Staff are dealing with a tough moment within the labor market.
Worker confidence ranges hit a low of 44.1% in Might, in keeping with a new report by Glassdoor, which measures the share of staff with a optimistic six-month enterprise outlook. They cite causes like financial uncertainty given potential tariffs and layoffs. Mentions of layoffs on the location surged 9%.
Might job cuts by U.S.-based employers had been up 47% from the identical month the 12 months earlier than, in keeping with outplacement agency Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Employers lower 93,816 jobs in Might 2025 versus 63,816 in Might 2024. The U.S. additionally added 139,000 jobs in Might, barely decrease than April’s 147,000, in keeping with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Entry-level staff are the least optimistic of any age group. Their confidence stage hit a file low since 2016 in Might, 43.4%. This is why younger staff have such a unfavourable outlook on the job market proper now.
‘It is onerous for younger grads to get onto the profession ladder’
For jobseekers simply starting their careers, alternatives are onerous to return by.
Katherine Diep, 21, simply graduated from the College of California Irvine with a bachelor’s in enterprise economics. She’s in search of work in occasions advertising and marketing and began making use of for jobs at first of the varsity 12 months.
“I utilized to over 200 to 300 jobs,” she says, “and haven’t landed any to this point, sadly.”
Uncertainty within the economic system means employers are hesitant to open up new roles. And “the low hiring setting we’re in proper now means it is onerous for younger grads to get onto the profession ladder within the first place,” says lead economist at Glassdoor Daniel Zhao.
‘Staff have much less leverage to climb’
For these entry-level staff who’ve been in a position to safe work, their upward trajectory is unclear.
“As a result of employers usually are not hiring as a lot,” says Zhao, “staff have much less leverage to climb the profession ladder internally, in addition to fewer alternatives to seek out these promotions or raises by switching jobs.”
They usually’re dealing with extra competitors. “Layoffs of skilled staff and managers implies that there’s extra bunching on the backside of the profession ladder” and extra individuals vying for a similar roles internally, he says.
Development and profession alternatives are particularly key “for youthful staff who’re simply beginning out and attempting to navigate their profession paths,” says Zhao. Not having many concrete alternatives to map out the place they may go weighs on their confidence ranges.
‘As soon as a month or so I am going to break down’
Whilst they face uncertainty and rejection, some entry-level staff are conserving a optimistic outlook.
Ngina Valdez, 22, graduated from Syracuse College in Might the place she studied communications and laptop science. Like Diep, she began making use of for jobs within the fall.
“I’ve utilized to most likely 100 journalism jobs, or jobs inside communications,” plus round 60 jobs in laptop science, she says.
“As soon as a month or so I am going to break down, simply because I have never gotten something,” she says. Nonetheless, she provides, “the 29 different days within the month, I’m actually motivated.” She’s pivoting when she must and tweaking her software materials to make it higher.
“I simply up to date my web site, and that made me actually excited to use to extra jobs.”
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