Express Employment Professionals’ America Employed and Canada Employed series explore the state of employment in North America, including everything from hiring expectations and HR challenges to job seekers’ optimism and shrinking the skills gap. Learn about the latest insights uncovered in a recent Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll survey.
Job seekers have mixed opinions on job prospects for the next six months. The sentiments of optimism and anticipated challenges are consistent with those expressed in spring 2024, indicating stable perceptions of the job market. To better understand the 2025 job market, let’s explore the factors influencing job seekers’ confidence and the challenges they face.
U.S. job seekers are split in the new year, with a third believing there are fewer job opportunities in their desired fields compared to a year ago (33%).
Job Search Duration: Sixty-one percent believe they will find a new job within six months, directionally lower than 66% in the spring of 2024 but a significant decrease from 69% in the fall of 2023.
Barriers: The top barriers to employment are lacking hard skills, soft or communication skills (40%), companies claiming to be hiring but are only collecting applicants/resumes to review (34%) and being underqualified (23%). Gen Z and millennials are more likely to report a lack of hard skills as a significant barrier.
Canadian job seekers are a bit more pessimistic as almost half (46%) believe there will be fewer job opportunities in their field in 2025 compared to a year ago.
Job Search Duration: More than half of job seekers (56%) believe they can find a job within six months, a significant decrease from 63% a year ago. The remaining 44% believe it will take them more than six months to find a job, which is also a significant change compared to 37% from the previous year’s survey.
Challenges: The most significant challenges listed by job seekers include finding opportunities that match their qualifications (57%), securing jobs with the pay they need to cover basic expenses (49%) and standing out in a competitive market (46%). Interestingly, women are more likely to reply that it will be challenging to secure a job that pays enough to cover expenses (55% vs. 44% of men) and stand out (51% vs. 42% of men).
Read more about the latest employment insights in America Employed at ExpressPros.com and Canada Employed at ExpressPros.ca.
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Last Updated on January 14, 2025
