Now Hiring...But Not Really? A Closer Look at Today’s Job Market Struggles.

Humans are not perfect. Humans are employers, as well as candidates. We come into the job market imperfect. And we get laid-0ff, or we leave a job/career/business on our own terms, which is a proven risk in today's job market by being imperfect. This article serves as inspiration for surviving a brutal job market for a couple of months, with no solid offer, due to an unexpected layoff at the start of January 2026, despite this being a common phenomenon in tech right now. If you have had a sales background, you would be immune to rejections; however getting rejection email after rejection email when something else in your life is not ideal (from injury recovery to another major personal adversity) is a f*cking difficult pill to swallow. No matter how emotionally strong you are as a person.

Further inspiration stems from networking with others in the tech industry, with the shock of finding out that some of my freelance colleagues were laid off from 'secure' full-time roles with benefits two years ago, still unable to find work today. One of my mentors in data analytics has been unable to find work in this field for over a year now. With the tools required to engage in such work (from SQL to data visualisation tools such as Tableau)...if you do not use it, you lose it is ever so true. What do you do?

Why is the job market broken right now?

1. Record numbers of applicants per role

There are a number of economic and geopolitical factors that come into play in causing this trend. The hiring managers are usually the successful candidates direct report, rather than HR departments due to automation and cost cutting initiatives. This means that strong applicants with the right qualifications, skills and experiences get screened out and rejected through no fault of their own. Below are screenshots of two jobs that yours truly has applied for this month. With the job with over 1,000 applicants, and less than 2,000 applicants; that role is a casual after-hours position where the hours to be worked are unclear.

With jobs that advertise an immediate start; it is a miracle if you hear back within two weeks of submitting your application to such jobs.

2. Layoffs

Artificial Intelligence (AI), cost cutting and restructuring in general are the current root causes of layoffs...and layoffs are not just happening to tech jobs. Anyone with a white collar job can no longer coast along, with the illusion that their career is fine, whether you are an employee or a freelancer/contractor. Yours truly is not saying this to scare you, however it is pretty disgusting that a company is "rewarded" by the likes of Wall Street for laying off almost half of its entire workforce, while the business is 'highly profitable' with a 16% surge in its stock price as a result, according to Forbes. More information on this can be found here.

If one company gets rewarded for laying off great workers - another one will also want skin in the game in that regard, and hence the cycle rinses and repeats, without any real consequences.

And multiple layoffs can happen in a matter of months, unfortunately:

It is not all doom and gloom, yet coming up with backup plans and solutions to making more income is no longer a luxury.

3. Application Tracking Systems (ATS) before human oversight

The ATS saves the hiring manager, recruitment and HR time in screening out candidates. This system scans for the right keywords, and quickly rejects candidates whose resumes/CV's and cover letters that don't match the selection criteria. You give yourself the best chance by using the top first page of your resume/CV for the right keywords specific to the role applied for. It is not uncommon to get a rejection email only minutes after sending your application through. The statistics on this do not lie, as 93% of recruiters use an ATS, per this Recruit CRM article.

4. Ghost jobs/paused roles/many moving parts

Ghosting (not receiving a response back to your application) is a common phenomenon. Many employers are not sure what they want until they see some applications come through. And it might be a waste of the potential employers time and human resources to go through 2000+ applications. Where do you start with such a high volume, in order to be 'fair' to every applicant?

It is common for some employers to change the title and terms of employment (for example, from full-time to contract) in response to certain applications received. There are roles advertised as contract roles where the contract term is not mentioned in the relevant job advertisement at all. Some job advertisements are posted as a data bank, to have applicants ready to go for when this specific employer is hiring, or as a real ghost job to give investors an illusion of growth, as well as to their existing employees; reminding them that no human is indispensable. Some may decide that they do not want to hire anyone in the end, and hence keep the job advertisement up until the expiration date.

The job market is not always ethical, yet if a ghost job is posted, it is certainly not illegal.

5. Risk aversion and management

Geopolitical events have caused some employers to freak out. For example, with the Bondi Beach attack in late December 2025, a famous chef abruptly closed down his bakery for his own personal safety, and for the safety of his staff. Your fate could be sealed by the balance sheet, where one project might survive, yet another project (all of the staff) have been let go by a split second decision to have more working and investing capital.

Some employers are scared to hire in this economy. Interest rates could change during the hiring process, as well as other Governmental policies that influence hiring decisions.

With the advent of AI, there is a rise in deepfake job applicants (also known as scammers) for fully remote jobs. This is adding cost pressures to firms when their budgets across all cost and profit centres are feeling the squeeze so to speak.

6. The hidden job market

The majority of roles are filled via networking, internal promotions, as well as referrals from existing employees. It is not what you know, but who you know. Life is unfair. If you have a good reputation, old bosses could approach you with extra work opportunities, which are usually on a contract basis to help them out during their busiest time period, such as tax season.

7. Fractional employment is a trend

The rise in contract, freelance, casual and part-time roles that do not fully pay the bills is a trend that is also responsible for more participants in the job market. Companies have had to be much leaner with their budgets in tough and uncertain times.

8. Recurring job ads

This could be a sign of growth, which is a positive thing, yet more so a sign of high staff turnover - especially when noticing that advertisements for telemarketing and outbound call centre sales jobs by the same employer are posted frequently on job boards. Many of the successful applicants for such roles would have been dismissed for not performing, or chose to leave such jobs early, bringing back more competition into an already tight job market.

Furthermore, interview processes have also expanded. Not two interviews, but rather six or seven rounds of interviews. Candidates are expected to jump through more hoops. Not sure if this is true or not, yet in America yours truly heard it through the grapevine that some people are paying recruitment agencies to place them into a suitable role, rather than the relevant employer paying for this service.

Although the current job market (which has been the case for a little while now) clearly has its flaws; us humans are resilient, and we do possess strong survival instincts from our cavemen days. In addition to tailoring your resume/CV and cover letter to each and every job applied for - as well as following up with the hiring manager; you will need a backup plan. This backup plan includes, yet is not limited to the following:

• Be a consultant on the side.
• Create a skills-based side hustle, engaging in tutoring, graphic design, writing (for example, writing on Vocal Media for some extra cash), handyman work, editing/proofreading, transcription and social media management work to name. These side gigs free up your time and energy to continue to apply for jobs.
• Reach out to old networks, and old recruitment agencies (perhaps through who you used to temp for) to let them know that you are available for work.
• Start a business. Not everyone is entrepreneurial, yet you never know unless you try.
• Ask yourself where you can temporarily cut costs until you find something.
• Invest wisely if you have the funds to, in building passive income. Or learn to invest.
• Consider re-locating to a more affordable area, and/or where the opportunities in your industry now lie. (For example, rural areas for healthcare jobs perhaps.)
• Brush up on your portfolio - whether it is via GitHub or on your own website. For example, write articles for LinkedIn about your industry, and engage with conversations from others in your industry on such platforms. Recruiters looking for suitable candidates on LinkedIn may notice you.
• Start creating content. Have a passion project. Who knows where this might land.
• Consider studying a short micro-credential, or an industry specific compliance course.
• Look into temporary employment to stay relevant, as potential employers prefer candidates who are still working during the job search process.
• Remember to engage in some personal and/or professional development, and look after your mental health. Exercise, movement, and leaving the house is also important.
• Volunteering could also open doors.

Where can you create self leverage, in a system that is brutal, and is clearly not working right now? The quality of the questions you ask, also determines the quality of your life.

This song is all about getting back up again despite getting knocked down in this broken job market. Use it as your inspiration to keep on going, no matter how long it takes: