Cornering The Job Market

Hosted by Pete Newsome

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Episodes

230

Latest episode

May 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

The job market is changing faster than most people realize. Headlines are noisy, data is often misunderstood, and bad advice spreads quickly. Cornering the Job Market cuts through the confusion with clear, data-backed insights on what is actually happening in hiring, work, careers, and the labor market now, and in the future. Hosted by Pete Newsome, founder of one of America's top staffing and recruiting firms, this podcast breaks down the labor market from both sides of the table. Job seekers learn how employers are really making decisions. Hiring leaders and executives gain perspective on talent supply, candidate behavior, and where the market is heading next. Each episode translates complex labor data into plain English and connects the dots between hiring trends, economic signals, AI adoption, wages, layoffs, and workforce strategy. The focus is not hype or fear; with context, clarity, and practical takeaways you can use immediately. What you will hear on the show Weekly breakdowns of the U.S. job market using trusted data sources What hiring numbers actually mean for real people and real companies How AI is reshaping jobs, hiring, and career paths Why some roles stay in demand even during slowdowns What employers are prioritizing and what candidates often miss Honest conversations about layoffs, wage pressure, job hopping, and stability Tactical advice for job seekers at every career stage Strategic insight for HR leaders, hiring managers, and executives Who this podcast is for Professionals navigating a competitive or uncertain job market Early and mid-career workers trying to future-proof their careers HR leaders and talent acquisition teams Hiring managers and executives making workforce decisions Anyone who wants clear, credible insight into where work is headed Why Cornering the Job Market is different This show is built on real hiring experience, not theory. The insights come from thousands of real job searches, real placements, and real conversations with employers and candidates across industries like IT, finance, healthcare, marketing, HR, and engineering. The goal is simple. Help you understand the job market well enough to make better decisions, whether you are hiring, job searching, or planning your next move. New episodes New episodes drop regularly with timely commentary on breaking labor market news, hiring trends, and workplace shifts. Subscribe so you do not miss an update, especially when the market changes quickly.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

May 29, 202638 min

The Week in Jobs: CEO Confidence Declines, Top AI Bosses Are Split, And Fraud Is On The Rise

CEO confidence dropped in the latest survey data, and that kind of news travels fast. We break down what the numbers actually show, how "wait and see" behavior spreads from leadership to budgets to open reqs, and why geopolitical uncertainty is doing most of the driving right now.Then we get into AI, specifically the shifting public statements from major industry leaders. We ask what's behind the messaging and what the real job market impact looks like. The near-term risk people are underestimating isn't the replacement risk. It's overreliance. AI gives confident-sounding answers, and if you're not verifying the work, your own judgment gets weaker over time. Technical fluency and strong fundamentals are the qualities that hold.We close on fraud. ZipRecruiter's latest data on AI in the hiring pipeline sets the table, and then we get into what we're seeing on the front lines: fake candidate profiles, bait-and-switch interviews, and job scams that target applicants with stolen postings and identity traps. Remote hiring screening has changed, and we cover what's now standard.📽️ WATCH TODAY'S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/E4h5y0dZ77c🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/

May 22, 202622 min

This Week in Jobs: California Steps in as Companies Cut Jobs for AI

AI job cuts aren't a future threat. They're this week's news, and the layoffs are starting to blend into the background. That might be the most dangerous part.This episode covers California Governor Gavin Newsom's executive order on AI displacement, including proposed subsidies, risk analysis, and retraining plans for white-collar workers being pushed out. Then we contrast that with the federal pullback on AI oversight, driven by concerns about falling behind China in the AI race. Protect workers on one side, keep the race moving on the other.We also get specific: Meta's cuts and reassignments to AI teams, banking layoffs targeting repetitive administrative work, and the two-track labor market, where shortages in healthcare and skilled trades can make the overall numbers look fine even as displaced workers have nowhere to land.If you're watching this shift closely, hit play and share it with someone who's thinking about their role. What part of this feels most personal to you right now?📽️ WATCH TODAY'S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/wwbEVPsI8Ok 🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/

