Breaking Job News: AI Driving Holiday Layoffs & Verizon’s Massive Cuts

Imagine opening the holidays with a layoff notice. For nearly a third of workers, that’s now a real possibility. A new national survey says nearly one in three companies plans to cut staff before New Year’s, and the reasons go far beyond budget tightening. In today's Breaking Job News, host Pete Newsome breaks down why end-of-year layoffs spike, from Q1 cost-cutting and bonus avoidance to leadership pressure to “reset” headcount before January.

He also confronts a growing ethical dilemma: most companies now say they’ll use AI to identify which roles should be eliminated. With 69% planning to use AI to flag positions and 66% planning to use AI in the layoff process itself, we explore what this means for fairness, transparency, and the future of leadership accountability when algorithms influence people’s livelihoods.

Then Pete turns to a massive new ADP analysis showing the gig economy is actually two different labor markets. W-2 temporary workers and 1099 contractors live very different realities, from pay gaps and hours worked to the industries where each thrives. Pete breaks down contractor rates, specialized skill premiums, and what today’s data means for anyone eyeing freelance work, career pivots, or a diversified client pipeline.

Finally, he examines a major restructuring at one of America’s largest telecom companies, resulting in 13,000+ layoffs affecting non-union management. We look at whether service quality can improve after cuts of this size, what needs protecting on the front lines, and how workers can adapt as legacy employers reshape their operating models under competitive pressure.

💬What do you think: Do you think the gig economy will continue growing, or has it peaked? 

News Articles:
1. 3 in 10 Companies Will Lay Off Employees During the Holidays: https://www.resume.org/3-in-10-companies-will-lay-off-employees-during-the-holidays/
2. Verizon Layoffs: https://apnews.com/article/verizon-layoffs-economy-jobs-1aa299fc28b8e7211188f9b084d1048c
3. The gig economy- A tale of two labor markets: https://www.adpresearch.com/the-gig-economy-a-tale-of-two-labor-markets/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/
Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog

Episode Transcript

Pete Newsome (00:00):
Happy Friday, everyone.
Today's job market headlinesprovide insight into the gig
economy and confirmation of amajor company layoff.
But first, three in tencompanies say they'll cut jobs
during the holidays, which Ifind difficult to believe.
It's from a new resume.orgsurvey where 31% of the
companies said that betweenmid-November and New Year's they

(00:22):
expect to conduct layoffs.
And we know it's a bad jobmarket, but it's not that bad.
So this number just seemsexcessive to me.
Although, even if it isinflated, the trend is real.
Companies are taking action.
They're front loading cutsbefore January.
The top reasons given were costcutting ahead of Q1, avoiding

(00:43):
bonuses.
It's awful individuals doingthat if that's actually
happening, and avoiding PTOpayouts.
Same thing there.
The other drivers were economicpressures, company performance,
AI and automation.
Here comes that again, and thisjust overall restructuring.
69% of the companies surveyedsaid they plan to use AI to

(01:05):
identify which roles should becut.
That's a new one.
I haven't heard that before,but 69%, and that's an
overwhelming number for sure.
And then on executivetreatment, 82% of the companies
surveyed said that executiveswill still receive bonuses.
So cutting people, still payingout the execs.

(01:25):
Yeah, that's not new.
We've seen that happening overand over many, many times over
the years.
73% of the managers surveyedfeel that laying off employees
during the holidays isunethical.
So how's that for acontradiction?
It's unethical, but we're goingto do it anyway.
So at least seeing that givesme some hope.

(01:47):
Maybe this won't actuallyhappen.
And again, one out of threecompanies laying people off
right now in that time frame,that that just it just seems
like it's it's it's inflated tome.
So we'll I'll be paying closeattention to layoff
announcements and we'll continueto report on that for sure.
Next, ADP just published areport called The Gig Economy: A

(02:09):
Tale of Two Labor Markets.
And it was a result of studying26 million workers, and they
break down contingent labor intwo ways.
One is W-2 employees, what Iconsider to be contract
employees, temporary employees,all the same thing, and then
independent contractors who filetaxes using a 10 uh Form 1099.

(02:32):
Now, they call that the gigeconomy.
They lump it together.
I consider gig work to beindependent contract work.
I don't consider W-2 temporarylabor to be gig work because
they're actual employees of thestaffing companies that they
work for.
And in many cases, it lasts along, long time.

(02:54):
So I do differentiate that, butit doesn't uh detract from some
of the findings that stood outto me really interesting that
W-2 temps earn a median of $15an hour, where independent
contractors earn $25 an hour.
Now, the reason for that isbecause if you are an
independent contractor, you haveunique marketable skill sets,

(03:17):
typically.
So that's why you're going togo that route versus just being
a potential short-term temporaryworker somewhere.
Also, what I found interestingis that there's a lot fewer
hours in both cases.
Temporary employees andindependent contractors work
about 20 hours a week, which ishalf of what a typical
traditional full-time employeeputs in.

(03:39):
Now that is not reflected atall in contract staffing.
So I'm surprised to see thosenumbers.
It just tells me that the typeof staffing that I, my company
does, which is white-collarcorporate jobs for the most
part, they're almost all workinga typical work week, a 40-hour
work week, or close to it.

(03:59):
So there's a lot of short-termwork.
I think a lot of blue-collar,uh just true temporary service
work is out there that I'm notprivy to.
So that's why it was a surpriseto me because when I think of
contract employment as a whole,it more often than not resembles
what a full-time worker woulddo.
And then the other thing thatjumped out at me was that these

(04:22):
numbers are growing forindependent contractors.
In 2019, their sample containedan average of 300,000
independent contractors.
And by 2024, so just five yearslater, that number is 450,000,
so a 50% increase in the numberof independent contractors.
So that's a trend that's goingto continue.

(04:44):
It's a report worth checkingout if you're a geek and who
likes this kind of data aboutthe uh staffing and labor
industry.
But in the final headlinetoday, Verizon's rumored layoff
has been confirmed.
They're cutting more than13,000 jobs, which is roughly
20% of its non-union managementworkforce.
Verizon uh also reported weaksubscriber numbers, so that's

(05:08):
probably why it's happening.
Um, and they plan to scale backoutsource labor.
Their new CEO said that thecompany needs to simplify
operations and improve customerexperience.
I don't know how you improvecustomer experience by laying
off 20% of your staff, butthat's Verizons to figure out.
I wish the best for all thesefolks who, uh, through no fault

(05:31):
of their own find are findingthemselves suddenly unemployed.
And in closing today, your funfact the phrase taking the rap
comes from an old job thatexisted a long time ago called a
rapper.
It was someone who was paid toknock on doors to wake people up
in the morning so they couldget to work.
And if they woke someone up atthe wrong time, too late, they

(05:54):
would literally get wrapped onthe knuckles.
So, how's that for job feedbackif you don't do your job?
You know, we get yelled attoday.
You know, there's a lot of umworkers who get really emotional
about being uh criticized atall about their work, but
wrapped on the knuckles, yeah,that's a whole different level.
I don't think that would flytoday at all.
So there are your headlines fortoday.

(06:16):
Thank you for listening.
Have a great weekend.
Please like, subscribe, sharewith anyone who you think might
be interested.
And I look forward to talkingto you next week.