Over 720,000 Jobs Wiped Out and More Layoffs Are Coming... — Mass Layoffs

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Today I watched five of my co-workers get laid off from a job that they've been working for [00:00:04] Speaker 2: 20 plus years. Imagine you work at a big tech company and you've been there like five, six years. Your salary was, let's say, $180,000. Okay, now they lay you off and they're like, you know what? We could just repost this position for like $140,000. Nobody is safe from layoffs. [00:00:19] Speaker 3: If you work for a large corporation, at some point you may be on the list. [00:00:24] Speaker 4: So I met someone yesterday who got laid off from Oracle and I asked them, were there any signs that this was coming? And they said that their boss had asked them to start training an AI bot on how to help them do their job. Welcome back to Edwards Economics. My name's [00:00:35] Kaylin: Kaylin. And last month, the unemployment rate actually went down. That same month, 570,000 fewer Americans had a job. Same report, the same morning, the same agency. One of those made every single headline. And the other is the story that we're going to be talking about today. So what in the world is going on with the job market in America? Let's find out. [00:00:58] Speaker 6: Those 9 million drivers' careers that you have will be out of work, conceivably. And you're talking [00:01:04] Speaker 7: about being honest about the situation. Yeah, I think, again, it goes to physical AI as well, right? So I think 20 years from now, you can imagine that those 9 million will be 20 million [00:01:16] Kaylin: AVs maybe. What do the 9 million people do? I don't know. Now, we are expanding the company. And that's the big question. You know, we create the technology and the technology replaces you. And again, I have an abundance mindset. So I know that there are solutions out there that we don't know. And the people that are creating the best technology that's replacing people don't know either. It's a [00:01:40] Speaker 7: scary on a work that's available on the platform, partially as a result of it, right? We used to be the only work is driving. Now there's delivering. You can have shoppers as well. I think it'll be a little while at least before you get AI shoppers. And now actually, we have a team called Uber AI solutions that allows people to train these same agents and train AI agents and AI models and do all kinds of knowledge-based work on their phone as well to kind of extend the kind of work that we offer humans on our platform and different opportunities for them to make money. So we are extending the platform. And then the question is how much of the platform gets automated? [00:02:25] Speaker 6: Hand on heart, though, it does appear that unemployment is going to be significantly increased in a world of AI, especially we just imagine this sort of continual rate of improvement. I just can't. You would have to. [00:02:37] Kaylin: My guy is not confused. He sees where the puck is going. I mean, I appreciate the way that he's applying pressure. He's like, we have a big problem here, right? We just want to hear it from the [00:02:48] Speaker 7: horse's mouth that are helping create the problems. Unless, again, historically in societies, new kinds of jobs have come up. Knowledge jobs, physical jobs. And now we've disrupted both. That's why there's a question here. I don't think it's going to be a big issue in the next five years. But when you go five plus years, it's going to become more of a more more of an issue for society. Economist at the Navy [00:03:14] Speaker 8: Credit Union said it was, quote, shocking to see 720,000 people stop looking for work entirely. 720,000 people left the labor force in one single month. That's how many people left? 720,000. Mike Reed, head of the U.S. economics at RBC, called it, quote, a massive exodus. People try to blame this on retiring baby boomers. But the biggest drop was in prime age workers, 25 to 54 years old. These are not [00:03:46] Kaylin: retirees. So labor force participation just falls off a cliff. People are just giving up, in other [00:03:51] Speaker 1: words. Wow. Today I watched five of my co-workers get laid off from a job that they've been working for 20 plus years. Each and every one of them have 20 plus years experience. And the company just let them go just like that. Now these are hard working, dedicated, loyal employees. So it just goes to show, man, you can do everything right. And stuff still goes wrong. It just proves once again, you can't control what happens to you. All you can control is how you respond. And that's what's most important. You can let it break you or you can be prepared. Discipline is not about today. Discipline is about being prepared for days like this. You know what woke me up to this? I remember [00:04:34] Kaylin: in college, I was working on an accounting degree and started studying for the CPA, all this stuff. And what was it? Last year, you see Doge come in and lay off entire departments in the government, lay off so many workers in the IRS. And those are like the coveted safe jobs and a coveted safe career with a coveted safe degree. And now it's like, ain't nobody really safe. Like I know some folks that just got laid off in government adjacent jobs. And I remember talking over the years, we thought they