Layoff rates among contingent workers over the past six months rose from 8.3% to 6.9%; however, they appear to be trending downward after reaching a four-year high in the fourth quarter, according to the Spring 2023 U.S. Labor Market Report released this week by Magnit.
The report highlights the impact of recessionary trends and economic uncertainty on the talent landscape, including changes in employment rates and talent availability.
Despite layoffs in the tech industry, the demand for tech roles across various sectors has increased by 34% as a percentage of total hires, surpassing all other job categories. Organizations across industries rely more on IT and technology to protect and revitalize their businesses, leading to this rise in demand.
Other key takeaways from the report cited by Magnit:
- The voluntary termination rate dropped by 24%, reaching an all-time low of 12.6% in the first quarter – less than half of what it was during the Great Resignation (29.1%).
- Worker priorities have shifted, with a nearly 5% increase in focus on company reputation in Q1.
- While hiring volumes increased by 39% year-over-year in 2021, wage growth turned negative and fell behind the historic growth of inflation. Over the past 12 months, year-over-year wage growth averaged 3.5%, whereas inflation averaged 7.5% among all workers.
Magnit’s report utilizes proprietary algorithms and data from various sources, including hundreds of client programs. With data on hundreds of thousands of workers and over 51,000 unique roles, the report provides insights into talent optimization and recession strategies for organizations.
