Latest Release: 2025 Q2

The ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Survey

The ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Survey is a nationally representative quarterly survey of U.S. job seekers that measures how optimistic or pessimistic they are about their ability to land their preferred jobs. Increased confidence is typically an indicator of future increases in employee turnover, wage growth, and labor force participation.

Data Spotlight

⇧ 5.5

Expectations Index

Job seeker optimism about the medium-term labor market declined to the lowest level since mid-2023.

⇩ 4.4

Preparedness Index

Job seekers’ confidence in navigating the job search process held steady

⇧ 2.6

Financial Wellbeing Index

Self-reported financial well-being rebounded, reaching the highest level since Q1 2024.

⇧ 0.6

Present Situation Index

Job seekers’ assessments of current labor market conditions rose substantially.

U.S. Job Seeker Confidence

The ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Index rose 3.1 points in the second quarter of 2025, landing at 95.6–a stark reversal from last quarter’s decline and approaching the levels seen in late 2024. While the increase was seen broadly across the board, some groups bucked the trend: Asian job seekers continued their decline while the youngest and least educated saw a marked downturn, erasing much of the gains seen last quarter. 

The increase was sharpest in the West and Northeast region of the country, where labor market conditions have stabilized in recent months. All but one of the subindices increased, signaling the about face on tariffs may have eased some concern among job seekers about short-term economic conditions.

The sore spot: even with temporary walk backs on ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, job seekers' expectations of the medium-term job availability have declined, erasing the small gains seen last quarter.

“The rebound in overall job seeker confidence is a promising sign that continued low unemployment rates are reigniting short-term optimism about the job market. Still, uneven gains among some demographics and a dip in medium-term expectations about the job market show that many remain cautious about their prospects to find better work in the future. For job seekers, times of macroeconomic uncertainty like this are when they should stay consistent and proactive in pursuing interesting positions - because new opportunities may not come about on the timeline they have in mind”

— Dave Travers, ZipRecruiter President

Job Seekers’ Short-Term Sentiment is Looking Up

Job seekers are feeling a bit more optimistic about their job prospects in the second quarter of 2025. The share saying their job search is going well jumped to more than 17%, rates not seen since the beginning of 2024. They have also recovered some of their confidence in finding a job that they will like (30.2%), marking the first time since the survey began that job seekers have felt increasingly confident between the first and second quarters of the year that they’ll land a job they actually want.



Self-reported financial situations have also improved. While 60.1% of job seekers still feel financial pressure to accept the first job offer they get, that’s the lowest share since the start of 2024. The overall share of job seekers experiencing any financial hardship has also declined to the lowest point since early 2023, with the largest drop coming from those facing serious financial difficulties—an encouraging signal that some of the most strained job seekers are beginning to feel a bit of relief.





Job Seekers Don’t Think Time is on Their Side

While 40% of job seekers are not confident in the number of jobs available today, there has been a slight uptick since in job seekers feeling more confident since last quarter. On the contrary, medium-term sentiment has declined. Nearly a third (32.1%) of job seekers expect fewer jobs to be available six months from now, the largest share since the survey began in 2022. That uncertainty is showing up in behavior, too: just 24.6% say they’d wait to respond or pass on a job offer in hopes of something better, suggesting many are feeling less able to take risks.





TARIFFS TOP OF MIND


With tariffs continuing to dominate headlines, it’s no surprise that many job seekers are concerned about what trade policy will mean for them and their future job prospects. 

Nearly one in three (32%) have experienced slower hiring and fewer job postings that they believe are related to tariffs or trade policy uncertainty. Additionally, more than a third (35%) of job seekers expect that tariffs will make it harder to find a job—and nearly half (47%) are considering or actively looking to switch industries altogether because of concerns around tariffs or trade policies.

Career Impacts

Early and mid-career job seekers are feeling the brunt of the impact, with 43% of early-career and 37% of mid-career job seekers experiencing tariff-related hiring slowdowns. They are also the most concerned about tariffs impacting their career prospects: over a third of both early (36%) and mid-career (37%) job seekers believe tariffs will hurt their chances of finding a job in the future.

These changes may also have lasting effects on industries hit hardest by tariffs. More than half of prime-career job seekers have considered or are actively looking to change industries, with more than 40% of these job seekers saying the driving force is a desire for more job security.

Industries Divided

Tariffs are affecting a wide range of industries – including logistics, transportation, manufacturing, and retail – but the impact of proposed tariff and trade policies hasn’t been evenly felt. Over 3x as many job seekers in Business Support & Logistics and 2x as many in tech have seen a hiring slowdown relative to normal hiring conditions. On the flip side, job seekers in Transportation & Delivery and Construction have seen relatively little change in hiring practices.

While most industries are seeing job seekers looking to change careers, both tech and manufacturing saw the majority (61%) of job seekers considering or actively seeking out new industries. Though Business Support & Logistics is seeing some of the largest hiring slowdowns, far fewer of its job seekers are looking to change industries (45%), surpassed only by Retail & Consumer Durables (42%), and Utilities, Energy, and Extraction (23%).

The Survey

The quarterly ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Survey is based on an online sample and conducted for ZipRecruiter by PureSpectrum. It was administered to 1,500+ job seekers between April 16th and May 6th and is weighted to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Respondents may be employed, unemployed, or not currently in the labor force, but they must reside in the United States and plan to find a new job “in the next six months” in order to be included in the sample.

The ZipRecruiter Index

The overall ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Index comprises four subindices:

  • The Preparedness Index measures how confident job seekers feel about their job skills, education, and training, as well as about their job search skills—that is, their ability to find relevant positions, develop application materials, and interview effectively.

  • The Financial Wellbeing Index measures job seekers’ financial security—that is, whether they have peace of mind about their ability to meet their financial needs, or whether they are searching for work and negotiating job offers under financial pressure.

  • The Expectations Index captures job seekers’ short-term outlook for labor market conditions. It is based on questions about whether job seekers expect the number of available jobs to increase or decrease.

  • The Present Situation Index is based on job seekers’ assessment of current labor market conditions. It is based on questions about whether they expect to get interviews, find a job easily, and get the job they want, and how satisfied they are with their job search.