could never lose their positions. And it's just sad because ain't nobody really safe. You know, as a business owner for the past 10 years, I've always, you know, gone to sleep. I don't want to say worried, but you know, only the paranoid survive, some say. And so I've kind of always learned to like look over my shoulder and just kind of be on my P's and Q's, save lots of money, invest lots of money, try to diversify income as best as I can. And my counterparts that are in the workforce, I know a lot of people do that. You know, they keep their resumes fresh and all that. But what are you supposed to do now? What are you supposed to do when there's no hiring going on? What are you supposed to do when the wages are so low? What are you supposed to do when they're mass laying off people because they're being replaced with technology and the new jobs aren't popping up? Can everybody just make YouTube videos? Can everybody just create a course? Can everybody become a coach or consultant online? Can everybody be drop shipping? Can everybody be doing brand deals? Can everybody be doing the stuff that people are saying, well, you should just do this instead. I don't know if that's really a viable solution. And I understand that people are saying we're going to have so much wealth created and we're going to distribute it to everybody that people won't have to work anymore. But it's just hard for me to believe that that is actually going to be the result of this. Maybe I'm a little doom and gloomy. I mean, I run a channel that can kind of come off that way. I try to be positive, but I don't believe that we're going to generate such an abundance that most people don't have to work. And why would we even want a world where the government is distributing a universal basic high income, which is really just going to normalize and not even matter that much anyway, if everybody has the same amount of spending power. It's just, what do you guys think? I'm just thinking out loud right now. I don't usually do this, but it's just sad. It's sad to hear this. [00:06:45] Speaker 1: I know things could get bad at any given moment, any given time. Nobody's special. Nobody's getting out of this thing with a perfect spotless life. Hard stuff is going to happen. Like messed up stuff is going to happen to good individuals. And this is why I want to do hard things consistently, man, because that callus, building up that callus and getting your mindset right to face hard situations is what's going to push us through when things get really difficult. Because things will get difficult. This is the life we live. Y'all be blessed in the mighty name of Jesus, man. Eat the crust first. Do the hard things. Be prepared when life hits you in the mouth. [00:07:22] Kaylin: I like the way he put that. Build up that callus. Just get used to it. Telling my boys that all the time. We do hard things. We love hard things. There's no shortcuts for us. We do what's [00:07:31] Speaker 9: required. First, it was work from home. Then it was a return to office. Then it was layoffs. And then it was a lot of pips. And now it's actually forced retirements. Yes, this is actually true. Microsoft is asking employees to retire if they meet the criteria. There is literally a formula that any employee at Microsoft can use to see if they qualify. No, I'm literally not kidding. This is the formula. So if your age plus your years at the company equals two or greater than 70, then you qualify for that retirement. Let's say if you're 50 years old and your years at the company is 21, then that number is 71. This number means that you actually qualify for forced retirement, voluntary retirement or aka layoff, whatever you want to call it. Honestly, people are actually scared. They're like a pension [00:08:17] Kaylin: or something. They just say, hey, get out the way. Get out the way. We got some people coming up. What [00:08:21] Speaker 9: are they? What's the incentive? I have seen a few posts on LinkedIn from people who qualify for this and they're debating if they should take it or not. The fear that they have that if they don't take it, they will be on a layoff list later. For many companies who are currently doing voluntary layoffs, my last company actually did do the voluntary layoff and many people took it. But this is a new one. And I wonder if after Microsoft, a lot of other companies are going to follow specifically companies like Google and Amazon who tend to have employees who have been there for a long time. [00:08:51] Kaylin: And honestly, like if you've been there for that long at companies like this, you're vested to the point to where you're already probably a multimillionaire. If I was getting this news, I'm voluntarily retiring because first they asked for the volunteers. I mean, we've all been at the airport. Any volunteers? Any volunteers? Then they just start forcing people out. I'd rather just leave on my own terms. Imagine you work at a big tech company and you've [00:09:13] Speaker 2: been there like five, six years. Your salary was, let's say, 180,000. OK, now they lay you off and they're like, you know what? We could just repost this position for like 140, you know, and we just save $40,000. Like one of the reasons that I love TikTok so much, we are getting information on the real stuff that's happening. This commenter is saying, yeah, there's