The labor market has been steadily cooling throughout the year, but employers are more optimistic about hiring this quarter, according to ManpowerGroup’s latest employment outlook survey.

Hiring outlook among US employers increases. ManpowerGroup surveyed 6,300 US employers about their hiring intentions for Q4 2024, and found the net employment outlook (NEO)—calculated by subtracting the share of employers planning layoffs from those planning to hire—increased by four percentage points from the last quarter, to 34%. The NEO decreased year-over-year, by two percentage points.

Despite recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data that showed employers added fewer jobs than originally estimated this year, “I still see some stability under the surface,” Rajesh Namboothiry, SVP and head of Manpower US, said of the labor market. He noted that the unemployment rate, currently at 4.2%, has held steady and remains historically low, and said certain sectors “continue to be fairly resilient.”

Plans for seasonal hiring, coupled with an expectation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points later this month, are likely fueling a sense of “readiness” and “preparedness” among employers, Namboothiry told HR Brew.

Keep reading here.—CV

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A divided Congress and competing legislative priorities will likely stall any compliance-related work on the use of AI in the workplace.

Rep. Ted Lieu said Tuesday that movement on sweeping legislation that would impact how the technology is deployed at work is unlikely.

“The notion that we’re going to pass some massive 5,000 page AI bill that also regulates 27,000 use cases of AI, including hiring, I’m not sure that’s gonna happen this year,” the Democrat told Axios during an AI at work event in Washington DC. Lieu—the first member of Congress to write a bill with the help of generative AI—is co-chairing the bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence with Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte.

What’s that mean for HR? When it comes to governing how AI is used at work, Lieu said there are two approaches that lawmakers can explore.

Keep reading here.—AD

It’s going to be a gloomy October for some 1,800 PwC employees. The Big Four firm has announced it’ll be laying off around 2.5% of its US unit’s workforce next month, the Wall Street Journal reported.

About half of the job cuts will take place offshore. The cuts will occur mainly in PwC’s US advisory, products, and technology operations functions.

This is the first “formal” round of layoffs PwC has conducted since 2009, though in 2017, it offered some staff a choice between taking new jobs following a restructuring or leaving the firm. The layoffs come on the heels of a “structural overhaul” at PwC, the WSJ said.

During the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022, many companies sought advisory services, and many firms ramped up hiring in consequence. But high interest rates and a slower economy dampened demand in 2023. Deloitte, EY, and KPMG all made sizable staff cuts in the past year, as did top-ten accounting firm Grant Thornton and consulting firms Accenture and McKinsey. Now, it seems, the consulting downturn has hit PwC as well.

Keep reading here.—CV

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