A Wave of U.S. Layoffs May Be Coming. 'Zombie' Companies Could Be Why.

The layoff announcements just keep coming: Disney, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Twitter, Salesforce, Citigroup, Barclays, and lots of other big companies. But many of the recent job cuts grabbing headlines are coming from companies with large revenues and lots of cash on their balance sheets.

Higher interest rates and a stock market crash have made it the most difficult for companies to raise money in at least a decade, so they're cutting jobs and other expenses to steady bottom lines. And ‘zombie’ companies — firms that don’t make enough profit to service their debts — could be in real trouble.

As interest rates continue to climb and earnings slump, I explain why you can expect to see more layoff announcements, hiring freezes and maybe even bankruptcies in the near future.

I’m Dion Rabouin, a WSJ reporter covering markets and the economy. I’ll be diving into all things finance, from the popular and well-known — like crypto and stocks — to the complex and intricate — like leveraged loans, derivatives and private equity. Subscribe to join me as I take a deep dive into what’s making money move and why it matters.

#Layoffs #Jobs #DionRabouin