Eric Siu breaks down why major companies like Shopify and Chime Financial stopped hiring in 2026. Leaders are freezing headcount to invest in AI and capital instead, while unemployment rises and voluntary attrition at IBM hits unusually low levels.
Why companies are not hiring in 2026, more specifically big companies. Have you seen this trend? I have not seen that trend. So you got Shopify, Chime Financial, they're vowing to keep the size of their employee bases roughly flat. Uh, 66% of leaders surveyed said they plan to either fire workers or maintain the size of their existing teams, and only a third said they plan to hire. So you're seeing a lot of wait and see. Some of the looming uncertainty will mean that we're going to see an investment in capital over people. So employment unemployment rose 44.6% in November. It's the highest in four years, while the U.S. added jobs in you know healthcare and education. IBM employees are leaving the technology giant at the lowest rate in 30 years. 30 years, dude. And so he's basically saying that the CEO Arvind of IBM voluntary attrition at IBM is under 2%, which is amazing. Okay, a decline from the typical 7%. So people are looking to stay pat right now, and then at the same time, big companies are looking to see what type of efficiencies they're going to gain from AI, I think, in 2026. If you want more insights like this on AI, marketing, and business, follow to learn more.
