What's behind company layoffs
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What's behind company layoffs? From Marketplace, I'm Nancy Marshall-Genzer, in for David Boncaccio. Happy Fourth of July! Layoffs have been in the headlines a fair amount recently, with some companies cutting jobs in stages. Microsoft, Amazon and BlackRock are among the employers that have reportedly had repeated rounds of layoffs in recent months. Marketplace's Stephanie Hughes looks at why this happens.

Managing the size of a workforce is difficult, and Josh Burson, an industry analyst who studies human resources, says companies don't always get it right. And we look around, we say, hey, we got too many people. How do we get all these people? Well, I don't know. So-and-so hired a bunch of people. So-and-so hired a bunch of people. Let's cut a bunch of headcount. So this cycle goes around and around and around.

Burson says investors often pressure companies to reduce headcount as a way to cut costs. And right now, that's taking the form of expanding the use of artificial intelligence to reduce the need for human labor. So virtually every company is having a conversation about how do we buy more AI and implement it quickly and reduce the number of people.

It's not a good strategic move to let people go in dribs and drabs, says Peter Capelli, a professor of management at Wharton. The reason is because it panics the survivors. Your immediate sense is likely, I could be next. So what I do is I sort of stop working and spend my time trying to job hunt and figure out what I'm going to do if I get hit in the next wave.

Capelli says a good alternative to rounds of layoffs is to have current employees work less. You could go to shorter work week with shorter pay, unpaid vacations, and employees may be surprisingly appreciated because they understand it's an effort to prevent layoffs. Capelli says a big advantage to this strategy is it's flexible. When employers need people working more hours again, they don't have to go back to square one and hire. I'm Stephanie Hughes for Marketplace.

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It's been 10 years since Ireland became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote. A decade later, these couples are contributing significantly to the wedding business in Ireland at a time when overall marriage numbers are falling. The BBC's Liana Byrne visited her hometown of Dublin to speak to couples and vendors about how the wedding industry has changed. So I brought some samples.

When you first get engaged, you're riding high, telling friends, celebrating, showing off your engagement ring. But inevitably, reality hits and you have to start planning the wedding. That's exactly where Alan Hatton and Darren Lawler find themselves now, at their Redbrick home in Dublin's trendy Stoney Batter neighbourhood, discussing invitations with designer Anna O'Byrne. The highlight that we have is the colours.

Alan and Darren say, since they've waited so long to get married, they're happy to spend money on the things that matter to them. It's about very much trying to keep it local, trying to, you know, local comedy, local people. When you're only doing this once, when you're only doing this once, these sort of things matter. Just 10 years ago, Alan and Darren couldn't have legally planned this wedding in Ireland. In 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to pass same-sex marriage by popular vote.

It was a seismic vote, with 62% voting in favour. Ten years later, same-sex couples are contributing significantly to the wedding industry in Ireland, which as a whole is estimated to be worth between $800 million to $2.6 billion to the Irish economy. According to figures from Ireland's Central Statistics Office, same-sex marriages accounted for 3.3% of total marriages annually since 2016. I'm good, how are you?

From a business point of view, it's a category that's in growth. That's Jessica O'Sullivan, head of content at One Fab Day, Ireland's biggest wedding planning website. The opposite sex marriage category has...

dipped below 20,000 for the first time in a very long time since the height of COVID. But one category that is actually increasing is same-sex marriage. So, you know, a lot of suppliers, venues and even us as a wedding website are targeting that category specifically. She says that the average budget is now around $40,000 and many same-sex couples are willing to spend even more. Now,

One type of wedding venue that is always popular in Ireland is a castle. While these buildings might be steeped in tradition, it doesn't mean they're conservative. Stephanie Hayes from Clontarf Castle remembers the referendum well. There was a very lovely couple and they had booked the wedding for literally a week after the referendum took place.

Taking a little bit of a punt in that, yes, this is going to go through with a yes. Wedding packages at Clontarf Castle range between $100 and $135 per person. These days, at least 10 to 15% of the venue's clients are same-sex couples from both Ireland and overseas.

For LGBTQ wedding planner Dara Doyle, the referendum allowed him to switch careers after 20 years working in insurance. He says he has quite a few international LGBT couples coming to Ireland for a destination wedding from America, Australia, Canada and elsewhere. From his experience, same-sex weddings are often very similar to heterosexual weddings, down to the budget. Some have modest budgets, strict budgets.

or in some cases they'll have big budgets. But it doesn't differ massively from a bride and groom wedding.

Wedding photographer Alicia Clark's packages range from $400 up to $2,600. She says that in the last 10 years, she's photographed nearly 40 LGBTQ plus weddings. But for Alicia, it's not just about targeting a category. Something that for so long people couldn't do. And so it's just like pride is the word, you know. 10 years on from Ireland's marriage equality referendum, the impact is being felt far beyond the ballot box.

The wedding industry has shifted, becoming more inclusive, more diverse, and for some businesses, more lucrative too. In Dublin, I'm the BBC's Leanna Byrne for Marketplace. Our executive producer is Nancy Fergali. Our digital team includes Antoinette Brock, Jamila Huxtable, Emily McCune and Dylan Miettinen. Our engineers are Brian Allison and Rachel Breeze. In Washington, I'm Nancy Marshall-Genzer with the Marketplace Morning Report.

From APM, American Public Media. Greetings, Marketplace listeners. It's Neil Scarborough, Vice President and General Manager of your favorite business shows. I'm coming to you today with an opportunity to help shape the future of economic journalism and philanthropy. Marketplace's parent company, American Public Media, is looking for board members, and we'd like to invite listeners like you to join either the APM Board of Trustees or the Marketplace Philanthropic Council.

If you believe in our mission to raise the economic intelligence of the nation, and if you love building community through public media, we're looking for strategic, innovative leaders to help ensure that Marketplace continues to evolve and expand its reach and impact across the country. Applications are open now through July 6th. Visit marketplace.org slash board to learn more. Thanks for your consideration and thanks for listening.