Trigg said he was “battening down the hatches” and hoping that whatever is causing the situation will pass.
But there are growing questions about whether the challenges he is facing could be here to stay.
Last October the investment bank Goldman Sachs put out a report, which was widely cited, suggesting the US could be facing a new period of “jobless growth” thanks to the arrival of new technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in particular, allowing companies to do more with fewer workers.
Concerns about the wider implications of such a change pulsed through discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month and have contributed to widespread economic anxiety in the US.
Economics professor Constantin Burgi of University College, Dublin, said a decoupling of job gains and wider growth – like the one the US is seeing today – often occurs when an economy goes through a structural shift, like the advent of AI.
He noted while AI’s promise remains hotly debated, technology has also made outsourcing even easier.
In Burgi’s view the situation is likely temporary – but that does not mean it will be short-lived.
“It can be a couple of months but it can also be a couple of years,” he said. “If the jobs are really lost due to outsourcing or AI, then unless we find in a couple of years actually we still need those people and replacing them didn’t work, then those jobs are gone.”