Companies are looking to stay lean into 2026 while relying on technology to take on more tasks. Forecasters at jobs site Indeed expect relatively minimal hiring growth in 2026 and e-commerce platform Shopify and Chime Financial are already vowing to keep the size of their employee bases roughly flat. At a gathering of CEOs in Midtown Manhattan this month organized by the Yale School of Management, 66% of leaders surveyed said they planned to either fire workers or maintain the size of their existing teams next year. Only a third indicated they planned to hire.

Source: Wall Street Journal December 28, 2025 10:32 UTC