Name: 年關將至，工作還是沒著落？為什麼現在找工作感覺像不可能的任務一樣困難？ (Why Getting A Job Feels Impossible Right Now)
Uploaded: 2024-02-06T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 10 min 39 s

On paper, the job market now looks solid.

從理論上來看，目前的就業市場看起來很穩健。

Unemployment hit a 54-year-low at 3.4% back in January of 2023, and U.S. employers added 2.7 million people to the payroll in 2023 alone.

失業率在2023年1月達到54年來的最低點，為3.4％，僅在2023年，美國雇主就增加了270萬人的薪資單。

The January jobs report also showed the 2024 labor market was off to a solid start.

1月份的就業報告還顯示，2024年的勞動力市場開局良好。

When we look at the hard data, it seems to suggest that the labor market has been fairly strong and in fact, surprisingly resilient, especially after 2023 where we had headlines about layoffs and forecasts of recession.

當我們查看實際數據時，似乎表明勞動力市場相當強大，事實上，特別是在2023年之後，我們有過有關裁員和經濟衰退預測的標題，它表現出驚人的韌性。

But when you look at the soft data, Americans tend to be a little bit less optimistic about how the economy is doing and in particular about the job market.

但是當你看軟數據時，美國人對經濟的表現，尤其是對就業市場的樂觀程度稍微減弱。

Politicians just talking about how the economy is so great. I just want to scream from the rooftops.

政治家們只是談論經濟有多好。我只是想從屋頂上大喊。

但為什麼大家都找不到工作呢？

Recently, unemployed full time workers applied to an average of 30 jobs only to receive an average of four callbacks or responses.

最近，失業的全職員工平均申請了30個工作，但只收到了平均四個回應。

If you look at the job vacancies, they're down a little bit, but not down enormously.

如果你看一下職位空缺，它們有一點下降，但並沒有大幅下降。

But if you ask, you know, how hard are you working to fill them?

但如果你問，你知道，你有多努力填滿這些職位？

The answer seems to be not very right now.

So why does it feel so hard to get a job right now?

And is the U.S. labor market as strong as it seems?

美國勞動力市場是否像看上去那樣強勁？

I'm from Ardmore, Pennsylvania, in suburbs of Philadelphia.

我來自賓夕法尼亞州郊區的阿德摩爾費城。

This job market is like the craziest that I have ever seen.

這個就業市場是我見過的最瘋狂的。

I was frustrated just with how my job search process has been going.

我對我找工作的過程感到很沮喪。

I haven't quantified how many applications I've applied to.

我還沒有統計我投遞了多少份工作申請。

It would be a little depressing, I feel at this point to quantify it.

在這一點上，統計這個數字會讓我有點沮喪。

But it was definitely in the hundreds, at least.

55% of unemployed adults said they were burnt out from searching for a new job.

55%的失業成年人表示，他們因為尋找新工作感到精疲力竭。

Younger generations were impacted the most, with 66% complaining of burnout stemming from job search.

Looking for a job can be a full time job.

Filling out applications online can be tedious and can be time consuming and can be really stressful.

線上填寫應用表可能很煩人，也可能非常耗時，而且可能真的很有壓力。

Every day, it just feels like Groundhog Day or waking up doing the same thing.

每一天都感覺像《今天暫時停止》或者每天醒來都在做同樣的事情。

When I looked at the data, if you just applied to a job through a job board, the odds of you getting hired were about 3%.

當我查看數據時，如果你只是通過招聘網站應聘工作，被聘用的概率約為3%。

So you got to apply to a lot of different jobs in order to have a chance to get them.

因此，你必須應聘很多不同的工作，才有機會獲得它們。

And you're going to get lots and lots of just no responses. And it's exhausting if you do that.

而且你會得到很多很多只是沒有回應。如果你這樣做，會很累人。

A 2023 study from Glassdoor revealed that mentions of applicants being ghosted by their prospective employers grew substantially since before the Covid 19 pandemic.

從2023年Glassdoor的一項研究中發現，自新冠疫情之前，提到應聘者被雇主忽略的情況大幅增加。

We often hear from job seekers that they send out tons and tons of applications, and they don't even hear back, and that can be very emotionally and mentally taxing.

我們經常聽到求職者說他們發出大量的應聘申請，甚至連個回音都沒有，這可能在情感和心理上造成很大的負擔。

It's like, especially if you're going to take the time to do an interview with them, you could at least let them know.

這就像，特別是如果你願意花時間進行面試，你至少可以告訴他們。

It's easy to put up a job and so many people can see that job. So when you get such an overwhelming response, it's often very difficult to get back to every single solitary candidate.

發佈招聘資訊很容易，很多人可以看到這個工作。因此，當你收到如此壓倒性的回應時，往往很難回覆每一個求職者。

Certainly during the Great Resignation, when the market was at a fever pitch, companies were being ghosted by candidates, which is something that hadn't happened as much in the past.