layoffs and then rehires so that they can reset the salary basis much lower. [00:09:39] Kaylin: There's a lot of crazy stuff that's happening on TikTok, but the collective wisdom of everybody who's willing to tattletale and whistleblow. What are the people doing now? It's really, it's really helpful and you're getting it in real time from people who, I mean, they got some skin in the game, but it's like at the end of the day, we just work here. We just work here. So we'll tell you the truth, especially if I'm already out. If I didn't sign any NDAs, if I'm not going to get sued, I'm going to tell you how my experience is. I appreciate people doing it. [00:10:02] Speaker 2: That doesn't really surprise me, but there are people in the comments who were like, yes, this happened to me. Essentially, I was a boomerang employee. Like I was laid off and then asked to come back. And when I was asked to come back to the exact same job, it was less pay. If any of us were in that position where you lose a job and you lose your income, and then they ask you to come back, like it's a tough market. I'm sure that most of us would be like, okay, I'll come back to then also be like, okay, great. It's exact same job. We're just going to pay you 20% less. Why? Because we can. The strongest version of the everything is fine [00:10:44] Kaylin: argument is not actually a stupid one. Unemployment is 4.2%. Claims are low, quits are low, and nobody is doing the 2008 style mass firings. So if those are your only numbers, the labor market is actually cooling, not breaking. But here's what that argument misses. Unemployment rate is a fraction. The top are the people that are looking for work, and the bottom is the actual labor force. In June, the number of unemployed fell by 213,000. And the labor force fell by 720,000. The rate dropped because the bottom fell faster than the top. And that is what that 720,000 actually is. It's not a layoff count. It's a labor force that's actually shrinking. If somebody told you that 720,000 people got laid off in June, they read it wrong. And actually, almost everybody is reading it wrong. So where did these people actually go? Well, discouraged workers fell flat at 477,000. If three quarters of a million people actually gave up, then that would spike. But it didn't move. Foreign-born workers are down 596,000 since January. That is immigration enforcement in the jobs data, not a mass firing wave. But don't let the labor market off the hook because the other half is actually pretty ugly. We have the H1 2026 announced cuts. The second worst January through June since 2020. Tech alone, 139,156, up 83%. Long-term unemployment are at 27.3% of all unemployed, up from 17.8% in early 2023. U6, which is the honest number, 7.9% against a 4.2% headline. So that is the actual condition. Low hiring and low firing. So if you have a job, you're probably fine. But if you just lost one, you're in the worst job market in years. Because once people fall out, it's very hard to get back in. And it's more likely than not, they're going to stay out. And then we have the AI claim for the reason why the layoffs are happening. Over 101,000 cuts this year cite AI, which is about 23% of the reason. Stanford found a real 16% employment decline for workers 22 to 25 in the most exposed jobs, but no detectable rise in unemployment for exposed workers overall. So it's eating the bottom rung of the ladder and not the entire ladder itself. So if I can give you guys some advice on how you can go through this layoff wave, even if you don't fully understand it, I would say stop watching the headline rate because that can fall as everything else around it gets worse. Watch the U6 number and the participation rate. And as you've heard in some of these clips, you're going to want to start saving for the emergency today. I know you hear it all the time. It's conventional wisdom now, but you need to do it at least six months of expenses, not three anymore. We are not in that type of economy, at least six months of expenses, because in a low higher market, it's the search that's the risk and not so much the layoff itself. I want to know what you guys think. If the rate can go down while half a million people lose work, what is the number actually measuring? Tell me below what you guys think about all this. And if you haven't already, go [00:13:47] Speaker 10: ahead and like this video and subscribe to this channel. I have applied to probably about six to 800 jobs in the last three months. 800? I was part of the Tesla layoffs and I cannot find work. I got a job offer last week and I negotiated. And just like that, they were sending my job offer. [00:14:12] Kaylin: So let's talk about what's going on. So we're in a situation where it's like you're going to take what we're going to give you because you ain't got no other options. And that's what you need. You know, when you're negotiating, you need leverage, you need information, you need patience, you know, you need to not be desperate. But they know that people are desperate and they know that you will accept what they're giving you. And if you don't, bye bye. Somebody else will. Crazy. [00:14:36] Speaker 10: The market, why can't I find a freaking job? Like, I have the skills and the experience. Um, I don't know. But now after three months, it's taken a toll on me. Give me some