Highlight of the Week
Salesforce to Lay Off 10% of Workforce, Reduce Offices
- Salesforce announced on Wednesday that it is laying off 10% of its workforce and reducing office space in certain markets
- Co-CEO Marc Benioff cited a “cautious approach to spending” on the part of Salesforce’s customers as the main driver of the cuts
- Benioff stated that Salesforce hired too many people during the revenue surge of 2020
Rate Curves
Rapid Report:
Stay for Pay? Companies Offer Big Raises to Retain Workers
- Workers who are staying at their current job are receiving the biggest raises in decades which in turn is putting pressure on inflation
- Employees who switched jobs saw greater growth in wages at 7.7% compared to 5.5% for workers who stayed
- The threat of employees leaving for bigger paychecks is the main reason for the large wage increases seen this year
- Overall wages are rising because the job market remains tight with more job openings than job seekers
Big Banks Predict Recession, Fed Pivot in 2023
- More than two-thirds of the economists at 23 large financial institutions predict that the U.S. will have a recession in 2023
- The Fed aims to continue raising rates in 2023 to a benchmark of 5%-5.5% which is leading economists to predict a downturn
- However, most economists predict that it will be a “shallow” or “mild” recession
- Additionally, most economists predict that unemployment will rise to above 5% in 2023
