In a struggling economy, clarity matters more than speed. Reflect on what energizes you, not just what’s available. Tailor each career move to your values and skills.

Workers have been begging for the Great Freeze to thaw — but not this way. With hiring largely frozen in the US, any uptick in firings could set off alarm bells. Just this week, Amazon slashed 14,000 jobs; Paramount laid off about 1,000; and UPS announced it's shrunk by thousands more than expected this year.

According to people familiar with the matter, this rather unorthodox strategy of laying off employees was to ensure that people did not show up to work to find that their access badges no longer functioned.

Amazon’s 30,000 job cuts show even giants aren’t immune to today’s retail pressures: efficiency, automation, and consumer caution now define the new marketplace.