Kathryn Minshew, CEO and Founder of The Muse, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she provides her insight as to which sectors are looking strong from a hiring perspective and says that job-seekers still have plenty of bargaining power given the current employment situation.

Closing Bell

How May Jobs Report Plays Into Job-Hunting Strategies

well, the may jobs report offering some good news with payrolls rising by 390,000 during the month, but not every sector was a winner. So joining me now is Kathryn Minshew Ceo and founder of the muse the platform aiming to help people navigate their careers. Catherine is good to see you again, it's wonderful to have you and we know games on the job front, obviously some good news, But this number coming in short of the 428,000 jobs added in April and unemployment remaining at 3.6%. Are you seeing the economy slowed down from your point of view? You know, it's a really interesting time, right? Because the number of jobs added did beat expectations, but as you noted, it was down from last month, we are seeing certain sectors continued to be very, very strong. Um technology hiring is incredibly strong. A lot of financial services firms are still leaning in um hospitality obviously has been doing well, travel in some cases, but obviously the gains are not not spread across the board and there's a lot of conflicting reports, so, I think many business owners are, you know, still being a bit more cautious and trying to decide what's going to happen next. What does this mean for workers Catherine? Do they still have that unprecedented bargaining power with quits at their highest levels nearly on record for the past six months in a row. Are you finding that workers seeking jobs are having success at landing better positions and higher pay. They are, they absolutely are. And, you know, we're seeing the competition for talent continue to play out in the access of benefits that are available to jobseekers. Obviously, the wages and compensation that many job seekers are getting. Um and also in flexibility. I think you've you've covered this on cheddar a number of times, but many businesses that initially attempted to roll out very firm in office plans have had to roll those back because workers are demanding more flexibility. Many of them want a hybrid workplace work from home. Um and so we are still seeing workers with a lot of bargaining power. It's not quite as much as in the absolute height of the frenzy a few months ago, but it's still very strong. And part of what we're seeing on the muse is that those workers who are clear about what their priorities are are typically able to get them. That they may not be able to get everything on a long list of requests or demands, but there's still a lot of flexibility for workers that are that are looking to change jobs right now. Yeah, I know what you want and pursue it. I think that's certainly good advice when it comes to finding a job that you like and are satisfied in. But Catherine, just in this past week, we've actually seen a wave, mostly technology companies announcing hiring freezes or outright layoffs as we see rates rise and we know higher interest rates and borrowing costs do tend to adversely impact these fast growing, richly valued technology companies more so than for instance, the dow jones industrial company and it might have a bit more of a solid balance sheet. Do you expect that we'll see more of this going ahead. And do you think it will only be confined to the tech sector? You know, I do think we're going to see more of this ahead in the tech sector. Um you're seeing the compression evaluations for both public and private companies in a lot of technology spaces, which does mean that businesses are cutting back and cutting costs. But interestingly, and I can say this as someone who works with a lot of the companies that have been in the news for hiring freezes or layoffs in the past several weeks or months, there are many companies that are still hiring, just not at the same velocity or the same breadth of roles that they may have been hiring for a month or two ago. It's more targeted. It's more focused on their highest need areas. Um, and I do expect, we'll see some of this extend outside of technology, but I think right now, unless there are other major shocks to the system that companies that were very, very highly valued and are seeing those valuations compressed are, you know, for for some obvious reasons they're the most affected right now. So for the companies that work with your firm Catherine, the muse defined and recruit talent and, and even retain talent, What are the top things that we're looking for? Is it a certain skill set? Um Is it a certain flexibility range? What do they absolutely need and what's most in demand? So job seekers these days are looking for better benefits packages. Um This includes classic things like healthcare and flexible work of course, but also we're seeing a rise in businesses that offer fertility benefits, um increased parental leave or benefits for caretakers. And there's a really kind of interesting trend correspondingly in start ups and companies that are now offering, you know, working with employers to help them offer better benefits. So benefits packages is a really interesting area. Learning and growth is a very interesting area. Um And then we're also seeing the rise of what I call the values aligned job seeker. People who say, you know, I learned something about myself or about the world that I want to see during covid and I'm looking for a business that is either making the world better or different or that is taking public positions aligned with my priorities. This is putting a lot of pressure on employers. Um but but it's also, I think, you know, we're going to continue to drive uh some of this turnover we're seeing. In fact, I believe a recent survey noted that 60% of gen z and millennial candidates would leave a company that over a clash of values. So it's a it's a very, very kind of interesting time for resignations. Um, and I think that is going to continue to drive some of this turn in the labor markets as well. All right, Kathryn Minshew Ceo and founder of the muse, Kathryn thanks so much for coming on on this jobs friday.