The State Of Hiring and Finding Work in 2025

I didn’t expect to be looking for a new role in 2025, but a change in my situation sent me back into the job market. That personal journey, which I’ll explore more in the next article, gave me a firsthand look at the “interesting” state of retail hiring. If not for that experience, I might not have dug so deeply into the data, trends, and widespread frustrations that are defining the industry right now. What I found was a landscape of contradictions, where an abundance of talent seems unable to connect with (seemingly) plenty of opportunity.

The headline story for the first half of 2025 has been one of contraction. Recent reports show that retail layoffs have surged by a staggering 274% compared to the same period in 2024.¹ As a leader in this industry (and someone affected by that contraction), I can’t say I’m shocked. With economic uncertainty driven by potential tariffs and other pressures, many companies are hunkering down. We’ve seen several major retailers, including Party City, Joann, Rite Aid, and At Home, file for bankruptcy or announce/complete significant store liquidations. Other household names like Macy's, Big Lots, and Walgreens are also closing hundreds of locations. As I noted in my Mid-Year Look At Retail 2025, this is a period of significant transition.

This brings us to the messiness of the 2025 job market. Despite these widespread layoffs, two-thirds of hiring managers (67%) report that their top challenge is a lack of skilled or quality candidates.² It’s a statement that seems to defy logic. How can companies be letting people go in record numbers while others are simultaneously struggling to find talent?

From my perspective, this disconnect is a symptom of systems under strain. The modern hiring process has become a digital challenge for both sides. Consider the technology first. Roughly 75% of all recruiters now use some form of Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to manage the flood of inbound applications.³ These systems are designed to bring efficiency, but they often act as an impenetrable wall. Programmed to scan for specific keywords and formatting, these systems filter out a shocking 75% of resumes before a human being ever sees them.⁴ A perfectly qualified candidate can be rejected by an algorithm simply because they used the “wrong” synonym for a key skill.

Then there is the phenomenon of “ghost jobs.” These are positions that are posted publicly but aren't actually available. They might be posted to gauge the talent market, to give the impression of company growth, or they may simply be outdated listings that were never taken down. Some estimates suggest that as many as half of all online job postings fall into this category.⁵ For job seekers, it’s the equivalent of chasing a mirage, wasting hours of effort on opportunities that don’t exist.

On the other side of the screen, hiring managers are facing their own obstacles. They are spending between a quarter and a third of their time on hiring-related activities, pulling them away from their primary responsibilities of running the business and leading their teams. In an environment where every dollar counts, the pressure to make the “perfect” hire is immense. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the cost of a bad hire can be as much as 30% of the employee's first-year earnings.⁶ This high-stakes environment creates a sense of risk aversion. A bad hire doesn't just hurt team morale and productivity; it forces a manager to re-enter a hiring process they already dread. It’s a vicious cycle that can even lead to managers holding on to underperforming employees simply to avoid the pain of recruiting again.

This intense pressure helps explain why time-to-hire has increased for 53% of retail leaders, even with a larger talent pool.⁷ They are moving more cautiously than ever.

Meanwhile, the job seeker experience is defined by frustration and silence. More than just the ghost jobs and the ATS black hole, the process itself has become a significant barrier. A staggering 60% of job seekers report that they have abandoned an application midway through simply because it was too long or complex.⁸ Think about that: companies are losing many of their potential candidates before they even finish applying.

The communication breakdown is even more damaging. In a world where 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates, you would expect communication to be seamless.⁹ Yet, 75% of job seekers say they never hear back from a company after applying.¹⁰ The silence is deafening, and it has long-term consequences. An overwhelming 80% of job seekers say they would not reapply to a company that failed to notify them of their previous application status.¹¹ By failing to provide a simple, automated “no, thank you,” companies are not just creating a poor candidate experience; they are actively shrinking their future talent pool and damaging their employer brand.

There is a growing gap between people and processes, fueled by a combination of economic anxiety, technological over-reliance, and systemic communication failures. That is quickly becoming a key story for 2025 and possibly of the future as more and more look to AI solutions for efficiency. In the articles to come, we will explore this gap more deeply, starting with a closer look at the personal journey of navigating this new reality.

Have you had any experience with the hiring market this year, either from a job seeker standpoint or a hiring manager? What has it been like for you?

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Sources:

¹ Challenger, Gray & Christmas, May 2025 Report.

² Data provided in "Rethinking Hiring v4" presentation materials.

³ Jobscan, "80+ Mind-Blowing ATS Statistics," 2024.

⁴ Forbes, "How To Get Your Resume Past The Robots," 2023.

⁵ Clarify Capital, "Ghost Jobs Survey," 2023.

⁶ U.S. Department of Labor, "The Cost of a Bad Hire."

⁷ GoodTime, "Retail Recruiting in 2025: Key Trends, Challenges, and Insights," 2025.

⁸ Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), "Today's Job Seekers Are Overwhelmed," 2024.

⁹ Zippia, "Recruiter Statistics," 2024.

¹⁰ Forbes, "The Black Hole Of Resumes: Why 75% Of Applicants Never Hear Back," 2023.

¹¹ HR Dive, "80% of job seekers won't reapply to employers that leave them in the dark," 2023.