‘I have not seen this since 2008’: Recruiter sounds the alarm on mass layoffs hitting one specific job, and it’s a terrifying sign

The job market in America is not looking good right now. Fewer people are getting hired than at any point since 2009. Even seasonal jobs during the holidays, which used to be easy to find, are disappearing. But there’s one job in particular that seems to be taking the biggest hit.

A recruiter named Bri posted a video on TikTok that got more than 725,000 views. In it, she talked about something that most people probably haven’t noticed unless they work in her field, as per Bro Bible. Companies are getting rid of their recruiters left and right.

Bri explained that while some people think AI might be taking over these jobs, that’s not really what’s happening. “We are not there yet, not collectively,” she said. “We still need recruiters, and they’re being laid off in massive numbers. And I have not seen this since 2008 when things were really bad.” She thinks this is a really bad sign of what’s coming.

What does this actually mean

Here’s why Bri thinks everyone should be worried about this. When a company fires its recruiters, it basically means they’re not planning to bring in any new workers anytime soon. Recruiters are the people who find and hire employees, so if companies don’t need them anymore, it tells you they’ve stopped growing.

Bri said she’s been watching LinkedIn closely, and she keeps seeing post after post from recruiters who just lost their jobs. It’s happening at all kinds of different companies. When businesses cut these positions, they’re basically saying they don’t expect things to get better anytime soon.

Most of what we know about this comes from stories people are sharing online rather than official reports. But there is some real data that backs up what Bri is seeing. Jobs in professional fields and office work have been going down over the last few months. Similar to a teacher who lost her job over a single comment, these layoffs are catching people off guard and changing lives fast.

Companies that track hiring say businesses are changing how they do things. Instead of bringing in fresh employees, they’re training the people they already have to do different jobs. That might be good for current workers, but it means fewer opportunities for anyone looking for work right now.

This isn’t the first time recruiters have worried about losing their jobs. People were talking about the same thing a year ago and even two years back. But what makes Bri’s warning different is that she’s comparing it to 2008, which was when the economy completely fell apart. Just as one TikToker learned an expensive lesson about her car, people looking for work might be about to learn some tough lessons about the job market.