當市場處於白熱化時，特別是在大規模辭職的時候，公司也經常被求職者忽視，這在過去並不常發生。

So we've seen it happen on both sides of the fence.

因此，我們看到這種情況在兩邊都發生過。

And I think a lot of it is caused by just sheer volume.

我認為這很大程度上是由於純粹的數量。

The time it takes for a company to hire an employee also hit an all time high at an average of 44 days during the first quarter of 2023, with some industries like the energy and defense sector taking more than 67 days for hire.

企業聘用員工所需的時間也創下了歷史新高，2023年第一季度的平均時間為44天，一些行業，如能源和國防部門，甚至需要超過67天才能完成招聘。

Application process has been getting longer and longer with going through multiple rounds and doing assessments.

申請過程變得越來越冗長，需要進行多輪面試和進行評估。

My worst experience so far was with a large financial institution where I had a phone screen with them, and I also had a Zoom interview with one of the team members.

到目前為止，我最糟糕的經歷是與一家大型金融機構合作，我進行了一次電話篩選，並與團隊成員進行了一次Zoom面試。

After that, I had a case study where I was given very vague instructions.

之後，我進行了一個案例研究，但給我的指示非常模糊。

They got back to me and said that the team didn't feel like there was enough, that they gave me another attempt.

他們回覆我說，團隊覺得我得到的信息不夠，給了我另一次嘗試的機會。

In the end, I just ended up just going back to the recruiter and saying like, you know, 'I'm sorry, I don't think this is the best fit.'

最終，我只是回到招聘人員那裡說：「對不起，我覺得這不是最合適的選擇。」

Becauseeven if I did move forward and they were okay with my revision, there still would have been three more interviews.

因為即使我繼續，他們對我的修改滿意，仍然會有另外三場面試。

A lot of employers think that doing more interviews is a good thing.

很多僱主認為，多做面試是件好事。

Most job interviews are not doing anything important.

大多數的求職面試都沒有進行任何重要的事情。

They don't know that the questions they're asking are going to reveal anything about whether you are a good candidate or not.

他們不知道他們所問的問題是否會揭示出你是否是一個合適的候選人。

They don't know when they ask the question what the right answer is.

他們問問題時不知道什麼是正確答案。

And this is a development that's been going on for a while.

這是一個已經進行了一段時間的發展。

And even if the labor market was stronger, you would still be seeing some of this.

即使勞動市場更強勁，你仍然會看到一些這樣的情況。

There are generally two terms economists use to describe the state of the job market tight and loose.

經濟學家通常使用兩個術語來描述就業市場的狀態，即緊縮和寬鬆。

Usually when economists talk about a tight labor market, they mean hot, essentially.

通常，當經濟學家談到緊縮的勞動市場時，他們指的是熱門市場，基本上是指供需緊張。

Mostly what that means is it is difficult for employers to find workers.

這基本上意味著雇主很難找到員工。

And so in that context, employers tend to be more hesitant to lay off workers.

在這種情況下，雇主更不願意裁員。

They tend to try to be more aggressive about how they hire, whether that means offering bonuses or offering on-the-job training.

他們傾向於在招聘方面更積極，不論是提供獎金還是提供在職培訓。

By contrast, a loose labor market or cold labor market is one where there might be layoffs, it might be hiring freezes.

相比之下，一個鬆散的勞動市場或冷門的勞動市場可能會有裁員，也可能會凍結招聘。

It might be difficult to find a job for workers who are either already in the workforce or workers who are trying to enter the workforce for the first time.

對於已經在勞動力市場中的勞工，或者嘗試首次進入勞動力市場的勞工來說，找工作可能會變得困難。

The American labor market has remained extremely tight, following the end of the pandemic.

在疫情結束後，美國的勞動力市場仍然非常緊張。

So many companies had to scale back during the pandemic, and then all at once, companies were able to hire again as their businesses started to move.

許多公司在疫情期間不得不縮減規模，然後突然之間，隨著他們的業務重新啟動，這些公司得以再次招聘。

So you had so many job openings happening all at the same time.

所以同時發生了很多工作機會。

Job openings surged to historic highs while the country continued to struggle from the devastating labor shortage.

工作機會激增到歷史最高水平，而該國繼續受到嚴重的勞動力短缺的影響。

With so many plentiful job prospects, even working Americans quit their jobs at a record pace for new jobs, in a trend that came to be known as the Great Resignation.

由於許多豐富的就業機會，即便是在工作中的美國人也以創紀錄的速度辭去工作，尋找新的工作，這一趨勢被稱為“大辭職”。

But the job market is beginning to show signs of cooling.

但就業市場開始顯示出降溫的跡象。

There's less of a frenzy on the part of the employers.

If you're somebody who wants a job, you would like a frenzy on the part of the employers because you would like to have lots of people trying to hire you.

