The Recruitment Show with Lewis Maleh

The 2026 job market just accelerated — fast. Over 600,000 jobs have been cut in the last 30 days alone.

From UPS cutting 30,000 roles, to Home Depot enforcing a five-day return to office while reducing headcount, to the UK Treasury offering six-figure exit packages, this is no longer just a tech story. Layoffs are spreading across logistics, retail, finance, and the public sector.

In this episode of Espresso, I break down what’s really happening beneath the headlines — and whether this is a recession, a correction, or a structural reinvention of corporate work in 2026.

If you work in a corporate, professional, or knowledge-based role, this episode matters.

• Why 600,000 jobs disappeared in just 30 days

• How Return-to-Office mandates are quietly being used as a layoff tool

• Why UPS is cutting volume to protect margins — and what automation means for back-office roles

• What the UK Treasury’s £100,000 buyouts signal about public-sector efficiency

• What you can do now to protect and future-proof your career

This isn’t about panic — it’s about pattern recognition.
The hiring market is changing fast, leverage is shifting back to employers, and adaptability matters more than ever.

The takeaway:Don’t wait for a layoff. Audit your role, strengthen your human skills, use AI tools intensely, and take control of what you can control in 2026.

🔗 Sources referenced:

• Business Insider – Home Depot layoffs & RTO mandate

• Financial Times – UK Treasury exit packages

• UPS corporate restructuring announcements

  
  

👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lewis Maleh
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmaleh

🌍 About Bentley Lewis
https://bentleylewis.com/

➡️ Follow Us
🔗 All socials: https://linktr.ee/BentleyLewis

This week at Davos, the warning was clear: the AI tsunami is no longer coming — it’s here.

The IMF says 60% of jobs are now exposed to AI disruption. Amazon has just cut 16,000 corporate roles to “flatten” its organisation. And OpenAI CEO Sam Altman argues we’re not losing jobs — we’re moving to a higher level of abstraction.

In this episode, I break down the three biggest signals from this week that show the Great Flattening of work has begun — and what it actually means for your career in 2026.

• Why the IMF is calling AI a “tsunami” for the global workforce

• What Amazon’s latest layoffs reveal about the end of the manager layer

• How Sam Altman’s vision of agent-driven work changes what skills matter

• Practical ways to future-proof your career in the Agentic Age

  
  

Story 1: The Davos Reality Check – why 60% of jobs are in the blast zone
Story 2: Amazon’s “Project Dawn” – flattening bureaucracy at scale
Story 3: Sam Altman’s roadmap – from doing work to directing agents

The takeaway: How to stay relevant — and employed — as work is rewritten.

🔗 Sources mentioned:

• WEF – Jobs of Tomorrow Report 2026

• Amazon Layoff Memo (Jan 28, 2026)

• Sam Altman – Davos Keynote

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👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lewis Maleh

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmaleh

📌 About Bentley Lewis

🌍 https://bentleylewis.com/

➡️ Follow Us

🔗 All socials: https://linktr.ee/BentleyLewis

📧 Collaborations & Questions

Everyone talks about the private jets and parties at Davos — but the real story is in the data.

I went through the key reports released at the World Economic Forum so you don’t have to, and what’s emerging is a very different picture of the job market in 2026.

This isn’t about hype anymore.

It’s about flattened management, AI-driven job shifts, and a growing trust crisis inside organisations.

In this video, I break down four major signals from Davos 2026 that will directly impact your career, your team, and how companies operate over the next few years.

If you’re navigating your career, leading a team, or trying to understand where work is actually heading — this is essential context.

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Resources Mentioned:

WEF / LinkedIn Future of Work Report 2026: ttps://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/ai-has-already-added-1-3-million-new-jobs-according-to-linkedin-data/

Edelman Trust Barometer 2026:

https://www.edelman.com/trust/2026/trust-barometer:

Mercer Global Talent Trends:

https://www.businessinsider.com/middle-managers-have-more-direct-reports-after-great-flattening-2026-1

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👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lewis Maleh

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmaleh

📌 About Bentley Lewis

🌍 https://bentleylewis.com/

➡️ Follow Us

🔗 All socials: https://linktr.ee/BentleyLewis

📧 Collaborations & Questions

Only 24% of global workers feel confident about their career future, and AI is widening that gap faster than ever.