May 15, 202647 min

This Week in Jobs: AI Is Reshaping Work & Nobody Agrees On What Comes Next

When a commencement speaker dropped a single line about AI, the crowd booed, and the reaction said a lot more than people might think. We're based in Orlando, so the UCF graduation clip hit close to home and opened up a bigger question: why does "AI is the next industrial revolution" sound like hope to some people and like a threat to others?We dig into the growing divide between AI enthusiasts and skeptics, especially among entry-level workers watching roles disappear while executives talk productivity and profit. We also react to high-profile forecasts of white-collar disruption and pressure-test the "AI creates jobs" argument by looking at what's actually booming right now: construction tied to data centers. That buildout is real, but it's running headfirst into a skilled-trades shortage and rising community pushback over noise, energy use, water use, and quality of life.Then we zoom out to what rarely makes the headlines: the employee mindset. Burnout is up, engagement is down, and mental health support still feels thin. When people feel trapped by job-hugging in a crowded market, that anxiety fuels the exact disengagement employers say they want to fix.We close with a practical take on career resilience, understand incentives, sharpen your media literacy, don't outsource your AI education to your employer, and build skills that stay scarce.If this episode made you think, subscribe for weekly job market reality checks, share it with a coworker or new grad, and leave a review. Where do you land on the UCF moment: negative reaction from the crowd, or wrong message for the room?📽️ WATCH TODAY'S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/sWyvldzWW5A🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/

May 8, 202656 min

This Week in Jobs: The Jobs Market Turns a Corner

The jobs report beats expectations, and the headlines scream “strong labor market,” but the real story lives in the messy details. We break down what a big payroll number can hide, why revisions matter, and how you should read the data if you’re hiring, job searching, or running a business that lives and dies by demand.We dig into the uneven economy beneath the averages: healthcare continues to drive job growth, construction remains resilient, and everything else feels like a distant third. Then we hit the most concerning signal in the report: a massive jump in the share of people working part-time for economic reasons, including gig work and second jobs, which hints at inflationary stress and shrinking breathing room even when employment looks “good” on paper.From there, we connect the dots between rising layoffs in the JOLTS data and the wave of tech cuts that seem driven less by recession fear and more by AI, automation, and the push for “efficiency” at any cost. We talk about the Coinbase “one-person team” idea, why early AI tools still fail to show clear ROI for many companies, and why leaders feel pressured to deploy AI anyway.We close on hiring and recruiting: candidates distrust AI in the hiring process, scams and fake applications are everywhere, and AI-assisted interview cheating is real enough that anti-cheat features are becoming standard. If you’re trying to stay ahead without losing the human side, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a friend in staffing or HR, and leave a review with your take: Is the hiring recession actually over?🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/

May 1, 20261 hr 1 min

This Week in Jobs: How AI Is Changing Hiring, Pay, and Power At Work

AI isn't coming for work someday. It's already sitting in the seat next to you, quietly handling tasks, writing drafts, and redefining what good performance looks like.We talk with Ricky Baez about what he's seeing from HR and business leaders right now: faster adoption, bigger expectations, and a widening gap between people building AI skills and people waiting for the wave to pass. Along the way, we get into new survey data showing workers using AI to absorb coworker tasks, why so many employees stay quiet about it, and how that silence tends to backfire when output rises, but headcount hasn't.We also debate the piece that makes hiring feel impersonal: Amazon moving to AI-run interviews with zero human involvement. Helpful shortcut for high-volume seasonal roles, or the start of a process that signals candidates don't matter? From there, it's practical recruiting realities, including using AI to cut ghosting, speed up screening, and move qualified people to a real recruiter faster, and why the hybrid approach tends to win.Then the harder questions: bias, disparate impact, and why employment law is lagging behind AI screening tools and automated hiring decisions. We connect that to broader signals such as strong small-business hiring, low unemployment claims, and a workforce that's mostly satisfied but hesitant to move.If you're hiring, job searching, or trying to stay relevant, this episode clearly maps out the new expectations. Subscribe, share it with a coworker, and leave a review with your take: should AI be allowed to interview you?📽️ WATCH TODAY'S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/live/6HLrBJIfubM 🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/

