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

Speaker A: Welcome back to Cornering the Job Market. Today's workforce news and headlines include new data from Glassdoor that shows employee confidence improved in March. With one notable exception, the technology industry just posted the largest year over year decline the index has ever measured. Also, ADP's latest hiring numbers showed three straight weeks of improvement. And new research reveals a persistent gender pay gap in the gig economy. We will get into all of that, but but first, the Conference Board released its Employment Trends Index for March with five of the eight components moving in the wrong direction. The number that really jumps out is the share of consumers who say jobs are hard to get. It climbed 21.5%, which is a 5 percentage point increase from a year ago. One in five Americans now feeling that way about the job market, of course isn't good to see, but it's not surprising either. We know that perception continues to shift in the wrong direction and for good reason. Also, fewer small businesses reported positions they couldn't fill. And the share of voluntary part time workers who are people who want full time hours but can't get them continues to remain elevated. Now on the positive side, initial unemployment claims declined and temporary help employment ticked up slightly. Conference Board economist Mitchell Barnes said job seekers continue to face a challenging market. Overall, the US Economy has remained surprisingly resilient, but rising geopolitical uncertainty may contribute to ongoing employer hesitancy to add more workers. The bottom line is it doesn't really matter what the headlines say. The BLS can put out a report saying we added lots of jobs, but if that's not consistent with what people are actually experiencing, then those numbers just don't matter. One thing I do want to touch on is the temporary staffing number. I've owned a staffing company for 20 years and I have always found temporary hiring to be a leading indicator of where the market is heading through the dips. Through good times. It is very consistent. So that's a number I'll continue to watch closely. But at this particular point in time, I do expect the situation in the Middle east to be the biggest factor in determining market direction for the foreseeable. And that relates to our next story, where employee confidence improved in March. According to the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index, the share of employees reporting a positive six month business outlook rose more than 2 percentage points from February. Glassdoor's chief economist Daniel Zhao notes that employee confidence appears largely unaffected by the US Iran war so far, likely because higher energy prices and inflation haven't filtered through the economy yet. But looking at where things were in March Energy, mining and utilities saw the biggest monthly gain, up 3 percentage points. Higher fuel prices may actually be helping that sector in the short term. Tech remains the worst performer over the past year with the largest decline of any industry on the index. AI investment and data center spending leading to slow hiring and layoffs have all contributed to damaging morale in that sector by seniority. Entry level workers remain stuck, which we're seeing in all recent data. Glassdoor says entry level workers feel frozen out of career advancement opportunities. I'd go even further to say they're being frozen out of the job market overall. And entry level confidence has been flat for three years now. So employers who can offer career growth paths and continue to hire young workers are really setting themselves up well for the future. So if you are an employer, that's something you should focus on right now. So consumers say jobs are hard to find and workers are uncertain about their employers outlook right now. You'd think hiring must be falling off a cliff. But the ADP data tells a slightly different story. ADP's weekly employment data shows the third straight week of improvement in private sector hiring, with 26,000 jobs added. The pace of job growth has increased significantly since the start of the year, and this marks the single biggest week in 2026. Three consecutive weeks of improvement is encouraging, but it's all perilous right now. And of course ADP flags that these numbers are preliminary and could change as new data comes in. We all know the drill at this point all too well, don't we? But uh, the labor market is still cooling compared to where we were a year ago. Employers are hiring, but they're selective about it. So if you're a job seeker, the window is open and it is widening a little bit. At least it seems to be. And again, that could all change at any moment and probably will right now based on where we are today and what's supposed to happen tonight. If you've been watching the news at all, I'm sure you're aware of what's going on. But for right now, we'll take any positivity where we can get it because we need it. And finally, some new research on the gig economy where access is equal but outcomes aren't. We women make up about 63% of freelancer accounts on upwork. According to new analysis from Mervilio Labs. That share has held steady since 2022. Women land projects at the same rate as men, and client ratings are virtually identical. 42% of men earn a perfect 5, compared to about 41% of women. But the gap shows up in how they're pricing Men post higher hourly rates at every experience level, even with comparable ratings and project counts. By 10 or more completed projects, men list roughly $5 per hour more than women in equivalent roles. And that gap widens with experience. Revilio points to confidence and risk tolerance as the drivers. Women may price conservatively to guarantee steady work, then anchor at that lower baseline as their career builds. That $5 an hour is a lot. That equates to around $10,000 a year. So if you're doing freelance or gig work, the practical takeaway from this should be straightforward. Review your rates regularly and benchmark against the market, not against your gender, because the price you set early tends to stick. Now here's a fun fact before we close this is a new term to me, body doubling, where working in the presence of someone else, even if they aren't helping, boosts focus for people with adhd. I've heard of body doubles in movies and TV shows, but body doubling? That's just sounds weird to me. I've not heard it before. Maybe you have. Hopefully not. We could all learn something new together today. Perhaps. But those are all of our headlines. That is it for today. I will be back tomorrow. Thank you for listening. Please like subscribe, share with anyone you think might be interested and I will talk to you soon.