Hiring Freeze

A hiring freeze is when an employer temporarily halts non-essential hiring to reduce costs — usually when an organization is under financial duress. Such a cost-cutting effort may also be undertaken by management due to a recession or other economic or market dislocation or crisis, such as one that causes production overcapacity or redundancy. Hiring freezes may be short term or long term, and are often used to otherwise avoid laying off employees. Hiring freezes may be accomplished by not filling open positions caused by worker terminations or natural attrition. In addition, no new positions may be created.