This Week in Jobs Data: 23andMe Bankruptcy, OpenAI Hiring Surge, TikTok Slowdown, and DC Job Cuts

Top Story:

23andMe: Hiring Collapse Precedes Bankruptcy Filing

The stock price at personal genomics firm 23andMe is down over 99% in the last five years, marking a bitter end for the company that owns DNA samples from over 14 million individuals. Job openings data shows a gradual decline in labor demand at the biotech since 2021, with daily active listings closely tracking stock performance.

Active Job Openings down 96% from peak, with just 4 current listings

In the occupation breakdown below, you’ll see an archaeological digsite of grab-bag hiring, with dramatic spikes and retreats in demand for healthcare practitioners, scientists, software developers, and managers since 2021. These lurches fit the bill of a company perpetually changing direction—from offering heritage reports, to framing itself as a healthcare resource replete with clinicians and blood testing, and now: selling their subscribers’ genetic data to the highest bidder.

Occupational breakdown since 2021 shows volatile hiring patterns

On the Ups:

OpenAI Accelerates Hiring Amid $40B SoftBank Investment

OpenAI is close to finalizing a $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank Group Corp. In anticipation of all that cash, the AI juggernaut is on a shopping spree—for talent.

OpenAI expects to more than triple its revenue this year to $12.7 billion, and more than double it next year to $29.4 billion. With daily active listings up nearly 100% in the last year to prepare for major expansion, certain skills are in particularly high demand.

Daily Active Listings up 98% since May 2024 in anticipation of funding

LinkUp skills data clarifies OpenAi’s internal strategy for rapid growth: skill demand has shot up for software “deployment” in the last three months as the company focuses its attention on shipping different applications of its AI capabilities to maximize revenue.

Top Skills by Month: “Deployment” skill, first appeared in January, on rise

At the same time, job openings calling for expertise in “storage area networks” have risen gradually over 500% in the last three years. This is a clear indication that OpenAI is indeed planning to wean itself off Microsoft’s Azure data storage going forward.

Top Skills by Month: “Storage Area Networks” skill demand up 5x since 2022

Tick Tock for Duoyin:

TikTok Hiring Velocity Slows as Uncertainty Builds

The will-they-or-won’t-they energy surrounding Douyin’s potential sale of crown jewel TikTok to US investors has influencers clutching their pearls and job-seekers thinking twice about joining a leaky ship.

Job openings remain mostly steady at the doom scroll Don, while Closed Duration—the time from a job listing’s created date to its removal after a hire—has climbed from 45 to 130 days since Trump’s election. It’s a strong indication of company health when hiring velocity is on the upswing, and equally indicative of distress when it slows.

Daily Active Job Openings mount steady climb after TikTok ban plunge

Time-to-hire up from 45 → 130 days days since November

On the Slump: Government Employment

Public Sector Layoffs Hit Washington D.C. Hard

As many as 10,000 public health workers—a quarter of the Health and Human Services department—are expected to be laid off in RFK Jr.’s bull rush towards government efficiency.

In the Compass graph below, you can see the precursor to these sweeping job cuts: massive removals of job openings without newly created listings to balance them. Tellingly, the removals went down in the months after Trump’s election.

Active Job Openings down 83% since November ‘24, little job creation

One of these things is not like the others: labor blues in D.C.

March was a healthy month for labor demand in the U.S. (After tariff liberation day, we’re not confident April will follow suit). 49 of 50 states saw MoM increases in labor demand across most industries and occupations. Job openings in Arkansas remained flat. Only the nation’s capital charted a month of negative growth, with a 2% decline in job openings, mostly for public administration roles. It’s a strong reminder that DOGE’s moves are best tracked not on X, but with real time labor demand data.

Job Openings down 2% in DC for March, but up or flat in all 50 states

Pre-Earnings Hiring Trends: Delta, Carmax, Goldman, BlackRock

Recent hiring trends at four companies set to report earnings this 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.

Delta Airlines - Active Listings down 38% since 10/1/24 | Earnings on 4/9

Carmax - Active Listings down 26% since 10/1/24 | Earnings Report on 4/10

Goldman - Active Listings up 57% since 10/1/24 | Earnings Report on 4/14

Blackrock - Active Listings down 13% since 3/1/25 | Earnings Report on 4/11

Job Postings as Real-Time Strategy Signals

Hiring activity offers a unique window into how companies allocate capital, prioritize operations, and respond to external pressure. For enterprise executives and investors, tracking these shifts weekly can surface signals before they appear in financials or the news cycle.