advice, guys. Any help? I mean, I've redone my resume. I've put it through chat GPT. I have altered my resume every single time I'm applying for certain jobs, trying to use keywords. What the hell is going on? Mind you guys, I worked at Tesla alongside equipment engineers, reliability engineers. I have the experience. I have the skill set. Um, I've gone to school. I have my degree. I have a two different degrees. And I'm working on my third one. The job market right now sucks. Um, if you again, if you have any tips, any advice, anything that I can do to try, I mean, I've applied out of state. Um, gosh, I wonder how much of a mass migration there [00:15:49] Kaylin: might be towards areas that are a little bit more economically resilient, you know, historically in down economies, there are just certain areas of the country that are a little bit more resilient because the industries there are, um, not so concentrated. I know DFW has been a good market, uh, in recessions historically, but for this next turning that's happening, where's it going to be good? You know, as AI starts to knock out some of these tech jobs, all these cities and areas that are built around tech and have some issues, what industries are going to be safe? What industries are not going to be touched by AI and robotics? Let me hold your hand while I say this. Nobody [00:16:31] Speaker 3: is safe from layoffs. If you work for a large corporation, at some point, you may be on the list. I know people who have been promoted January 1st, laid off January 15th. I know people who have given their heart and soul for many, many years have gotten laid off. So if you take nothing from what I say, take this, make sure you have other income options and start today. Microsoft, 9,000 jobs, [00:17:01] Speaker 11: Cisco, Intel, Sony, Interactive, Entertainment, Indeed, and Glassdoor, TikTok, Oracle, Advents Health, Optimum Care, Serepta Therapeutics, uh, manufacturing jobs, laying off our Bosch's, uh, Retillagen Plant, Whirlpool Corporation, General Dynamics, Dyson, Lucid Motors. If you did not know, we have over 7 million people unemployed and only like 6.88 million jobs available. In addition, only 57,000 jobs were created in June, 2026 and April and May job creation revised down negative 74,000 for those two months. So all of these layoffs and the amount of jobs available and the amount of jobs being created are a direct sign of our economy collapsing. If people don't have jobs, they cannot pay their bills. That's why you're seeing home foreclosures, credit card delinquency, student loan delinquency, auto loan delinquency, and it's going to get much worse. Ladies and gentlemen, we are on day 126 of the Iran war. We're spending like there's no end in sight and these are going to be very bad times. Buckle up, do the best that you can to number one, do a budget and plan out your spending ahead of time. Monitor your spending as you go, adjust your spending as you go. Try to have a six month emergency fund. If you are currently working and you already have those, please pay off your debt or move it to a zero percent interest card. Interest rates are going to be going up because of inflation. [00:18:35] Speaker 4: So I met someone yesterday who got laid off from Oracle and I asked them, were there any signs that this was coming? And they said that their boss had asked them to start training an AI bot on how to help them do their job. And then when they tried to log into their office that morning, they couldn't log in and they opened up their email and they saw a notice from HR that they had been laid off with a small severance package. So I guess the moral of the story is if your boss asks you to start training an AI bot to help you with your job, do a really s*** job at that. Really train the worst AI bot in the world to do a really terrible, terrible job at your job. And then take as much family medical leave [00:19:21] Kaylin: as you can. So we've watched all the clips and we've been talking about this and maybe you've already made your comment. But here's the thing that I actually want you to walk away with. The unemployment rate improved last month for the worst possible reason. Not because people actually found work, but because they stopped actually being counted. A number that can get better while your life gets harder is not really a number that I would say that I like maybe some of you guys do. And I would say that it's not necessarily a conspiracy where they're trying to fudge them. It's just an actual problematic occurrence that's happening. And a lot of times it's the math that people aren't explaining. But when we talk about it here on Edwards Economics, I think you guys are starting to get those wheels turning. You guys are actually starting to see the forest from the trees. So if you guys like analysis like this and you want more of it, go ahead and subscribe at EdwardsEconomics.com because that's where I go way deeper with the unfiltered and biblical side of all of it that I can't always get into here. And then if you guys are in the job market, go ahead and leave a comment about how long your job search has taken. Thank you guys for watching today's video. I pray the Lord blesses you, that he keeps you, that he lifts his face towards you, that he turns his countenance towards you, that he gives you favor and that he gives you peace.