• Hiring slowdown tied to interest rates, not AI disruption

• Labor market undergoing rapid shift in required skills

LinkedIn data shows a roughly 20% drop in hiring activity since 2022 amid a broader cooling in the global job market, according to a senior executive speaking at the Semafor World Economy summit.

Blake Lawit, LinkedIn’s chief legal and global affairs officer, said the platform—covering more than a billion members—offers a real-time snapshot of employment trends across jobs, skills, and companies, adding that there is currently no evidence linking artificial intelligence to the hiring decline.

He noted that the slowdown does not appear to stem from AI-related disruption, even in sectors often expected to be affected such as customer service, administration, and marketing, saying the data shows no unusual shifts in those areas.

According to Lawit, the main driver behind the downturn is higher interest rates and their impact on economic activity and hiring, with the slowdown affecting workers across all career stages, from recent graduates to experienced professionals.

He also warned of accelerating changes in the labor market in the near term, pointing out that required job skills have already shifted by about 25% in recent years and could rise to 70% by 2030 as AI adoption expands.

He added that job roles themselves are evolving even when employees stay in the same position, requiring continuous adaptation and upskilling.