Why Job Hunting Is Terrible Right Now and What Can Be Done About It
A SIDE: “Explosive Job Growth in March as Trump Economy Booms”
The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases an employment report on the first Friday of each month to recap payroll activity in the private sector (excluding farms). The March 2025 data, detailed in the Department’s April 2025 report, reveals that nonfarm private sector payroll employment rose by 228,000 jobs last month with job gains in health care, social assistance, transportation, and warehousing as well as an intentional decline in federal government employment by the Trump Administration that will have severe implications.
Likely, the lived experiences of your friends and family or your own experiences on the job market do not mirror the “JOBS, JOBS, JOBS” optimism of the Trump Administration. You or someone you know may already be months in navigating what seems to be a fruitless job hunt and may wonder, “Well, if there are so many open jobs, then why am I having so much difficulty?”
Well, there’s always more to a story, and in this week’s B-Side, I will explain why job hunting seems so terrible these days.
Welcome to the B-Side.
What you need to know: Job openings do not mean job hirings.
“Job openings” have increased, according to the BLS data, but “job hirings” remain stagnant. In other words, just because employers have jobs open does not mean they are actively filling those roles. This is an important detail that is often overlooked in headlines. The unemployment rate is currently at 4.2 percent, meaning that 7.1 million Americans are unemployed. This has been consistent since May 2024. Of those unemployed, approximately one in five people (21.3 percent) have been jobless for 27 weeks or more, which is categorized as “long-term unemployed.”
Let’s do some quick maths based on the data
5.4 million hires were made over the last reporting period.
There are approximately 7.6 million job openings in the country.
7.1 million people remain unemployed.
Why does the job market seem terrible right now?
We’re in a “low-hire, low-fire” holding pattern. Hiring, firing, and quitting are now happening at a slower rate than the number of job openings. Plus, the ratio of job openings to unemployed workers is essentially 1:1, which suggests an already competitive job market.
The “Great Resignation” of 2021 has now been replaced by what I refer to as the “Great Hesitation” of 2025. Many individuals and companies have become indecisive and uncertain about making quick decisions in the current chaotic political climate. As a result, companies are hiring less frequently, and employees are not leaving their jobs at the same rates as before. This stagnant holding pattern makes it challenging for job seekers to find employment. The job market remains stable but lacks growth, largely due to the government's instability. Unfortunately, things may worsen, as the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) jobs report does not account for the effects of the President’s rapidly changing reciprocal tariff increases. Next month’s employment report will provide more insight into this situation.
As a Race, Labor, and Technology researcher, I am aware of how artificial intelligence (AI) has changed the job recruitment process. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are technologies that enable candidate screening and predictive analytics to match employers and applicants. The ATS industry was valued at 2.9B in 2024. These AI-enabled technologies are the reason why job seekers may feel like submitting resumes to job boards is like screaming into a void. Now, conventional wisdom would be to offer candidates advice about how they can optimize their resumes for ATS by mirroring the job description language among other tips and tricks, but in my opinion all of the optimization in the world still pales in comparison to the benefits of bypassing the system by leveraging personal and professional relationships. Your next opportunity may likely come from your community, whether they are a weak-tie connection like a friend of a friend or a strong-tie connection like a family member. Be good to others, and they might just be good to you: employee referrals are more likely to result in a hire than job boards. In no way is this a perfect plan because there are socioeconomic factors to consider when determining just how far someone’s community and connections can take them in the job hunt. However, as technology advances, it is still a good idea to stay locked in step with our communities – old and new. We’re all we got!