This episode breaks down the real strategies that separate those left behind from those moving ahead: how to stay relevant as AI reshapes hiring, why visibility now outpaces performance, how to network authentically, what recruiters truly seek in 2026 and beyond, and why being better isn’t always enough to be chosen.

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👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lewis Maleh

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmaleh

📌 About Bentley Lewis

🌍 https://bentleylewis.com/

➡️ Follow Us

🔗 All socials: https://linktr.ee/BentleyLewis

📧 Collaborations & Questions

McKinsey just revealed they have 25,000 AI agents working alongside humans, while the construction industry faces its biggest labor shortage in history. The job market is splitting in two. In this video, I break down the latest LinkedIn and Business Insider reports to show you exactly where the jobs are going in 2026 and how to position yourself to survive the "Skills Earthquake."

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👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lewis Maleh

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmaleh

📌 About Bentley Lewis

🌍 https://bentleylewis.com/

➡️ Follow Us

🔗 All socials: https://linktr.ee/BentleyLewis

📧 Collaborations & Questions

The 2026 Talent Playbook: Private Equity is sitting on record "dry powder," but the biggest bottleneck isn't the money—it's the people.
In this episode of The Recruitment Show, we sit down with Michael Magliochetti, Operating Partner at Riverside Partners and author of Dancing Between the Toes of Elephants. We break down why the "Culture of One" is the #1 killer of founder-led businesses and how to build a team that is "exit-ready."
What you'll learn:

• The Human Diligence Shift: Why 2026 investors care more about your team than your EBITDA.
  
• The $500M Bottleneck: How to survive the transition from founder-led to professional-led.
  
• Multi-Lingual Leadership: Recruiting the "technical-to-commercial" bridge.
  
• Boardroom Secrets: Michael decodes the PE idioms every exec needs to know.

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👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Michael Magliochetti

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-magliochetti-9905371/

👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lewis Maleh

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmaleh

📌 About Bentley Lewis

🌍 https://bentleylewis.com/

➡️ Follow Us

🔗 All socials: https://linktr.ee/BentleyLewis

📧 Collaborations & Questions

[email protected]

The job market in January 2026 makes no sense.

LinkedIn just published their Jobs on the Rise report showing 25 roles growing faster than anything else in the UK and America.

Companies say they're hiring. Candidates are flooding the market. But almost nothing is connecting.

In this week's episode, we break down three stories dominating the recruiting conversation right now:

→ LinkedIn's data on the fastest-growing roles (and why 29.2% are hybrid despite the RTO push)

→ The January hiring paradox: why recruiters are under pressure but candidates feel frozen out

→ The "unicorn wishlist" problem killing hiring on both sides

If you're trying to hire, looking for your next role, or just confused about what's happening in the labor market—this explains it all.

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👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lewis Maleh

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmaleh

📌 About Bentley Lewis

🌍 https://bentleylewis.com/

➡️ Follow Us

🔗 All socials: https://linktr.ee/BentleyLewis

📧 Collaborations & Questions

AI can make you faster and scale your work — but it can’t replace your voice.

This episode dives into why AI‑written content is easy to spot, how authenticity drives real engagement, where AI is transforming recruiting, and why the human touch still matters more than ever.

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👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lewis Maleh

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmaleh

📌 About Bentley Lewis

🌍 https://bentleylewis.com/

➡️ Follow Us

🔗 All socials: https://linktr.ee/BentleyLewis

📧 Collaborations & Questions

[email protected]

You can’t always control what happens — but you can control your response.

This episode unpacks a simple four‑box framework showing how the same pressure or challenge can lead to completely different outcomes in careers, leadership, and life. Because your response shapes your result.

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👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lee Bofkin

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-bofkin

👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lewis Maleh

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmaleh

📌 About Bentley Lewis

🌍 https://bentleylewis.com/

➡️ Follow Us

🔗 All socials: https://linktr.ee/BentleyLewis

📧 Collaborations & Questions

[email protected]

If your career is a marathon, why are you training like it’s a sprint?

In this episode, we explore how elite performers sustain success — from health and recovery to daily habits, discipline, and long‑term awareness. Because burnout doesn’t build legacy — endurance does.

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👨🏻‍💼 Connect with Lewis Maleh

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmaleh

📌 About Bentley Lewis

🌍 https://bentleylewis.com/

➡️ Follow Us

🔗 All socials: https://linktr.ee/BentleyLewis

📧 Collaborations & Questions

[email protected]