Headline figures pointing to a booming US job market are masking a shift in the balance of power from employee to employer, with companies becoming more demanding of their staff as they find it easier to replace them.
US employers are laying off staff, forcing remote workers back into the office and becoming pickier with their hiring decisions, even as the economy continues to add jobs at a breakneck pace.
Non-farm payrolls figures published last week showed the US economy added 353,000 jobs in January — almost twice the forecast number. Yet other data, such as last week’s Employment Cost index, shows that wages are not rising as fast as they were.