April 24, 202645 min

This Week in Jobs: Why Profitable Companies Keep Laying People Off

Profitable companies are handing out pink slips, and the explanations are starting to feel like a second insult. This week, we dig into Meta's 14,000 cuts, the wave rolling through Wall Street, and why "we're investing in AI" has become the corporate equivalent of it's not you, it's me, even when revenue and profits are healthy. The real damage isn't just in the headcount numbers. It's the widening trust gap between employers and workers, and what it does to how people plan their lives.Then we zoom out, and the view is unsettling. A Verizon CEO is forecasting 20 to 30% unemployment within five years. Layoffs are already baked into 2026 budgets. So why aren't warnings like these creating more urgency? We get into why so many people feel frozen and what it means when decision-makers are betting on AI to replace roles, even when the technology is still half-baked.From there, we connect the dots to two slow-motion crises most people feel but rarely name out loud: retirement insecurity and early-career collapse. Older workers are postponing retirement not by choice, but out of necessity. Younger workers are losing confidence fast, questioning whether their degrees are worth the debt, and whether the entry-level jobs they were promised are disappearing before they even start.We close with the hiring experience as it actually exists right now: vague job descriptions, salary opacity, interview chaos, AI-powered scams, and growing resentment over unpaid take-home assignments. And we leave you with the one theme we keep returning to, because it's the only thing that holds up across every scenario we discuss.🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/

April 17, 202643 min

The Week In Jobs: Massive Layoffs for Snap & Disney and New Grads Struggling to Get Jobs

Layoffs are starting to come with a familiar punchline: “AI made us do it.” We talk through what that story means when companies like Snap cut staff and still get rewarded by the market, and why Disney’s more traditional “restructuring” explanation ends up in the same place for the people affected. If you’ve been trying to reconcile upbeat headlines with a job search that feels brutal, we’re right there with you, separating the PR from the on-the-ground reality.From there, we get into the numbers and the trust problem. We break down the ADP jobs report, why private payroll data can feel more dependable than constantly revised government releases, and why our own worker survey shows a surprising level of trust in official data even as online comments scream the opposite. The bigger issue isn’t who wins the argument, it’s how you make smart career moves when the signals conflict and hiring feels cautious.The most urgent thread is AI and the entry-level job market. We dig into reports that new grads are struggling, including the eye-popping idea that some parents are spending up to $50,000 a year on career help. We also challenge what actually moves the needle: networking, early work experience, and building real skills before the bottom rungs of the career ladder get automated away. We talk ethics, manager influence on AI adoption, and why you can’t outsource protecting your career to your employer.If this hit home, subscribe for weekly job market analysis, share it with someone navigating a job search, and leave a review with your take: is AI already changing hiring where you work?Additional Resources:1. Snap Is Laying Off 16% of Full-Time Staff as It Embraces AI2. Employee Mindset Survey Results3. ADP Employment Report4. Anxious Parents Are Spending More Than $50,000 to Land Their Kid a Job📽️ WATCH TODAY'S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWs1qHQKFro🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/

April 10, 202653 min

This Week in Jobs: Reading Between the Jobs Numbers (Can We Trust It?)

