Experts see a rocky jobs landscape ahead

Google’s 20% boomerang hire rate for AI engineers reveals a counterintuitive talent strategy: the same 2023 layoffs that signaled retreat from AI ambitions created a pre-vetted talent pool that now fuels the company’s competitive resurgence, turning a perceived weakness into recruitment advantage.

∙ Layoff-to-rehire pipeline: The 12,000 job cuts in early 2023 inadvertently created a curated list of Google-trained engineers who understand internal systems, culture, and infrastructure—reducing onboarding friction that slows competitor hires.
∙ Compute as recruiting tool: Head of compensation John Casey explicitly cites Google’s “hefty computational infrastructure” as a talent magnet, confirming that access to training resources matters as much as compensation in AI hiring.
∙ Noam Shazeer as proof point: The Character.AI founder’s return—after leaving because Google “rebuffed” his chatbot ambitions—demonstrates the company’s cultural shift toward shipping faster and taking risks.
∙ Sergey Brin’s personal involvement: A co-founder coming out of retirement to personally recruit candidates signals existential prioritization that bureaucratic HR processes can’t match.
∙ Competitive pressure validated: Meta’s reported $100M signing bonuses and OpenAI’s aggressive retention efforts confirm the talent war is real, making Google’s boomerang strategy a cost-effective counter to compensation escalation.

The strategic implication extends beyond Google: companies that executed pandemic-era layoffs now possess an underutilized asset in their alumni networks. Former employees who’ve seen competitor operations return with comparative knowledge that pure external hires lack—making “boomerang programs” a legitimate talent strategy rather than an admission of hiring mistakes.

After a tough 2025 for people looking for a job, economists don't see much relief coming in 2026.

Here's what they're expecting next year:

- AI investments drive economic growth, but without creating many new jobs.
- Hiring remains sluggish, with health care likely to account for most job gains.
- Black unemployment, now at its highest rate in three years, could keep rising even if overall unemployment is stagnant.
- Wage growth slows further, with lower earners continuing to lag behind higher earners, deepening the "K-shaped" economy.

Elon Musk's compensation package was reinstated by the Delaware Supreme Court. The order largely reverses the ruling of the Court of Chancery from January 2024.

Key takeaways:

- Rescission of Elon Musk’s compensation package by the Court of Chancery was improper because rescinding the compensation package would not be fair and would not restore Tesla or Mr. Musk to the status quo ante.

- The Court of Chancery erred when holding that Mr. Musk already had sufficient incentives based on his existing equity.

- The Court of Chancery incorrectly required Tesla and its board to provide an alternative to rescission, which was the Plaintiffs’ burden to establish as a correct remedy.

The order is a stark rejection of the Court of Chancery’s ruling in January 2024. That ruling itself was criticized as a departure from precedent and the prudent course of action previously taken by Delaware courts. Many companies reassessed their Delaware incorporation in its aftermath. That it took nearly two years for that error to be corrected will likely prompt additional assessments in Delaware and elsewhere.

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Court Rules That Elon Musk’s $56 Billion Tesla Pay Must Be Restored

The Delaware Supreme Court has ruled that Elon Musk’s 2018 CEO pay package from electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA), worth $56 billion, must be restored.

“We reverse the Court of Chancery’s rescission remedy and award $1 in nominal damages,” the judges on the Delaware Supreme Court wrote in their opinion.

The judges in the matter said that an earlier lower court decision to void Musk’s entire pay package was “too extreme,” and that the previous ruling didn’t give Tesla a chance to say what a fair compensation ought to be for its CEO.

The latest decision likely ends a years-long fight over Musk’s record-setting compensation from Tesla.

The 2018 CEO pay package, comprised of 12 tranches of stock, was unprecedented at the time it was issued.

After it was granted, the pay plan made Musk the wealthiest person in the world.

The White House announced it has reached agreements with nine major pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices for some U.S. consumers in exchange for a three-year exemption on threatened tariffs for imported medicines. This week's announcement includes deals for "most favored nation" pricing with Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, GSK, Amgen, Novartis, Sanofi, and others, and follows similar agreements with Pfizer and AstraZeneca. According to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, pacts with other major drugmakers could arrive shortly.

"Technical factors" likely played a role in pushing November’s key inflation reading downward, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said Friday. Thursday's Consumer Price Index release showed prices rising at an annualized rate of 2.7% — the slowest pace in four years. However, the government shutdown that stretched from October through mid-November prevented the collection of economic data during that time, resulting in a CPI reading that was depressed "probably by a tenth or so," Williams told CNBC.

Scoop: Meta is developing a new image and video-focused model codenamed Mango.

Meta executives Alexandr Wang and Chris Cox talked about the model, as well as another new text-based LLM codenamed Avocado, in a Q&A with employees yesterday morning.

They said the models are expected to be released in the first half of 2026, and that one of the focuses for the text LLM is making it better at coding.

WNBA players voted to authorize a strike this week, as athletes and the league continue to battle over a new collective bargaining agreement. According to the players' union, 98% voted in favor of allowing the union's executive committee to call for a work stoppage if necessary, with 93% of members casting ballots. The WNBA is currently offering players a 15% share of league revenue, roughly half of what the players are requesting. In a statement, the WNBA said it disputes the union's "characterization of the current state of negotiations."

