50+ vital hiring statistics for 2025-26
Get ready for another curated selection of hiring statistics from the experts at Beacon Hill that will help you compete for talent in 2025-2026.
Back to TopMoving into a new year of hiring is much easier if you have the data you need to make informed decisions. For the second year in a row, we've rounded up the hiring statistics we feel will be most influential and helpful to your strategy. Enjoy!
Jobs in 2024
Highs and lows
Indeed data from January 2021 to November 2024 illustrates a downward trend in job gains. Specifically, the number of jobs per month has gone down from 251,000 to 180,000.
This dip is likely because businesses are working with smaller teams and hiring more "multitool" or reevaluating the talent they can utilize in-house. This is a sound strategy you can invoke yourself during less stable moments as it keeps you lean.
People aren't quitting much!
"In September, the quits rate reached its lowest ratio since July 2015, at 1.9% (spring 2020 once again excluded) before bouncing back slightly to 2.1% in October."1
The quits rate is a good way to judge job seeker confidence. In conclusion, people believe that finding a new role is unlikely and will stay put, at least until a major change in the job economy occurs.
You will need to be very convincing if you want to lure the already employed this year, but if you do it in a personal way, it should still be possible.
Occupations on the rise
By 2033, certain vocations will climb sharply.4
This will probably influence what future talent will choose to major in at school and for existing talent already in those fields of work, more employer choices will be available. This means more competition than ever!
Foreign policy
While we don't want to get into political discussions, one policy on the table is an increase in tariffs. If that occurs, "'That lifts near-term growth of industrial production, contributes to higher prices of consumer and capital goods, and as a result raises inflation.'"2 This choice could raise the cost of goods and change job seeker expectations on salary.
Another policy impacts immigration. It is logical to think that "'curbs on immigration [could] slow the growth of the labor force (fewer immigrant workers)." If that happens, it's equally possible that "solid economic growth and a tighter labor supply [could] bring the unemployment rate back under 4% by mid-2025.'"2
Yet again, if all this goes in the expected direction, companies will be competing for a smaller talent pool.
New talent
New graduates have been suffering in a tough hiring market for some time now, but there's light on the horizon. According to NACE’s Job Outlook 2025 survey, the Class of 2025 can look forward to a 7.3% increase in hiring numbers above the Class of 2024. In addition, the survey found that "more than 40% of employers report that they plan to increase the salaries for bachelor’s degree graduates." Finally, "among responding employers, 27% are planning to increase their hiring [of 2025 graduates] this year, while 57.1% expect to maintain their hiring."
This is great news as employers will be drawing from a ready pool of talent, and there will likely be plenty to choose from!
Job seeker desires
Remote work is still very attractive to job seekers and here's the proof.
- "Over 95% of workers want some form of working from home online. With so many benefits to remote work, it’s no surprise that a large majority of workers want remote work from home jobs. 54% of people want to work fully remotely, 41% want to work a hybrid schedule and only 5% of employees want to work in the office full-time."5
- "Nearly two-thirds of employees say that remote work is the most important aspect of a job, ranking even higher than salary, a flexible schedule and having a good work-life balance. Employee benefits like health insurance, paid time off, and retirement ranked much lower on the list."5
- "It is estimated that 75 million employees in the U.S., or 56% of the non-self-employed workforce, could work from home. Their jobs are compatible with working remotely as they don’t require contact with customers or physical work that needs to be completed on-site; they often have an information component and include work that is done individually rather than in a group."5
Offering remote options, at least in a hybrid capacity, could become a major negotiation point when it comes to getting offers accepted! It's absolutely worth thinking about.
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Knowing what you're up against in the current and future employment market is half the battle. Finding a talent partner is the other. Beacon Hill is here to make you whole and effective.
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