Latest news with #layoffs
Forbes
10 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Layoffs: 5 Steps To Bounce Back From Job Loss In 2025
The suddenness of a job layoff can be upsetting, even traumatic, causing you to lose your grounding, ... More confidence and career direction. But experts say layoffs can open up a new world for your career. Over the past few years, tens of thousands of workers have faced unexpected layoffs as AI and automation disrupt traditional software engineering, IT and product management roles. In January 2025 alone, over seven thousand employees from 31 major tech companies lost their jobs. One of those, the news publisher Forbes, laid off about five percent of its staff. Who's next? Labor market volatility is unearthing fears of layoffs in 2025 that the American workforce is forced to live with. But experts are bringing hope to the uncertainty that layoffs can be a new beginning in disguise. Recently, Tech giant Microsoft and automaker Nissan became the latest major employers to announce mass layoffs, cutting thousands of jobs. The moves highlight the persistent volatility of the global labor market—even within some of the world's most stable and recognizable brands. These trends are causing 67% of the workforce to worry about the economy's impact on their current jobs, according to the Workforce Pulse Survey from Remote. Working in a job that could end at any moment creates stress and limits control over your life. Side hustles have become the new normal for full-time employees to offset the massive uncertainty. Side gigs free your mind with the autonomy to be the captain of your own ship, if you're suddenly laid off. instead of a passenger whose fate is determined by big business that might not have your best interests at heart. Nearly half of American workers use secondary income sources, and the numbers continue to rise. The Remote survey found that 75% of the respondents either have a second side hustle or have considered one to protect from threats of layoffs. A layoff (or constant threat of being laid off) can be deeply disturbing--even traumatic. An unexpected, sudden layoff can feel like you're blindsided by a truck. It can upend your security, confidence and career plans and significantly impact your mental health. But a layoff isn't the end. It's often a beginning in disguise. In fact, many career experts insist that a layoff can be a pivotal moment--a new beginning for your career. Consider this instance. After thousands of tech workers were laid off, they made shocking career pivots into industries they had never considered before, snagging stable job security and six-figure incomes in six surprising fields: aviation & aerospace mechanics, skilled trades (such as HVAC, electrical and plumbing), cybersecurity & fraud prevention, adult entertainment tech administration, medical IT & healthcare technology and freelance & independent tech consulting. Experts argue that a layoff from your job, although jolting, can also be a pivotal moment—an unexpected opening to reassess, refocus and take meaningful steps forward. Alari Aho, career expert and CEO of Toggl Hire, shared with me five actionable strategies to take if you're faced with a sudden job layoff. 'Getting laid off isn't a failure—it's part of your career story. But how you tell that story makes all the difference. Whether on LinkedIn, in interviews, or at networking events, position the layoff as a business decision, not a personal one. Focus on what you learned and what you're now looking for. By owning the story, you not only regain confidence, but you also reshape how others perceive your potential going forward.' 'Treat your post-layoff period as a rebranding opportunity. Update your LinkedIn headline, bio and CV with clarity about your value and direction. Even a short, thoughtful post sharing your availability and recent achievements can spark unexpected connections. It's not about asking for a job—it's about reminding people what you bring to the table.' 'Don't just job hunt—network with purpose. After a layoff, your network becomes your most valuable asset. Reach out to former colleagues, mentors, and clients with a clear, specific message about what you're looking for.' 'Layoffs offer rare breathing room to learn. Whether it's a short course in AI tools, a certificate in digital marketing or refining your personal pitch, targeted upskilling can sharpen your competitive edge. Highlight these steps on your profile and in interviews—it signals resilience, initiative and relevance in a fast-changing market.' "This is a time to be seen. Share insights, comment on industry trends, or even document your comeback journey online. Visibility builds credibility—and it helps recruiters and hiring managers find you. Being active doesn't mean being loud; consistency and authenticity are more powerful than perfection." Aho reminds us that layoffs don't define us—but how we respond can. 'This is a rare moment to pause, reset and show what you're really made of,' he contends. "With the right mindset and strategy, many professionals come out of layoffs stronger, more focused and better positioned for long-term success.' He adds that layoffs aren't the end, either. They're a rebranding moment. 'It's a chance to take control of your story, redefine your professional identity and show the market what you're truly made of.' He suggests that you start by owning the narrative—frame the layoff as a business decision, not a personal failure. Then sharpen your value through a thoughtful rebrand, reconnect with your network with purpose and use any downtime to upskill in ways that align with where you want to go next. Business leaders urge that in 2025 full-time employees build gig jobs as a safety net, not only as extra income to make ends meet but as career insurance in case your job disappears or you're faced with layoffs. Studies show that many laid-off workers end up in side hustles with more autonomy, making higher salaries than in their previous positions that rival full-time wages. Aho advises that after layoffs, it's important for you to stay visible—share your voice, insights and journey. "With clarity, consistency and a bit of courage, what feels like a setback can become the launchpad for your strongest comeback yet," he concludes.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