Data center dealmaking increased again in 2025 amid the global artificial intelligence boom, reaching a record of more than $61 billion, slightly higher than last year’s $60.8 billion, according to S&P Global. The “global construction frenzy" happened even as investors grew increasingly skeptical about potentially inflated AI valuations and the financing to support the infrastructure buildout. And the dealmaking trend is expected to continue: “Overall, we see demand for AI applications continuing to grow strongly in 2026,” S&P’s Iuri Struta said.

Julia Dvorak is worried her 83-year-old mother’s emergency room trips for seizures are depleting her retirement savings and will soon force her to go on Medicaid.

At the same time, Dvorak, who’s 56 and suffers from a chronic knee condition that keeps her on state and federal assistance, expects her own health costs to go up next year.

It’s the kind of financial squeeze that has made health care a growing concern for Americans, according to a new AP-NORC poll that asked people to share their top priorities for the government to address in 2026.

The uptick in health care was much sharper than on other commonly mentioned issues. It comes after President Donald Trump’s Republican administration reduced spending on Medicaid, a safety net program for poor people, and decided to end coronavirus pandemic-era subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, essentially guaranteeing that millions of people will see a steep rise in costs early next year.

The changes could return health care to center stage in next year’s midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.

“I see how it affects me and my loved ones,” Dvorak, who lives outside Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said about the cost of health care. “But I also know it’s affecting other people, and it’s getting worse.”

But Americans are also less confident that the government will be able to make progress on the important problems facing the country in 2026. About 66% of U.S. adults say they are “slightly” or “not at all confident,” down from 58% last year.

More Americans are focused on health care concerns

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults named health care or health issues in an open-ended question that asked respondents to share up to five issues they want the government to work on in the coming year. That’s up from about one-third last year.

The high cost of health care came as a shock to Republican Joshua Campbell when he and his wife recently sought a medical plan for their young daughter. The 38-year-old small business owner from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, voted for Trump last year, and he mostly approves of the way Trump is handling his job, particularly on immigration. However, healthcare expenses have become a major priority for him going into 2026.

“Health care costs are pretty crazy,” he said. “I just thought, ‘Man, there’s got to be something better than what we have.’”

Health care is a particularly high concern for adults between the ages of 45 and 59 — people who may have higher health care costs than younger adults but aren’t yet eligible for Medicare.

The poll shows a similar landscape to the one Trump faced at the end of his first year in office during his first term, when health care reform was at the top of many Americans’ minds. However, Trump now faces an added complication. At the end of 2017, very few mentioned cost-of-living concerns — now, about one-third do.

Campbell described his politics as conservative, and while he recalled viewing the Affordable Care Act somewhat negatively when it first passed, he said he now views it as a step toward helping improve health care.

“I do think they were at least trying, and at least trying to do something,” he said. “And I don’t really see that — it’s one of the things from the Republican Party as well that I don’t necessarily agree with. Or I think that they should be doing better at.”

Cost and inflation concerns remain pressing

Inflation and the high cost of living have been a top priority for many Americans since the end of 2021. Tommy Carosone is reminded every time his wife returns from the grocery store, especially with their two kids, both teenagers, still at home.

“My wife is spending so much more money on groceries than just a few years ago. Every time she comes home from the grocery store, I hear about it,” said Carosone, from St. Peter’s, Missouri. “She tells me it’s stupid expensive, especially meat. Ground beef, bacon, anything from the deli. It’s outrageous.”

The 44-year-old jet aircraft mechanic, the sole wage earner for his family of four, doesn’t see the cost of living coming down any time soon. He voted for Trump and generally agrees with his tariff agenda as a way to make the U.S. more competitive, and he figures prices will stay higher until the trade war ends.

“In the meantime, what are you going to do, not eat?” he said.

Carosone said he is glad he voted for Trump and had been concerned before Trump took office again about illegal immigration. But it doesn’t register even as a top priority for him now, in light of the action the administration is taking.

“It’s a lot better,” he said. “It’s not really one of the main concerns I have now. I mean, don’t stop. That’s for sure. But I don’t think it’s something that’s a top concern.”

About 2 in 10 U.S. adults want the federal government to focus on housing costs next year. That issue has been rising in recent years, with young adults being especially likely to mention it. About one-quarter of adults under age 30 want the government to focus on housing expenses, compared with about 1 in 10 of those 60 or older.

Immigration worries rise slightly among Democrats, decline among Republicans

Many Americans were hoping Trump would bring a hard-line approach to immigration when he returned to the White House in January.

Immigration was the top issue Americans wanted the government to focus on last year, with about half of U.S. adults citing it. A large number, 44%, said they want the government to prioritize immigration this year, too — but Democrats have grown increasingly concerned about the issue, while Republicans and independents have declined.

About 4 in 10 Democrats listed it as a concern this year, an apparent increase from 32% last year. Majorities of Republicans still consider it a priority -- about 6 in 10 mentioned it, but that’s down from about 7 in 10 last year.

Roxanna Holper, 64, is worried about the Trump administration’s approach to immigration, even though she believes Democrats have fumbled the issue in the past by failing to curb the “insanity” at the border. The Minnesota native describes herself as not ideological, and she has voted for Republicans as well as Democrats. Lately, she’s been voting Democratic.

“(Trump) campaigned with, you know, ‘We’re going to get the worst of the worst ... off the streets,’” she said. “Well, who doesn’t want that?”

She said she believes that’s not what’s actually happening. “You hear stories where a mom was deported with her two children,” she said. “Like, what the hell — well, who are we as a society that we would treat anybody like that? That is so appalling.”