Community | Website | Tools

👋 Welcome, Jobseekers

"It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart."

-Mockingjay

Tech’s Hunger Games just lost a few more tributes. Indeed, Glassdoor, and Scale AI are swinging the axe. But here's the twist: Employee happiness just hit another record high. Strange times? Absolutely. In this issue, we expose the silent exodus of burned-out tech talent, dissect why worker morale is soaring even as layoffs mount, and arm you with AI-powered tools to dodge the chaos. Buckle up, jobseekers. It's about to get weird.

• 📉 Layoff Report: Indeed, Glassdoor to Cut 1,300,  Scale AI to cut 200

• 🧑‍✈️ Career CoPilot: The Silent Exodus - Tech’s Hunger Games Are Losing Their Tributes

• 📈 Trends & Data: Employee sentiment climbs to another record high

• 🔧 Jobseeker Tools: Kin, Luppa AI, Bugfree.ai

Discuss this newsletter in the Offboard community Slack!

Anything and everything we talk about here can be further discussed in our Slack Community (among many other job-seeking-related topics). Just look for the #newsletter channel to find specific topics to talk about!

Start learning AI in 2025

Keeping up with AI is hard – we get it!

That’s why over 1M professionals read Superhuman AI to stay ahead.

• Get daily AI news, tools, and tutorials

• Learn new AI skills you can use at work in 3 mins a day

• Become 10X more productive

Sign up and start mastering AI

📉 Indeed, Glassdoor to Cut 1,300,  Scale AI to cut 200

• Scale AI to Cut 14% of Staff Following Meta Investment 

• Lenovo lays off 3% of US workforce 

• CDW Layoffs Hit More Workers Due to 'Offshoring' 

• Cannabis inhaler startup Syqe lays off a third of its workforce 

• Fintech giant FIS lays off 133 people at Seattle-area office 

• Jamf Announces Strategic Reinvestment Plan 

• Quick Fashion Startup Blip Shuts Shop 

• Sony plans major layoffs at Israeli chip R&D hub 

• Indeed, Glassdoor to Cut 1,300 Jobs in AI-Focused Consolidation 

• Unicorn Augury lays off 18% of staff just months after $75M raise 

The Silent Exodus - Tech’s Hunger Games Are Losing Their Tributes

Overview:

Top talent is quietly walking off the field—fed up with resume black holes, “unlimited” PTO guilt trips, and promotion knife-fights that pit co-workers against each other.

The Details:

• Broken Hiring Funnel

  • 70 % of recruiting is now virtual, but 60 % of candidates say they never hear back after an interview.

  • 87 % of execs admit their org has skill gaps, yet job posts still demand quantum-level wizardry for CRUD apps.

• PTO Illusion & Burnout

  • “Unlimited PTO” sounds generous until you learn the average tech employee takes 36 % fewer days off than peers with fixed allowances.

  • Internal data from three FAANG alumni communities shows a 2× spike in therapist visits within six months of RTO mandates.

• Rigged Promotion Game

  • Forced stack-ranking means the bottom 5 % are cut annually, regardless of absolute performance.

  • Referral bonuses now average $5 K, turning networks into survival currency and reinforcing homogenous hiring.

• Worker Power Moves

  • Salary-band transparency drives up retention 15 % in two quarters (per Buffer’s publicly shared pay data).

  • Peer-led micro-guilds—underground Slack or Discord groups swapping leads and learning—grow 40 % faster than official “mentorship programs.”

Why It Matters:

The “talent shortage” narrative masks a credibility crisis: companies burn goodwill faster than they can recruit. As cybersecurity sits on 3 M unfilled roles and AI accelerates the race for scarce skill sets, organizations that treat people as expendable tributes will hemorrhage their best players. Meanwhile, workers who weaponize transparency, build cross-company alliances, and insist on human-centric policies are rewriting the rules. Tech’s arena isn’t going away—but the odds finally favor those who refuse to play.

Employee sentiment climbs to another record high

Overview:

Even as hiring cools, the people who have jobs are feeling better than ever. ADP’s latest Employee Motivation & Commitment (EMC) Index just notched its third-straight record, jumping eight points to 147 in July.

The Details:

• Overall Vibe Check — EMC Index = 147, up 8 points month-over-month and now 25 % above the December 2021 baseline.

• Factory Floor Euphoria — Manufacturing sentiment rocketed 33 points to 230, the biggest single-month leap since ADP started tracking this series.

• School-House Spirit — Educational-services workers added +20 points to 150, eclipsing the previous high of 136.

• Cash-Register Rally — Retail & wholesale trade ticked up +6 points to 147, setting yet another record.

• Property Pessimism — Real-estate sentiment slipped −4 points to 96, its third consecutive drop.

• How They Measure It — Monthly panel survey of 2,500 U.S. workers (fielded July 1-7, 2025); next release lands August 19.

Why it Matters:

• Negotiation leverage: High commitment scores signal employers may fight harder to keep talent. Use that when talking total comp or remote flexibility.

• Sector clues: Manufacturing’s joy-spike mirrors reshoring and AI-driven productivity pushes—opportunities for product pros who can design shop-floor software. Education’s rise hints at ed-tech budgets loosening again.

• Warning lights: Real-estate’s slide is a reminder to scrutinize prop-tech roles; sentiment often dips before budgets do.

• Macro read: When workers feel secure despite slower hiring, layoffs usually stay muted. But if sentiment rolls over, an inflection could follow fast—keep cultivating options before the vibes change.

Bottom line: the job market’s pulse is weakening, but worker morale is surging. For tech designers eyeing $200 K+ remote gigs, lean into sectors riding the sentiment wave and come armed with data-driven confidence at the bargaining table.

Kin

Kin is a new kind of personal AI companion, more emotionally intelligent and private than ever. For whatever life throws at you.

Luppa AI

Accelerate your brand's growth with effortless content creation and automation—from text, images, and video to analytics, scheduling, and research.

Bugfree

Learn from interactive Practice. Cracking the Interview Just Like You Did at Leetcode!

🔧 Browse the Offboard Tool Directory →