that it's increasingly hard to move from public to private sector work.
One federal lawyer who recently resigned told BI that it took him months to find a new job despite working in a prestigious role, forcing him to stay longer than he wanted: "I had a responsibility to my family to bring home a paycheck."
The job market is rough at the moment, but two sectors are red hot.
The June jobs report was considerably larger than expected, with the country adding 147,000 jobs. But don't go waltzing into any old office and expect to be put on the payroll just yet.
Of those 147,000 jobs, around 122,000 of them were in one of several sectors: state and local government education, and private healthcare and social services.
Elsewhere, it's slim pickings. "If you're not a teacher, if you're not a nurse, and you're not a doctor, you're not seeing those opportunities," an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab said.
All of this is particularly grim for Gen Z, who are graduating into a lackluster hiring market. Sound familiar? Millennials and Gen Xers can relate.
BI interviewed eight Americans who completed an undergraduate or graduate degree between 2007 and 2010, during the heart of the Great Recession. They launched their careers in a job market that was even more daunting than the one recent grads are facing today.
3 things in markets
1. Tesla stock falls after Trump calls Elon Musk a "train wreck." The company's shares slumped almost 7% in premarket trading on Monday. At the weekend, Musk announced the formation of a new political party, the day after Donald Trump signed his "Big Beautiful Bill" into law. Trump responded by saying Musk had gone "off the rails." Read the full story.
2. The AI stock mania is starting to resemble the dot-com bubble. Top investor Richard Bernstein said investors' confidence in AI is leading them to take more risks. He recommends buying "boring" dividend stocks instead.
3. Meanwhile, Wall Street needs the AI trade to work. Earnings growth this year is expected to be driven by tech stocks and the AI trade. If the economy slows or a recession sets in, Wall Street's reliance on AI stocks could prove to be reckless.
3 things in tech
1. Is your iPhone secretly sending audio messages? Thanks to the "Raise to Listen" function in iMessage, your iPhone could be accidentally sending voice recordings to random people you text. BI's Katie Notopoulos found out the hard way — here's how to turn it off.
2. Hollywood's AI pioneers. Entertainment companies hope the tech can help them lower production costs and boost content discovery, and they're finding ways to integrate it into their business. Meanwhile, AI startups like Toonstar and Chronicle Studios are innovating animation.
3. Big Tech's job market split. On one side, workers are staying put, but on the other, AI is rapidly reshaping the talent landscape. To help founders understand this, Atli Thorkelsson, head of network at Redpoint Ventures, created a slide deck on hiring trends, and BI got an exclusive look.
3 things in business
1. Wanted: personality hires. Companies are turning to aptitude and personality tests to weed through the glut of candidates. Employers seem most interested in testing for soft skills like emotional intelligence, the CEO of a hiring assessment company told BI, now that AI has entered the game.
2. Boo! It's "Summerween." For a few years, retailers like Michaels and Home Goods have started selling summery/Halloween decor in July. BI's Katie Notopoulos checked out the current Summerween selection, which included magenta velvet skeletons and framed art of ghosts at the beach.
3. The shopping wars heat up. Retail's sleepy summer months are long gone. From Dollar General to REI, retailers are now offering sales that coincide with Amazon's Prime Day. The e-commerce giant is also extending Prime Day, from July 8 to 11, longer than it has run before.
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How Google found its AI hype guy.
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What's happening today
Running of the Bulls takes place in Pamplona, Spain.
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