NewsPress
The New York Times
U.S. Labor Market Shifts to a Lower Gear
The economy added fewer jobs in September and unemployment ticked up, while inflation maintained pressure on markets and raised costs. Pelgo CEO Chieh Huang is quoted on job-seeker uncertainty in a low-hire environment.
By Talmon Joseph Smith
In its coverage of the September employment report, The New York Times described a U.S. labor market that “shifts to a lower gear”: employers added 29,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent, slower growth than many expected after recent months of resilience.
Pelgo CEO Chieh Huang is quoted on what that softness looks like for people searching for work. He said the “low-fire, low-hire” catchphrase has merit, but that there is real angst beneath the surface — including uncertainty about what AI will do to future roles.
“There’s just so much uncertainty in general,” Huang said. “And then so much uncertainty of what A.I. can do in the future so that when you talk to job seekers, like we do constantly, they are finding that hey, it takes a little bit longer these days to find your next gig.”
Huang also noted that a substantial share of people without jobs are long-term unemployed seeking comparable pay or stature, while others take lower-paying roles rather than risk weeks or months without a paycheck.