Hi there,
Sorry to hear!
I believe this is related to the current hiring freeze (for many offices) or slowdown (for a couple of offices).
I want to share three observations:
Personal experience
- Some of my clients' interviews were already rescheduled for next year.
- Other strong candidates did not even receive an interview invitation.
Impact on hiring
While for all firms fewer people make it through resume screening, only some firms adjust the bar for the interviews. The latter are happy to find enough people to make it through the selection process. In that case, they would extend offers, potentially with starting dates further in the future.
It seems that McKinsey is rejecting a lot more people at the resume screening stage at the moment.
Impact on engagements and job security
External advisor spending is usually one of the first expenses to be cut during an economic crisis.
Yes, recovery and transformation projects increase, but every other consulting vertical decreases by much more. I have been told stories from 2008/09, where new hires were not staffed for 6 months and then let go without ever having worked on an actual engagement.
It all depends on how bad the global economic situation is going to get. My hunch is we see a partial to full-hiring stop by early next year for a couple of months up to 1 year. Let's hope I am wrong :-)
On top of that, keep in mind that tech firms and other industries already started their lay-offs, which means that the potential supply of job seekers increases even more compared to now lower demand for them.
At this point, it makes sense to have valid backup options available, potentially for industries that are less affected by external events (e.g., pharmaceuticals)
All the best!
Cheers,
Florian