The headline jobs numbers look reassuring... until you dig into the revisions. We break down what the new BLS report actually says, why the quiet corrections matter, and how ADP payroll data shifts the picture. Then the bigger question: what does a healthy monthly jobs number even mean when some economists think we may need near-zero net new jobs to stay stable?We get specific about where the labor market is genuinely tight. Skilled trades are shrinking as retirements outpace the number of new apprentices, and AI-driven data center construction is making demand even harder to meet. Meanwhile, healthcare continues to account for a disproportionate share of job growth, masking just how uneven hiring is across industries and experience levels.On AI: entry-level roles are especially exposed, and the shift may show up as slower hiring rather than dramatic layoffs. Our latest employee mindset survey finds people say they're satisfied at work, but many have only a few months of savings, and those closest to AI feel the most threatened.We close with the job search reality: LinkedIn scams, fake recruiters, and the "spray and pray" application trap, plus practical ways to actually stand out.If this hit home, subscribe, share it with someone in the job market, and leave a review. What part of today's job market feels most broken to you?Additional Resources:1. Q2 2026 Employee Mindset Survey2. Gallup: State of the Global Workplace 2026 3. WSJ: Why More People Are Dropping Out of the Job Market 📽️ WATCH TODAY'S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/live/lXs5r6Q4jjE 🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/

April 8, 20266 min

Breaking Job News: The US Workforce Is Shrinking & the Numbers Are Worse Than Anyone Expected

The mainstream narrative says the economy is holding steady, but the data underneath says something different. The US labor force participation rate just hit its lowest point since 1977, and the forces driving it down (aging retirements, declining immigration, shrinking workforce entry) aren't going to reverse themselves. In today's episode, host Pete Newsome breaks down what's actually happening beneath the headlines and why economists are treating near-zero labor force growth as the new baseline rather than a temporary condition.Gallup's 2026 State of the Global Workplace Report adds important context: optimism in the US and Canadian job markets has dropped by 23 points since 2019, leaving the region second-to-last globally. Workers pulled back onsite full time after being remote saw the steepest confidence decline of any group measured. Pete discusses what that data means for both employers and employees navigating the current environment.He also covers Monster's Q1 2026 hiring report, which reveals a widening gap between where employers are posting jobs and where job seekers are actually searching, and what that disconnect means practically for anyone in the market right now.New episodes every week. Subscribe wherever you listen.Articles:1. Gallup 2026 State of the Global Workforce: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/708071/global-employee-engagement-continues-decline.aspx2. WSJ on Labor Force Participation: https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/why-more-people-are-dropping-out-of-the-job-market-6e9f4eb4?mod=jobs_news_article_pos13. Monster Q1 2026 Market Report: https://www.monster.com/career-advice/research/job-market-trends📽️ WATCH TODAY'S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/taJZFEV_91E🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/

April 7, 20266 min

Breaking Job News: Tech Worker Confidence Just Collapsed, So Why Is Hiring Actually Getting Better?

Two data points just dropped that seem to contradict each other, and host Pete Newsome breaks down what's actually going on behind both of them. Glassdoor just recorded the largest year over year confidence decline it has ever measured in any industry, and it happened in tech. At the same time, ADP's weekly hiring data shows three consecutive weeks of improvement and the biggest single week of private sector job growth in all of 2026. Pete explains why both can be true simultaneously and what it signals about where the market is actually heading.He also covers the Conference Board's Employment Trends Index, which shows five of eight components moving in the wrong direction, one in five Americans saying jobs are hard to get, and why geopolitical uncertainty is becoming the dominant factor in employers' hiring decisions right now.And new Revelio Labs research reveals a persistent $10,000 annual pay gap between male and female freelancers despite virtually identical performance metrics. Pete shares what every gig worker should do about it, regardless of where they fall.New episodes every week. Subscribe wherever you listen.Articles:1. Conference Board Employment Trends Index: https://www.conference-board.org/topics/employment-trends-index/2. Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index: https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/glassdoor-employee-confidence-index-march-2026/3. ADP Weekly Unemployment Data: https://mediacenter.adp.com/2026-04-07-ADP-National-Employment-Report-Preliminary-Estimate-for-March-21,-20264. Revelio Labs Analysis: https://www.reveliolabs.com/news/social/the-gig-work-gender-gap/📽️ WATCH TODAY'S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/Yrg5k1XX0O0🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/