2 years post layoff ... trying to understand if this recovery timeline is becoming normal now in the city

Wanted to start a broader discussion around hiring trends, especially for mid-senior professionals in the city.

Over the last 2 years, I’ve noticed several patterns repeatedly coming up across companies during hiring processes:

• Increased restructuring and role consolidation
• Senior roles being split into multiple lower-cost positions
• Hiring freezes midway through recruitment cycles
• Compensation resets despite prior leadership experience
• Strong preference for exact domain matching over transferable experience
• Longer interview cycles with fewer actual closures

At the same time, many professionals are:

• upskilling into AI workflows and automation
• expanding technical literacy
• trying to adapt to leaner org structures

A few things I’m curious about from others in the market:

1. Are extended employment gaps becoming more common post-2023 layoffs/restructuring?
2. Has hiring become significantly more conservative for mid-senior talent?
3. Are companies genuinely hiring, or are many roles staying open indefinitely?
4. How much weight are recruiters placing on AI/tooling familiarity now versus traditional operational experience?
5. Which sectors are actually showing stable hiring momentum currently?

Would be useful to hear perspectives from:

• recruiters
• hiring managers
• candidates currently interviewing
• people who successfully navigated long gaps and re-entered the market

Trying to understand whether this is a temporary market correction or a longer structural shift in hiring itself.