Henry Blodget On Business Insider Layoffs: 'The Market Has Changed'
Following the announcement that Business Insider would lay off 21% of its staff, a move driven largely by Google's AI-centric search changes, I reached out to one particular Substack writer in an effort to get his take on the news: Henry Blodget, whose newly launched Regenerator newsletter aims to 'analyze the most important questions in tech and innovation.' The same Henry Blodget, of course, who co-founded Business Insider in 2007. 'I was very sad to see the BI news,' Blodget, who was the outlet's CEO from its founding through 2023, told me in an email. 'They're a great team and great people, and it's really tough.' Tough is exactly how Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng described the situation facing the Axel Springer–owned business and tech news site this week in a company-wide memo, detailing the third major round of layoffs in the last few years. In it, she outlined the harsh realities facing not only her company, but digital media at large. 'The media industry,' she notes at one point, 'is at a crossroads. Business models are under pressure, distribution is unstable, and competition for attention is fiercer than ever.' Seventy percent of Business Insider's output, the memo continues, 'has some degree of traffic sensitivity. We must be structured to endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control, so we're reducing our overall company to a size where we can absorb that volatility.' The company's union laid the blame for what happened at the feet of 'strategic failures' on the part of management, which is currently grappling (as are news companies pretty much across the board) with a turn of events that media writer Dylan Byers has described as a potential 'meteorite-level euthanizing event' for the industry: Essentially, Business Insider anchored its distribution strategy in large part around search and social. But now, as Big Tech pulls up the drawbridge on outbound traffic, news publishers that once relied on that steady stream of monetizable visitors are scrambling to rewrite their entire playbook. Google, in particular, has begun presenting AI-generated summaries directly on the search results page, allowing users to get information without ever leaving Google. It's a shift that, for publishers, threatens the very clicks that once sustained their business. Some observers see in Google's latest moves nothing short of an existential threat to the open web — and, by extension, to digital journalism. But Blodget, who led Business Insider when it was still a scrappy, voice-y upstart during the Web 2.0 era, isn't ready to concede that point just yet. 'Journalism is not screwed,' he stressed to me. 'People will always want to know what's happening and what it means — and we will always need great (human) journalists and publications to provide that. But the market has changed radically in the last five years. After 30 years of growth, digital media is now mature. Within it, distribution is getting disrupted — yes, Google, but also Facebook, Twitter, and others. And advertising is shifting to platforms.' So, what should news companies be betting on? 'Direct distribution and subscriptions. That model will support thousands of excellent publications, big and small. And audio and video are still growing as we move from TV/radio to digital.' In other words, he's imagining a media landscape populated by smaller, more focused, and often subscription-driven outlets — the kind built to serve a loyal following rather than chase clicks from the drive-by crowd. A vision that, in many ways, reflects the polar opposite of what Business Insider was in its early days, when it was aggregation-heavy, engineered for virality, and almost entirely free to read. As an aside: I actually caught a glimpse of the company back then first-hand, albeit very briefly. It was when Business Insider still operated out of the Gramercy Park building in Manhattan, and I met up with an editor there the day before Facebook went public in 2012 (my byline is also on a few freelanced posts from that period). When I stepped off the elevator and made my way into the newsroom, the first sound I heard was the telltale clop-clop of a ping-pong game. The newsroom itself reminded me of a financial trading floor, with a low hum of chatter emanating from writers who sat shoulder-to-shoulder behind rows of computers. I caught a glimpse of a very animated Blodget in what looked like a conference room, giving off the appearance of some sort of hyper-caffeinated analyst who's convinced he's spotted a market bubble. Three years after my visit, Axel Springer would pay $343 million to acquire most of Business Insider. For context, that's more than the mere quarter of a billion dollars that Jeff Bezos forked over for control of The Washington Post in 2013. To a wide-eyed visitor like myself, there was something that felt both rebellious and inevitable about Blodget's operation. Sort of like how some people today feel there's no stopping LLMs from making a generation of journalists obsolete. Blodget, for his part, isn't one of them — nor is Steven Zeitchik, a veteran of The Washington Post and LA Times who now writes the Substack-based Mind and Iron newsletter. You can argue that, to a certain extent, they're correct. Notwithstanding the retrenchment under way at publishers like Business Insider, there are still some journalistic tasks that machines can't do well — the workflows being too messy and unpredictable. 'As AI gobbles up from the bottom like some kind of Stephen King monster,' Zeitchik wrote on Friday, 'journalists can avoid its hungry teeth in two ways: by getting so good at the writing part an LLM can't touch you (but do you really want to get into a footrace with AI?) or hopping off that vine onto one it's not even climbing, like in-person or real-time reporting." In other words, maybe journalism can win its race against the machines by running in the opposite direction — back to the basics. Or, as one Redditor put it in a thread about the Business Insider layoffs: '…the real punk move today is rejecting the internet entirely. Ditching the algorithm, stepping off social media, and reclaiming reality. Because at this point, nothing's more radical than being human on purpose.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FedEx Plans More Than 300 Layoffs At Texas Facility
