5 Labor trends to watch in 2025

Using a mix of U.S. government data and insights from LinkedIn, Kantenga highlighted the following key areas to watch in the year ahead:

• The market is slower but steady. “The labor market is running slower but definitely looks steady when we look at a lot of indicators,” Kantenga said. On the plus side, the U.S. economy as a whole is adding jobs, and unemployment is low. High interest rates have slowed things down, however, Kantenga said. Companies are hiring less, so people are quitting less, and with fewer openings to fill, wages aren’t rising as quickly as they were. “Wages are still going up, and they’re actually outpacing inflation now, but there’s wage moderation as well,” he said.
• Job seeker confidence is down. The slower pace of hiring has many job seekers feeling defeated, Kantenga said, particularly in sectors like real estate, manufacturing, retail, tech and financial services. “For workers, this amounts to having to search more intensely for jobs,” he said. “People are having to put in more effort in order to get the same, or potentially a worse, result.”
• It’s not really a “Big Stay.” Some have said the “Great Resignation” is now being replaced by the “Big Stay,” where workers hunker down at the jobs they have. Kantenga said that’s not necessarily true. “The real Big Stay was after the Great Recession, when we saw the lowest quit rate recorded in the job openings and labor turnover survey,” he said. Now, quit rates in eight out of 15 sectors are near or above their quarter-century averages. “Overall, we do see people moving quite a bit,” he said. The exception is sectors impacted by interest rates, where employees are tending to stay in their jobs longer.
• There’s not enough remote work to go around. Job seekers want flexible and remote work, and it’s in short supply. LinkedIn data shows that 60% of all job applications are going to roles offering hybrid or remote work. But those jobs make up only 20% of the positions on the platform. “There is far more demand than supply,” Kantenga said. “So if you’re looking for remote work, you’re having to put in a lot more work in order to land that role.” Employers could offer more flexibility in order to attract and retain talent, he said.
• The workforce is getting older. There will be eight workers retiring every minute this year, Kantenga said, and the share of people over 65 will continue to increase until 2050. “We’re looking at a wave of retirements, and that wave is going to crest at some point,” he said. “If you’re not thinking about this as a talent leader planning for the next 10 to 20 years, you’re missing out on a big aspect that’s going to shape the labor market.” For employers hoping to keep older workers around, flexibility will be key. “It’s about offering flexibility not just in terms of where but also when or how they work,” he said. “Experimenting with different ways of working is what we’ll have to do to keep older people in the workforce.”

• Forbes Advisor: Best workers' comp insurers of 2024
• WalletHub: Top states for jobs in 2024
• Best paying jobs for business majors