如果你是想要工作的人，你會希望雇主方面有一番狂熱，因為你希望有很多人想要雇用你。

I think one interesting thing about the job market right now is that it is strong, but the hiring rate is low, and similarly the layoff rate is actually very low.

我認為目前的就業市場有趣的一點是，市場雖然強勁，但招聘率低，同樣的，裁員率實際上也很低。

The layoff and discharge rate in the U.S. has been hovering near historic lows, despite the barrage of layoffs reported specifically within the more visible tech and media sectors.

儘管在更顯眼的科技和媒體行業中報導了大量裁員，但美國的裁員率一直維持在接近歷史低位。

So I think what might be going on here is that employers are hesitant to lay off workers.

我認為可能發生的情況是僱主對裁員猶豫不決。

They're hesitant to push workers out because of their recent experience with labor shortages.

他們不願意把員工趕走，因為他們最近遇到了勞動力短缺的問題。

But on the flip side, that also means that a lot of workers are sitting tight.

但反過來說，這也意味著很多工人都保持現狀。

They're not quitting, they're not being laid off.

And so there aren't as many of those opportunities you would normally expect from attrition for folks who are trying to break into those roles.

因此，對於試圖進入這些角色的人來說，他們通常不會有那麼多的機會來自自然減員的機會。

Meanwhile, research from LinkedIn found that job seekers search intensity in the U.S. grew by 27% in 2023 compared to the year before.

與此同時，LinkedIn的研究發現，2023年美國求職者的搜索強度較去年增長了27%。

In 2022, there was one open job for every active applicant on the LinkedIn platform.

在2022年，LinkedIn平台上每個活躍求職者都有一個開放職位。

By 2023, the ratio turned to one job for every two active applicants.

到了2023年，這一比例變成了每兩個活躍求職者有一個開放職位。

Right now in the marketplace, what we're seeing is both employers and employees being a little bit more selective.

眼下在市場上，我們看到的是雇主和員工都變得更加慎重。

Everybody's taking a little bit more of a measured approach right now, being a little bit more selective in their choices.

現在每個人都在採取更為謹慎的態度，對自己的選擇更加慎重。

And that's why we've seen a little bit of a cooling in the marketplace.

這就是為什麼我們看到市場有所降溫的原因。

However, experts reassure that the cooling labor market is no reason for concern yet.

然而，專家們保證，目前的勞動力市場降溫還不足以引起擔憂。

It is important to have a perspective that's a little more historical on this.

對此擁有更歷史性的觀點是很重要的。

You know, if you're hunting for a job right now and you can't find one, it looks like a lousy job market to you.

如果你現在正在找工作而找不到，那對你來說這似乎是一個不好的就業市場。

But compared to your parents experience, it's a great job market.

但與你的父母相比經驗，這是一個很好的就業市場。

I think that sentiment is outcomes minus expectations.

我認為這種情緒是結果減去期望。

So in 2021, 2022, there were labor shortages.

在 2021 年、2022 年，有勞動力人才短缺。

And so even if 2024 is shaping up to be a relatively healthy labor market by recent comparison, it doesn't feel quite as strong.

因此，即使根據最近的比較，2024年的勞動市場形勢看起來相對健康，但感覺上並不那麼強勁。

A cooldown in the labor market was also what the Federal Reserve had intended with its series of interest rate hikes.

美聯儲一系列加息措施的目的之一也是降低勞動市場的熱度。

If you are the Federal Reserve and you want to slow the economy down, that means you want to slow the markets down a bit.

如果你是美聯儲，而你想要降低經濟速度，這意味著你想要稍微降低市場的速度。

If you look at what employers do, where their budget is, it's mainly going to labor.

如果你看看雇主的行為，他們的預算主要用在勞動力上。

So you can't easily cool the economy down unless you cool the labor market down.

所以，你不能輕易地降低經濟活動，除非你冷卻勞動市場。

Experts also noted that the health of the labor market will largely rely on where the economy is headed next.

專家還指出，勞動市場的健康狀況很大程度上將取決於經濟未來的走向。

If the economy does slow down more significantly in 2024, if we see a recession in 2024, the labor market can be somewhat resilient, but it can't fully buck the broader economic trends.

如果2024年經濟放緩得更明顯，如果我們在2024年看到經濟衰退，勞動市場可能會有一定的韌性，但不能完全逆轉整體經濟趨勢。

And so that's definitely something we want to watch out for in 2024.

因此，這絕對是我們在2024年要密切關注的事情。

It's not a guarantee that the job market is going to remain as strong.

這並不能保證就業市場會依然強勁。

Broadly speaking, we might have some optimism about the economy.

廣義而言，我們對經濟可能有一些樂觀看法。

That doesn't necessarily mean that the job search is an easy process.

這並不一定意味著求職是一個簡單的過程。