FedEx has plans to slash 305 jobs at a facility in Fort Worth, Tex., according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice filed with the state this month. The notice notes that the company, which has already been on the layoffs path over the past year, will begin parting ways with impacted employees from the FedEx Supply Chain and Electronics facility on July 6. More from Sourcing Journal FedEx Freight Taps New CEO, Chairman Ahead of 2026 Spinoff NFW's Corporate Restructuring Spawns Third Wave of Layoffs FedEx Exec: Amazon Delivery Partnership 'Will Push Up Our Yield' A spokesperson for FedEx told Sourcing Journal via email that the company will make the cuts because a client has chosen to change providers. 'The FedEx customer that occupies space on Independence Parkway in Fort Worth will be transitioning a portion of its business to a new third-party logistics provider in a new location,' the spokesperson said via email, noting that the company expects the cuts to be complete by October of this year. The spokesperson further noted the company would work to aid impacted employees. 'Team members at this facility were notified in advance, and many may be offered other roles within the company,' they said via email. 'We are committed to supporting affected employees—through job placement assistance, relocation aid or severance, as applicable, including at other nearby FedEx facilities in the area.' The layoffs will impact just over half—52 percent—of the approximately 580 workers employed at the location, which FedEx said is on Independence Parkway. In 2023, the company cut 280 jobs from the Fort Worth facility, which the company, at the time, attributed to a customer transitioning its business to a different facility and a new logistics provider. The company has filed WARN notices notifying states of its plans to lay off employees in Maryland, Tennessee, Florida, California and North Carolina since the beginning of the year. And, according to the Memphis Business Journal, the company recently filed a WARN notice detailing its plans to lay off nearly 400 workers from a Jackson, Ga. facility in July. The company has been working to cut costs under its Drive transformation program in an effort to cut $6 billion in costs by 2027; as part of that framework, the company plans to close some of its facilities and consolidate some of the routes it takes for delivery. Last year, it shuttered four facilities in North and South Carolina, as part of the initiative. The FedEx spokesperson did not mention the initiative as a reason for the Fort Worth layoffs. John Dietrich, executive vice president and chief financial officer of FedEx, said in the company's last earnings call in March that the company is on track to achieve the cost savings it had committed to by 2025—$4 billion against a 2023 baseline. 'As we committed, we continued to sequentially improve our Drive savings, and we expect evenfurther savings in Q4. We delivered $600 million of savings in Q3 compared to $390 million in Q1 and $540 million in Q2,' he told investors. The company will provide a further update on Drive's impact in June, when it next reports earnings. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
In Touch, Life & Style, Closer and First for Women Shutter as All Staff Are Laid Off
A number of women's lifestyle and entertainment magazine publications from McClatchy Media Company are shuttering and laying off their entire staffs. In Touch, Life & Style, Closer and First for Women are ceasing operation by the end of June, the parent company informed staffers Friday. It's unclear just how many employees across all four brands were impacted by McClatchy's gutting of the entertainment brands. Other outlets owned by the media company include newspapers The Kansas City Star, Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Charlotte Observer. They also own Us Weekly, which was acquired as part of the accelerate360 merger that In Touch, Life & Style, Closer and First for Women were also a part of. 'Despite the best efforts of many of our talented colleagues, we have been unable to develop a profitable business model for four of our magazine titles. First for Women, In Touch, Life & Style and Closer will publish their final editions between June 20 and 27,' McClatchy spokesperson Julie Pendley said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, which first broke the news Friday. 'We are grateful for the meaningful contributions of the affected employees and are providing support during the transition.' McClatchy did not respond to TheWrap's request for further comment. The announcement is just the latest in a continuingly tumultuous time for news media. In the same week, Business Insider informed it's staff that they would experience a 21% workforce reduction as they look to pivot more to AI uses in the newsroom. 'We are reducing the size of our organization, a move that will impact about 21% of our colleagues and touch every department,' Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng wrote. 'We're also proposing changes that impact our U.K. team, but the process is a bit different there; separate communication will follow.' Going forward, Business Insider will be launching events coverage, 'fully embracing AI' and reducing their reliance on 'traffic-sensitive businesses.' The post In Touch, Life & Style, Closer and First for Women Shutter as All Staff Are Laid Off appeared first on TheWrap.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
US Transport Department Pauses Planned Workforce Cuts Due to Litigation
The US Transportation Department said it's pausing planned cuts to its workforce while it waits for resolution in pending legal battles over the Trump administration's efforts to significantly reduce the size of the federal government. A spokesperson for the department said Friday that it's holding off on reduction-in-force and reorganization plans due to ongoing litigation and will revisit the matter once those issues are worked out. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told employees in a town hall earlier this month that he expected the layoffs to begin at the end of May.
