Over the past few weeks, two very different global organisations have made headlines for similar reasons.
Meta has doubled down on AI, reshaping teams, tightening performance expectations, and making deliberate cuts in areas that no longer align to its future direction.
McKinsey, a firm built on advising others through change, has also announced significant restructuring as AI alters how work is done and where value is created.
On the surface, these stories read like more bad news: layoffs, pressure, uncertainty.
But for those of us watching the talent market closely, they signal something more important: the shift from cost-cutting to capability-building is well underway.
And that has real implications for how NZ tech leaders should be thinking about hiring in 2025 and beyond.
It’s tempting to frame these changes as “AI taking jobs”. That makes for a neat headline, but it misses the point.
What Meta and McKinsey are actually doing is re-architecting work:
AI is the catalyst, but strategy is the driver.
The work still exists. In many cases, it’s becoming more complex, not less.
Here’s the part that often gets overlooked.
While these organisations are cutting in some areas, they are actively investing in others:
This isn’t a hiring freeze. It’s selective, intentional hiring.
And that pattern is starting to quietly show up in New Zealand as well.
In the Auckland and Wellington markets, the shift looks like this:
We’re seeing clients pause roles not because they don’t need people, but because they’re redefining what ‘good’ looks like.
That’s a very different problem to solve.
The biggest risk right now isn’t hiring too slowly.
It’s hiring for yesterday’s org chart.
Global firms are sending a clear message:
Roles that exist purely to pass information, manage process, or sit between decisions are under pressure.
Roles that:
Those roles are becoming more valuable, not less.
This is where recruitment either adds value or becomes noise.
Posting a job ad and hoping the right CV appears is no longer enough, especially when application volumes are high but signal quality is low.
The real work now happens upstream:
That’s the difference between reacting to the market and shaping through it.
Meta and McKinsey aren’t cautionary tales. They’re early indicators.
They show us what happens when organisations stop asking “Who can we afford to hire?” and start asking “Who do we need to become?”
NZ tech companies that take that question seriously now will be the ones best positioned when confidence, investment, and growth properly return.
