Dive Brief:
- While 92% of companies say they plan to hire workers in 2026, 55% said they expect layoffs, according to a new report from Resume.org.
- Among the reasons cited for layoffs, companies cite AI (44%), reorganization/restructuring (42%) and budget constraints (39%) as the top drivers. Nearly 6 in 10 companies (59%) report that they frame layoffs or hiring slowdowns as artificial intelligence-driven “because it plays better with stakeholders than saying the real reason is financial constraints,” per the research.
- Meanwhile, the report noted that 54% of companies say problem-solving skills are one of their top three top priorities when it comes to finding new candidates for open roles. Employers are also looking for workers who can learn new tools and technologies quickly (44%) and who have good communication skills (43%).
Dive Insight:
In what the report dubbed “The Great Turnover,” Resume.org’s survey of 1,000 U.S. hiring managers, fielded in December 2025, found that most of the hiring — as well as most of the headcount reduction — was planned for early in 2026.
Nearly half (48%) of companies expect that layoffs “will definitely or probably occur in Q1,” while 86% expect to be hiring during that period. Companies that are holding back on hiring cited budget constraints (48%), revenue uncertainty (39%) and pressure to control costs (38%) as the main reasons, and only 6% of companies expect to be hiring by the end of 2026.
“What we are seeing is workforce rebalancing,” Kara Dennison, Resume.org’s head of career advising, said in the report. “Companies are laying off in areas that no longer align with near-term priorities while hiring aggressively in functions tied to revenue, transformation, and efficiency.”
A December study from ManpowerGroup found that many employers expect a stable hiring outlook moving into 2026. The report found that for employers looking to hire at the beginning of the year, 37% cited organizational growth, 26% mentioned investment in new business areas and 19% said they’re backfilling recent departures.
AI is absolutely a factor when it comes to staffing decisions, but only 9% of companies say AI has completely replaced human workers in certain roles. Instead, Resume.org said companies may be using AI “more as a hiring slowdown tool than a true workforce substitute,” because 45% of firms said the technology has “partially reduced the need for new hires.” Another 45% said AI has had little to no impact on staffing levels.
Dennison said that the main takeaway for job hunters is that hiring hasn’t stalled, but rather become more selective.
“Most organizations are reducing roles that are higher-cost, slower to yield ROI, or misaligned with new operating models,” Dennison said. “That often includes layers of middle management, duplicated functions after reorganizations, and roles tied to legacy processes. At the same time, they’re investing in roles that support growth, automation, data, customer retention, and execution speed.”