This week, we’ve got data on Intel and Qualcomm to spice up the will-they-or-won’t-they M&A hot takes. Plus: falloff in European new car demand precipitated by hiring slumps across major auto firms, Boar’s Head removes jobs in wake of outbreak, and Warner Music Group joins the AI efficiency layoff bandwagon.
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This week, we’ve got data on Intel and Qualcomm to spice up the will-they-or-won’t-they M&A hot takes.
Plus: falloff in European car demand was precipitated by hiring slumps across major auto firms, Boar’s Head removes jobs in wake of outbreak, and Warner Music Group joins the AI layoff bandwagon.
Stick around for the latest labor demand trends at Nike, Conagra, Apogee, and Constellation, all with earnings calls coming next week.
The fate of Intel, once the world’s largest chip manufacturer, is tipping toward acquisition. Stock of the U.S. tech legend has dropped 55% this year and almost 70% since its peak in 2021.
Significant dropoffs in job openings preceded stock underperformance, with a steady purge of active jobs beginning in March. Meanwhile job openings at Qualcomm are up about 30% from the top of the year. The Compass Comparison chart below makes the match clear: Intel’s best days look to be behind it, while Qualcomm is steeling itself to compete with chip king Nvidia.
Intel Monthly Job Openings down 60% since 1/1/24
Daily Active Job Index since 1/1/24: Intel -85% | Qualcomm +35%
Stellantis, Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes posted notable reductions in new car registrations across Europe this summer, indicating a sharp overall decline in demand—especially for EVs. Carmakers are blaming macroeconomic conditions.
Production slowdown across the automakers is signaled in LinkUp job openings data beginning last summer. In the Daily Active Jobs Index chart below, you’ll see a comparison of Mercedes, Stellantis, and Volkswagen as they hightail it to the land of hiring reductions. Job openings were particularly down for production roles over this period, projecting concerns of lower demand.
Daily Active Job Index since 1/1/23: Mercedes -60% | Stellantis -40% | Volkswagen -40%
Open jobs at the big cheese of deli meat have fallen nearly 50% since the top of the year, as the company grapples with fallout from a deadly listeria outbreak, linked to a Virginia plant, earlier this year. In response Boar’s Head has recalled seven million pounds of ham, bacon, sausage and liverwurst and closed the Virginia plant, putting around 500 workers out of a job.
Boar’s HeadDaily Active Jobs down 40% since 1/1/24
In a restructuring effort aimed at boosting their recorded music business, WMG said it would cut 13% of its workforce, with most of the cuts expected in corporate and support roles.
The Compass data below suggests WMG has joined the AI redundancy march, as jobs in software development show the only significant increase since the beginning of 2023. As job openings in sales, management, and financial services dropped off, software job openings requiring the skill of artificial intelligence have spiked. In fact, nearly all current computer/mathematical job openings at the music group call for AI bonafides.
Warner Music GroupSoftware Developer hires spike in Q2, Q3
WMGActive Jobs requiring Artificial Intelligence skill since 1/1/23
Before the Earnings Call:
LinkUp is highlighting recent hiring trends at four companies set to report earnings next week. The data below is meant to provide additional insight ahead of official reports, and not to stand alone as an indicator of earnings results.
Every day, LinkUp indexes millions of job listings directly from more than 67,000 employer websites. In aggregate, this data tells the story of company health over time, strategic approaches to growth, signals of distress, and in-demand skills.
